Giant App? Motor tuning.

[Brianjonesphoto]

I suppose you could say I might be a Giant. I've narrowed my choices down to a Levo or a Trance. I wanted to get a sense from the giant owners how tuneable the bike is with Giant's app. I know the Levo is quite refined in that area. I've started to wonder if the premium price for the Specialized might be justified because of the "refined" user experience in terms of motor tuning and adaptive assist mode.

 

[Pottsy]

Make your choice based on the bike not the app.
Apps are hit and miss in early releases but usually get better as they are developed.

I don't think you will use the app as much as u think. In my experience you eventually settle on particular settings and dont change often after that.

Again. MAKE YOUR CHOICE BASED ON BIKE NOT APP.

Pottsy

 

[Brianjonesphoto]

I hear you. I'm trying to figure out what makes the Giants stand out form the Specialized. I've spent the afternoon calling around to different dealers withing a 400 miles radius and have yet to find anyone that plans on stocking the Trance E+. That might make my choice between and Giant and Specialized a whole lot easier. Bummer as they are more bang for the buck.

 

[Pottsy]

Defo Giant appear to be more bang for your buck. And the 2019 look very good.

If you can't decide based on value for money then another criteria is access to back up. If everything else is equal, It's hard to beat buying from your local bike shop.

Pays off when u need backup.

Provided of course LBS had a good reputation.

Pottsy

 

[Pottsy]

Giant dealer should be able to order you exactly what you want. If he doesn't I would walk away.

 

[Brianjonesphoto]

Giant dealer should be able to order you exactly what you want. If he doesn't I would walk away.

For sure it’s easy to get a bike. Not so easy to buy without sitting on one or knowing how the system feels as a whole. I’m a tall bloke and don’t like buying things blind as they rarely fit even with a test ride. If no dealers within a 7 hour drive are choosing to stock them for the upcoming season I’m worried when support is needed it will be inexperienced help at best.

 

[Pottsy]

Sorry didn't realise you were looking a demo. I thought you were after a specific bike.
I see your dilemma.
I had a very short ride on a Giant and then ordered one. Practically i bought blind.

Never looked back.

Hopefully our Giant brethren can chip in with some advice for you.

 

[Albez]

For sure it’s easy to get a bike. Not so easy to buy without sitting on one or knowing how the system feels as a whole. I’m a tall bloke and don’t like buying things blind as they rarely fit even with a test ride. If no dealers within a 7 hour drive are choosing to stock them for the upcoming season I’m worried when support is needed it will be inexperienced help at best.

Are you in the UK?

 

[njn]

Ride a few different brands before purchasing. There is only so much internet research can do. That said, I didn't have the option of test riding and went with an xl meta power that has a reach of 481.

The xl trance e has a reach of 479 which is almost the same as the levo at 480. Sizing today is more base on reach that seat tube length.

 

[Brianjonesphoto]

I am not in the US, I'm in the US, Seattle area to be specific. I was first attracted to the Trance because the geometry was so close to the new Levo and have had some seat time on the first gen trance back in the 00's. I have a really hard time spending this much money blindly. If it were a conventional bike sure less issue, but at double the cost I want to make sure it's the right one first.


Sadly we are almost a decade behind in Ebikes over here. So much fighting because the are "cheating" so you can't ride our trails (the ones we stole from the dirtbikers back in the 80's and 90's)


To me EMTB is like gay marriage. If you don't like them don't get one! Me riding an a pedelec doesn't change your ride.

 

[knut7]

I haven't used either app much, but the tuning bit looks fairly similar. Here's the Giant app

The geometry on these two bikes aren't that similar. Sure, the Reach is almost the same, but the Stack isn't. Levo XL has got 640mm Stack while the TranceE XL is 611mm. To get the same Stack height on the Trance you need 40mm of spacers (647,7mm). The new reach measurement for the Trance is 463mm. With the handlebar in the same position, the Trance has 17mm shorter reach.

 

[MattyB]

I haven't used either app much, but the tuning bit looks fairly similar. Here's the Giant app

The geometry on these two bikes aren't that similar. Sure, the Reach is almost the same, but the Stack isn't. Levo XL has got 640mm Stack while the TranceE XL is 611mm. To get the same Stack height on the Trance you need 40mm of spacers (647,7mm). The new reach measurement for the Trance is 463mm. With the handlebar in the same position, the Trance has 17mm shorter reach.

Agreed; the chainstays are a fair bit longer in the Giant too. Also at least a couple of people who have the Trance E+ have posted here that it came with the steerer already cut pretty short, so actually adding spacers is not possible - a riser bar or angled stem is the only option in that case.

Very strange thinking from Giant IMO; it’s a whole lot easier (and cheaper) to cut a tall steerer down than fit new bars or stem. Maybe they are worried people will perceive it as shorter than it is with a taller steerer and spacers?

