2010 Giant Anthem X

The Spiderman

I`d always wanted to try an Anthem and bought this for £770 via the classifieds a few weeks back.(Thanks to Phiadad)
It`s already benfitted from a few upgrades and tweaks courtesy of bits that I had in the shed or that came from my old XTC.

So far I swapped out the Panaracer Cinders that came with it for a Schwalbe Nobby Nic/Racing Ralph combo I already had.The rear wheel bearings were rebuilt and regreased,I replaced thejockey wheels,I`ve tweaked the rear shifter indexxing a bit but the cable might need replacing as it seems a little sticky.Other than that the bike had obviously been well cared for and the linkages,rear shock and forks are spot on so I`m very happy with it.

The original 110mm stem was swapped for a shorter 90mm KCNC,and the 620mm Giant Connect SL risers were too narrow for my liking so on went my 660mm Raceface Deus risers,and I put on my favourite Fizik Gobi saddle.Fit now feels spot on for me.

I had a few issues with the Giant Connect SL pinch bolt loosening so I`ve put my Thomson on for now,though I`d like to swap it for something lighter in due course.

I already had an XT 11-32 cassette going spare,so bought a new KMC X9 93 chain for £14 and fitted that together with my trusty XTR SPds.

These little changes saved nearly 2lbs off the original weight and it`s now around 26lbs,but there are some very obvious weight savings yet to be made ,especially with a wheel upgrade which could easily lose another pound.


Not bad ,I reckon for the the £820 I`ve invested in it so far.

Current spec is:

Frame:Giant X frameset size L
Rear shock:Fox RP 23 with propedal
Forks:Fox F100 RL
Wheels:SLX centre lock hubs with Mavic XM317 rims and Spaim db spokes
Drivetrain/Groupset:XT M770 9 speed with 11-32 cassette
Brakes: XT M770 with 160mm RT79 floating rotors
Tyres:Schwalbe Nobby Nic front/Racing Ralph rear
Bars:Raceface Deus
Stem:KCNC Fly ride
Seatpost:Thomson Elite
Saddle:Fizik Gobi

Weight :26 lbs

Garden tidying/tyre alignment/valve cap orientation tips grratefully received...........

road_donut

That looks nice mate

I do like the Anthems

The garden looks tidy enough to me

styxd

Nice bike, really like the look of those. I'd get an SLR saddle and light weight seatpost for it since those that you currently have a pretty heavy.

The Spiderman

styxd wrote:

Nice bike, really like the look of those. I'd get an SLR saddle and light weight seatpost for it since those that you currently have a pretty heavy.

I am considering it,as a lot of weight easily lost there,but would need to try an SLR for comfort.The Gobi is so comfortable.My Road bike has a Fizik Arione which I get on well with so may also try a Tundra which is similar.

Thinking of white saddle and white grips.A tad Impractical but would look good with the white forks I reckon.

The Spiderman

Done a bit more weight weenie/tweaking this week.I swapped out the standard conical headset spacer for a carbon version,and added carbon spacers that I had in the shed.Surprised to find such a small upgrade saved 20g.

The qr skewers were cheap entry level ones weighing 170g so swapped them out for the XT skewers off my old bike.Another 45g saved there.

Next up swapping the inner tubes over to the Schwalbe 125g ones on my old bike.That`ll be another 60g saved.

So for the cost of £6 for the new conical spacer and a search in the shed and a few bits off the old bike,thats 125g saved.


Just bought some Easton EC70 risers off ebay to go on too which should take about 70g off.

All up bike weight with pedals is currently 26.5 lbs so should be sub 26 without.Can`t help but think Giant`s claimed weights for the Anthem on their web page are somewhat optimistic.IIRc they reckon a 2010 X2 is 25lbs,which is a similar spec to this.

Its really crying out for a wheel upgrade now.Could drop about 1lb off the weight there.Not tempted to go too light though given my 13 1/2 stone.Currently I`m thinking of getting Stans or SS hubs with Crest rims or seeing what the classifieds brings up.

Other things on the shopping list,are a lighter saddle,possibly a Selle Italia SLR XC,lightweight skewers,a KCNC seat clamp and am tempted to try a Rocket Ron on the front.

The Spiderman

Bit of tweaking today in preparation of this weekend`s trip to Afan and following a 27 mile ride the other day.

Discovered a huge thorn in the rear tread,which had caused a slow puncture.Must have been lucky this time as on the last ride,I forgot to take a spare tube or repair kit so I was lucky not to have walked home........

Tightened up the bb as there was a little bit of side to side play,degreased the drivetrain and relubed with Squirt wax lube.

Cleaned the discs,tweaked the rear indexing and cured a very annoying creak by greasing the seatpost.

Plus I made the easiest loss of 40 g ever by swapping out rim tapes! I also discovered the wheels were a little lighter than I thought,so bike is 26lbs all in with pedals,bottle cage,etc.

Really loving this bike.

angry_bird

Very jealous. Massive fan of anthems, think they're great bikes. Enjoy it.

