I'm starting to regret my £1850 purchase!!

jibbber

I bought a Giant Anthem 1 a few weeks ago, over a test riden Epic and Stumpjumper. Had a few geometry issues, but nothing a new stem, handle bar arrangement wouldn't fix. I love the bike all in all, riding it made me pick it straight away at the shop. But...... I just aint happy with the lack of suspension.....

It's only got 90mm rear and 80mm on the front, but even after a ride in Thetford this weekend, I just feel it aint enough for me. I actually felt more comfortable of my cheapy GT Idrive (worth £900+) and am just thinking what I mistake I have made. If I don't like riding it in Thetford, I sure as hell aint gonna like riding it up North or in Wales... GGGggggrrr, I feel so annoyed at myself :evil:

So, what do I do? Do I put up with it, but will always wish I'd bought something else. Or do I take the hit, buy an alternative from Ebay or another shop and sell the Giant on Ebay and loose a few hundered quid? I am even considering looking out for the old stumpjumpers 2nd hand, etc....

Opinions and advice please?

ddw

i guees it comes down to finances, if you dont like your bike and can afford to get a better one then do so

BlackSpur

I would not discount the bike on the basis of one ride.

jibbber

It's not so much as getting a better one, as the Anthem 1 is a top bike and reviewers love it, parts on it are great too (XT/XTR, etc). Although initially it felt right for me, after riding it "properly" it just doesn't suit my riding. So I'd just wanna get a similar bike, but with more travel and more comfortable.

I can't afford to own two bikes, I def have to sell the Giant and more than likely get a second hand bike of similar quality to replace it, if you see what I mean.

jibbber

BlackSpur wrote:

I would not discount the bike on the basis of one ride.

I've done 2, 20 mile road rides and 2 all dayers down my local single track (Thetford). I was just cursing the whole time yesterday, getting bumped off the seat every 2 mins with the rear shock hitting it's furthest travel, etc, plus i got a sore butt and arms (even though i had my old saddle, stem and handle bars on it!

Paul Sh

I have this kind of discussion with my wife all the time, the things i have bought in the past that turn out to be a huge mistake is massive, to a degree i think this kind of predicament is really unfair on the buyer.

It's all good and well having a 10 minute test ride outside the shop, but when you venture out into the real world (as you have sadly found out) things can take a massive nose dive.

Years ago i bought a car, i went on a 15 minute test drive, car was good, i bought it, i bought the car to use as a taxi and that was when i found out how uncomfortable this car was, after just 3hrs it gave me horrific lower back pain, i was gutted,l £6500 down the drain, ufortunately you don't get a 3hrs test drive before purchase.

Personally i would sell it while it's still new and stomach a couple of hundered quid loss before it looses anymore money, just advertise it as an impluse buy or unwanted gift, Good look and sorry.

Cps

Sell it now and go bargain really hard for the replacement you want

I reckon you will keep on finding faults and the longer it goes the more it will depreciate.


Just ebay it with a reasonable reserve.

newbiketime

The Anthem is a truly great bike. There are so many things its great at. But if your doing the sort of riding that requires a bit more travel you have a few options. I know a few people running travel adjust forks on these and popping it up for the down hills. The longest fork I have seen is a 135mm. That is probably two long but just saying it has been done. The other thing is look out for a longer travel giant frame for sale cheap. I say this as all your parts will fit easily. You see trances and the like going cheap all the time. I have a brand new Giant Reign with full warranty in a small going very cheap. May be to small and to much travel.

Torres

Possible sell the frame and forks and finance somethign new to put the other parts on?

Blundell

I'd stick with your bike for a little longer before you make any rash decisions.
Getting a new bike is always a tough thing, you have to start from scratch to get a machine that works and feels great for you.
The anthem has a completely different setup to your original GT. The first instance would be to make a compromise between the setup of the anthem and your i-drive. Easiest way to do this would probably be to turn the rebound of the back suspension down so that it gives a less buckaroo feel. Also, if you feel too stretched out move the saddle a little further forward on its rails.

The anthem is very much like a titanium hardtail, you have to pick your lines pretty well, ram raiding through some obstacles just doesn't work.

It's taken me a long time to get properly au fait with my litespeed, now I have I durnst not not ride it if ya know what I mean!

grantway

That spec of forks tells me one thing has being a race bike.

Best thing is to put it on the market before the 09 models come out
and the shops sell off at discount prices your 08 model, meaning you
will be losing even more money.

Its a trail or all mountain bike people should be looking at
unless for XC racing.

dunker

is'nt there any way to stiffen up the suspension a bit? not sure if that would help or not though?

jibbber

Thanks for all the replies...

I am just thinking, if my main gripe is suspension, there aint really alot I can do to adjust it or make it better. I spent ages on the trail tweaking the rebound etc, but it only helped slightly, the problem really lies in the amount of travel itself. If I go and put some beefier forks on it, I'll mess up it's geometry won't I? Plus I can't do anything about the rear.

Chaka Ping

Try Blundell's suggestion of tinkering with the rear sus rebound a bit.

I found nothing to trouble my Anthem on Thetford's red or black routes - in fact it alsolutely flew round.

That just makes me suspect there's something amiss in your shock setup.

320DMsport

I'm not sure what rear shock it has but can't you put more air pressure in it?

Surely there must be XC guys that pummel these things every weekend on some technical XC events?

I've only had dealings with a RP23 and it was set up for my weight.

