Giant Trance 3: How is this for a powerful conversion?

I'm looking for a full suspension mountain bike for converting into a powerful commuter ebike. I found the bike below locally - would this be a good candidate?
https://sfbay.craigslist.org/eby/bik/d/pleasanton-giant-trance-full-suspension/7265886176.html

My goal is to convert using a 72v 13.5ah battery and either bbshd mid-drive setup or possibly a rear hub like the MXUS Turbo V3.

Does this bike seem well-suited for what I'm looking to do? It looks like there's plenty of battery space, aluminum frame, full suspension etc. Do you see any downsides to using this frame?

Any feedback would be great.

I saw that one. The bbshd may hang low due to how the bottom bracket and the downtube are situated; that said, the the trance has always been on my shortlist for conversions due to the large triangle for a full suspension bike.

Looks like a good candidate for the reasons already mentioned. Make sure the battery fits in the triangle. But it's kinda pricey for a doner frame,

Way too expensive for a 26", worth maybe half that.

Also no real point in using a full suspension bike if going with a hub motor.

Grantmac said:

Way too expensive for a 26", worth maybe half that.

Also no real point in using a full suspension bike if going with a hub motor.

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Why isn't full suspension compatible with a hub motor?

This is about the speed that you plan to ride, and the terrain of course. On the street, 40 mph is very uncomfortable on a hard tail. In mountain trails, suspension is a must unless you ride them slow and occasionally.

My favorite Giant frame for a hub build has no triangle space. My own speed record on a Giant was a 2006 Faith, 105 mph no motor. The stiffest of all the Giants, a very confidence inspiring frame with a suspension design thst is easy to mod for a big hub. Not the easiest to build, but for a heavy hub it is the one I would choose, and it can be found cheap too. The Trance is a good frame but I’d say more suitable for a BB drive.

BlueSeas said:

Grantmac said:

Way too expensive for a 26", worth maybe half that.

Also no real point in using a full suspension bike if going with a hub motor.

Click to expand...

Why isn't full suspension compatible with a hub motor?

Click to expand...

The unsprung weight of the motor makes it unsuitable offroad. By the time you modify the suspension to handle it you have no small bump compliance. Better off just going with a fat tire setup.

BlueSeas said:

Why isn't full suspension compatible with a hub motor?

Click to expand...

It will be better than a hard tail at speeds that you would ride a hard tail at, so low speed damping should be ok. High speed rebound damping is the challenge, since the shock has to deal with the extra weight and will pack. Sort of depends on whether your goal is comfort or performance.

E-HP said:

BlueSeas said:

Why isn't full suspension compatible with a hub motor?

Click to expand...

It will be better than a hard tail at speeds that you would ride a hard tail at, so low speed damping should be ok. High speed rebound damping is the challenge, since the shock has to deal with the extra weight and will pack. Sort of depends on whether your goal is comfort or performance.

Click to expand...

I'm not sure what the goals are. I built a hard tail MB conversion. It does 40+ mph. However, it feels at the ragged edge, more so than my BMW motorcycle at 110+.

I'd really like to partake of some dirt bike trails, the problem is they are all 50+ miles away, and have no decent means of transport. I have a hitch/rack that would do the hard tail, but it won't do my latest work in process a stealth clone at 120 lbs, and no top tube.

So...I asked the full suspension question probably with an eye on road use. At 40 and under. I'm hoping this one rides better at speed than the hard tail. But it's full suspension with a hub motor.

Grantmac said:

The unsprung weight of the motor makes it unsuitable offroad. By the time you modify the suspension to handle it you have no small bump compliance. Better off just going with a fat tire setup.

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I agree but still build with hubs. My purpose is not ideal suspension. My trails are nice and I do the lap much faster with a hub. Most of all, I ride a lot of mileage and need reliability.

Off road is a pretty broad and generic term mate. Off road can mean a walking pathway by the river, flat single track that can be done on a single speed by your grandma. Heck even riding a soccer field is off road.

