At 19.9kg’s the Trance X Elite promises efficiency and an agile ride. But does it deliver?

| WORDS: Myles Kelsey | IMAGES: Max Sullivan |

The introduction of full-power and lightweight eMTBs has come about following research that indicates many riders are not fully depleting their big batteries, on most rides. Which begs the question: If you are not using it, then why carry the extra weight of a big battery? Giant’s solution is the 19.9kg, 400Wh capacity battery, 85Nm Yamaha powered whip — known as the Trance X Elite. It has sharp looks, a fancy pants battery with new cell technology and a very attractive price point.

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Features and Details

The Frame

It’s an all-carbon frame, with trail geometry and since it’s housing a smaller battery, has a pretty slim downtube. I’d say the Elite is almost analogue, in appearance. This is the brand’s first MX wheelsize eMTB and compared to their full 29er Trance X, (we reviewed here) the rear end is significantly shorter – which promises an agile ride feel.

The rear suspension is the same short-dual-link layout that the brand uses on most of their bikes. The motor tucks underneath the lower link and although it’s a full-power unit, Giant found a way to optimize ground clearance without any negative impacts on the ‘Maestro’ suspension kinematics.

If you know the industry, you’ll be aware that Giant has been making carbon bikes since the late 1980’s and are one of if not the best in the business. With all that carbon layup experience poured into the Trance X Elite, they’ve produced a carbon eMTB frame that houses a full-power motor and looks pretty sensational.

Geometry

Prioritizing versatility, the Trance X Elite has been designed with somewhat conservative geometry. If you take a look at the geometry chart (click here) you’ll see with the flip-chip in low setting, the bike has a modest 65,8° head angle. Across all four frame sizes, the reach is pretty generous – like 480mm for the size large.

Build Kit

There’s no shortage of bling throughout the components. Shifting is with the SRAM GX wireless electronic goodies. Suspension is also electronic, that’s the Fox Live Valve system on the 36 Fork and the Float Performance rear shock.

The bike has Giant’s integrated cockpit (a one-piece bar/stem combo) that out the box is 800mm wide. Using a system of wedges, both bar roll and stem length is adjustable on this bike. You can set the stem to a 40, 45 or 50mm length and the bars have three different sweep positions.

Under the one-piece cockpit, the cables channel into the frame via the headset. A frame port on the downtube provides another routing – away from the head tube, which will be handy for riders running traditional two-piece cockpits.

The saddle, grips and wheels are own brand builds. The chain device is an MRP unit and the chainstay has an abundance of rubber to silence any chain slap. There’s a lot of attention to detail in the build kit; like the large 36T chainring and a large 220mm front rotor – both of which we need on eMTBs. Good job!

Completing the all-carbon build is a pair of Giant’s TRX trail wheels and Praxis cranks. Tyres are by Maxxis with a Minion DHF in EXO casing on the front and a DHR2, also in EXO casing, on the rear.

Drive Unit

Powering the bike is the Syndrive Pro by Yamaha, which is an 85Nm full-power motor. The drive unit has five support modes and if the factory settings are not to your liking, there’s a lot of tweaking available through Giant’s App to change the way the motor supplies you with assistance. The 400Wh internal frame battery was developed with Panasonic and Giant says it’s both lighter and more efficient than other systems.

Again, that attention to detail is everywhere — throughout the frame the cable routing entry and exit points have rubber grommets to prevent rubbing and rattling. Also, the charge port cap is probably the best I’ve seen – it’s such a simple design that requires a pull and twist to open, and when shut it seals well. It’s a small thing but something many brands don’t get right.

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Ride Impressions

Over the last nine years I’ve ridden a lot of eMTBs but never anything from the ‘full-power lightweight’ category – so I was pretty keen to experience this bike. On my mind; is it efficient and is it really agile or is that marketing hype…

On the trail

On paper, the full-power motor, light wheels and a 19.9kg complete weight is a cocktail for fast climbing. In the real-world, this theory runs true. I can tell you this Trance X Elite is the fastest climber I’ve ridden. Using the top support level and unlocking the full 85Nm, there’s a lot of power to fly up steep stuff. Climbing at pace and drifting through uphill corners, is quite the jol!

