Now that’s an update that truly lives up to its name. It feels as though Giant has turned everything upside down in revamping its Trance X Advanced E+ for the 2027 season. After just over three years, however, this high-end trail bike certainly deserved a thorough overhaul. We’ll summarise the key changes as briefly as possible and as thoroughly as necessary. And, of course, we’ll also be looking at the new Liv Intrigue Advanced E+, the sister model to the Giant Trance X Advanced E+ for women in the mountain biking community.
1. Giant Trance X Advanced E+ and Liv Intrigue Advanced E+ – twins vying for attention
2. New Giant Trance X Advanced E+ gets more suspension travel
3. Motor housing and suspension system perfectly matched
4. Fine-tuning of the next-generation Maestro rear suspension
5. Giant keeps weight at around 22 kilograms
6. New SyncDrive Pro 4 will power the Giant Trance X Advanced E+ in future
7. More sophisticated sensor technology enabling new traction control
8. Battery capacity increases to over 1,100 watt-hours
9. Control via the new Giant RideControl Ergo 5
10. More robust hubs extend the lifespan of the wheels
11. Giant’s answer to Shimano’s Linkglide chain?
12. Giant Trance Advanced E+ with a wide range of models for the 2027 season
13. New Liv Intrigue Advanced E+ and how it differs from the Giant Trance Advanced E+
1. Giant Trance X Advanced E+ and Liv Intrigue Advanced E+ – twins vying for attention
Let’s start by briefly addressing the predicament Giant and Liv often put us in by unveiling essentially identical ebikes at the same time. Which one should we cover in a single article? Hardly both. That would inevitably result in two identical articles – which, understandably, nobody would want to read.
We’ve decided to focus on the new Giant Trance X Advanced E+ for the 2027 season. Almost everything said here about this full-suspension e-mountain bike applies equally to the new Liv Intrigue Advanced E+. So, as you read, you can simply substitute the name of one for the other in your mind. We’ll address the points where the two differ noticeably at the end of the article. So much for the introduction – let’s get started.
2. New Giant Trance X Advanced E+ gets more suspension travel
There really are a lot of details in which the Giant Trance X Advanced E+ differs from its predecessor, the Giant Trance X Advanced E+ Elite from 2023. And several of them are so interesting that they’d make a good starting point. On an e-mountain bike, however, it’s the frame that really shows what the model is capable of. There’s a good reason why it’s often referred to as the heart of a bike. So let’s take a closer look at that first.
The heart of the Giant Trance X Advanced E+ will beat stronger in future, at a slightly faster pace. Or perhaps it will make you feel that phenomenon. The reason for this is its slightly increased suspension travel. From 150 millimetres at the front and 140 millimetres at the rear triangle, the travel goes up to 160 millimetres and 150 millimetres respectively. Given these dimensions, you can still comfortably call it a trail bike. Especially as the manufacturer has stuck with the setup featuring a 29-inch front wheel and a 27.5-inch rear wheel. Nevertheless, its character shifts slightly towards that of a full-suspension e-MTB, allowing you to cope better than before with more rugged terrain featuring larger obstacles and longer jumps. At the same time, the suspension system doesn’t increase to such an extent that you lose any of the fun of riding uphill or on flow trails.
3. Motor housing and suspension system perfectly matched
According to Giant, the company has worked on certain finer details in the design of the carbon frame. In particular, this relates to how well the motor fits into the frame’s shape without interfering with the unique integration of Giant’s own Maestro rear triangle. Consequently, the manufacturer received a specially designed motor housing from Yamaha that meets all requirements regarding the space needed. Presumably, this has always been an aspect that needed to be taken into account in the past. The information provided by Giant does not reveal exactly what improvements have been made to the new motor housing or the motor mount on the frame.
A well-known feature of the frame, however, is the flip-chip on the upper rocker arm of the Maestro rear triangle. This allows the frame geometry to be adjusted. Previously, this was possible in the ‘High’ and ‘Low’ positions. Now, a third position – ‘Mid’ – has been added. Depending on whether you ride with the flip-chip set to ‘Low’, ‘Mid’ or ‘High’, the seat angle, head angle and bottom bracket height are adjusted. Broadly speaking, the ‘Low’ setting is recommended if you want greater confidence on very steep descents. The ‘Mid’ position aims to balance agility and handling control as evenly as possible. In the ‘High’ setting, you sit more upright on the bike and benefit from maximum manoeuvrability.
