Lostoften

Recently I have more seriously gotten into road biking, and now am looking to get into mountain biking. My lbs is a giant dealer, so I am looking for experience and recommendations. I was debating between a stance-1 and a trance-3. I see that most recommendations state for the cost difference to go with the trance. However, giant currently has a sale bringing the stance-1 to $1500 and the anthem sx is $2300 and the trance-3 is right in the middle for $2100. Just wondering what the thoughts out there were.

Thanks,
Lost

sv500

You should just test ride a bike & see if you like it 1st. Seems crazy to me to be spending $1500, when you could just buy a used for less than half, but it's your money.

1242Vintage

Second the recommendation on buying used. That's what I did earlier this year. Picked up a very clean and hardly used one year old full suspension rig at half of the new price. Have ridden and raced the wheels off that bike this season. Had my pals at my LBS inspect it first before money traded hands to make sure there were no defects or mechanical issues. There weren't any.

If you are set on new, you need to ride a few mountain bikes to see what fits your riding style and type of terrain. Suggest you go find a demo day with a major mfgr and go ride a couple different bikes. Or if that's not possible rent a bike for a day and go out on the trail. That will help you make a decision.

hig4s

Trance has a better triangle and suspension linkage than the Stance, but everything else is a good on the Stance. I have a Stance 2, paid $1300 for it and have spent about $400 in mods (dropper seatpost, different stem, bars, grips and ditched the front gears, single 32t front with bashring and switched to 12 x36 rear cassette, and love it.

At the same price, I would opt for a Trance over a Stance 1, but for $1500 it is a great bike. The FSA crank is heavy, but the FSA BB is the same size as Shimano XT, so down the road, for $89 you can upgrade to a light weight crank without having to change the bottom bracket. The only thing you will need, if you start getting serious about riding technical trails, is a dropper seat post. I got a KS eTen for $140. I say get the Stance.

Canker

with Your Local Mountain Bike, Road Bike, & Bike Parts Superstore going out of business and dumping their bikes cheap I'd be tempted to just buy online from them.

Lostoften

Thanks for the replies. I ended up pulling the trigger on the stance over the weekend. So far 2 rides and like the bike, just need to get used to obstacles. Completely different than road riding!