This Giant Stance E+ custom build—The Wanderer—was made for one thing: distance.Some bikes get built for jumps. Some get built for commuting. The Wanderer was built for distance.
Whether on forest trails or paved pathways, the Giant Stance E+ custom build is designed for adventure.
This Giant Stance E+ custom build excels in performance across diverse terrains, for a smooth ride while exploring.
Underneath it all, it’s a 2023 Giant Stance E+—a full‑suspension 29er e‑MTB with modern geometry and a solid trail pedigree. But with the right changes, it turned into something different: a long‑range forest‑road explorer that really shines when traction isn’t the limiting factor. Hardpack, gravel, chipseal, and endless national‑forest fire roads are its home turf.
This unique Giant Stance E+ custom build redefines distance riding, making it a favorite in the stable. With the Giant Stance E+ custom build, I can tackle long journeys without compromising on comfort or efficiency.
Built for Distance, Not Drama
The core of the Wanderer is Giant’s SyncDrive motor paired with an internal EnergyPak battery, but the real unlock was adding Giant’s range extender—the EnergyPak Plus add‑on pack—to the system. With the extender mounted, this thing stops feeling like a typical e‑MTB and starts feeling like a low‑traffic, backcountry shuttle for the rider and a pile of camera gear. That’s what this Giant Stance E+ custom build is all about..
The Giant Stance E+ custom build offers a blend of power and versatility on any terrain.
On firm surfaces, it’s fast and pretty lean for what it is. I deliberately built it around terrain where you don’t need huge, soft, slow rubber to survive. When the ground is solid, the Wanderer just keeps rolling.
Frame and Motor: e-MTB Bones, Explorer Soul
At its heart, it’s still a Stance E+:
- Frame: 29er aluminum frame with about 140 mm up front and 120–125 mm out back, modern trail geo, and room for real tires.
- Motor: Giant SyncDrive mid‑drive motor with multiple assist modes and walk assist, controlled by the RideControl unit on the bar/top tube.
- Battery: An internal EnergyPak downtube battery as the primary power source.
The range extender elevates the Giant Stance E+ custom build, making it perfect for lengthy excursions. With this setup, the Giant Stance E+ custom build empowers me to explore farther without hesitation. The dual battery system is a game changer for the Giant Stance E+ custom build, ensuring extended adventures.
Choosing the Giant Stance E+ custom build means prioritizing comfort and performance on long rides. It’s this versatility of the Giant Stance E+ custom build that makes it stand out. Stock, it’s a capable trail e‑MTB. The Wanderer twist is what I hung around that skeleton.
Dual‑Battery Range: The EnergyPak Plus
For distance, the big piece was the range extender—Giant’s EnergyPak Plus add‑on battery.
It mounts to the frame with a dedicated base plate and cable kit, and once it’s wired in, the system treats it like an auxiliary tank: you effectively stack another ~200–250 Wh on top of the internal pack, depending on the exact model. That’s the difference between “I should turn around at this junction” and “let’s go see where that side spur goes.”
Between the main EnergyPak and the extender, this bike is comfortable heading deep into national‑forest road networks—up, over, and back—with enough margin to linger at overlooks or chase extra spurs without range anxiety.
Where the Wanderer Excels
This isn’t a mud‑bog or rock‑garden specialist. The Giant Stance E+ custom build was made precisely for these surfaces.‑between:
- Forest‑service roads
- Gated doubletrack
- Hardpack and gravel
- Paved connectors between hollow and ridge
Tires for Firm Surfaces: Schwalbe Hurricane
Every ride on the Giant Stance E+ custom build is an experience shaped by its custom design and technology.
The tire choice drives that personality. I swapped the stock trail rubber for Schwalbe Hurricane 29×2.0 Performance tires.
The Hurricanes are semi‑slicks:
- Fast, continuous center tread that rolls almost like a road tire on pavement and hardpack.
- Defined shoulder knobs that hook up when you lean into loose corners or hit patches of gravel.
On the right surfaces, they make the bike feel genuinely quick and quiet—much more so than a typical e‑enduro tire. If traction becomes the problem (deep mud, wet roots, loose baby‑heads), they’re the limiting factor by design. When the ground is good, they let the Wanderer feel lighter and more agile than the frame and motor numbers would suggest.