 

[Brianjonesphoto]

Yes the stack is lower but it’s a bit of apples and oranges. The Levo is 29” and the trance is 27.5 with a fork that cannot fit a 29” it’s pretty easy to tell where that extra stack height comes from on the levo.

 

[poppy]

Best advise is to ride as many as you can. I don't really think i will bother with the app for were i ride.I need more assistance i just press the up button or down button if i want less, I would rather loose the limit. They have 5 settings compared to the Levo 3. I found in 1 i peddled harder on the Giant than i did on the levo on the same tracks.

 

[StevenM]

Yes bike comes with forks cut but has 4 head tube spacers. 1 x 10mm 3 x 5mm.

So you have got some adjustment.

I connected the App and had a look around at the features. Bike rides excellent with the 5 standard settings so left it.

Haven’t connected the App since.

 

[DaveMatthews]

App updated today.
"This update gives you the option to use cycling specific navigation within the Giant Ridecontrol app."
Haven't tried it yet but will tomorrow!

 

[Labrador29]

I hear you. I'm trying to figure out what makes the Giants stand out form the Specialized. I've spent the afternoon calling around to different dealers withing a 400 miles radius and have yet to find anyone that plans on stocking the Trance E+. That might make my choice between and Giant and Specialized a whole lot easier. Bummer as they are more bang for the buck.

You have hit it on the head. Giant without question, are more bangs for your bucks. The downside is you have to put up with lousy after-sales service from Giant. Specialized service and backup leave Giant for dead according to my LBS.

 

[Zimmerframe]

Is Giant that bad ?

Specialized sounds like the dream, but it's purely dependent on how good your LBS is. It's all well and good Spesh standing on their ivory tower and saying you can have an X/Y/Z warranty, but it purely depends on your LBS bending over backwards to accommodate that mainly at their expense. If you have a god like LBS then you're good with Spesh. If not, you might aswell have bought it off ebay.

I don't know enough about Giant to know how their system works.

 

[DaveMatthews]

Is Giant that bad ?

Specialized sounds like the dream, but it's purely dependent on how good your LBS is. It's all well and good Spesh standing on their ivory tower and saying you can have an X/Y/Z warranty, but it purely depends on your LBS bending over backwards to accommodate that mainly at their expense. If you have a god like LBS then you're good with Spesh. If not, you might aswell have bought it off ebay.

I don't know enough about Giant to know how their system works.

I think it's more related to LBS. My new 2021 Stance E had a problem of spontaneous shut down. After 2.5 weeks of trying this/that with Giant HO, the LBS just replaced the bike. I didn't even have to ask. They put my old wheels/tires on as I had gone tubeless, along with my bars and seatpost. Couldn't have asked for more. Very happy.

 

[DrStupid]

I think it's more related to LBS. My new 2021 Stance E had a problem of spontaneous shut down. After 2.5 weeks of trying this/that with Giant HO, the LBS just replaced the bike. I didn't even have to ask. They put my old wheels/tires on as I had gone tubeless, along with my bars and seatpost. Couldn't have asked for more. Very happy.

I had the same experience with my LBS. My first Trance x, shut down after ten miles, and would not turn ON again. They swapped the smart gateway, ride ergo and harness without luck. They then swapped the bike no troubles. A good dealer is key with Gaint for certain.

 

[Labrador29]

Is Giant that bad ?

Specialized sounds like the dream, but it's purely dependent on how good your LBS is. It's all well and good Spesh standing on their ivory tower and saying you can have an X/Y/Z warranty, but it purely depends on your LBS bending over backwards to accommodate that mainly at their expense. If you have a god like LBS then you're good with Spesh. If not, you might aswell have bought it off ebay.

I don't know enough about Giant to know how their system works.

Our local LBS in New Zealand is excellent. While I would prefer to stick with Giant, I am now prepared to pay at least a grand more for a Specialized of nearly identical specifications, to know that Specialized care enough about their client base to back up their product.
A pity really, but it appears Giant don't really care any more.

 

[Truckee Robert]

I hear you. I'm trying to figure out what makes the Giants stand out form the Specialized. I've spent the afternoon calling around to different dealers withing a 400 miles radius and have yet to find anyone that plans on stocking the Trance E+. That might make my choice between and Giant and Specialized a whole lot easier. Bummer as they are more bang for the buck.

IMO the Giant bikes are better equipped for the price, their EMBT mode is really good for so many types of terrain. I race enduro and live in the Lake Tahoe Area. I used to be all modes no auto. After riding with a friend who’s Bosh motor also has auto mode I’m now using it way more especially when going downhill, it makes shifting way less of an issue and it handles undulating trails seamlessly. Oh and did I mention the price? One last thing after playing with the app to tune for longer battery life I now just leave the eco and trail modes with 25% less and know if I’m trying to do a long ride to use them whenever possible. Otherwise I’ve not touched the app in that way since.