Which Giant FS bike?

Eyon

What would you pick? I'm new to MTB mostly ride XC, but want a bike that I can get better with without having to replace. I like Giant bikes as my LBS stocks them and he gives great service. Also, they all seem to receive great reviews and they appear to be good value for money.

So, I've narrowed it down to a few

Anthem X4
http://www.allterraincycles.co.uk/product/118714.html

Trance X4
http://www.allterraincycles.co.uk/product/118720.html

Trance X3
http://www.allterraincycles.co.uk/product/118719.html

Reign X2
http://www.jejamescycles.co.uk/giant-re ... 53955.html


Also, these 0% finance deals? do people generally go for that sort of thing?

Ian

the article don

For XC as you describe - Anthem. If you're looking at a Trance X3 then you could stretch to the Anthem X3.

Trance more an all round trail bike but stll pretty light - I've got one and I like it lots.

Reign X2 is ok but really you need the X1 or X0 to have any chance of using it as an all rounder as the X2 is a bit beefy.

As for Finance, 0% is always a good deal but you probably won't get a discount .Pay in cash and you could haggle money off. At Pedalon you get points to redeem against accessories so if you're buying a £1700 bike you could end up with shoes, helmet, tools, pump, whatever thrown in free.

Pudseyp

I would go Trance...5" travel is ideal for XC and trail centers....Anthem at 4" is great for XC and is more akin to racing so on a burly trail centre it may bottom out on the rough stuff..the Reign is way to much for XC as it's more all mountain...

I would have the Trance as it won't be as limiting as the Anthem

Dazzza

Mostly xc, anthem everytime.

rockmonkeysc

I have got the Trance X3 (2010) and it is a great all rounder. Personally I think it's worth paying the extra to get the X3 rather than the X4 because of the better suspension, wheels and drive components. I have got the Tora forks on my hardtail & they are good but no where near as good as the Fox F120.
It is an excellent allrounder, nice and fast for XC riding, climbs great & seems to respond well to being abused downhill. It also looks fantastic.
I know someone who rides a Reign X, he is a LOT fitter than me but still says it is hard work, it is a pretty hardcore bike
If you do really want the extra suspension travel the Reign 2 might be better than the X2 for allround riding, though the one I test rode did feel like a bit of a tank compared to the Trance
http://www.jejamescycles.co.uk/giant-re ... 53957.html
I have just noticed that the fork spec in the Reign 2 link is wrong, it has Fox Float 150 forks.

Eyon

So I'm pretty split Trance X3 and Anthem X4 here.

Had a sit on a Anthem tonight at the LBS, and apart from the saddle it was damn comfortable. They didn't have the Trance in stock which is a shame as it would be nice to compare them

The other thing they told me is that the 2011 bikes will be out soon, maybe I'll hold off for them but I really want to buy in the next few weeks and I'm also incredibly impatient.

Pedal On have got some good deals on, and 40 points for the non-sale Anthem X4 means i can get that camelback i want, the pedals, some shoes and some other gear

Tempting you could say!

cloudynights

if you do xc get a anthem, i have one, i do trail centres if i have to, never been any problems but there great for true xc which as a bit of every thing anyway

Eyon

OK ill be real specific about my riding so far.

Weekdays, find public footpaths bridleways etc etc to ride through a few times a week.
Weekends, either above or go to Thetford and do some trails

Future, more trail centres, and take my bike on holiday to scotland, maybe wales and the peak district type places for trails.

Price for gear wise, leaning to the anthem. But for some reason the trance appeals more?

Pudseyp

For trips to the likes of Glentress and Innerleithen the Trance would be better...if a four inch travel is ya thing I would have this..X0/XT/Carbon Noir cranks, Fox F100 RLC and RP23,carbon finishing kit plus juicy ultimate with no tubes ZTR rims is a way...way better buy
http://www.paulscycles.co.uk/products.p ... 1b2s1p1501

Eyon

after much thought and research, I think im going to go with a Trance X3. Just need to find a place with a large one in stock!

Ian

warrerj

There isn't much you can't do on a 4" travel bike !!

There seems to be a big thing in the UK about NEEDING 5", 6" + travel for trail centers. It's just a complete load of hairy round things !!

I was talkign to one the guys from Giant about it at a demo day last year. He agreed. He said he rides an Anthem everywhere. i've ridden DH on my on HT. It's abot learnign to ride the bike not lettign the bike ride for you !!

If you mostly ride XC then the Anthem is the way to go. It's a really nice, quick bike. It's a just on single track and you'll have no problems at most trail centers.