Flip-Chip in ‘Low’ position
- Seat tube angle: 76.6°
- Head tube angle: 64.1°
- Bottom bracket drop: 17 mm
Flip-Chip in the ‘Mid’ position
- Seat angle: 77°
- Head angle: 64.5°
- Bottom bracket drop: 12 mm
Flip-Chip in the ‘High’ position
- Seat angle: 77.4°
- Head angle: 64.9°
- Bottom bracket drop: 7 mm
4. Fine-tuning of the next-generation Maestro rear suspension
Four pivot points and two linkage arms that together form a single floating pivot point – that is the brief description of the Maestro rear triangle. Giant holds a patent for this design. Anyone wishing to ride a bike with this rear triangle will find it exclusively on mountain bikes from Giant and Liv.
The manufacturer has also been able to improve its design, which features a single virtual pivot point near the bottom bracket combined with a supported four-link system. On the one hand, this allows the chain tension to be kept constant over a longer period, ensuring even greater rear tyre traction. Secondly, the effects of braking forces are decoupled even more effectively from the shock’s behaviour, allowing it to respond more sensitively to impacts.
5. Giant keeps weight at around 22 kilograms
Despite all the modifications, the frame has actually lost a few grams in weight. Weighing exactly 2,773 grams, the frameset is now 300 grams lighter than before. A different manufacturing process here, less material there – and a few grams are saved. In terms of the entire ebike, this doesn’t, of course, make much of a difference. Other measures have a greater impact. For example, a change of motor and battery. Both have been updated on the Giant Trance X Advanced E+ for the 2027 season. The new battery, in particular, adds significantly more weight. All things considered, Giant must therefore have made some clever decisions regarding the models’ specifications. With a total weight of around 22 kilograms for two of its versions, the Giant Trance X Advanced E+ – with its now more powerful suspension – is certainly impressive.
6. New SyncDrive Pro 4 will power the Giant Trance X Advanced E+ in future
A glance at the frame reveals that the revised version of this trail bike has greater potential. However, this also means that the version for the coming season demands a different riding style. And that brings us back to a faster heart rate. Because that’s exactly what it demands of you, too. At least if you want to get the most out of the complete package comprising the frame, suspension and ebike system.
From now on, the new SyncDrive Pro 4 will set the pace. This mid-drive motor replaces the SyncDrive Pro 2. Compared to its predecessor, the mid-drive motor operates at 48 volts instead of 36 volts. The higher voltage is simply much better suited to today’s drive systems. Peak power outputs of nearly 1,000 watts or more, as well as supporting cadences of well over 100 revolutions per minute, place enormous demands on the motors. As a result, the motors heat up more. This can be managed noticeably better with a lower current.
Better fast than infinitely powerful
With the SyncDrive Pro 4, Giant is taking a middle ground. The manufacturer is clearly opting out of the race for absolute top performance figures in the full-power motor segment. Instead, it is seeking to score points with characteristics that, in a different context, might be described as ‘soft skills’. Things like responsiveness. For instance, the motor responds to a pedal stroke in just 0.28 seconds and delivers its maximum torque of 120 Newton-metres immediately from that moment onwards. According to Giant, the motor – whose hardware, as usual, comes from Yamaha and whose software tuning is handled by Giant – maintains this performance right up to cadences of 140 revolutions per minute. The same applies to its peak power output of 850 watts.
The SyncDrive Pro 4 combines this still impressive performance – which also includes assistance of up to 500 per cent – with a weight of just 2.4 kilograms. This means it doesn’t quite match the lightweight SEG Automotive BLM and its 2.1 kilograms. However, it’s certainly enough to leave Avinox, with its M2 and M2S models, or the Bosch Performance Line CX behind.
The six riding modes – Eco, Tour, Active, Sport, Power and Boost – can be customised individually in the RideControl app, as is now standard.
