Giant or Ghost

Blackwood6

I want to buy a new bike and after looking for ages have decided to actually get my money out. I have decided to buy either a 2012 Ghost AMR5900 for £1600 or a 2012 Giant Anthem X2 for £1800. I have read reviews and don't really have enough knowledge to decided from reading the specs. I would really appreciate some comments or advice!

jeannot18

I think somebody will post to tell you that you are supposed to provide the links

JC

cooldad

Don't have to but it helps for those of us who don't memorise such things.

paul.skibum

As far as I can tell both aimed at similar markets - xc/trail oriented bikes, Anthem is shorter travel (100 vs 120) so depending where you ride and what you ride the Ghost might offer something more.

Kit on both bikes looks pretty decent - both have Shimano gears for a start although the Ghosts XT/SLX mix is definitely a step up. Brakes are probably much of a muchness, wheels look like Giants own vs Deore with Alex rims - I'd probably prefer the later.

They're both good looking bikes, the Giant is reputed to be a fast racer with trail skills, I know less about the Ghosts but people on here have varients of them and seem to like them.

At the end of the day if you cant test them you are taking a bit of a punt but I dont reckon either would cause you to want to cut your wrists!

chez_m356

Blackwood6 wrote:

I have decided to buy either a 2012 Ghost AMR5900 for £1600 or a 2012 Giant Anthem X2 for £1800.

paying too much for the giant, think you should have a look here http://www.paulscycles.co.uk/products.p ... Suspension

peter413

The X3 looks like it's better speced to me. http://www.paulscycles.co.uk/products.php?plid=m1b4s1p3494

I just built one up for someone, seems a quality bit of kit but there were a few niggles. First of all, there was not a single drop of grease in the pivots or anything so wouldn't be surprised if it all seized together after a while (happened on one of my bikes before which is why I always strip bikes down now). Second, the wheels needed re tensioning but this is to be expected as they are factory wheels however the rear was slightly out of true out of the box but not that bad. Third, not all of the bolts were totally tight across the whole bike for example a few of the rotor bolts were slightly loose but so long as you check over everything before you ride this isn't a problem. Lastly, it came with worse tyres than the advertised Crossmark's but he was happy enough with the ones that were on it so we didn't do anything about it, not sure anything could have been done anyway.

Other than that I was impressed by it, little things like the little loops on the linkage to zip tie your cables to and the fact a little sheet of heli tape was provided to stop cable rub. And the fact it had red brake hoses as well as cables, I've seen a fair number of bikes that come with just coloured cables and it just doesn't look very good. They had even put a sticker next to stem to tell you to tighten the top bolt before the side bolts, useful for those that haven't got a clue what they are doing.

Bear in mind I haven't ridden one though.

chez_m356

peter413 wrote:

The X3 looks like it's better speced to me. http://www.paulscycles.co.uk/products.php?plid=m1b4s1p3494

or if he wanted a little extra travel http://www.paulscycles.co.uk/products.p ... 1b4s1p3505

peter413

chez_m356 wrote:

peter413 wrote:

The X3 looks like it's better speced to me. http://www.paulscycles.co.uk/products.php?plid=m1b4s1p3494

or if he wanted a little extra travel http://www.paulscycles.co.uk/products.p ... 1b4s1p3505

Depends if he's willing to sacrifice a little on the spec for that extra travel.

PR2 shock on the Anthem, just an R on the Trance. XT rear mech on the Anthem, SLX on the Trance, I know this is meaningless though. SLX cranks on the Anthem, M522 on the Trance. Elixir 5's on the Anthem, Elixir 3's on the Trance. M525 rear hub on the Anthem, M475 on the Trance, I've had them both and the 525 is marginally better.

And then there is the personal stuff like Crossmark's (although, like I say they weren't when I got it) on the Anthem or the Nevegal's on the Trance and the different bars although I haven't a clue what the difference is between the SL and the TR.

Rushmore

Well if it's any help I have the ghost ARM 7500 and love the geometry of the frame.. slacker head angle then most trail bikes aswell so confidence in downhill is good...

paul.skibum

The reviews I saw of the AMR was that it was fairly steep? http://www.mbr.co.uk/news/tested-2012-ghost-amr-5900-1999-99/ - although 69 degrees is comparable with a Trance (69.5) and more relaxed than the Anthem (71).

cloudynights

pick the frame not the components, they will only wear or break, giant will warranty the the frame for life for the original owner broke mine and had a new one within a week

Blackwood6

Thanks