IF on the other hand you want to be doing more ALL Mountain / DH then a bigger travel bike may be worth looking at.

ride_whenever

warrerj wrote:

There isn't much you can't do on a 4" travel bike !!

There seems to be a big thing in the UK about NEEDING 5", 6" + travel for trail centers. It's just a complete load of hairy round things !!

I was talkign to one the guys from Giant about it at a demo day last year. He agreed. He said he rides an Anthem everywhere. i've ridden DH on my on HT. It's abot learnign to ride the bike not lettign the bike ride for you !!

If you mostly ride XC then the Anthem is the way to go. It's a really nice, quick bike. It's a just on single track and you'll have no problems at most trail centers.

IF on the other hand you want to be doing more ALL Mountain / DH then a bigger travel bike may be worth looking at.

Luddite...

I bet you ride a rigid, singlespeed 650b bike

That said, i do agree with you!

Pudseyp

warrerj wrote:

There isn't much you can't do on a 4" travel bike !!

There seems to be a big thing in the UK about NEEDING 5", 6" + travel for trail centers. It's just a complete load of hairy round things !!

I was talkign to one the guys from Giant about it at a demo day last year. He agreed. He said he rides an Anthem everywhere. i've ridden DH on my on HT. It's abot learnign to ride the bike not lettign the bike ride for you !!

Disagree tottally...it depends how you ride..agreed a 4 " travel on my local red route would be OK..on the black no....if your an aggressive rider doing drops etc you will need 5" travel....5 is the magic number for trail riding...that's what all the mag's I read say...I have never heard any of them say a 4" travel bike is all you need in the UK !!!!! The style of riding determines the NEED !! and I would rather have a 5" bike anyday as it will allways be that bit more versitile without loosing to much to a more racey 4" bike..

Eyon

warrerj wrote:

There isn't much you can't do on a 4" travel bike !!

There seems to be a big thing in the UK about NEEDING 5", 6" + travel for trail centers. It's just a complete load of hairy round things !!

I was talkign to one the guys from Giant about it at a demo day last year. He agreed. He said he rides an Anthem everywhere. i've ridden DH on my on HT. It's abot learnign to ride the bike not lettign the bike ride for you !!

If you mostly ride XC then the Anthem is the way to go. It's a really nice, quick bike. It's a just on single track and you'll have no problems at most trail centers.

IF on the other hand you want to be doing more ALL Mountain / DH then a bigger travel bike may be worth looking at.

so basically you are saying, unless i want to do some DH, I'm wasting my time with anything more than an Anthem X4? This bike will be able to tackle even the harder trails that there are in the UK with no real issues? I'm still a bit rubbish but plan to get up to scotland some time in the not too distant future when i get a bit better and fitter.

Pudseyp

If you don't intend to ride hard and not doing any drops, table tops etc then perhaps a 4" bike will suffice...if you are a skiled rider and like to push that bit harder and really attack the trail hitting smal jumps and drops then I would say the Trance.

People on here tend to recomend their bike as that's what they know and it is within their ability...I don't know you or how you ride, hence my suggestion of the Trance as it will allways be more versitile especially up in Scotland. The likes of MBUK, MBR etc near all say that a 5" bike is the best trail tool......you need to decide your ability and make yiour mind up...but if you choose the Anthem your riding style if you progress will allways be limited by it's short travel......a 5" bike won't weigh that much more...so again it's more versitile

Chronicbint

Pudseyp wrote:

If you don't intend to ride hard and not doing any drops, table tops etc then perhaps a 4" bike will suffice...if you are a skiled rider and like to push that bit harder and really attack the trail hitting smal jumps and drops then I would say the Trance.

Im 16.5 stone and have done all of the above on my X4. (Small jumps and drops mind)

warrerj

ride_whenever wrote:

warrerj wrote:

There isn't much you can't do on a 4" travel bike !!

There seems to be a big thing in the UK about NEEDING 5", 6" + travel for trail centers. It's just a complete load of hairy round things !!

I was talkign to one the guys from Giant about it at a demo day last year. He agreed. He said he rides an Anthem everywhere. i've ridden DH on my on HT. It's abot learnign to ride the bike not lettign the bike ride for you !!

If you mostly ride XC then the Anthem is the way to go. It's a really nice, quick bike. It's a just on single track and you'll have no problems at most trail centers.

IF on the other hand you want to be doing more ALL Mountain / DH then a bigger travel bike may be worth looking at.

Luddite...

I bet you ride a rigid, singlespeed 650b bike

That said, i do agree with you!

WELL as it happen no !!

I ride a 5" Titus Motolite OR Scott Elite Racing HT

BUT my Moolite has done many weeks in the Alps including the DH runs as well as regular trips to Cwmcarn XC and DH (only 15min from me).

cloudynights

warrerj wrote:

There isn't much you can't do on a 4" travel bike !!

