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anyone own or ridden the 2022 Giant Anthem Advanced ? Looking for a light and efficient XC bike to compliment my Trance X. Looks an excellent choice for long (80 to 100mile) UK cross country rides.
Hi I know your looking at the anthem, but have you ruled out other bikes, I have an s-works epic evo for sale in classifieds and would class it as a lot better of a bike for the marathon type rides your taking about, and it is quite a bit lighter than the anthems, there are some good reviews on you tube about them
You sure about the “quite a bit lighter than Anthems”, the advanced 29er comes in around 10.1kgs
I've got the 2018 model. Hopefully the 2022 model is very different. If not then I suggest you don't touch it with a bargepole.
Why?
11.4kg for the top of the range one
Epic Evo would also be the one I'd look at for marathon XC. Seriously light and capable bike with better geo than the Anthem. Or a Santa Cruz Blur.
Why?
Because it's shit as a mountain bike.
Preamble. I have nothing against Giant bikes. My kids had the 27.5 Anthem and it was utterly brilliant. Really good. Light, stable, generally brilliant.
The 29er Anthem is not.
Basically it is as much like a road bike as any full suss MTB I have encountered. far too much like a road bike in fact.
It absolutely flies on road. I did a measured average 17.2mph for 90 minutes on mine, which is only 1mph less than I ever managed on my road bike. The tyres are really low resistance. It is very very twitchy,
I did a fair 100km + rides on it during COVID. Altrincham to Macc Forest then Buxton, or Alti to the Roaches or to Rush up/ Jacobs ladder. Half road half MTB. But the fact was that it was much better on road than off it. IiRC I pushed most of Cavedale when I did lord of the loops on it because it was just so unmanageable on tech.
It had a shit 27.2 seatpost, with a nightmare fiddly ****stain wedge arrangement seat clamp bolt. Utter nightmare to drop. ( I'm sure the newer one has a decent dropper and better clamp arrangement, so irrelevant for you)
My advancing years have brought home to me just how damned uncomfortable it is to ride. It was brilliant on road and really easy stuff, but a nightmare on anything tricky.
Have a check on the angles etc to compare. If the new one is the same then steer clear. Or come to manc,/Peak/lakes to try mine out for a few hours.
HTH
Previously had the Anthem, sold it and bought an Epic Evo, have no regrets and wouldn't even test ride one now if I was looking to replace the Evo (I'm not).
James
How have you got on with the trance x coconut?
Love the Trance X, it’s brilliant and a really really good climber. The Trance is a full on trail bike and a bit too knackering for long XC, hence initial interest in the Anthem, but appreciate the feedback from riders on here.