You probably mean air time and fast bumpy riding, and lastly technical riding. In that case a store bought mid drive ebike would be the way to go because millions have been spent on the center of gravity, engineering and design, weld beads, suspension geometry. If you dont want to go that route then a brand name down hill bicycle with a mid drive. Flip side to that, do you think the generic bicycle or ebike purchased off alibaba/aliexpress has the same amount of money dumped into the brand, quality control, welds, suspension geometry, design and engineering? The Giant is a brand name, sufficient enough to last a long time, slap on whatever you want and be done with it. Have fun!

The other 99% of people never ever have 2 wheels ever off the ground, ever.

Grantmac said:

The unsprung weight of the motor makes it unsuitable offroad. By the time you modify the suspension to handle it you have no small bump compliance. Better off just going with a fat tire setup.

Click to expand...

I could be wrong, but I don't think a BBSHD will fit on there. The reduction gear housing sticks out pretty far on the right on those units, and looks like it might hit the swingarm pivot on that side.
Plus, I've seen several people break their links on that VPP type suspension, from bowing the frame to the right with the chain pull.
As soon as you say commuting, I hear hub motor. Crank drive is great off road for jumps, but for actually getting to and from work, the bulletproof reliability of hub motor is hard to beat.
Since I usually wear a backpack anyway, I run mine with a back pack battery, which radically simplifies a build, and less worries about rain or a thief messing with the battery.


Scored that frame and shock for $100, and the rest was leftovers from my parts bins.

https://bikeisland.com/cgi-bin/BKTK_STOR20.cgi?Action=List&SubCategoryNew=Bikes:%20Mountain%20with%2026%20inch%20Wheels

Wow those guys have some great prices sure like to see it before I buy it. you have to get lucky if you needed a big size.

My Motobecane linked below is the same bike I bought from BI..
I payed $799 and although sold as a 'scratch and dent", arrived w/ only some minor scuffing on the frame down-tube.
The components like the shifters, crank, gearsets, brks., etc were all top of the line (in '11) and easily added up to more than I payed for the bike. Heck, the air shock (still avail.) is $300.
The guys at Bike Island were great. They get back to you right away and everything they told me was spot on.
Highly recommended.
http://www.bikesdirect.com/products/motobecane/fantom_team_xi.htm
Bike Island is the "clearing house" store for Bikes Direct, which in turn is the factory store for the "made in Taiwan" Motobecanes..

Since July I've ridden 870 miles on a 1997 FS bike with a rear MAC motor. Most riding is on paved bike paths, with perhaps a hundred miles on streets. This bike rides very well, comfort is much better than the rigid ebike I rode for 1200 miles during the first half of the year. 20 mph is a comfortable cruising speed, but most riding is in the 14 to 16 mph range. 25 mph is very doable.

A hub motor increases unsprung weight by a factor of 4 or 5x and that was a concern, but in actual riding it has not been a problem. The suspension is not plush or long travel but it is enough to be far superior to a rigid bike. That said, a good front fork and a Thudbuster Long Travel seatpost on a hard tail, rear hub motor, bike should do very well. The hard tail makes building a good torque arm much easier than on a FS bike that has a pivot in the swing arm and seat stay positioned back by the dropouts.

The bike you are looking at does not have a pivot point back near the dropouts, it uses a rigid rear triangle, this makes building torque arms much easier. It does have hoods in front of the dropouts, that complicates building the torque arms though, but not by a lot.

Anyway, the Trance 3 should make a very good street bike using a rear hub motor.

Final thought, it's good to get the battery first so you can see if it will fit in the front triangle. If not, look at some of the early FS bikes from GT and Specialized, some have a lot of front triangle space.

My 52V, 20Ah, 14s, 8p battery weighs 12.2 lb. I've used it on a rear rack and also mid mounted on the side of where a front triangle would be. There is no noticeable difference when riding but mid mount is a lot easier to handle when stopped on uneven ground, especially when your footing is unsure. The rider is the major weight component of the bike when riding. Stopped with the riders feet on the ground and the center of gravity of the bike changes and it's a big change if the bike uses a rear hub motor and rack top mounted battery. Lowering the battery by putting it in a rear rack side pannier helps a lot.

Hope this helps, keep us posted on what you do and how it works out.