When pointing the Trance X Elite down the trail, it’s capable for sure, but the limit of what the bike can do comes at you a bit quicker than on any eMTB with a 2-degree slacker head angle. Sticking to tamer flow lines and staying within what the majority of SA’s single track descents offer – is where the Trance X Elite performs best. It’s not a big-travel Enduro ripper. Where that somewhat conservative geometry really excels is on just about everything other than Enduro lines. The steering is precise, in fact, I’d say this bike rides and handles very similarly to most modern XC bikes — but with a whole extra level of fun. It is a superb handler on a wide variety of terrain. Truly a go-anywhere and ride-anything Trail bike.

Performance of the build kit

While nobody is a fan of the extra cabling that comes with the Fox Live Valve electronic suspension, it does add to the ride experience. There’s a wide variety of settings available through the Fox App that can transform this bike from a Trail whip to a super-efficient XC blaster. I’ve spent quite some time on Fox Live Valve bikes and I do think the system is nice to have, but maybe not an absolute essential. At the risk of contradicting myself, I must say the suspension on this bike is flawless. I had no harsh end-of-travel events, the small bump compliance is good and there’s plenty of support throughout the travel. At times — in the more open suspension settings — it can feel like there’s more than 140mm of travel.

If you are riding rocky trails you might consider adding an insert to the rear wheel or going up in casing spec. The EXO casing on the rear is a little thin for a Trail bike, on rough trails. As for the rest of the build kit, the wheels, drivetrain, bars and brakes feel perfectly good. If I have to be critical, I’d say the only part of the build kit that disappointed is the grips. I found them to be quite hard and thin which can lead to discomfort on rough trails.

Range

I completed two range tests on the Trance X Elite. On the first outing, I only used the two lowest support levels (in factory settings) and I completed a 45km with 1228m of elevation on Cape Town’s rockiest trails, with an average speed of 15kph, in 3 hours. This ride was with the 400Wh battery and I ended with the battery on 7%. You can watch the Range Test video here.

On the second range test, again, only using the 400Wh internal frame battery I ran the bike in the highest support level, on some steepish terrain in Cape Town. The numbers for this ride: 25km’s, 700m of elevation, in 1H15mins and ended with zero charge remaining. In my books, that’s quite an impressive set of digits for a ‘lunch-hour’ burst.

Without any super-scientific testing (which would be really hard to do!) I think per Watt Hour, the fancy pants 400Wh battery on this bike is marginally more efficient than others. Adding the 200Wh range extender battery would supply 50% more range – which I’ve seen is significant enough for fit riders to make it through the Wines2Whales stage race on.

Performance of the motor & App

I’ll send Giant and Yamaha a 9/10 rating for the drive unit and App. The single point reduction is for not having the remaining battery displayed as a percentage, on the top tube. As for the motor itself, I feel Yamaha has quite excellently captured the best elements of the Shimano system and the best elements of the Bosch system and incorporated it into their own. The Syncdrive Pro motor delivers the lower levels of assist in a smooth natural style, that is very similar to the Shimano EP8. However, if you set the Launch numbers up high, the Yamaha system kicks in very quickly and gives you a lot of power, instantly, like the Bosch system. I’m a big fan of the Yamaha system. There’s no motor rattle or unsettling sounds as the motor engages and disengages.

Although Giant SA did supply me with a range extender, I never felt like I needed it. If you use the App and all five of the support modes, you’ll probably be okay on most two hour rides with just the 400Wh internal frame battery. Point being, for medium fitness riders, the range extender is probably more a nice-to-have rather than an absolute necessity.

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Video | eMTB Battery Size: Which is best for you?

As part of this review we did some back-to-back riding — on the same trails — with the 800Wh Trance X. Apart from doubling the range possibilities, the 800Wh Trance X has 4kg’s more heft than the Trance X Elite. Switching from a 19.9kg bike to a 23.9kg bike doesn’t seem that big a jump, but on the trail the two bikes ride very differently….

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Takeout

The Trance X Elite has sublime handling and is very easy to ride. In terms of usability, it ranks right up there with anything I’ve ridden. Together with Yamaha, Giant have created an efficient, lively and fun eMTB that delivers far more value than it’s pricing suggests. //

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