Anthem X setup for Trail riding.

Barberrossa

HI All,

New to the forum and after some setup wisdom, tips and tricks. I've recently got my hands on a 2010 Giant Anthem X 26er frame which i've built up from the best bits of my other bikes, nothing flash but i'm on a budget.

I've ended up with Fox Talas 32 forks which are adjustable 100mm, 120mm and 140mm. I thought i'd just leave them at 120mm but have ended up riding them at 100mm uphills and 140mm downhills.

I'm the sort of guy who likes the downhills more than the uphills and in hindsight maybe should have bought a Trance but i'm not in the position to change it again. The downhill bits where i am have a lot of road and offroad miles between them hence the reason for the Anthem over the trance originally. I'm happy to sacrifice a bit of the Anthems excellent uphill ability to make it more fun downhills.

So my question is how do i get the best out of the Anthem in terms of setup of sag and rebound etc for my preferred kind of riding? I have found i cannot corner on the quick trail stuff with the same confidence i had with my last cheaper heavier crappier bike and i'm not sure why.

rockmonkeysc

Running the fork at 140mm on a frame designed for 100mm is quite likely to end in a broken frame. 120mm is pushing it. Running the fork too long will also ruin the steering.

Barberrossa

As i understand it 120mm on an Anthem X is a pretty common mod. 140mm might be ott but that's not really my question, i did look into this when i bought the fork and understand the risks, a slacker angle is what i was going for.

When you say ruin the steering can you elaborate on that? Can it be countered with a shorter higher stem?

bartimaeus

Shorter stem (comes with 110 - mine is now 70), and wider bars (comes with 685 - mine are now 725, but should have left them at 750) with a dropper post (which is why I should have left the bars... the Reverb being inline). Not sure what to say about suspension... I run mine very soft, and reasonably fast but that's not just for the downhills.

Barberrossa

Thanks guys, Is there any downside to running the back end softer than recommended? I tried this yesterday with a quite fast setting but its so wet and overgrown on the local trails it was hard to concentrate on the handling.

I didn't notice any bottoming out but the band on the rear shock was right at the bottom of its range and i had some bob on the uphills that ive never noticed before on this bike. If it does bottom out can that cause damage to the frame or shock?

cooldad

You need the suspension set up for you. What is recommended by manufacturer or random people is unlikely to be right.

Angus Young

[url=http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=19688029#p19688029]cooldad[/url] wrote:

You need the suspension set up for you. What is recommended by manufacturer or random people is unlikely to be right.

Which is the least helpful answer in the history of mountain bike forums. How will I know when it's set up for me?

JodyP

I also changed the stem for a 50mm, have some slightly wider riser bars on, Giant dropper post and swapped the Avids for something that work. Possibly change to flat bars if/when the forks get swapped out.

cooldad

[url=http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=19688053#p19688053]Angus Young[/url] wrote:

[url=http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=19688029#p19688029]cooldad[/url] wrote:

You need the suspension set up for you. What is recommended by manufacturer or random people is unlikely to be right.

Which is the least helpful answer in the history of mountain bike forums. How will I know when it's set up for me?

You can do your own dirty work, but for the benefit of the OP the only way is a generic initial set up, then small single adjustments and experimentation.

Angus Young

[url=http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=19688069#p19688069]cooldad[/url] wrote:

[url=http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=19688053#p19688053]Angus Young[/url] wrote:

[url=http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=19688029#p19688029]cooldad[/url] wrote:

You need the suspension set up for you. What is recommended by manufacturer or random people is unlikely to be right.

Which is the least helpful answer in the history of mountain bike forums. How will I know when it's set up for me?

You can do your own dirty work, but for the benefit of the OP the only way is a generic initial set up, then small single adjustments and experimentation.

Which doesn't answer the question of how will an inexperienced rider, such as myself, know when his bike is set up as best it can be. Because I don't know the answer to that question, apart from the sag, which is easy, I just have everything set in the middle.

cooldad

You will know once you gain some experience. Extreme fine tuning only really helps if you are on the limit, hence your road car doesn't need the same set up as Mr Hamilton's rather fancier one.

The same goes for almost anything.

Initially all you can do is get the sag where you want it, adjust rebound so it is somewhere between chucking you off and packing down, and then fiddle, slowly and systematically.

And if suspension has a million and one settings, good luck.

rockmonkeysc

Running a fork which is too long will raise the bottom bracket which raises the centre of gravity, the effect of this is reduced stability and a tendency to fall in to corners rather than turn in predictably. It will also move your weight back taking weight off the front tyre and reducing grip and feel. A broken head tube will also ruin steering, the Anthem frame is tough for an XC bike but I doubt it's strong enough to run a 140mm fork (I broke my frame riding beyond its designed use).
Giant spent a lot of time developing the Anthem frame to work at its best with a 100mm fork, it's never going to be as good with 140mm. If you feel you need a fork that long it would suggest you have got the wrong frame.

Barberrossa

Morning all,

Thank you for all the insights. I did 18miles last night on varying terrain and had a bottoming out at the back so now know for sure i'm running too slack :-) I ran it at 120mm on the fork the whole way and it was good not to have to fiddle with it and the handling was fine, the downhilly bits were rough fast green lanes rather than flowing singletrack though.

I ended up with the TALAS fork sort of by accident and if the 140mm setting offers no performance or enjoyment improvements then i don't have to run it at 140mm. I was hoping to run it at that and try to set the rest of the bike up around it... BUT i can turn a dial and run it at 120mm or 100mm if that cannot be done in a way that makes things better.

Fundamentally this thread is about trying to get the best out of what i have for my preferred riding. I'm not in the position to buy more bikes or forks. I will certainly be looking at a short stem and wider bars as the next step though.

JodyP

[url=http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=19688846#p19688846]Barberrossa[/url] wrote:

I will certainly be looking at a short stem and wider bars as the next step though.

Planet X do some cheap and light CNC machined stems for £20 if its any good. I didn't want to splash out in case it didn't suite the bike so took a risk on one. Quality is top notch for a cheapy.