Giant's Latest Trance e-MTB Might Be the Thing That Gives You Bruises Next Year

What you see in the cover photo is one of the newest e-MTBs from Giant, the 2021 Trance X E+ PRO 29 1. Wow! That's a whole lot of name. But I assure you that it’s a whole lot of bike. Just have a look at the gallery first, and if you still need the text, come back to it.

When I look at anything, I try and strip away the brand history that comes along with the product. In doing so, I feel I'm able to get a better justification of the $5,700 MSRP that Giant puts on this trinket.

With this in mind, we begin our journey at the frame. It's the first and most important component to analyze. Here we find an ALUXX SL-grade aluminum framework that is supposed to come with one of the highest weight-to-strength ratios around. The tubes are shaped through either press-forming, warm-forming, or fluid-forming. If you don’t know what those processes are, damn. Maybe someday we’ll put out a month's worth of articles explaining how all that works.

One neat thing is that the geometry is built around 29-in wheels and completely tunable through a flip-chip that controls everything from the head tube and seat tube angles and bottom bracket height too.

As for the suspension, the front fork is a FOX 36 Float Performance Elite that boasts a tight 150 mm (5.9 in) of travel. The rear, however, boasts a Fox Float DPX2 Performance with 140 mm (5.5 in) of travel and a three-position lever. So no fiddling around with click and clacks.

If you paid attention to the text or photos, by now you’ve picked up that this vehicle is an EV. But it is one meant to take on some of the less accessible areas around, so strength and size are huge factors. However, Giant strapped on a SyncDrive Pro motor that crunches out 80 Nm (59 lb-ft) of torque and 360% of support. 360%!

To understand what this means, imagine getting nearly four-times the results from everything you do. Oh, and if you didn’t know, Yamaha has their fingers in here too. Yes, that Yamaha. Don’t worry too much about getting tired either, the pedal assist will help up to 20 mph (32 kph).

As for a battery pack to offer the necessary juice, a Giant in-house EnergyPak Smart 625 with lithium-ion cells brings (as the name suggests) 625Wh of energy. How long this is good for, we or Giant cannot say as conditions greatly vary from one ride to the next. But a neat aspect of the Trance is that everything is app-controlled right from your phone, giving you the perfect control over your ride.

Finally, for most other secondary systems, Shimano strikes with a near-complete setup. Everything from shifters, rear-derailleur, brakes and brake levers, and even cassette (12-speed) is all Shimano. The only things left untouched by the team are the chain (KMC) and the front derailleur (MRP).

Honestly, I'm in. But we’ve all missed the order deadline for Christmas as the Giant team is officially hitting the slopes until January 4, 2021. Shame, I was just waiting to spend near $6k on my next e-MTB; weren’t you?