Giant SyncDrive Pro 4 at a glance
- Continuous rated power: 250 watts
- Peak power: 850 watts
- Assistance up to: 25 km/h
- Torque: maximum 120 Nm
- Max. assistance: 500 %
- Weight: approx. 2.4 kg
7. More sophisticated sensor technology enabling new traction control
What we refer to as the motor’s ‘soft skills’ are directly linked to its sensor technology. After all, the system can only react in real time to aspects of the ride that it actually detects. And the new SyncDrive Pro 4 detects a great deal. It records, in real time, the current riding speed, torque, cadence, power output – both from the ebike system and from the rider – as well as acceleration, inclines and descents.
Based on this wealth of data, the electric drive regulates the torque, the level of assistance, the acceleration, its responsiveness and the overrun. In the presentation of the Giant Trance X Advanced E+, the manufacturer refers to this as the Synchronized Power Matrix. This is designed to make itself noticeable, for example, when the rear wheel threatens to spin on a steep climb. The SyncDrive Pro 4’s new traction control system recognises the situation and reduces power until the tyre regains grip on the surface. Power then returns to its original level, allowing you to continue riding in a controlled manner.
8. Battery capacity increases to over 1,100 watt-hours
When it comes to battery capacity, Giant has opted for a high-capacity solution. The Trance X Advanced E+ features the new Energypak Smart 840. With a capacity of 840 watt-hours, it far exceeds the 400 watt-hours of the previous Giant Trance X Advanced E+ Elite. However, at 3.7 kilograms, it also weighs around 1.4 kilograms more than the previous Energypak Smart 400. The battery cells remain the 22700-B type.
Why the manufacturer has added so much extra capacity remains a bit of a mystery to us. In the past, it has repeatedly referred to the ride data of those using a Giant system. According to this data, a capacity of 600 watt-hours covers around 99 per cent of all rides. At the same time, the ebike saves a few hundred grams thanks to the smaller battery. These are good arguments in favour of a smaller solution. Who knows. It’s quite possible that certain market dynamics are simply at play here, whereby manufacturers want to stay fairly close to the competition on the spec sheet. However nonsensical that may sometimes be.
Especially as Giant’s range also includes a range extender that can be used on the new e-mountain bike. The manufacturer had already unveiled the additional battery, known as the Giant Energypak Plus 280, back in 2026. With it, you can increase the total capacity to a massive 1,120 watt-hours. Perhaps there are some among us who frequently need that much.
Square, practical, full of energy
Still completely unknown, however, is a charger that Giant is showcasing alongside its new flagship trail bike. And no, it’s not a handbag that someone has accidentally hung on the handlebars and forgotten. With its square shape and metal bracket, the Giant Smart Charger X simply looks rather unusual. In practice, initial scepticism is likely to give way quickly to a positive ‘aha’ moment. Thanks to its bracket, the charger can be moved out of the way quickly. This is one less trip hazard, particularly where several ebikes are being charged. The manufacturer also offers a matching wall mount. This transforms the ebike charger into a wallbox. In the right setting, this too can quickly prove to be very practical.
9. Control via the new Giant RideControl Ergo 5
Another brand-new feature is a control unit for Giant’s latest ebike system. The Giant RideControl Ergo 5 consists of a base, a flat, ribbed switch protruding at the side, and a toggle switch mounted above it. Together with a small button on the front of the base, this gives you four points where you can activate a function by pressing them.
At first glance, that sounds like relatively few options. However, each of these points can also be pressed and held. This brings the total to eight functions that can be controlled in this way. And the best bit is – every button, every press – whether short or long – can be individually assigned a function in the app. So anyone who isn’t happy with the setup as it comes can customise it entirely to their own preferences.
The Giant RideControl Ergo 5, which can be comfortably reached with your thumb from the left handlebar, will be found either as a single unit on ebikes or as a pair, with an additional control unit mounted on the right-hand side of the handlebars. In the factory setting, the toggle switch is used to change riding modes. The wide grey switch is connected to an electronic seat post. We don’t know whether the buttons can also be used to switch the screens on the display integrated into the top tube. It would be nice if that were possible. Otherwise, you’d always have to take one hand off the handlebars to do so, which could quickly become annoying.