There seems to be a big thing in the UK about NEEDING 5", 6" + travel for trail centers. It's just a complete load of hairy round things !!

I was talkign to one the guys from Giant about it at a demo day last year. He agreed. He said he rides an Anthem everywhere. i've ridden DH on my on HT. It's abot learnign to ride the bike not lettign the bike ride for you !!

If you mostly ride XC then the Anthem is the way to go. It's a really nice, quick bike. It's a just on single track and you'll have no problems at most trail centers.

IF on the other hand you want to be doing more ALL Mountain / DH then a bigger travel bike may be worth looking at.

Have to agree with you on this, needing a 5" travel bike at a trail centre / (bmx course) is a compleate joke, and saying that 5" travel is the do it all bike, really i ask you,how much travel did we have on bikes 10 years ago
i know many wont agree with this and thats fine, ride with what your happy with but for me xc is true mountain biking

the article don

Worth noting if you're going to hold out for a 2011 bike - the Trance X has a new frame, the main change being a straight top tube, which makes it look like a slightly beefier Anthem X ( no bad thing imo) - see here for details:

http://www.bikeradar.com/news/article/2 ... view-26976

Pudseyp

cloudynights wrote:

[Have to agree with you on this, needing a 5" travel bike at a trail centre / (bmx course) is a compleate joke, and saying that 5" travel is the do it all bike, really i ask you,how much travel did we have on bikes 10 years ago
i know many wont agree with this and thats fine, ride with what your happy with but for me xc is true mountain biking

Well for certain you can do more on a 5" bike than a 4" one !!!! you may have had 4" travel 10 years ago...times change (you still have a betamax ?) MTB'ing has moved on..we have more access to forrests, more people are riding so purpose built trail centres are springing up everywhere...my point 4" travel is great for XC in general but has a racy feel and is a tad more stout than 5" travel bike...like I said the mags and I agree that in the main a 5" bike is sufficient for near all UK riding that's why I can probably name 25 plus bikes based on this platform whilst I can only think of a few on the 4" platform...this is statment enough that in the main a 5" travel bike gives greater flexibility in all UK conditions......4 inches...you may as well get a hard tail !!!!

ride_whenever

Pudseyp wrote:

If you don't intend to ride hard and not doing any drops, table tops etc then perhaps a 4" bike will suffice...if you are a skiled rider and like to push that bit harder and really attack the trail hitting smal jumps and drops then I would say the Trance.

People on here tend to recomend their bike as that's what they know and it is within their ability...I don't know you or how you ride, hence my suggestion of the Trance as it will allways be more versitile especially up in Scotland. The likes of MBUK, MBR etc near all say that a 5" bike is the best trail tool......you need to decide your ability and make yiour mind up...but if you choose the Anthem your riding style if you progress will allways be limited by it's short travel......a 5" bike won't weigh that much more...so again it's more versitile

Depends on the setup, you can have 4" bike far tougher than 5" ones...

Also how well you ride...

individual6891

This might help you:

http://www.bikeradar.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=16383627

I opted for an X3 09 for £1200, rrp £1700 =]

Eyon

Was at the LBS tonight asking questions about which bike. thanks for the links to the 2011, but i hear that the prices are due to rise for the new range so I think im going to stick to the 2010 line.

Some great deals out there for the Trance X3, even found a few large frames in stock so gonna save some cash up and grab myself a top quality bike

Cant wait

Thanks for all the help and advice, I'm going to be very poor in the next few days

Fewie

I've been through the same dilemma recently. I demo'd a trek fuel ex 8 for a long weekend and found it to be stunning @ Dalby on the trials, however for light xc use it was overkill and I found myself locking out the rear suspension a lot. I then came across the anthem range. I demo'd an x4 and was blown away, climbed better than the trek and for general xc use the 4" travel was perfect without the bobbing of the trek. I've ridden the red routes at Dalby to and found it to be very capable, I'm not saying it's as good as the trek in these conditions but it's close. The anthem has had fantastic review all round with many commenting on the fact it feels more like a 5" bike anyway. A good 4" is better than a bad 5"

cloudynights

Pudseyp wrote:

cloudynights wrote:

[Have to agree with you on this, needing a 5" travel bike at a trail centre / (bmx course) is a compleate joke, and saying that 5" travel is the do it all bike, really i ask you,how much travel did we have on bikes 10 years ago
i know many wont agree with this and thats fine, ride with what your happy with but for me xc is true mountain biking

Well for certain you can do more on a 5" bike than a 4" one !!!! you may have had 4" travel 10 years ago...times change (you still have a betamax ?) MTB'ing has moved on..we have more access to forrests, more people are riding so purpose built trail centres are springing up everywhere...my point 4" travel is great for XC in general but has a racy feel and is a tad more stout than 5" travel bike...like I said the mags and I agree that in the main a 5" bike is sufficient for near all UK riding that's why I can probably name 25 plus bikes based on this platform whilst I can only think of a few on the 4" platform...this is statment enough that in the main a 5" travel bike gives greater flexibility in all UK conditions......4 inches...you may as well get a hard tail !!!!

