In this Tech Talk episode, Vital MTB's Brandon Turman calls up Giant Bicycles Category Manager, JC Schellenbach, and retired Professional mountain bike rider, Adam Craig, to discuss one of Giant's most exciting new bikes – the just-introduced Trance X Advanced Pro 29. Featuring 135mm rear travel, 150mm up front, progressive geometry, and a clever flip chip, this one is ready for anything. The three cover everything from Live Valve shock tuning to frame stiffness decisions and who it was designed for. 

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Developing Giant's New Trance X 29 with Adam Craig and JC Schellenbach

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Join Vital Tech Editor Jason Schroeder as he wanders the sea of vendor tents at the 2024 Sea Otter Classic. From new products to athlete check-ins to Pro dual slalom practice, get a taste of what it's like to have boots on the ground at the event. 

1:28 - Checking in with Brandon Turman 5:15 - Crankbrothers SOS Tools 8:32 - B Zone loamers and Fort William predictions with George Browne 14:14 - Mondraker on moving to the U.S. 21:18 - Dillon Lemarr chats working at TLD and Fort William predictions 34:31 - Kiran MacKinnon from Santa Cruz Bicycles chats suspension tuning and bike development

Sea Otter Classic Day 4

Join Vital Tech Editor Jason Schroeder as he wanders the sea of vendor tents at the 2024 Sea Otter Classic. From new products to athlete check-ins to Pro dual slalom practice, get a taste of what it's like to have boots on the ground at the event. 

:35 - Derek Teel of Dialed Health
 4:03 - Nik Nestoroff chats slalom finals prep and Maven brakes
 6:11 - 2024 news with Industry Nine
 8:43 - New forks from SR Suntour
 14:43 - John Hall from Intense Cycles
 28:39 - Intense’s gearbox downhill bike
 40:33 - Transition Bikes
 49:06 - Checking in with Marco Osborne
 52:47 - Norco Sight and Optic link + 60-Year Anniversary
 55:54 - Dual Slalom Finals

Sea Otter Classic Day 3

Join Vital Tech Editor Jason Schroeder as he wanders the sea of vendor tents at the 2024 Sea Otter Classic. From new products to athlete check-ins to Pro dual slalom practice, get a taste of what it's like to have boots on the ground at the event.  :53 - Tannus Inserts new Fusion  3:08 - Ride Wrap 5:41 - DEITY Components - new grip and two new pedals (coming in June) 12:45 - Dakotah Norton - Slalom update 14:40 - Ari Bikes - custom slalom bike for Kyle Strait; updates on the new DH bike 17:45 - New Hunt Wheels coming this summer… 21:09 - Privateer Bikes now being sold in the US 23:48 - Interview with Braydon Bringhurst More Sea Otter content: Day 2 Photo Gallery #1 - https://www.vitalmtb.com/pit-bits-sea-otter-2024-day-2 Day 2 You Tube Video - https://www.vitalmtb.com/videos/features/sea-otter-classic-2024-crazy-and-cool-day-2-slalom-practice-raw vitalmtb.com 


Sea Otter Classic Day 2

Join Vital Tech Editor, Jason Schroeder, as he wanders the sea of vendor tents at the 2024 Sea Otter Classic. From new products to athlete check-ins to Pro dual slalom practice, get a taste of what it's like to have boots on the ground at the event.  Day 1 Photo Gallery #1 - https://www.vitalmtb.com/photos/features/pit-bits-sea-otter-2024-day-1/pit-bits-sea-otter-2024-day-1 Day 1 Photo Gallery #2 - https://www.vitalmtb.com/photos/features/pit-bits-sea-otter-2024-day-1-part-2/pit-bits-sea-otter-2024-day-1-part-2 Day 1 You Tube Video - https://www.vitalmtb.com/videos/features/sea-otter-classic-2024-crazy-and-cool-day-1

Sea Otter Classic Day 1

To learn more and hear our thoughts on the new Grip X2 damper, check out our First Ride review.

After years of mostly positive reviews intertwined with some shortcomings, FOX has ditched its Grip2 and FIT4 dampers for model year 2025 forks. In their place are three new dampers that seek to offer a heightened level of discipline-focused performance and features.

Grip SL - XC, short track, marathon
Grip X - all mountain, trail
Grip X2 - all-mountain, enduro, gravity 

We joined FOX for a few days at their HQ in Scotts Valley, California, to get the run down from their engineering and development team on the new damper line and the goals surrounding each product.

0:00 - Overview of Grip dampers with Bill Brown, Head of Engineering
14:35 - Grip X2 details and development goals with Sergio Avanto, Manager of Product Performance 
SUPERCROSS TALK WITH SERGIO
27:19 - Who was most difficult to work with (hint: the world's fastest German SX racer)
Epic insight into James Stewart during his prime 
45:49 - Jett Lawrence vs. James Stewart
50:13 - Similarities between supercross suspension and mountain bike suspension  
55:48 - Remi Gauvin of the Rocky Mountain Gravity Team talks about the differences in performance and setup between Grip 2 and Grip X2

Developing Giant's New Trance X 29 with Adam Craig and JC Schellenbach

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