Giant Reign SX Review

The Giant Reign Range is approaching twenty years in business, launching in 2005. As a brand, Giant has been responsible for driving many innovations in the world of mountain biking - rising to become the biggest bike manufacturer in the world as mountain bike wheel sizes and trends have changed, as has the Giant Reign. Best described as an Enduro Mountain Bike - in this post, we look at the Giant Reign SX - the entry-level version of the Reign lineup this year.

The SX is the entry-level into the Reign lineup, and the model we are looking at uses 650b wheels. There’s 180mm of fork travel, and the rear shock is coil sprung. Giant uses its own alloy blend in the frame of this bike - Giant are specialist in alloy frames; with the bike branding using so much aluminium in its bikes, it has its own aluminium plant - so you can expect high-quality materials and high-quality design. There is carbon fibre to be found on the bike, with a carbon fibre upper shock link.

The suspension on the Reign SX comes from the proven Maestro suspension - it’s a twin-link suspension with upper and lower shock links. Thanks to an increase in shock stroke of 2.5mm, this shock provides 160mm of travel compared to the 146mm on the 29er models. The geometry of the complete Giant Reign range is labelled as modern enduro. One of the most noticeable things when jumping on the bike is the large standover height - which means that you notice and see the frame more when on the bike. It’s not an incredibly long bike, so it feels easy to chuck around.

Giant Reign SX Value For Money

In our opinion, the SX represents excellent value for money; it’s a bike with decent specifications. Starting with the Yari Forks - these forks share the same chassis and stiffness as the RockShox Lyrik. Although to save money, the fork uses the cheaper motion control damper - which still does a pretty good job, although it’s less smooth than the top-tier version. The suspension shock is the super deluxe coil - offering rebound damping but no other tuning. No dropper post is included, which is a shame, but most will add one. Braking is taken care of by Deore, as are the gears - both work really well across all conditions.