The folks at Giant get a little defensive when you talk about their bikes’ usually remarkable value. Giant wants to be known as an equal competitor on the market, not one stuck with the lower standards associated with budget-oriented brands like Diamondback or Mongoose. But they keep making good affordable bikes. And today, they added one more.

Photo Credit: Kip Mikler

The original Stance was released a half a decade ago, and hasn’t undergone any major changes since. Back then, 27.5-inch wheels were the safest choice if you wanted to make a bike for the masses. But that’s changing, so Giant is introducing the Stance 29. And the bike’s been updated with more than just big wheels. The seat angle (of course, we start with seat angle) steepened to 75 degrees, the head angle did not steepen despite the Stance’s move to 29-inch wheels and both build options, the Stance 1 and Stance 2, come with 34-millimeter-stanchion forks and SRAM SX Eagle drivetrains. The frames still do feature front-derailleur mounts, presumably to serve regions of the globe that still cling to their left shifters.

Photo Credit: Kip Mikler

The Stance 29 frames still rely on Giant’s FlexPoint suspension. Essentially a traditional single-pivot four-bar setup but with a flex stay in the place of the dropout pivot. It makes no lofty claims of kinematic wizardry like the Maestro, but it gets the job done. The Stance 29 floats 120 millimeters of rear travel and 130 up front. Both models come with tubeless-ready rims and tires, and though the lower-priced Stance 2 comes with a solid seatpost, the Stance 1 specs Giant’s not-great-but-not-terrible Contact Switch dropper.