Loud brakes Giant Trance X 29er Need help!

The organic pads will likely fix the problem unless something more sinister is going on. Had the same issues with the same brakes on a new bike... went to organics and lived happily ever after. I have recently replaced the brakes with Maguras, which are pretty good... but when you are ready to upgrade, the Shimano XT's or SLX's are the way to go. I just put the SLX's on the wife's bike and they are phenomenal.

 

Anyone know if going with a larger diameter rotor 203mm vs 180mm have any performance gains? Better braking?

 

For an xc bike like that, no. Larger rotors are better for longer duration application, as in dh riding. They dissipate heat better, but only in an application where an excess of heat would be building up in the rotor.

A 203mm rotor is not necessary, and a waste of money, for the type of riding a trance X 29er is designed for.

 

Your post is flawed, id run 203's on a trance or any bike if they fit. Just cause its a trance doesnt mean it cant bomb down some long downhill runs and cook rotors.

 

False. Just because you can run them, does not mean it will give you a performance advantage.

An xc bike has no need for 8" rotors. That is just typical overkill-think, as in "if 5" of travel is good, 7" will be better". Nope, depends entirely in the application. With a 5" xc bike, you won't be going fast enough with enough mass behind you to necessitate an 8" rotor.

I stand behind saying 8" rotors on xc bikes are a waste of money, with no REAL performance benefit. Placebo effect, sure; same as most bike upgrades. But REAL benefit, no.

 

The trance is not a xc bike. It is meant to be an all around trail bike and I will tell you that on trails such as san juan and motor way at my weight I would never run anything less that 180. I tried 160 once and could feel what a huge difference it was from 180. Bigger people need more stopping power and the same goes for those that ride longer descents.Now is 203 overkill? It may or may not be depending both on weight, riding style, and the amount of confidence the rider has. I assume you have been riding for a while and probably are better than me, and use less brake on the downhills. For me the extra braking power helps me slow down to a comfortable speed in order to learn techniques at a speed comfortable to me, and it is reassuring that my brakes wont heat up and fail. My next bike will probably have 200 rotors and I will lets you know if I feel the diffrence.

 

i disagree. Im 245 lbs and could bomb a 5 inch bike downhill and smoke rotors. travel isnt a good indicator for rotor size. Heck i had 203's on my single speed hardtail with a 6 inch fork and wouldnt have it any other way. There is no disadvantage to running the biggest rotor on every bike unless you are a weight weenie.

Btw i dont consider a 5 inch bike to be a xc bike either, 29 inch wheels or not.

 

See,this is what drives me nuts.

edited - I wrote this poorly, and my physics was wrong.

edit: have you ever had your brakes fail? Do you know what it feels like to have your brakes fade? Serious question. Because if not, how do you know if you need larger rotors?

 

Unless you're pedaling a bottle rocket, then yeah, a 5" bike is an xc bike.

And just fyi, I'm pretty much the opposite of a weight weenie. My xc/am bike is 33lbs or so; I don't even know exactly, because I really just don't care.

 

Going to have to disagree with you again, id never want to race a 5 inch bike in a xc race, id want a rigid, or a hardtail with a 4 inch fork or lower or a 4 inch full suspension.

5 inch bike is a trail or all mountain bike imo

 

For a race bike...DUH. The trance is not a race bike, it's a 4.5 inch xc bike.

We're splitting hairs here, which is stupid. Want to go by head angle? The trance has a 69.5 degree head angle. That is NOT an AM head angle. I'm sure you can agree with that.

edit: here is the most recent trance x 29er. You want to tell me that geometry is an AM geometry?
http://www.giant-bicycles.com/en-us/bikes/model/trance.x.29er.0/11514/55872/#geometry

Double edit: this thread is getting off track. As to the OP - try the other suggestions in this thread first. I sincerely doubt it is your rotors that are the issue anyhow.

 

Still disagree, that geo could be used for am no problem......

Back to original thread....

I stick with my statement, there is no disadvantage to running 203's on every bike unless you are a weight weenie. Overkill is not a disadvantage

 

LOL thanks guys, it was just a thought. Yes I will just go with a organic pad along with some anti squeal along with zip tying the brake lines closer to the frame.

 

nm.

 

XDEEDUBBX: Id do one thing at a time tho... This way, you'll (and we'll) know what the problem actually was... please post a followup! End of the day, I hope your bike shuts up! :beer:

 

SRAM has a great customer service team. Tell LBS were you bought it and have them contact SRAM.. they will either send out a new set or new pads... As for doing some of these tricks listed above they are all good and can fix the problem too.. But I would advise you to try SRAM first!

http://cdn.sram.com/cdn/farfuture/z.../techdocs/xxwc_xx_xo_service_manual_rev_b.pdf

 

Bigger rotors dissipate heat better than smaller rotors which in turns equal better performance less brake fade bigger calipers with more pistons is also a great way to up performance but costly just think of a race car big rotors and calipers HEAT=BAD

 

Will do. Going to my LBS (Helens cycles) to get some organic pads, then I will be riding Del Cerro (palos verdes) this Saturday morning to break them in. Hopefully my brakes will shut up already!

 

Bought my bike at Path. I will definitely inform them if i can't figure this out but im sure i'll get down to the bottom of this.

 

Id clean the rotors with some alcohol before running the new pads, there is nothing worse than ruining your new pads because they get contaminated from a disc with some kind of residue on it