Cockpit: Built to Sit and Spin
The terrain this bike sees—long, sometimes steep forest climbs, rolling ridge roads, and a lot of seated miles—demanded comfort over out‑of‑the‑saddle aggression.
Stem and Bar
I swapped the stock cockpit for:
- A 50/50 tall stem: Slightly longer reach, more rise. It brings the bar closer and higher, taking weight off the hands and opening the chest for long, steady efforts.
- Deity Black Label riser bar: A wide, modern bar (trimmed to 760mm) with a rise and sweep that feel natural on slow climbs and fast forest‑road descents when the bike is loaded.
Together, they pull the stance away from “aggressive trail” and into something you can live in for hours.
Grips and Saddle
Contact points are unapologetically comfort‑biased:
- Ergon GP4 ergonomic grips to support the wrists and palms when the front wheel is chattering over washboard for miles.
- A Cloud 9 cruiser saddle with a big, padded platform that actually matches what the bike is doing now: long seated climbs and endless fire‑road rollers, not repeated out‑of‑the‑saddle hits.
It doesn’t look like an enduro cockpit anymore, and that’s intentional. The Wanderer trades some trail‑bike aggression for all‑day survivability.
Cargo: Camera, Drone, and Essentials
A huge part of the Wanderer’s job is hauling camera gear—drone, lenses, batteries, and the other bits that make stopping worth it.
Aeroe Spider Rear Rack and Pannier Pack
The rear of the bike carries the load:
- Aeroe Spider Rear Rack: Built for full‑suspension and e‑MTB frames without eyelets, it mounts securely to the rear triangle and is rated for meaningful weight.
- Aeroe Pannier Reciever: Bolts onto the rack, set up as a dedicated camera and drone hauler.
The goal is simple: keep the heavy, fragile stuff off my back and low and centered over the rear wheel, where the suspension can manage it and it won’t make the bike feel top‑heavy in corners or on descents. On washboard, the rack plus suspension is far kinder to electronics than a backpack.
Fenders and Grit Management
Rock Bros fender kits went on to keep the worst of the spray off both rider and gear. They’re not full touring fenders, but they’re enough to make long days on wet gravel or through puddles a lot less miserable. National‑forest roads can turn into a slurry of mud, clay, and crushed rock; keeping that off the camera and the rider’s backside matters more than it does on a pure trail bike.
How it Rides
On firm ground, the Wanderer feels composed and deceptively quick. The combination of Hurricanes, upright cockpit, and dual‑battery ballast gives it a planted, “keep going” attitude. That’s exactly what this Giant Stance E+ custom build was designed to do.
Climbing, I tend to leave it in Auto mode, let the motor smooth out the grades, and just spin. The goal isn’t speed; it’s coverage—stringing together multiple ridges, hollows, and side spurs without worrying about getting stranded at the farthest point out.
On the way back down, the 140/120‑ish suspension and big 29″ wheels soak up washboard and the random rough sections that appear out of nowhere on forest roads. We’re not hunting singletrack or big airtime. we’re trying to keep things smooth, quiet, and fast enough to enjoy without rattling the drone to death.
Where it Fits: The Giant Stance E+ Custom Build in Context in the Fleet
Every bike in a fleet has a clear job. The Wanderer’s job is:
- Go deep into national‑forest road networks.
- Carry camera and drone gear safely and comfortably.
- Exploit good conditions—firm ground, predictable surfaces—rather than bulldoze terrible ones.
In summary, the Giant Stance E+ custom build is the ultimate companion for outdoor exploration.
Don’t miss our adventures with the Giant Stance E+ custom build.
It complements more aggressive trail builds by covering the exploration mission: finding new lines, overlooks, and access points that may later warrant a different bike entirely.
For days when traction is good, the map is unclear, and the fire roads disappear into the hills, the Wanderer is the bike that rolls out of the garage.
Looking for a different kind of eBike build? Check out the FatTire Vagabond—our fat-tire, all-conditions counterpart built around the 2026 Aventon Aventure M. Or the OG, The FatTire Nomad.
Related Posts
Discover more from The FatTire Nomad
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
Pingback:Howardsville Turnpike eBike Ride: 200 Years of Forgotten History in Nelson County