Upgrade from Anthem2

[mountain_lion]

 

 

I have been riding a small Giant Anthem 2 since April 2007.

Could not fit the Anthem 1 in the budget at the time, but in general I am very happy with this bike. Problems I had were good excuses to upgrade.

 

The Giant shock did not last long (I am 85kg and hammer the downhills) so the suppliers offered an upgrade to Fox RP23 at a very good price, so now I have a decent shock on it.

 

Rear wheel Formula hub did not stand up to the Stellenbosch mud and was replaced with XT last year and rims are now DRC.

I struggled a bit to get the chain line right (XT hub seems to be a bit narrower than the Formula), but after sanding down the spacer ring on the Isis BB it is now working fine in the largest sprocket on the cassette.

 

It is starting to sound like the BB might be next to go after this winter...

I would prefer to change to outboard BB, but then the whole crank set needs replacement plus if there was chain line problems with the Isis BB, I can't see how the outboard BB will work on this frame.

Can the "dishing" of the rear wheel also affect the chain line?

Anybody upgraded a 2007 Anthem 2 to outboard BB?

 

So now I am wonderinig if it might not be worth while upgrading to a new bike and sell the Anthem2 while it still has some 2nd hand value.

 

Big question: new bike or upgrade existing?

If new, what to get?

 

I am a fun rider who does the odd 50km XC "race" over weekends. I enjoy single track at speed, especially the "technical" stuff although at 40+ I stay off the big jumps. Do I get a trail bike or do I stick to XC?

If I can get a decent price for the Anthem2, R20-25K budget might just be possible for a new bike...

Suggestions?

 

 

mountain_lion2009-07-14 02:10:25

[Hog_]

Just replace the BB with a new internal one. Nothing wrong with them!

 

If you're still enjoying the bike, then keep it. If you're looking for an excuse to buy something new, have a look at the Mongoose Teocali Super.

 

 

 

[Mr Mulebar]

Hi Mountain Lion, the Anthem is an awesome bike, I ride one as well!

 

 

 

I reckon it is definitely worth upgrading to an external BB crankset, the new SLX cranks are great value for money. As for the chainline, never had a problem with it and am running an external BB set up.

[Iwan Kemp]

Hmmm...upgrade probably makes more sense. If you're going new switch to Anthem X or something similar. Teocali is a totally different beast altogether. Not in the same class as an Anthem X.

 

 

 

For the money you can consider a Merida Ninety Six, but to be honest the Anthem is a better bike. If you're not gonna spend R40k+ there isn't much that can compare to it.

[Borriz]

I agree with all comments. I have Anthem2 and AnthemX at present. 2 different bikes and awesome in every way.

The external BB should fit very easy. Remember you have spacers that you insert at the BB that will help with alignment - never heard of sanding bit to fit or line up.

I run XT and XTR hubs, with XT cassette on XT and Chris King BBs and no problem with alignments.

Sounds to me more a case of "gat jeuk"! :-)

That is why I agree with The Crow. If you want to spend money look at R40k plus. Your current bike already set the bar and you won't settle for anything less than R40k. The riding that you do and the bike that you have is perfect fit.

If you want you want to upgrade look at Reba Rock Shox or Fox and better wheels. Will make huge difference.

I've done more than 20,000km on my Anthem and its still a bomb

[mountain_lion]

Thanks for the comment so far.

 

I am also leaning towards replacing / upgrading BB & crank rather than new bike (although a new bike will be nice and scratch the itch... )

 

I am also still confused by the chain line issue. Never seen anything like it before.

This started after I replaced the rear wheel (new XT hub and cassette).

New wheel was built by LBS. Took it back to them several times, but they never got it right. So fixed it myself.

Problem is that the largest cog on the cassette is further inwards on the new hub. Chain was running at a large angle inwards even on front granny ring, causing the chain to jump on the front.

 

Fitting the BB without a spacer solved the alignment problem, but then the FD did not have sufficient travel to select the granny ring.

Only solution I could find was to sand down the BB spacer.

I suspect that if I now fit an external BB, the crank set will move even further outwards, and thus the chainline problem will occur again...

 

Staying with internal Isis BB with existing crank is an option, but Cape mud gets in there so easily that even with regular opening and cleaning (as best as you can with these sealed BB units) it does not last long. Tedious job to do as well.

 

 

[mountain_lion]

 

I have Anthem2 and AnthemX at present. 2 different bikes and awesome in every way.

 

Would like to know the difference in ride between Anthem and AnthemX.

Please provide more details.

 

 

[TYGA]

Rode both the Anthem X2and Trance X2 this last weekend...both were awesome but depending on the type of riding you do, I would definitely consider the Trance before the Anthem, especially if like you say you enjoy hammering the downhills and technical stuff. More travel, more comfortably riding position, yet light enough for XC.  

[MoreTrails]

Yeah I am with XTC1 on that, Anthem is an XC bandit racing machine. Trance is a little more compliant over the rough stuff. Me personally, I would say get a trail bike and you won't look back...but thats me.

 

The external bb thing. Sometimes one needs to have the face of the bb shell on the frame reamed so that it is perfectly square and flat. This is a normal thing so don't be scared. The crank set with and internal bb sits more "inboard" i.e. the granny ring looks like it is hovering over the bb cup. You may even find the chain line gets better - but that would be a question for Mr Bornman.

 

The 1, 2, 3 or X behind the name is the model i think. 3 being baseline and X being top of the line....Is that right hubbers?

 

As Borriz says, bling your bike with some new tech, maybe get it a nifty paint job and you would have itched the itched. And there is always a reason to buy a new bike.... Crow will agree with me - go local, buy a Morewood!

 

[Johan Bornman]

Cut ciut cut cut cut c ut

 

 

Can the "dishing" of the rear wheel also affect the chain line?
Anybody upgraded a 2007 Anthem 2 to outboard BB?

 

No

[Wernervdmerwe]

1,2,3 and X...

 

 

 

1,2,3 - Only difference is components

 

The X is 2009 model and is a newly redesigned frame - different geometry, more travel etc

 

 

 

The X reminds me a lot of my Trance 1 though, Anthem X has 4" travel, Trance has 4.2" and the Trance X has 5"

 

 

 

So the X is more geared toward trails.Wernervdmerwe2009-07-14 10:15:00

[MoreTrails]

Cheers Werner - was wondering how it all worked

[mountain_lion]

 

1' date='2,3 and X...

 

 

 

1,2,3 - Only difference is components

 

The X is 2009 model and is a newly redesigned frame - different geometry, more travel etc

 

 

 

The X reminds me a lot of my Trance 1 though, Anthem X has 4" travel, Trance has 4.2" and the Trance X has 5"

 

 

 

So the X is more geared toward trails.[/quote']

 

Thanks Werner, that was how I had it too.

 

Now we are just waiting for Borriz to tell us what the difference in ride is between the new X and old plain Anthem, since he has both...

 

 

[mountain_lion]

 

Cut ciut cut cut cut c ut 

Can the "dishing" of the rear wheel also affect the chain line?

 

No

 

Thanks JB, did not think so.

 

Any comment on the chain line problem?

(hope my description is clear enough / make sense...)

 

 

[Slowbee]

eeeerrmmm M-L dont mean to hijack, but was riding next to a guy on the knysna and he also got onto this thing about a wheel "dishing".

 

In the interests of ongoing adult education, what does "dishing" mean?

 

 

[mountain_lion]

As I understand the term, the dish of a wheel refers to the off-set to allow for the cassette on the rear wheel. i.e. the rear rim is not centred on the hub.

JB can correct me if I am wrong when he replies regarding to my chain line problem...