The only thing that as changed about mountain biking is its become more commercialised, its in the magazines intrest to tell us we need bigger bikes, there paid for by the adverts, in a few years time bike makers and magazines will change ther mind 6" will be the bike to have then back to 4"and so it goes on,its all about making money
5"travel is a bit more of a point and shoot ride which is ok if you want that and id say its suited for trail centres, i think a lot of riding these days is done at trail centres and maybe less on xc routes which take in all the different riding situations road,bridleway ,singletrack forest rockgardens,mountains 4" travel to my mind is just a more versatile machine, i ride round east lancs and west yorkshire , dales, we have some of the best routes in the country,all my mates find 4" travel or even hardtails (though i dont) better to ride than 5" and weve tried them all but thats only what we think maybe its old school

Lucozade1

OMG. this adds more clouds to the pot. I am hanging out for the 2011 range of Giants, One for me and one for the wife, we mainly ride woodland and red trails such as at Sherwood Pines and are about to head to Cannock chase for a tester, we intend to ride into the Peak district and lakes etc. I love the look of the Anthem's but get told the trance would be better, i can't ever we will do black runs, my wife is only 5'4 and about 7 stone max, i am 6'2 and about 16- 16.5 stone, i am waiting to ride both the Anth X2 and Trance X2 before judgement day but can't decide, for the wife it will be the Anth XW or Cypher, don't think she really gives a monkey which as women don't always see much other than pink things....

Any thoughts or advice please??? :shock:

Chronicbint

Lucozade1 wrote:

OMG. this adds more clouds to the pot. I am hanging out for the 2011 range of Giants, One for me and one for the wife, we mainly ride woodland and red trails such as at Sherwood Pines and are about to head to Cannock chase for a tester, we intend to ride into the Peak district and lakes etc. I love the look of the Anthem's but get told the trance would be better, i can't ever we will do black runs, my wife is only 5'4 and about 7 stone max, i am 6'2 and about 16- 16.5 stone, i am waiting to ride both the Anth X2 and Trance X2 before judgement day but can't decide, for the wife it will be the Anth XW or Cypher, don't think she really gives a monkey which as women don't always see much other than pink things....

Any thoughts or advice please??? :shock:

I ride Cannock, FTD and Monkey Trail, on my Anthem X4 and it laps it all up. I am just over 6' tall and 16.5 stone.

Eyon

further update for my situation

Bike choice now comes down to availability!

Trances are real hard to find!

rockmonkeysc

When I bought my Trance back in July I had to spend a bit of time phoning around to find one. I think there are still a few available.

Pudseyp

Eyon wrote:

further update for my situation
Trances are real hard to find!

Exactlly as they are more popular !!!!!!! surely this backs up my point that a 5" travel bike is more suited to UK riding !!

thistle_

Eyon wrote:

Was at the LBS tonight asking questions about which bike. thanks for the links to the 2011, but i hear that the prices are due to rise for the new range so I think im going to stick to the 2010 line.

You could gamble and wait for the 2011 models to come out, then the 2010 should get reduced a bit. However if you're having trouble finding one now then it's probably a big risk!
If you're struggling to find the size you're after, could one size up/down with a longer/shorter post/stem work for you?

I heard (gossip) that bike shops have already placed their orders for 2011 but demand is predicted to drop due to the change in the cycle to work FMV guidance so there may be a surplus which could result in some reasonable prices for 2011 models although it might affect road/commuting bikes more than mountain bikes.

I've got a 2009 Trance X5 and was not happy with the quality of the kit that came with it, I ended up spending about £200 in the first couple of months replacing things that had worn out or broken (chain, cassette, seatpost, post clamp, wheel, shock bearings) and I was only riding to work and around Llandegla forest.
I'm also finding the frame flexes sideways and the handling is not as predictable as my old Halfords special hardtail. Something else might be broken on it though which I haven't been able to find.

X4 is now the current entry level model but I don't know if the components are any better.

I wouldn't worry about the extra inches of travel, 4 is plenty for most trail centres. It's not length, it's what you do with it that counts (as always )