Stevo_666

I'm biased as I've got one, but that's looking like a very tidy spec. Agree that Giant are probably a bit optimistic on their weights but I'm not too bothered as I'm happy with the way mine rides and it always feels light & nippy after riding most other bikes :-)

The Spiderman

Took it to Afan this weekend.Its far more capable than you`d think for a short travel bike.Rear suspension works brilliantly,and excelled on the climbs.Got a little out of its depth,on some of the rockier descents and was grounding the pedals out a fair bit though.Absolute rocket on the more flowy singletrack though.

I might try dropping one of the spacers from under the stem,as I found the front end got a little light in places but that may have been as much down to poor technique and the steepness of some parts of the climb.

I did have a slight issue when the fork seals started leaking ,so its now got new low friction SKF seals and the forks are much improved and with noticeably less stiction.Thanks to Skyline cycles for fitting new seals and getting me out riding again in half an hour!

If I was to ride at Afan again,I`d probably go up a tyre size to 2.25,for a bit more cushion on the rocks but other than that handled it all remarkably well.

The Spiderman

Now with Easton ec70 risers,SKF low friction seals,and a smattering of alloy bolts........

The Spiderman

I have a few new bits arriving this week.Ordered a new Fizik Tundra 2 as my Gobi is looking a bit tired and I get on very well with the Arione on my road bike,so as the Tundra is the mtb version thought I`d give it a try.
But the most major upgrade arrived today in the form of these:



These were bought via ebay,are brand new,arrived in their original box and still packaged for the sum of £160.

They weigh 1650g with tubeless valves.Very nicely finished,straight pull spokes and tubeless ready.The hubs are very smooth.

I`ve set them up tubeless and am now just waiting for a pair of KCNC Razor rotors to arrive.This little lot knocks about a pound off the weight so now looking at a sub 25lb bike.

yaya

Great looking build! I've got a 2007 X with X717/Hope XC/ElixirR/XT and an XTR rear mech with some carbon bits and it FLIES! (something I cannot say about its rider, unfortunately...)

The Spiderman

Thank you.

It seems to be the way,as the bike gets better the rider gets slower.......

I certainly don`t get as much time to ride as the bike warrants

Anyway my KCNC rotors turned up,today but a lot of faffing ensued.I got them fitted and first ride out I had a braking issue.The backing plate and pad separated! Which is weird because they were a half worn pad that has never previously given me a problem.I did notice the separating spring had broken.Not sure if that was a symptom of something else or the cause.........

Then having noticed the front brake was a little inconsistent I bled the front brake.The top down method was unsuccesful ,but I remembered I had a syringe so bled them from the caliper up,and it worked a treat.

Not sure if I replaced the pads a bit hamfistedly and that caused the pad problem or whether there was another issue.Anyway I found a pair of part worn sintered pads in the shed, stuck them in and they are now working.

Not sure what the tolerances are with these rotors but there is an annoying rub/grumbling,which was terrible but is now less since tweaking the caliper position.However any noise seems louder than on a conventional Shimano disc.
Maybe its a peculiarity of the design but I`ve emailed he supplier to see if I can swap it for another.

No issues with the rear,and braking performance on that end is as good as it was with the Shimano rotor.

So on the KCNC brake discs so far not sure if they are good or not,but new wheels and tubeless conversion do make a big difference.

These wheels spin up nicely and really liking the more supple feel of tubeless.

Running out of things to upgrade now,I may be tempted to fit fatter 2.25 rubber on the front maybe back too,a new saddle is on its way, but save for a few minor tweaks I`m happy.

Was considering a 10 speed drivetrain but not really sure its worth the expense.I may do a 2 x 9 conversion though.

The Spiderman

Latest changes,showing Roval wheels,new Tundra saddle (I have matching white Pro XCR grips on order),Blackburn Slick bottle cage,Endura chainstay protector, and with the tyres now tubeless.Did have KCNC rotors on it but I had a compatability problem with the front so they had to go back.

IT66T

That looks well nice and you've got it down to a really good weight too but it is annoying that the rotors wouldn't fit .

The Spiderman

So current spec is as follows:

Giant X frameset in large (frame only option)
Fox RP23 shock
Fox F100RL 100mm forks (with SKF seals)
Semi integrated headset
carbon spacers
Roval Control AL wheels with q/r f and r
Schwalbe Nobby Nic 2.1 front tyre (run tubless,Sealed with Stans)
Schwalbe Racing Ralph 2.1 rear tyre (run tubeless,sealed with Stans)
Shimano XT M770 chainset (triple)
Shimano M775 brakeset with 10mm RT75 rotors
Shimano XT cassette 11-32 9 speed
KMC X9 93 chain
Shimano XT Rear mech
Shimano SLX front mech
Shimano XT shifters (with windows removed)
Easton EC70 685mm low riser bars
KCNC Fly ride stem 90mm
Thomson Elite seatpost
Fizik Tundra 2 saddle
Giant bolted seatclamp
Giant single bolt lock on grips
Shimano XTR SPD pedals
Blackburn Slick bottle cage
Catye micro computer
Weight:10.9 kg with pedals

The Spiderman

angry_bird

Very nice, any idea what the frame weight is for one of thems?

Anonymous

Very nice buddy
Get sum more pics up intrested in this build thread.

The Spiderman

Angry Bird wrote:

Very nice, any idea what the frame weight is for one of thems?

I never weighed mine but weights I have seen suggest 2300-2500g depending on size which includes the shock,seatpost clamp and headset.