Prototype Giant Trance X 29er spotted at US XC Nationals

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Rabobank-Giant’s Adam Craig won yet another Super D National Championship, this time on a prototype Giant Trance X 29er — Rabobank-Giant’s Adam Craig won yet an🔥other Super D National Championship, this time on a prototype Giant Trance X 29er (Image credit: Zach White)

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A prototype Bontrager composite bar/stem found on U23 National Champion Russell Finsterwald’s Trek Superfly — A prototype Bontrager composite bar/stem found on U23 National Champion Russell Finsterwald&rsqu⛦o;s Trek Superfly (Image credit: Zach White)

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It looks as though Giant still aren’t on board with 12mm axles, at least not for Craig’s prototype — It looks as though Giaꦦnt still aren’t on board with 12mm axles, at least not for Craig’s prototype (Image credit: Zach White)

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Adam Craig’s Super D National Championship-winning prototype Trance X 29er — Adam Craig’s Super D National Championship-winning pro🐬totype Trance X 29er (Image credit: Zach White)

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The prototype Trance X 29er Adam Craig won on has a direct-mount front derailleur interface, though he opted for his usual 1x setup — The prototype Trance X 29er Adam Craig won on has a direct-mount front derailleur interface, though he opted for ♑his usual 1x setup (Image credit: Zach White)

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Internal routing appears to have room for two lines – in this case, the dropper post remote and rear brake — Internal routing appears to have room for two lines – in this case, the🃏 dropper 𝐆post remote and rear brake (Image credit: Zach White)

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It’s hard to tell whether Craig’s prototype is running a standard Giant OverDrive tapered head tube or it’s OverDrive 2 — It’s hard to tell whether Craig’s prototype is running a standard Giant OverDrive tapered head tu💙be or it’s OverDrive 2 (Image credit: Zach White)

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Internal cable routing may be in the works for Giant in 2013 — Internal cable routingꦺ may be in the works for💛 Giant in 2013 (Image credit: Zach White)

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Craig’s prototype has the same Maestro linkage found throughout Giant’s line of full-suspension bikes — Craig’s prototype has the sam🐲e Maestro linkage found throughout Giant’s line of full-suspension bikes (Image credit: Zach White)

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The Trek-Subaru team are running custom dropouts that allow 12mm Maxle Lite axles — The Trek-Subaru team are running cust꧟om dropouts that allow 12mm Maxle Lit𝔉e axles (Image credit: Zach White)

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Sam Schultz’s XC National Championship winning Trek Superfly — Sam Sc♉hultz’s XC National Championship winning Trek Superfly (Image credit: Zach White)

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Note the internal routing option for the brake housing on the opposite chainstay, which wasn’t being used for the National Championships — Note the internal routing option for the brake housing on the opposite chainstay, which wasn&rs𒆙quo;t being used for the National Championships (Image credit: Zach White)

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According to Craig, he’s been riding varying phases of the frame for about a year now, and the latest version sounds li💛ke it’s right where it needs to be. He was keeping pretty tight-lipped, so there isn’t much more information to pass along. However, rumor has it that the wheelbase will be shorter than on the Anthem X 29er, thanks to Giant finding a way t🦋o keep chainstay length nice and tight on what should be a 5in travel chassis.

It appears that Giant are working on internal housing routing for their mountain bikes, too – the Trance X 29er prototype had several. From the looks of it, the routing is for unbroken housing, and doesn’t feature any cable stops. There also appears to be room for up to two lines on each side of the head tube, which would allow for front and rear shifter housing as well a🔜s rear brake and remote dropper post lines.