Giant Glory Review: Versatile Or Conflicted? | 2024 Downhill Bike Field Test

The new Glory, on paper, is a pragmatic yet ambitious bike; either wheel size, integrated reach adjustment headsets, chainstay adjustment... plus a slew of other great smaller features but what did our testers think? And how did it ride out on the trail of the Whistler Bike Park?

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[growlith]

I think a lot of people lose sight of what's important. I ride a 2017 Glory, I didn't buy it because it has race wins, or perfect specs. I bought it because its tough, its fun, it asks very little, and gives back so much. When I screw up it saves my ass, its not a razors edge bike, its a park bike for a weekend warrior. Unless you are a top tier rider, you are wasting time on the semantics. Watch any whistler bike check and see guys running ancient 27, 26, inch bikes who are totally in love with their smaller, nimble, bomb proof bikes and you start to realize that we are all just splitting hairs here.

[flippergv]

I can't remember Pinkbike trashing a bike this much.

[andyboy]

Pinkbike is never getting another Giant to review ever again 😂😂😂

[ethanspilker]

Why would you set fork height the same on all bikes in the test? It's an adjustment that you should be changing to get comfortable on a bike, just like clickers, sag, etc. Would have been interesting to hear where you ended up with the fork height on each bike to get an idea of what might work best on that model.

[alexisvdg]

It would be great if PB did a review of the new GT Fury. It's one of the downhill bikes that almost no one is talking about.

[BockaufBiken]

Jesus Christ that rig is looking good!

[bikesnblades]

The single most ridiculously priced downhill bike on the market. And it's a giant.
I can not, under any circumstances, come up with an idea what they were thinking when this bike and its price tag were approved.

[Blisterexcist]

I have one and it works. I ride it as full 29. The only thing that needs time is the suspension setup. The wheels i have changed stright out of the box 11 months ago.

[dhrracer]

It sounds like Giant said "we have to do something" but they did not really care what they did. For the intermediate rider getting into DH is not going to or should not be buying an 8k+ DH bike.

[vrwgqq]

interesting... I guess "stack" height is hard to adjust other than bars themselves being that crown to fork is going to be pretty much max with a 40 or Boxxer and a direct mount stem.

[troymortimer]

Honestly we need to see progression curves, anti squat and rise, then compare these with other bikes there is good software that PB should be using. This would strengthen their comments

[vrwgqq]

I also have a feeling that Maestro hasn't kept up with with the updates that other VPP bikes have done... i.e. Santa Cruz, DW 6, ABP

[ImMikoFreako]

Thanks for another DH bike review. Now please test Saracen MYST 2024

[DW-]

Geo aside, would be interesting to see if a change in shock (even to another of the same type) would have altered the rear suspension behaviour. Given the evolution rather than revolution, seems strange the performance would be so inconsistent. Almost sounds like shock issue rather than frame issue. Maybe????

[HUKIT.]

While maybe not the stellar review Giant was hoping for but damn it’s sexy as hell.

[FreekaPista]

Seems like Giant have over engineered their bike without knowing what the sum of its parts would be.

To go so deep into adjustable linkages flip chips, reach adjust, etc. without offering an angle adjust headset screams that the consumer is not the target audience of this bike. I have to imagine the added complexity of the adjustable components added significantly to the cost of the bike, and why they felt the need to skimp on items like the rotors.

Its quite a shame in my mind, because the Glory was the definitive privateer bike of the late '00s and '10s, and Giant has built their brand on offering good value for privateer atheletes and enthusiasts across nearly every discipline. It feels like this update is major departure from that philosophy.

[DaveH]

Why didn’t you test it with a 29” back wheel as well, rather than just speculating.

[durace]

The flaw w maestro is the lower link, it wants to snap back to its original position during travel cycle, zero square edge absorption.

[Thelastrun]

Got one seems a lot better than what they are saying it is. Is it my favourite no but definitely up there. Way better than the slander pb gave it

[Zahava]

Giant says that, in their own testing, deore rt-66 rotors dissipate heat better than xt rt-86. I have no idea if true, obviously not what Shimano says about ice-tech…