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Put my MTB aside for a few tears (Trek fuel ex 2008, 120 travel) to do serious running, triathlon etc. Several injuries later, and with the milder end of chronic fatigue syndrome, I'm done with serious athleticism. Setting myself a goal to do the Ard Rock Enduro or similar over next few years. Was looking at likes of Cube Stereo 160 etc but didn't feel right in the shop. Would the Trance be enough bike for the less DH-orientated enduro races. I'm a competent enough rider but lack courage on jumps. Yours in 47 year old midlife crisis mode.
Clean up the Trek and treat it to some new tyres?
I'm not convinced the performance difference under my control is the reason I'm slow...
Matt, 43 1/2 year old smooth mincer.
I don't think I've ever seen a mandatory gap jump at an enduro race. Trance would be totally fine.
Something with 29in wheels might be better though.
You'll be fine - pop the a long fork on it and choose some sensible tyres and you're away.
I race enduros in Scotland on a 125mm trail bike (150mm up front). If I bought an enduro bike I might go up (or maybe down) 10 places or whatever in the final standings, but I wouldn't be having any more fun either way.
I've used my 2008 trance on BPW reds and blacks and some of the blacks at Windhill without too much issue.
More travel would be nice, but its still fun.
Hell you could probably do an enduro on a hardtail if you wanted.
You'd be fine!
Ardrock has plenty of hardtails riding it....I've done it twice on a full sus but will be going with the HT next year.
A bit slower, maybe, but bl00dy good fun 🙂
Trance would be fine at the most hardcore enduro race.
Trance = 50% climb 50% descent
160mm+ enduro bikes = 25% climb 75% decent
The Trance is a great all round bike, sure sometimes I feel a little short on travel in rock gardens and drops of 5foot+. But it's more discomfort than actually holding my riding back. Im just as fast as my mates on 160mm+ travel bikes just not as comfy,
the Trance would probably faster up the hills in the hands of someone fitter than me.
Trance would be fine at the most hardcore enduro race.
And it'd be faster than a full enduro sled at a fair few.
Unbelievably we seem to have a consensus! Thanks everyone for the super quick replies. Better do a spot of work now.....
Clean up the Trek and treat it to some new tyres?
I did a few enduro's on my old Trek ex8 and did ok, it wasn't the bike that was the limiting factor anyway 😆
Also rode all the blacks at bike park wales on it and only felt like I needed more than 120mm travel on a few of the bigger jumps/drops.
Look at the trance SX. I built up a trance with 160mm forks and it was distinctively enduro. Swapped it out for a Bronson BUT the trance was a good, fast and capable bike.
A few mates ride giant trances, seem good allround bikes that have been pretty reliable.
Depends on you, your skills and goals. I raced a couple of SES rounds and a UKGE on a hardtail, and had a blast, and I've raced easier enduros on the fatbike, for lolz. But for a lot of people it'd just be frustrating to not be going as fast or doing as well as they could have done on a better bike.
There's actually not that much in UK enduro racing that you can't do on a little bike as long as you're a competent rider, but it does make it simpler. Like, the kinlochleven enduros are one place where a big ***-off full suss really shines because the surface is so random and chaos-eating is a huge bonus. At innerleithen, the challenges usually come from steep and slippy rather than relentless battering so that's different again.
The bike is good for it. You might be. But that's really not the question.
My GF has a 2016 Trance SX. 140-160mm fork and 140mm at the rear.
Very capable bike. Very slack with 160mm up front which she likes. Have replaced the original stem with a 35/40mm Hope and shortened the bars to 765mm.
Climbs nicely and the dropper has a nice action, even if the lever is a bit meh.
I've a Strive and struggle to tell much difference between the two when hammering down the hill.
The Trance is a great bike and plenty "big" enough for the races you mention. Having ridden both though, I'd pick a new Trek Fuel EX over the Trance. Faster up and down. I'm not sure how the prices/specs compare between the two in the UK but here in NZ the Trek is competitive.
I have an unused 2016 Trance 1 in large for sale if you're interested?
Like this: https://www.giant-bicycles.com/gb/trance-27dot5-1-2016
Were some of Giant's ews riders not using a Trance last year or the year before that? Hence the SX.
Bike can take some stick.
Just go back to the early days of UK enduro, when 10% of all riders would misunderstand what sort of event it was and turn up on an Anthem.