2024 Giant Trance X Advanced 2 detailed review and specifications *New Model*

As a fan of the "Advanced 2" level of mountain bikes from Giant for giving the highest performance at the lowest possible dollar, even I was stunned when I pulled this bike out of the box to assemble.
The first thing that caught my eye were these new rims. 30mm internal (yup, a totally average internal width). 40mm external (way wider than usual and upon closer inspection this extra width is all to provide a broad rim edge to help reduce sidewall cuts and rim damage when experiencing full tire bottom out). The rim profile is only 21mm tall too, so the rims are flat and wide. Upon reading more about these it sounds like Giant is flexing their carbon skills to provide a premium combo of strength, compliance and weight. to complete the package, there is a new direct pull spoke hub with 5 degree engagement. Pretty fancy and an absolute surprise to find $2000 wheels on a $5899 bike. I even checked the online spec to see if what I got was even the correct spec. Wow! performance at a low price.
The rest of the bike continues the theme of extreme quality appearance, geometry, adjustability. Literally a surprisingly amazing all-round bike for the dollar.