Giant Trance L or XL frame for tall guy?

[Duckboy]

Hi boys and girls..
I'm a tall guy, 6'5" or 195cm, roadie frame is a 58.5 giant compact (XL)

Have been riding a friend's hardtail offroad and loving it.

After much looking around, have my heart set on a Trance dually, to be used mainly for singletrack trails/XC, a bit of downhill stuff but nothing too serious, needs to be able to go uphill aswell!

Have test ridden a 20"(L) frame, and it felt fine, but no LBS had a 22" (XL) for me to try. Maybe the 22" might feel even, um, finer?

Anyone out there around my size can shed any light? Advice from bike shops is 50/50. i'm ready to lay down the $$ but can't make a decision!

 

[Mampara]

Look at the length of the top tube rather then the length of the seat tube.

 

[Rockslayer]

Just a thought.
Not sure what you mean by "feeling fine" but can be a bit tricky with a mtb I'd be geussing that you tested the bike on pavement? Also at the same height you may have different inseam and length in the arms than the next person. If you were able to get the right feel / fit with the L its probably the right one for you. Keep in the mind that the bike needs to be shine when you hit the singletracks, tech uphill and bombing downhill. Advice can be 50/50 as preferences vary depending on the way each person rides and the aggressiveness of riding they do. Probably try hold out and ride an XL but ultimately if a frame is too large it may be less responsive and a little clumsy when riding the real stuff. Unfortunately most shops don't really do Demo bikes for offroad MTB so you can really test them in their element. I have a Reign I was borderline M / L but I went M and it works for me.

 

[Duckboy]

I've rung all the bike shops i can think of and none have an XL in stock.

Yes it's hard to know how the bike feels just by a few laps around the block, i rode one Large frame for 15-20mins or so and felt very comfortable on it. Looking at Giant's geometry diagrams, the apparent top tube length on the 20" MTB frame is the same as on my XL roadie.

I'm leaning towards the Large frame for more "chuckability" on trails, but i'm wondering if the XL frame isn't for someone my height, then who the hell IS it for!?

 

[Rockslayer]

the downhill and tech stuff is addictive one would be inclined to do more of it.
You will probably still have the clearance on an XL frame but that is due to the design on the Maestro bikes. it's kinda easy to feel that the bike is too small as they are designed to give you more clearance compared to a standard frame
Check your riding position which probably more important than the tube length. If you can ride feeling comfortable on pavement roads etc.with seat up full extension of the leg and comfortable arm positioning probably means you have close to the correct bike size or max size you need.