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<\/a><\/p>\nFortunately, short chainstays (434mm) help to keep the length of the wheelbase in check and assist with fast handling and flickability through tight trails. The short chainstay length was in part achieved by using a single-spar rear swingarm, while the Trance 27.5 uses the split-spar design. With this \u201ctighter\u201d design, Giant managed to shave off over 5 millimetres without sacrificing tyre size clearance.<\/p>\n
To overcome some of the negative effects a super slack head angle can have on pedaling and climbing, Giant worked with RockShox to develop a custom Pike. They built three different Pikes with varying offsets and tested them with Adam Craig (Giant team rider). Following feedback from him and the rest of the Off-Road Factory Team, they settled on a Pike with a 46mm offset, an increase of 4mm over the “standard” Pike. In short, the greater offset reduces trail which helps offset the increase in trail resulting from the slacker head angle.<\/p>\n The carbon front triangle on the Reign Advanced has allowed Giant to drop the frame weight to a claimed 2260 grams (without shock), making it the lightest Reign they have ever produced, and lighter than some XC and trail frames. An alloy rear triangle is still used as it adds very little weight, improves durability and helps keep the price down.<\/p>\n The Reign makes use of Giant’s Maestro dual link suspension layout, which uses a rocker link mounted on the seat tube and another link that curves over the bottom bracket to join the rear swing arm to the front triangle.<\/p>\n The frame features an integrated downtube protector, fits a full size bottle in the front triangle and internal cable routing (with a single port on each side of the head tube) keeps lines and routing clean.<\/p>\n Component highlights are numerous. The Advanced 1 comes dripping in kit from Rockshox, with a Monarch Plus DebonAir and Pike RC Dual Position (130mm-160mm) doing suspension duties. All models in the Reign line-up except the Reign 2 (the base aluminium model) come standard with a RockShox Reverb Stealth dropper.<\/p>\n Fork:<\/strong> Shock:<\/strong> As a testimony to the level of attention to detail that went into the new Reign’s design, the shock sits off-centre to the non-dive side, creating more space for the drivetrain and the lower linkage and the top shock mount pivots.<\/p>\n Handlebar & Stem:<\/strong> Drivetrain:<\/strong> So the drivetrain was upgraded to a Praxis 10-speed Wide Range Cassette (11-40) and a 30T Praxis Narrow \/ Wide Chainring. It’s a relatively inexpensive upgrade and adds to the bike’s all-mountain nature.<\/p>\n Seatpost:<\/strong> Wheelset:<\/strong> Tyres:<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\nComponents<\/h2>\n
The fact that Giant equip a Pike right through the range shows that they are serious about the Reign’s intended purpose. No corner-cutting here. The Dual Position (130-160mm) Pike RC on the Advanced 1 adds to the bike’s versatility. It’s unfortunately not possible to tweak the fork’s progression with RockShox’s bottomless tokens but I felt that this fork seemed to need it less (for my liking anyway) than fixed travel models. The advantage of having a dual position is that it lowers the front end making the bike more manageable as an all-day bike.<\/p>\n<\/a>\n<\/div>\n<\/a>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
The rear features Giant’s Maestro Suspension and RockShox’s Monarch Plus DebonAir RC3. To match the supple movement of the shared lower linkage and bottom shock mount axle, Giant uses a cartridge bearing at the top of the shock rather than a standard solid-state bushing. This, paired with the shock’s tune, results in a super plush initial stroke with great control and consistency through the mid stroke.<\/p>\n
A 31.8mm diameter Giant Contact SL DH handlebar comes in a super wide 800mm. Great to see the forward-thinking employed here – if it’s too wide cut it down to your liking, no need to buy an aftermarket bar. The stubby stem complements the wide bars and again saves money on aftermarket purchases.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n
The 2×10 drivetrain and brakes are Shimano’s highly rated SLX groupset with a XT Shadow+ rear derailleur. Shifting was solid and functional. The bike ships with a chain retention device, but on a big hit bike like this, I prefer a 1x drivetrain with some sort of Narrow \/ Wide chainring to keep the chain in check.<\/p>\n<\/a>\n<\/div>\n<\/a>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
A bike like this wouldn’t make sense without a dropper post and thankfully it comes standard with a RockShox Reverb Stealth. We’ve had one of these on a number of bikes and it always gets the job done.<\/p>\n
The P-AM2 rims are laced to a Giant Tracker hub in front and a DT Swiss 350 in the rear. These would be my next upgrade on this bike. The new breed of wide rims have spoiled me for sheer grip and traction, and I’m sure the Reign (read me) will benefit as well.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n
Often a new bike is let down by it’s factory fitted tyres – not here though. The Reign Advanced 1 comes standard with a 2.35 Schwalbe Magic Mary (Trailstar, Snakeskin, Double Defense) in front and a 2.35 Schwalbe Hans Dampf (Pacestar, Snakeskin, Double Defense) at the back. They offer great levels of grip and the double defense, Snakeskin sidewalls provide good security.<\/p>\n<\/a>\n<\/div>\n