*Alright…
After slogging the Giant Reign around, I decided to swing the full spectrum.. and go from their
enduro bike, to their Cross Country steed… the Giant Anthem Advanced 1.
For $4,950 you get a carbon main frame, Full shimano xt groupset and brakeset, Fox Float
34 performance fork, Fox float performance elite EVOL rear shock, the 125mm Giant contact
SL Switch dropper, and again… with amazing value… full carbon wheels… wrapped in
Schwalbe rubber – the Nobby Nic and Racing Ralph
Yes this bike is $5,000 … but they have aluminum builds starting at 2 grand… and
then top of the line for 8 grand…
I think the budget options in the middle offer an incredible value… one of Giant's strong
suits…
The ANTHEM is marketed as their 27.5" wheeled Cross Country bike….
So it's kind of opposite of what's considered the "future" of geometry and setup...
for my preferred ALL-ROUND trail bike..
With Short travel, with only 110mm in the rear, and 120mm up front…
A Relatively steep 68 degree heattube angle Short 750mm wide bars
And a Long 70mm stem I was fully expecting a HUGE swing in ride
experience… and BOY did I get it… but not in the way that I expected…
In the Grand Junction area, where EVERYONE rides a 150mm-160mm travel bike… this bike
sticks out like a sore thumb…
And Maybe, the fact that this bike was incredibly light helped… but WOW…I was blown away!
not only did this climb incredibly well… as expected… but, point it down.. and the
Anthem is hands down the most fun, playful, flickable bike I've ridden so far!
it fit like a glove… it was 2nd nature…
I didn't even have to think about what I wanted to do, where I wanted to go….
Or where I wanted to pop off of.
… it just did it! it wasn't riding me.. and I wasn't wrestling
it… it was just natural..
With It's reasonable reach at 435mm, for a medium, and reasonably short 428mm chainstays
… it certainly helped with the stable up front, yet playful feeling in the back ride…
But I was surprised to see that it had another slack seattube angle at 73.5 degrees!... as
a short guy, I enjoy a good 74 to 75 degree seattube angle to get over the bottom bracket
a little better… but i will say it didn't feel like it hindered in any way…
YES, the Anthem is a short-travel cross country oriented bike.. and if I was riding chunk
ALL day, I might start to feel a bit more beat up, than if I was on a longer travel
bike.…
but i felt like it had WAY more travel than it actually does…
I definitely used ALL of the travel.. but NEVER felt the bottom.. surprisingly there
were NO harsh bottom outs… probably due to the amazing and efficient Maestro suspension
design…
BUT – I don't know if you can truly consider this a dedicated cross country race machine…
that's probably more what the Anthem 29ers would be better for.. the 27.5 anthem makes
a better trail bike in my opinion.
When all is said and done..
I would DEFINITELY consider buying an Anthem…
BUT, even though it felt like it had more travel than the 110mm it has…
I still feel like it's just a HAIR under-gunned… maybe 120 or 130mm in the back would be a
nice balance..
BUT I will say..
The Anthem is FAR more capable than what its squirrely 2.25 inch tires and 21mm wide rims
lead you to believe…
*Yeah, it's awesome that it has carbon wheels… but it'd be nice to see a wider rim width,
than 21mm… at least push it out to G 30mm, and burlier tires like maxxis minions… along
with a longer dropper post… to really let the Anthem RIP the way that it begs you to!
*it would also be nice to see future, more aggressive versions.. with a little bit longer
fork like the SX version… wider bars, shorter stem……..
HOLD UP!... am I asking for what Giant currently calls the Trance!?.. haha…
All I know, is that not only would this make a decent XC bike.. but it's a fantastic
all-round trail bike!
Arguably more FUN and playful than it's longer legged siblings..
I would highly recommend trying the Anthem out for yourself!
*I think I've come to love the short travel 27.5 bike… for the "all-round" trail
riding application There are a few bikes that are fighting for
that top spot.. and this one is definitely up there!
*Maybe I'll save up to get 2 bikes… a short travel 27.5 for every day trail riding..
and a long travel 29er for crazy chunky downhill riding…
And then another bike… and another… and another… and another… and another… and
another!....HAHA..
One thing to mention, is that I DID end up cracking a carbon rim… on something not
too fast and hard hitting…
Although, I was frustrated at the time and let down….
I had to really take into consideration that these demo bikes are being taken out and beaten
to crap every single day.. for who knows how long!... and I'm not sure it wasn't already
damaged before I took it for the ride… there are a lot of things to take into consideration
when riding a DEMO bike..
If I left anything out… if you have any questions..
I LOVE comments! so Keep 'em coming!
And Hit that subscribe button if you like the videos... and let me know what you'd
like to see more of in the future!
Thanks for watching!
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