Spicy 516 and Zesty 514 ?

jonnyashworth
jonnyashworth Posts: 547
edited April 2010 in MTB buying advice
I have recently purchased a 2010 giant anthem x2 and am finding the bike very good but lacking in some areas ,this is probably due partly to skill but feel also it maybe because its the wrong bike for me. on steep descents it wants to chuck me over the bars due to the tight head angle and I can only watch in envy as people with more travel tear through rock gardens where as I have to take it at a snails pace.

I have been looking at the Spicy 516 and the Zesty 514

I dont want to lose too much of the climbing ability of the giant that I have become accostemd too so think the zesty would be better however I can only get them in medium frame sizes (due to being able to get a good price on these) and I fit the spicy fine on the sizing charts (on lapierres website) but my inseam is about 45mm to long for the zesty.

WHICH ONE??????

does anyone out there have any advise?
Yeti SB66c 2013

Comments

  • asdfhjkl
    asdfhjkl Posts: 333
    jonnyashworth wrote:
    does anyone out there have any advise?
    jonnyashworth wrote:
    I have recently purchased a 2010 giant anthem x2 and am finding the bike very good but lacking in some areas ,this is probably due partly to skill

    Address that first.
  • frogstomp
    frogstomp Posts: 412
    The Anthem X has quite a stretched-out racey feel to it which is great for cross country but does seem to throw your weight forward on steep descents.

    Are you dropping your seatpost for the descents? That will make a lot of difference as you can get your arse off the saddle and shift your weight back over the rear wheel.

    You might also want to try shifting your saddle back a bit, possibly in combination with a slightly shorter stem, again to shift your weight back..
  • lawman
    lawman Posts: 6,868
    take a skills course. it will cost you £100 tops and will make you a much better rider than a bike with more travel ever will. the anthem is a great handling bike and while yes it is cross country biased, i can you now from seeing really quick riders on anthems im pretty sure you havent the limit of it capabilities just yet. a course will teach you better technique and improve your confidence no end, and is a tiny fraction of the cost of the two bikes mentioned
  • Stevo_666
    Stevo_666 Posts: 61,686
    As said above, try getting some tuition & practice before you splash in the region of 3,000 notes only to find you're not really any faster....

    It's been said a few times that Anthems do have ability that you might not expect from a 100mm travel bike, so while its not the first choice for Enduro or big rocky descents, you could probably be getting a lot more out of it.

    When I went on a course last Nov I was surprised at how much I didn't know :!:
    "I spent most of my money on birds, booze and fast cars: the rest of it I just squandered." [George Best]
  • lawman
    lawman Posts: 6,868
    it is amazing how much difference abit of tuition makes, im not the best of teachers but i took a mate to cannock chase a few weks back who had never realyy done anything offroad and from the first section i saw that he was too stiff on the bike and just told him to loosen up and the difference by the end of the trail was massive, he was riding loads quicker and was pretty confiednt

Categories