More a question of - are there any snapping frame / stone impact type horror stories?Haven't come across any, but haven't looked previously.
It's carbon, it will eventually crack some time if you ride it hard, possibly during a race. Ive seen a cracked Scott full sus before, snapped at the head tube.
Wondered why the frame had dimensions marked up on it....
Pronghorn, really nice bikes.
njee20 - which other full sussers are <26lbs for £2k?
I have an Anthem, and love the feel of it.
Ride feels very close to my beloved Lucky Strike. Not as fast on the climbs, but the 100mm rear travel allows far more speed to be carried on descents.
Sadly, having not bent a thing in 15+ years of mtbing, I cracked the LS last year, and suspect that the Anthem is now cracked as well.
Creaking, groaning Anthem is not confirmed as cracked just yet (and I have my fingers crossed that it is not...). Giant dealer suspects BB / pivot or mech hanger creakage. I suspect the rock dint just above the BB 
Needs a full strip and re-grease to fully check out
Lots of nice carbon HT frames around these days!....
Cannondale Flash would be a good choice - I just got a 29er Flash Carbon and it feels like cheating 
It IS quite a compliant frame though (VERY stiff but floaty at the same time - gives in the stays, seattube and SAVE post) from your thread title it sounds like you want something with no flex at all anywhere...
michaelmcc - Member
It's carbon, it will eventually crack some time if you ride it hard, possibly during a race. Ive seen a cracked Scott full sus before, snapped at the head tube.
Followed by the same logic
It's steel, it will eventually crack some time if you ride it hard, possibly during a race. Ive seen a cracked steel frame
It's aluminium, it will eventually crack some time if you ride it hard, possibly during a race. Ive seen a cracked aluminium frame
etc 
Oh dear, gonna incur the wrath of the Anthem crowd now 
I didn't say Anthems weren't good bikes, they have a huge following, and I don't doubt they're excellent, I just know from weighing lots of friends ones that they're not all that light.
njee20 - which other full sussers are <26lbs for £2k?
You say other, but on my scales I've not seen an Anthem meet those criteria! A number of friends have 2011 Anthem X Advanced SL 1s, and they're over 25lbs stock, which is a bit disappointing I think for the money. Weighed one with Podium wheels and what not, pretty tricked out, and it was still nearly 24.
It's a bikecarbon, it will eventually crack some time if you ride it hard, possibly during a race.
FTFY
Have always been concerned about alu fatigue life and cracking...
Re stiffness - the LS was Ti, so had a good mix of quick geometry and trail buzz soakage.
njee20 - My Anthem cost £1800 is is approx 26lb. Its well known that the plastic frame one is only fractionally lighter than the metal one, but you pay alot of extra cash when the components are not much different. So on my reckoning buy a cheap Anthem and spend another £1.5k on very light stuff and you could get sub 25lb very, very, VERY fast FS bike. (but its irrelevant because OP doesnt want a FS)
Followed by the same logicIt's steel, it will eventually crack some time if you ride it hard, possibly during a race. Ive seen a cracked steel frame
It's aluminium, it will eventually crack some time if you ride it hard, possibly during a race. Ive seen a cracked aluminium frame
etc
Its different, you get more warning with alloy or steel, and often they bend or dent before cracking. Little to no warning with carbon, they just snap straight through.
I am sure that the suggestions on here are maybe better than this, and it appears your looking to spend a bit more than this, but for me I love the orange elite. I have had some very, very nice hardtails and full sus's over the years but the elite is far better than all of them. Test rode one thinking that it might be a bit disappointing but loved it. Paint work is not really my thing, going to have it resprayed soonish, but is one of the few bikes that I have owned that I would bother doing this with.
Very fast feeling but also lots of fun to ride and surprisingly comfortable for a alloy hardtail. As I said probably not quite what your looking for but the above opinion is an honest one, not a "I've got this bike so it's great", I am never that confident in my choices and far too much self doubt to have that type of opinion!
Re the anthem: I do think it's quite funny, although maybe not much to go by, that Liam Killeen who said a while ago that the hardtail was dead for xc racing and seemed to always want to ride the specialized epic, uses a Giant hardtail, not the anthem.
Its well known that the plastic frame one is only fractionally lighter than the metal one, but you pay alot of extra cash when the components are not much different. So on my reckoning buy a cheap Anthem and spend another £1.5k on very light stuff and you could get sub 25lb very, very, VERY fast FS bike
Yes, I didn't dispute that, but why not do the same with a Top Fuel/Epic/Spark etc etc? And my comment was not at your specific bike, it was at the range of Anthems, of which the X Advanced SL is one, and it is heavier than it's competitors, ditto the equivalent model that most of my friends have had in the past.
My comment was that Anthems (off the shelf) were reasonably heavy, perhaps I should have caveated it further! IMO it's fairly irrelevant what you can get them to weigh if you spend £1500 on them.
Its different, you get more warning with alloy or steel, and often they bend or dent before cracking. Little to no warning with carbon, they just snap straight through.