10. More robust hubs extend the lifespan of the wheels
Giant has responded to the greater power potential of the SyncDrive Pro 4 – and the resulting higher forces acting on all other components of the ebike – with new wheels. The manufacturer has focused its attention on the hubs. It is now using titanium ratchet hubs on two wheel systems of differing quality – TRX and TRA HD. Specialists such as DT Swiss and Hope have been utilising the principle of these hubs, with helical-toothed ring discs, for several years. In Giant’s case, the freewheel in the hubs engages and disengages via a 72-tooth ratchet system. This power transmission is much more direct and gentler on the materials than with a freewheel featuring a simpler pawl system. This results in greater stability, which is absolutely essential on an e-mountain bike.
11. Giant’s answer to Shimano’s Linkglide chain?
As well as the hubs, bike chains in particular suffer from the higher loads imposed by an e-drive. It’s no coincidence that many ebike riders opt for chains and sprockets from Shimano’s Linkglide groupsets, which achieve greater durability through the use of more material and a different design. Giant is taking a similar approach. In collaboration with components manufacturer KMC, a chain has been developed that can withstand a torque of up to 300 Newton metres when you are working in conjunction with the ebike system. More robust pins and higher tensile strength are designed to ensure the longest possible lifespan. In-house tests have already shown very promising results. For instance, after 2,000 kilometres of riding, the chains showed wear of just 0.157 per cent. Wear is only considered critical once it reaches 0.8 per cent.
12. Giant Trance Advanced E+ with a wide range of models for the 2027 season
In diversifying its model range, Giant is taking a step that we find particularly appealing. Namely, the manufacturer has the courage to set prices ending in zero. No psychological tricks involving a few nines and a correspondingly smaller digit in front to suggest a price that is, in fact, just one euro below the round figure. Here, you know straight away where you stand.
Common to all models are the frame, the motor, the battery, a wheelset featuring the new Ratchet system, the Aegis Tire Checker tyre pressure sensors and Giant’s entire digital ecosystem, including the E-Lock and Apple Find My functions. This therefore encompasses the majority of the key updates to the 2027 Giant Trance Advanced E+.
Understandably, there are then significant differences depending on the model. The best wheelset, the best suspension system, the best brakes, the best gearing system, the lowest overall weight – you get all of this for exactly 10,000 euros with the top-of-the-range Giant Trance Advanced E+ 0. However, only in a single colour option called Prismatic Haze/Raw Carbon.
If you’d like a choice of colours, you’ll automatically end up with the Giant Trance Advanced E+ 1 for 8,000 euros or the Giant Trance Advanced E+ 2 for 6,000 euros. The Giant Trance Advanced E+ 1 is hardly inferior in quality to the Giant Trance Advanced E+ 0, which is why it’s worth considering in its own right. With the Giant Trance Advanced E+ 2, you’ll need to weigh up whether a mechanical derailleur, the switch from Fox to RockShox suspension components and the loss of the RideControl Ergo 5 are too much of a drawback for you. Given its price of 6,500 euros and the use of Giant’s own Crest suspension components, the Giant Trance Advanced E+ SE presents itself as a compelling pick.