Be a shame to take a hit so early on, it would have to be discounted alot to make it attractive to a buyer as they could get a new one, surely there must be some way round it?

dunker

if you can yeah, pump more air in the rear shock, or replace it with something with the same travel but more beefy?

shin0r

Personally I'd sell it now, take the financial hit and buy something like an Orange 5 or a Heckler; it sounds like this is what you should have bought in the first place. Alas, hindsight is the clearest sight of all.

passout

Bigger, more knobbly tyres?

jibbber

I did get £185 worth of extras with the bike, so in theroy I only paid £1665, if I sell it for £1500+ (worth £1850 and only ridden off road twice) then I go and buy a bargain, 2nd hand or ex-demo for £1500 - £1700 I'll only loose £200ish, which although poo, it's surely better than having a bike I aint happy with.

I spent no end of time, adjusting the rebound and made little difference and I am sure the air is setup properly for my weight, etc, I checked that both times I went out. Changing shocks is just gonna mess the geometry up.

Live and learn I guess.

Dare I say I should have just got the Stumpjumper FSR instead, even though it didn't have that "zing" for me.....

Blundell

Jibbber, I'd still give a little more time to get properly acquainted to the bike. I've been around the peaks and down the hopton woods downhill course on my anthem and it gave me no grief whatsoever. I'm pretty sure that a small tweak somewhere, whether in the rear shock, changing tyre pressure or a slight change in riding position will pay dividends.

Look at it this way, you could get rid, get another bike and have a similar problem all over again!

Broonster

shin0r wrote:

Personally I'd sell it now, take the financial hit and buy something like an Orange 5 or a Heckler; it sounds like this is what you should have bought in the first place. Alas, hindsight is the clearest sight of all.

A Heckler or Orange 5 isn't really the kind of bike he's looking at though mate. It appears he's after an XC bike, as opposed to a more burly AM rig.

Jibber, feel sorry for you mate. Look at it this way, I'm sure you will take alot of time going over your next bike and trying it out before committing to buying it. That's a positive lesson learnt!

clarkson

a bike can feel right to one person but not to another. give it a month or so and if it stil doesnt feel right, flog and buy an ex-demo. my enduro was and it got me 1000 quid off the price. thats what id do anywya.

Pippen33

Yes, flog it and get more travel. Now I'm gonna have some technical jerk, obsessed in statistics, hanging off my ass. 'Well Pippen bla bla bla, you have to think of the effects of bla bla bla'. Don't care.

clarkson

to be fair, since gettin my enduro ive ridden stuff i otherwise wouldnt have. they are great fun bikes, but to get their full potential you have to be able to ride em hard!!

Pippen33

ride em hard

It does sound like this poor blokes style. I mean he's wanting to go to Wales and up North, which is laden with mountains, he's not happy with the lack of travel. Shin0r was spot on with his last post.

grumsta

Unless you're racing I don't see the point of getting such a short travel bike really. For stuff in the Lakes and Wales extra travel will really come in handy. I saw bite the bullet and sell it and get a more 'all-mountain' bike like a Meta, Trance X or Pitch.

passout

I wouldn't sell. Try riding it more, then messing about with tyres, shocks etc and only then sell it. Personally I don't think you'll lose much more money by keeping it a while.

PS You might find that changing the stem and bars adds more confidence - shorter and wider I mean.

cee

so the moral of the story is.....when spending that kind of money on a bike, get a posh hire for a couple of days and proerly have a shot on some trails.

Edinburgh Bicycles do a thing where they will refund the hire price if you order a bike within 6 months.

I agree that a pootle round the car park is less than ideal for getting a feel for your new steed, but the hire first option (although perhaps costing a bit in the short term) can ensure that you get what you want.

toasty

If you're in doubt, I'd resist pumping tons of cash at it to try and get it to feel right, I did the same myself recently and I lost out a lot of cash.

I'd get rid of it quick and replace it with something more like you want, the price will start dropping off when the '09 models appear as was mentioned. I'm sure someone will snap it up for racing/XC.

nferrar

I do think you should look at the shock setup, I have an Athem 1 and am 15.5 stone and I rarely blow through all it's travel. But yes it is a short travel bike and you have to ride it more like a hard tail than a DH rig, the benefits are it's light and quick once you do adjust your riding style.

Ofc if you don't enjoy riding like that and do prefer the caution to wind/blasting through stuff style then yeah you bought the wrong bike Don't get longer travel forks you'll ruin the ride as the geometry is set up around the short forks.

I actually had the same feelings as you shortly after I bought mine (I was returning after 12 years off from cycling and when I left 3" of travel was a lot so I figured was all I needed). I'm getting more used to it though and I think it's worked out better for me as it helps improve skills a bit more IMO. Now though I can't decide whether for a second bike to get a longer travel bike or a hard tail, I rarely do stuff I'd really need long travel for but I'm also not sure if a hard tail would be enough of a difference to make it worth buying. I guess I can always save my money

delcol

i have 3 bikes all 3 bikes are totally differant,.

mont o fri i ride a scott speedster fb road bike to commute to and from work.

weekends i get one of my mtbs out

winter bike wet weather bike is a rockymountain vertex hardtail

full susser is a santacruz heckler running 6 inch front and rear trav.

i only got the heckler in sept last year and rode it 5 times then packed it away for winter and used the hardtail,
the hard tail is simlar to the road bike what i mean is it's streched out riding position compaired to my heckler.
after months of riding the hardtail i got the heckler out and packed the hardtail up first ride on my heckler felt strange i didnt like the position its a lot shorter cock pit and more up right position it took some time to adjust to the bike...

its the same most week ends i ride my scott everyday through the week then sat i ride the sc they are 2 totally different bikes it always feels weird at first till i get used to the bike,.. then on monday the scott feels crap cause i rode the sc all weekend...

i would say give your new bike time im sure you will get used to it and grow to like it. and it will improve your riding.