2015 Giant Reign 27.5 Review

One of the bikes everybody is talking about for 2015, Giant or otherwise, is definitely the new Giant Reign 27.5. Updated for the coming year, the Reign got the tweener 27.5 or 650B wheel size, 160 mm of travel, front and rear, and new geometry that epitomizes the modern all-mountain, enduro-inspired genre.

Jared, his Reign and riding companion Zee.

Jared, a Start Haus sales person and resident paddle sports guru, has spent the fall on a new Reign 27.5, and his experiences have reflected the glowing reviews bike magazines and websites have been posting up. He came from a 26 inch wheeled Trail bike with shorter travel.

"I wanted more travel without compromising on pedaling too much on longer rides," Jared said. "I wanted to be able to hit bigger stuff and go faster, and I don't need to race uphill."

The Reign didn't disappoint, not giving up ground on the uphill, thanks to the efficient Maestro suspension design. "There's almost zero bob," he said. On longer climbs, Jared flips both the rear and front shocks into pedal mode, and on steeper climbs, he drops the travel on the fork to get a steeper head angle, lowering the bars for a more efficient position.

With the bigger wheels, super-plush suspension and slacker geometry, downhill performance is almost a foregone conclusion. It wasn't that long ago that something with 160 mm travel and a 65 degree headtube would have been called a downhill racebike.

"It's super plush, and the bigger wheels just go over everything," Jared said. "It's just super easy and fun."

The Pike fork lives up the the hype, and has been specially-modified by Giant to complement the bike's geometry, and the Maestro suspension is perfectly dialed for everything from small stutter bumps to big square-edged hits.

Jared said he's had to adjust to the lower bottom bracket - which makes for amazing in-the-bike handling, but means a few more pedal strikes, and the wide bars take a little more attention in tight, technical switchbacks - but Jared was having to scrape the bottom of the barrel to come up with any complaints.

"There's nothing I could do on my old bike that I can't do on the Reign, and all my ride times are faster," he said.