Review: Giant Anthem 27.5 1

[Claudio]

With all the hype surrounding a certain large company's suspension design and reasonable pricing, I was excited to get behind the bars of one of their offerings. When Dragon Sports offered me a Trance to test I obviously jumped at the opportunity. But two days before I was due to pick up the bike, I was told that the Trance was unavailable.

 

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[marko35s]

Nice review.

Pretty sure I huffed and puffed my way past when you were doing the photos for this not long back.

[DJR]

Hey, watcha doin riding an Anthem with BAGGIES? No wonder the thing refused to climb for you! It needs a LYCRA jockey!

[Claudio]

Actually it climbed really well, just descended better. Think it was probably the baggies that did that. I refuse lycra at every turn.

[MTBeer]

the only time lycra is allowed on a mtb is on a gravel road and even then it's a bit dodgy....

[marko35s]

the only time lycra is allowed on a mtb is on a gravel road and even then it's a bit dodgy....

Or when you have looked at the price of baggies and thought sod that for a game of soldiers.

[MTBeer]

and on that note

 

[Red Zone]

Bottom line, it seems overpriced for the performance it delivers, I don't want to spend R30k on a bike to have to replace, wheels, tyres, bars & stem and then get a bike that might not fit the bill as a great XC race machine

[Claudio]

Bottom line, it seems overpriced for the performance it delivers, I don't want to spend R30k on a bike to have to replace, wheels, tyres, bars & stem and then get a bike that might not fit the bill as a great XC race machine

 

Well, it all comes down to personal preference. I didn't like the bar and stem combo, and I like more engagement points in the freebody, but others might not even notice. In terms of value for money, you're getting a great frame with an awesome drivetrain. Most of the time people will buy a bike just for these things and change out the components that are usually a rider's personal preference.

[DJR]

I'd love to see your report on the Trance 650B when Dragons manage to get you one. They probably sold them to quickly and got caught with their pants down out of stock.

[Peacheye]

I bought a Titan Pro 650b with full XT groupset and rockshox reba front suspension for 12k, bought the Giant Anthem 27.5 frame for 13k and voila I have the bike with full XT and not the slx/xt combo plus XT hubs and ZTR Crest rims for 25k best bike ever

[werner1619]

My 5 cents, having owned a few, much more expensive bikes, the Anthem is a very, very good bike and great value for money when comparing parts and performance to money spent !

[Carl1991]

Awesome bike i recently bought the 2015 model new for 28k new, been an amazing bike I got my self a shorter stem much better but ya I would change the bars too soon still seeking a good carbon bar maby a next riser bar, and drive train is amazing but 1x11 would be nice, and had to run 1,3 bar in the front tire for grip, but it's an awesome bike I love it perfect,

[MTBeer]

Awesome bike i recently bought the 2015 model new for 28k new, been an amazing bike I got my self a shorter stem much better but ya I would change the bars too soon still seeking a good carbon bar maby a next riser bar, and drive train is amazing but 1x11 would be nice, and had to run 1,3 bar in the front tire for grip, but it's an awesome bike I love it perfect,

jeez, what do you weigh 35kg?

[Carl1991]

Haa Haa lol , 67kg actually ???? , not sure what baggy pants was saying about the climb but I think it climbs rather well , I men I did FNB monster 1km climbing on super loos rocks all the way to the top wile most where walking lol just shuved my rear shock in climb and off you go was awesome,

[JXV]

Reviewer has a bike with CTD suspension, avoids the climb setting on rear shock and then criticises climbing performance ....

 

I maintain a pair of these for friends and they are great bikes for the price. The CTD Performance fork has the FIT damper not the open bath CTD that was so disastrous on the Evolution Series so it works well but had the same stiffness problem mentioned in the review. Found almost no oil in it when doing the first lowers service Changing the bath oil to 20ml Fox Gold each side and tweaking the air pressure / damping to suit the rider's weight sorted all that completely. Happy owners.

 

Strange choice on that particular model to spec SLX shifters with XT derailers. The other way around would shift better. Also, the cassette is SLX and not ideal for conversion to wide range 10spd if you go 1x because the 15t and 17t can't be removed.

 

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Edited August 22, 2016 by JXV