Rubbish. Carbon can crack, alu can suddenly fail.
This
always scarier on the downs
and this
quick as a whippet up hill
says rigid forks, rather than suspension.
Whatever...
Ive seen a few cracked carbon frames at races, never seen a cracked alloy one. Go figure...
If you have deep pockets Scott Scale.
If you dont On-One Whippet.
Light bikes (sub 20 pounds) ride fast its up to you to stay on the bike and off the brakes.
You will need the skills to match either otherwize you WILL hurt yourself.
Any decent bike frame can fail regardless of material.
Ive seen a few cracked carbon frames at races, never seen a cracked alloy one. Go figure...
How conclusive 
More alu frames fail as there's more out there, but the scaremongers love to jump on the broken carbon frames! Look through the forum threads, I'll wager there's far more about broken alu, and probably even ti lately, than carbon.
Ive seen a few cracked carbon frames at races, never seen a cracked alloy one. Go figure...
You don't hang around at races very much. Everything snaps.
Any reason to go for the Scale 30 rather than the Scale 35??
35 looks to be the cheapest way into the carbon frameset...
Have looked at the geometry, and it is one of the few frames I've looked at with a longer TT than the Lucky Strike - although the head angle is a couple of degrees more relaxed.
The Whippet + Sid deal looks fab - but its the old web trick of advertise at whatever price 'cause there's none in stock
TBH though, the Scale 30 / 35 are obviously a lot dearer, but given the full bike spec I dont think they are that much different from the Whippet
Any reason to go for the Scale 30 rather than the Scale 35??
Nope.
Lighter frames than the Whippet too.
Hopefully the creaking from your Anthem X is just the rocker bearings. Mine only lasted 9 months so I replaced the lot with better quality bearings provided by kaesae on here. Smooth as butter after that.
Hopefully the creaking from your Anthem X is just the rocker bearings.
Hoping that or BB. Mrs rkk01 has me on DIY at the mo, so I still haven't had time for a full strip.
njee20 - which other full sussers are <26lbs for £2k?
Here you go. 23-24lb, XT/DT Swiss/Formula......£1800 delivered.
That Canyon is > 25 lb, and more of a trail bike than a fast thing. (not that I have ridden one to tell) but the geometry and travel suggests so.
My mistake....24.9lbs, but lets not quibble, it is less than though 26lb though. I rode one, was good you could def race it.....I went for the Lux in the end as I did want an out an out race bike like the OP but full suss.
Cube? Loads of folk racing them this summer.
That Canyon is > 25 lb, and more of a trail bike than a fast thing. (not that I have ridden one to tell) but the geometry and travel suggests so.
Surely that makes it more impressive that it's lighter than an Anthem whilst still being a longer travel bike?
The point is it satisfied the criteria you originally stated. Did you actually mean:
"find a bike that is basically an Anthem, but not actually an Anthem, and is lighter, whilst costing less than the one I got", then we can all agree with you!
The Nerve MR is a 100mm XC bike so same as an Anthem, not quite as direct as the carbon Lux but a race bike nonetheless. Not a trail bike thats for sure.
Anthem X Advanced SL-0 is basically the same spec as my Lux MR9 but costs £6700 versus £3200 for the Canyon. Go figure.
I bought a previous years version of the Scale 35 at a bargain price, stripped it down and rebuilt it with light components. It is an excellent bike, I really have no concerns over the strength or durability of the frame. I have previously broken Ali, Steel and Ti frames. The inital components on the Scale 35 where a strange mix with some very heavy bit, noticably the wheels. For the price I paid for it and the money I got back from selling the new parts it was a bargain.
My wife has a Whippet. I don't think the frame quailty is quite as good as the Scale, the finish is softer so shows a lot more scratches. Weight wise it is a little bit heavier than my Scale frame (19" Scale vs 16" Whippet). I can't remember the exact figure, maybe 150g. However for the price the Whippet is great, and my wife seems to win loads more races than I ever will!
mcboo - I completely agree with you, and as was said above, no reason at all to buy the plastic Anthem as it weighs only fractionally less than the metal one.
When I bought the Anthem I looked at the Canyon MR, but the Anthem was very very similar spec for the same money (and very similar weight). All I was saying is that you could buy a metal Anthem as opposed to the plastic one and use the change to make it an incredibly light race bike, as the metal Anthem frame is very light to start with.
I would be genuinely intrigued to ride an Canyon MR to see how the ride compares to an Anthem. What I do know, as I said above is that the Anthem is a very very fast bike.
Niner Air 9 Carbon, end of debate.
yeh I looked at getting a alu Anthem last year, no question was best in class.
But you bought the Canyon?
.....best in class until Canyon started selling in the UK. tbh I wanted a carbon race bike and didnt want to compromise on the groupset so no question I was going German mail-order.
That Scale 29er looks quick...
Hhhmmm, this
Or this?
26er Looks faster, but I suspect that the 29er might be faster
26er has some useful discounts on.
29er prices are solid
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