First thoughts
It’s always nice to review a bike that people actually ride, something at the sensible end of the price range. Admittedly £1500 is still a lot of money but it’s a very popular price point for quality full-sus trail bikes and it mustn’t be forgotten that this bike delivers 150mm of travel, something that not very long ago would have cost twice as much.
This is a hotly contended market and you can get a lot of bike for your money. I have to admit that my favourite trail/All-mountain bikes at this price is the Specialized Stumpjumper comp, a bike capable of so much more than its price (and travel!) suggests, and the ‘bouncier’ Pitch.
With competition like this, the Reign has a lot to do to gain my respect.
Frame
First impressions weren’t great, nothing serious I just wasn’t keen on the burnt orange colour scheme, and whilst the frame looks very swoopy and business like there was just something about it I find a bit ‘gangly’.
Enough of my being picky about the looks; the welds are all perfect, the Maestro back end extremely neat with the obligatory replaceable mech hanger. One possible issue with the back end might be the tyre clearance, which isn’t huge. The Giant AluxX SL tubing does build into a strong, light, reliable frame and it’s this that should matter most.
Components
The choice of components is one area where the Reign really shines, you really get the feeling that a lot of thought has gone into the selection; items like the Kenda Nevegal tyres, not the hottest brand when it comes to tyres but the Nevegals are great trail tyres that seen to excel in hardpack and softer more loamy conditions, but what is really nice is the specing of a standard rear, but Stick-e compound on the front giving you the confidence to really dive into the corners. Gears come courtesy of Shimano SLX up front and Sram X.7 rear mech shifted by the superb if not exactly bling X.7 shifters. WTB take care of the rims, the Lazer trails being a good mix of strength without too much weight. As is so often the case on bikes of this price the hubs are fairly lack lustre affairs, Formula front and rear, though the ones on this test model were still running perfectly after quite a hammering (I’m certainly not the first to put this bike through its paces!).
Braking is down to Hayes Strokers, a bit ‘woody’ in use and lacking in modulation but dependable none the less.
It’s nice to see Race Face making quite a few appearances in the shape of stem, bars, seatpost and cranks, big name brands at this price isn’t always the case, especially not with chainsets.
The bounce on the Reign is provided by the always excellent Fox RP2 air shock at the rear giving it’s usual quality performance. It’s up front that things start to unravel; Marzocchi make some superb suspension, unfortunately the 44s fitted to the Reign are not great forks, they’re ok on paper but can’t compete with the performance of similar priced offerings from Rock Shox or Fox fitted to some bikes at this price.
Performance
It felt lively, nimble and remarkably capable right from the start, 5 minutes of pratting about in the Glyncorwg car park and I was quite at home, the short-ish top tube (58.5cm on the 18”/medium model) combined with the 80mm stem gives the Reign a real feeling of ‘chuckaboutability’ which is just what you want from a bike with an all-mountain tag. The other thing such a bike should deliver is good climbing and thanks to the Maestro back end the Reign climbs like the proverbial mountain goat.
A few blast around the Afan valley didn’t disappoint, this a superb trail bike but perhaps not as ‘all-mountain’ as a Specialized Pitch but the upside to this is a more XC friendly ride that should appeal to people who like a bit of fun but not at the expense of hill-climbing.
Conclusion
The Reign 2 is great all-rounder at the trail centres (where it’ll likely spend most of its time) and represents a slightly more realistic version of ‘all-mountain’; everyone likes a bit of long travel fun but realistically, how many people are ‘throwing down’ tabletops and hucking 12 foot drops whilst out with their mates? If you are more of the free-ride persuasion and willing to sacrifice hill climbing ability then get something a little more aggressive but for everyone else the Reign makes a lot of sense. However, my advice would be to try and stretch to the Reign 1, the same great frame and component choice but with the far superior Fox forks.
