Anybody ridden a Giant X 29er 2 ?

andy_welch

As the title says really; just wondering if anybody has had a chance to swing a leg over one of these in anger yet.

A £1,800 bike with SRAM X5 components and Avid Elixir 1 brakes doesn't sound like the deal of the century, but I guess those parts are easily upgraded when they wear out and the frame and wheels are the same as the £2,300 X 1 model.

Cheers,

Andy

guity

Quick answer is no. I have ridden the '1' though and I wouldnt expect the ride of the '0' to be much different. It will be a little bit heavier and the shifting might be a bit less sharp but like you say, you can upgrade as an when. The frame is identical and the forks change from fox to RS but I have never found issue with RS Reba in the past.

I rode it on for the dusk til dawn race at Thetford Forest so no hills to speak of but lots of twists, turns roots and mud. It did not feel slow handling like I expected and the grip levels are really impressive. Even cranking up out of bombholes with thich sloppy mud I hardly ever lost traction and that was on racing ralph tyres front and back. It is not really an XC race bike (which is what I am after) but it would be perfect for anything from enduro's to trail centers and wilderness epics with mates in my opinion. Overall, It maybe feels like a 5 inch travel bike rather than a 4 inch bike.

andy_welch

Thanks guity,

That's just the sort of thing I wanted to hear.

I read something in a review (not sure if it was this bike or not) along the lines of "if you are more maps and gps than trail centres and jumps...", which pretty much sums me up. My ideal scenario would be an evening spent looking at the satellite images on Google maps trying to work out a route through the mass of forest trails, old drover's roads etc up here in Aberdeenshire, then load onto the GPS and off to explore. Sometimes it ends up being simple and sometimes impossible, but usually somewhere in-between. Sounds as though this could be a bike to put on the short list.

Cheers,

Andy

cycle monster

Hired a Giant Anthem 29er X1 on Sunday. All the myths about slow starting and difficult to manouevre appear to be myths and nothing more. Normally my wife would be comfortably ahead of my hardtail on her Anthem W2 but on Sunday on the 29er I was out of sight in no time with very little effort. The instant confidence that it gave me was another surprise - cornering much easier than anticipated. Glad I ordered one last month given the fifteen week waiting list! My only concern is that riding is about to become too easy shortly.

guity

Surely that just gives you the opportunity to ride faster/harder/more technical terrain for longer! It should be pushing your boundaries, not making things easier! Plus if it makes you faster than your wife it sou
nds essential!

nferrar

I've demo'd one as well, it was good but I wasn't blown away, mostly as it didn't feel a whole lot different to my usual ride of a Zesty 26". Steering was fine though although due to dodgy brakes on the demo bike I couldn't push it as much as I wanted, the only thing I did really notice was how quickly it gained speed on downhills and how well it held the speed.
I agree the current crop of £2k+ 29ers from the big makes isn't great value (especially if you don't want SRAM which seems ubiquitous at this price point) so if I went the Anthem route I'd buy it frame only and build it up.

andy_welch

Thanks folks,

Interesting comments. Part of the appeal of the 2 is that it is £500 cheaper than the 1 but has the same frame and wheels so you can upgrade the other bits to whatever you prefer down the line. It is still very expensive compared with an equivalent Anthem (26er) though and given nferrar's comments about it not feeling much different to his Zesty 26 you have to wonder whether you are paying a large premium just to buy into the latest marketing hype.

It would be interesting to hear from anybody who has ridden the Anthem 29er and a regular Anthem.

For example, comparing these two offers

http://www.edinburghbicycle.com/products/giant-anthem-x-29er-2-12

http://www.pedalon.co.uk/acatalog/giant_anthem_x3_.html

The regular Anthem is £500 cheaper, a pound lighter and has much better components (and shocks). Having said that, for the sort of XC/Expedition type riding that I enjoy I can see the logic of a larger wheel.

Cheers,

Andy

DodgeT

Bloomin eck, I paid £199 for a carrera vulcan with X4's on...

Spec wise, you will get a lot more with cube. My mate has just ordered one of these, cracking spec for the money http://www.hargrovescycles.co.uk/products.asp?partno=46234
That's assuming you like cube of course.

ian220476

...and bought one. Loved it!

I got the '1' but demo'd the 2 as well to ensure I got my sizing right. I went for the 1 only because once starting to spend in that region it was almost a case of 'why not'. Yes you can upgrade, but I was happy with the upgrades between the two considering the price differential so went for it. It is my first foray into teh world of 29er and it just puts a grin on my face riding it.

I've had it for about 4 months and have trialled it in all kinds of situations. I must admit that bike choice would be dependant on my days riding. All day epic - 29er. XC races and enduros -29er. Day of hustling runs and singletrack inc drops off etc, likely to go for my stumpy. The 29er is great for miles, speed and flow. If you fancy an aggro day then I have no doubts it is capable and I've given it some stick to try it out, all I'm saying is that it wouldn't be my first choice based on having an alternative.

My final comment - do it! You will not regret it!

Ian

weeksy59

I own a 2011 XTC2 29er.

I too love it... but had to swap the bars for some risers as the flats were too low for me.

mudmuncher

Test rode the Anthem X2 29er which was great. On paper I thought the camber comp 29er would be better for me but after riding them back to back the anthem just felt more fun, was faster and fitted me better. Also tested a few 26ers too. In the end I splashed out the extra on the Anthem x1 29 which I'm loving.

andy_welch

So, nobody thinks I should spend £500 less on a bike that weighs less and has better kit then

Cheers,

Andy

guity

Only way to know for sure is to ride them both yourself! Giant have a good demo scheme if you can get to one of their stores.

andy_welch

guity wrote:

Only way to know for sure is to ride them both yourself! Giant have a good demo scheme if you can get to one of their stores.

Nothing in Aberdeenshire. In fact nothing in Scotland. I could travel down to York, but I'd really prefer to ride them over the trails that I know. My LBS has sorted out a demo Trance X2 for me to try next week, which is a start. They also reckon that they'll have a demo Anthem X 29er 2, but not until "around the end of April", by which time I guess I'll probably have missed out on the chance of grabbing that 2011 Anthem X3 with the big discount.

Cheers

Andy

cycle monster

This may help. I have four mates who race. Each has a Carbon Anthem 26er, which they used to use for racing. Now they each have Giant 29ers which they invariably race on instead as they are so much faster.