Giant Trance Advanced E+ for the 2027 season at a glance
- Models: Giant Trance Advanced E+ 0, Giant Trance Advanced E+ 1, Giant Trance Advanced E+ 2, Giant Trance Advanced E+ SE
- Frame: Carbon
- Frame sizes: S, M, L, XL
- Suspension fork: Fox 36 Factory, Fox 36 Performance, RockShox Psylo Gold RC, Crest TR Elite E-tuned
- Shock: Fox Float X Factory, Fox Float X Performance, RockShox Deluxe Select, Crest FloTrac TR E-tuned
- Motor: Giant SyncDrive Pro 4
- Battery: Giant EnergyPak Smart 840
- Control unit: Giant RideControl Ergo 5, Giant RideControl Ergo 4
- Display: Giant RideControl Go Lux
- Drivetrain: Sram XO Eagle AXS, Sram GX Eagle AXS, Shimano Deore, TRP Electronic
- Brakes: TRP Evo Pro, TRP Evo Expert, TRP Evo Comp
- Weight: from 21.9 kg
- Maximum permitted total weight: 140 kg
- Colours: Prismatic Haze/Raw Carbon, Carbon/Tactical Grey, Dusted Peri/Morning Mist, Moon Dust/Carbon, Copper Flow, Fanatic Teal/Deep Lake
- Prices: from 6,000 euros
Giant Trance Advanced E+ 0 for the 2027 season in Prismatic Haze/Raw Carbon
Giant Trance Advanced E+ 1 for the 2027 season in Dusted Peri/Morning Mist
Giant Trance Advanced E+ 2 for the 2027 season in Moon Dust/Carbon
Giant Trance Advanced E+ 1 for the 2027 season in Carbon/Tactical Grey
Giant Trance Advanced E+ 2 for the 2027 season in Fanatic Teal/Deep Lake
Giant Trance Advanced E+ SE for the 2027 season in Copper Flow
13. New Liv Intrigue Advanced E+ and how it differs from the Giant Trance Advanced E+
As mentioned at the start, the new Liv Intrigue Advanced E+ is essentially the twin model of the Giant Trance Advanced E+. The only difference is how Giant handles the battery issue with its sister brand. The manufacturer has integrated the Giant EnergyPak Smart 560X into each of the four frame sizes XS, S, M and L. The battery, which can be removed from the down tube, is based on the same battery cells as the Giant EnergyPak Smart 840. Consequently, it also boasts an energy density of 352 watt-hours per litre. However, it adds 1.1 kilograms less weight to the ebike than its bigger brother does. Depending on the intensity of use, the route profile, the rider’s weight and weather conditions, this should result in ranges of 100 kilometres or more.
In our view, this is actually the more worthwhile option. After all, the range extender – the Giant Energypak Plus 280 – is included with every model. So, in total, you still end up with a total capacity of 840 watt-hours. With the advantage that, if necessary, you can leave 280 of those – and 1.1 kilograms – at home. The top-of-the-range model thus comes in at a total weight of almost exactly 20 kilograms.
Other differences stem from the ebikes’ consistent focus on women. The manufacturer uses different saddles, fits longer cranks and, depending on the frame size, handlebars that are up to 40 millimetres narrower in some cases.
The models follow the same tiered structure as Giant’s range. Technical differences and the associated price differences are therefore identical. We find it a little disappointing that each model is available in just one colour. These are all quite light in colour.
Photo gallery of the Liv Intrigue Advanced E+ for the 2027 season
Liv Intrigue Advanced E+ for the 2027 season at a glance
- Models: Liv Intrigue Advanced E+ 0, Liv Intrigue Advanced E+ 1, Liv Intrigue Advanced E+ 2, Liv Intrigue Advanced E+ SE
- Frame: Carbon
- Frame sizes: XS, S, M, L
- Suspension fork: Fox 36 Factory, Fox 36 Performance, RockShox Psylo Gold RC, Crest TR Elite E-tuned
- Shock: Fox Float X Factory, Fox Float X Performance, RockShox Deluxe Select, Crest FloTrac TR E-tuned
- Motor: Giant SyncDrive Pro 4
- Battery: Giant EnergyPak Smart 560X + Giant EnergyPak Plus 280, Giant EnergyPak Smart 560X
- Control unit: Giant RideControl Ergo 5, Giant RideControl Ergo 4
- Display: Giant RideControl Go Lux
- Drivetrain: Sram XO Eagle AXS, Sram GX Eagle AXS, Shimano Deore, TRP Electronic
- Brakes: TRP Evo Pro, TRP Evo Expert, TRP Evo Comp
- Weight: from 20.0 kg
- Maximum permitted total weight: 140 kg
- Colours: Prism Pearl, Stardust Grey, Ember Violet, Supernova Grey
- Prices: from 6,000 euros
The first models of the Liv Intrigue Advanced E+ and the Giant Trance Advanced E+ will be available from November 2026. However, certain versions are not expected to reach shops and online retailers until February 2027.
Pictures: Giant Deutschland GmbH