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further to my other post on the new 2013 giant bikes,i am now torn between the above?
i did have a 2010 anthem x2 (awesome bike).
as much as i am thinking of going for another anthem x,i am also thinking about the trance x too.
i ride the ridgeway/marlbrough downs/salisbury plain so the anthem x was ideal.the thing is though that i am thinking of the trance (in case i ever can go to places like wales/scotland some day to ride) it would be an all rounder where the anthem is more a cross country race machine (excluding me riding one though 😉
would be interested in hearing what you might choose yourselves,if you were choosing between them? 🙂
Trance for me, better on the downs and probably 99.9% as efficient on the flat and climbing - their suspension is very good for pedalling
i did have a 2010 anthem x2 (awesome bike).
Sorry for not reading the other thread: but what's "wrong" with what you have now? Are there any shortcomings? Is it just worn out? What do YOU want it to do different? Could you spend all that cash on something more permanent / longlived (eg a trip)?
Not being cheeky - that's what my missus says to me when I fancy a change on a whim (btw she just shrugs her shoulders at whatever I decide).
You can ride those other places on an anthem. Buy the bike for the riding you do most of not the riding you aspire to do. You'll spend most of your time wishing you had something lighter and faster. If you do decide to got to Scotland then you could hire something burly really easily.
Jonba +1, anthem x is ideal for your normal rides IMO (but then I'd prob rather have a handrail for those areas).
Trance x would just be overkill on those areas... It would do my head on more having to ride the trance on most stuff than taking the anthem to bigger stuff (fir the places you describe, the anthem will be perfectly happy).
Anthem X IMO
I ride just about everything on my original Anthem, with 3.5" travel & steeper head angles.
Sold my Reign & just don't ride my 456 as the Anthem does it all.
Great fun at most trail centres if that's what you're thinking about, quicker than a lot of longer travel bikes unless you're going places like Cwmcarn for the bigger DH stuff.
I also had the same dilema prior to buying my current Anthem X2. Fortunately my LBS let me take both for a couple of days around the areas I would be riding 99% of the time. As I live west berks my riding is pretty much the same as you have. Personally I didn't like the Trance. It is completely different in feel and felt wrong for this type of riding compared to the Anthem. The Anthem felt right. You need to try both around your area. Buy a bike for most of your riding or you will have a bike that is great for conditions you don't ride in. Anthem all the way to me.
If you're concered your Anthem won't be ok for scotland or wales etc. My friend just spent a few days riding a spec hardrock in Afan and it survived and so did he and your Anthem is def better than that. My other friend was living on Isle of skye and was ridin there and the scots mountains on a spec Rockhopper.
Stick with the Anthem until you know you need more than the Anthem
couldashouldawoulda - Member'i [u]did[/u] have a 2010 anthem x2 (awesome bike).'
Sorry for [u]not reading[/u] the other thread: but what's "wrong" with what you have now?
I suspect that they no longer have the 2010 anthem and that the current bike doesn't feel as good to them.
One of each of course 😆
I've got a 26" Trance for the tighter technical circuits, and just bought a 2013 Anthem 29er for more open trails and races.
Having posted on your other thread, I thought I'd elaborate. I ride a 2009 anthem frame with 3*9 xt, upgraded with 2012 xt brakes. I've put a Revelation u-turn 100-130mm dual air fork, set with a little too much air in the neg chamber so in reality have 90-120mm travel. With this bike I ride all over the Mendips / Quantocks as my 'normal' riding, and take it over to the welsh trail centres without any concerns at all.
However, I'm thinking the same as you, should I swap to the 120mm frame for bigger days.... My thinking is that there's no way I need the burlier frame 99% of the time (I ride like a pansy!) however for the bigger days I'd like to do (Alps trips etc.) then really, I'd want a 140 / 160 type 'big' bike. I don't think the small step up is worth a new bike, and the bigger step up is too much for all the rest of my riding.
Hope that in some way that helps!
I've used my Anthem X all over the place with a 120mm fork on including a week in the Alps, it even managed ok on the Megavalanche run down Alpe d'huez. I'd say it's more than a capable bike.
As above, either will handle both scenarios (everyday and jaunts) fine. I tried an Anthem and a Trance and went for the Trance. It just felt more like what I expected a bike to feel like. The Anthem was too pointy, always in a rush to get somewhere... anywhere! And the Trance does climb absolutely fine.
I'd say if you race XC there's a stronger case for ignoring the Trance and just going for the Anthem. Otherwise try both and just go with personal preference.
thanks for your thoughts on the bikes 🙂
couldashouldawoulda i swapped my anthem x2 for a ht (that i still have) in 2011,but miss the anthem (am keeping my ht also this time though 😉
in all truthfulness the anthem x will be all the bike i'll need,was just interested in people who had a trance x (ridden both bikes). now it's just saving the money for it (am planning on going for the x2 model at £1699.99 (then upgrading as funds allowed) [img] 
[/img] 😀
My order of Giants has been.....
Reign to Trance to AnthemX to Anthem to Advanced Anthem 3.5. All feel way tougher than they should be.
here is your source of Anthem X's... 2011 ones had a much better spec than current ones.
http://www.paulscycles.co.uk/products.php?plid=m1b4s1p0&tbv=GIANT_Mountain_Bikes_Full_Suspension