A bit undecided, was lining up to buy a little used 09 anthem x1 for reasonable price which I’ve ridden but didn’t fall instantly in love with (think suspension needs a service) – however I’ve just spotted the on-one whippet alfine 11 offer….

I’ve been tempted by the whippet for some time now, and tempting by an alfine for simplicity during the winter months. I’m sorely tempted.

What would you do? Cheaper s’hand anthem and spend the difference on servicing forks/shock and maybe some race entries or more spendy alfined whippet?

The idea is it will be used for southern xc’s / gorricks which aren’t hugely rough…. alfine really appeals as the last gorrick I did before I broke my collar bone I had to retire due to the conditions and the bike drivetrain packing up (gorrick 100).

Thoughts? Anyone help my dilemma?

Whats your budget? Am I right in thinking the On One is £1,600 ?

XC Race bike wants to be nice and light. An Alfine isnt, so Id get a carbon on one with standard gears.

well the alfined whippet is £1600, which is more than I wanted to spend, but with some piggy bank raiding & selling more spares could do it. The second hand anthem is likely yo be a lot less than that but I’d want to send both forks & shock off to be serviced.

They both so different options I’m having trouble deciding. If I won the lottery I’d have both….

I’ve been reading threads on the alfine weight vs geared setup. It would appear there really isn’t much in it (alfine vs slx/xt). Main negative seems to be weight in the back wheel which affects distribution and jumping – which won’t be happening in a race.

racebike and alfine = nogo …

i have a rohloff which is lighter and still its a no go for out and out racing …. maybe at strathpuffer if would be a winner but on out and out xc race i wouldnt ….

My tuppence worth of entirely biased opinion-twaffle:

I’ve no idea why you’d want to use an Alfine for XC racing – are you mad! 😉

They’re intended to be used by blokes with beards and really bad body odour.

Anthems rule. Period. Would make an awesome race bike. (I own 2 Maestro-equipped bikes).

The Gorrick winter race series is an utterly miserable experience of plugging through mud and dead tree stumps under leaden grey skies, while being watched by 3 frozen family members from someone else’s family. Why do it? There’s got to be nicer things to do, surely.. A nice walk, perhaps? Or just go for a nice ride somewhere*

Especially if the conditions are so bad that you are seriously thinking of racing with an Alfine..
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* I am, partly, being silly. But only partly though. From experinces back in the 90s, I would never want to go near one of these ‘mountain’ bike races ever again. 😉

Take a look here, Pedalon on doing some very good deals on 2011 Anthems

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

I just got an X2 this weekend, and I’m amazed how good it is.

The X3 is £1,650 with pretty much the same gear from £2,150

The damn thing wants you to go quicker and quicker, the trouble is being fit enough to keep up with it!

What didnt you like about the suspension? I’m finding the Anthems 100mm better than my previous bikes 130mm

Just get the £1000 SLX equipped Whippet and some light whels. Agree with the others than an Alfine really isn’t for racing.

There may be a handful of races they’d be advantageous, to be honest last years Gorrick Enduro probably isn’t really one, it was my brakes that caused me issues, far more so than transmission, which was still vaguely working.

The Gorrick winter race series is an utterly miserable experience of plugging through mud and dead tree stumps under leaden grey skies, while being watched by 3 frozen family members from someone else’s family. Why do it?

Lol, yes it is quite like that, however I like the challenge and it makes me get out on the bike. I think of all the races I’ve done most of them have been in muddy conditions as opposed to dry and on two I have suffered horrible chainsuck / drive train giving up – with the alfine I could have continued.

Interesting the consensus is such a strong no for the alfine….

I really wanted to love the anthem, all I can think is the suspension is dodgy as it wasn’t the wonder bike I’d read about. I managed to face plant at low speed when the SIDs failed to negotiate a large root I’d never even noticed on my old 100mm rebas (!)

I’ve a Rohloff equipped bike and it’s just brilliant as a use all year round every day very low maintenance machine. If the suns shining though and I want to ride as quickly as I can then I’ll use my bike with normal gears.

Having said that though if I could only have one bike and I could build a sub 25lb Rohloff or Alfine equipped bike then that’s what I’d get.

But you could build a lighter bike for less with gears, which would be more efficient 99% of the time…

Crikey you almost sound like me.

I MAY be getting a good HT frame for next years birthday from the Mrs – but I don’t know as its a surprise. I intend to build this up with a 120mm fork but lightweight kit for racing.

I also wonder about going from my 30lb 150mm AM bike to a 27lb 120mm ish bike for all round use and occasional events and races where i need the comfort after enjoying year 1 of such this year.

I’m bedazzled by the Sales and can’t decide to wack an Anthem/ex8 or such like on a CCard and sell off my 150mm to pay for it…

I could build a sub 25lb Rohloff or Alfine equipped bike then that’s what I’d get.

i have – its not all that …. its a great touring beast but it aint no race bike – and ive raced on 27/28lb full sus bikes in the past without much hinderance…. a rohloff does drag – it aint a huge ammount but there is no doubt in my mind it is less efficient than an XTR drive train – ive used both back to back. They have their purpose though no disputing – and thats why ive still got both an XTR equipped race bike and a rohloff equiped MTB touring bike !

what sids were they btw ? new post 08 sids are pretty comparible to rebas so i dont think it was the fork that let you down , perhaps the steeper head angle is what got you – your angle of attack is different and can catch you un awares !

i wouldn’t have alfine on a race bike.

I think i’d prefer the anthem over the whippet, but its a tough call.

But you could build a lighter bike for less with gears, which would be more efficient 99% of the time..

When you commute off road all year round and you add cleaning time to the average speed calculations the Rohloff becomes a lot more efficient than normal gears. Wipe chain squirt chain with GT85 – that’s all it ever gets. The point I was making is that if I could only have one bike then I would go for as light as possible hub geared bike. If I could have more than one bike as I do then I’d have one of each. I wasn’t actually suggesting that you’d choose a hub geared bike for racing unless of course your a shed dwelling vegan. 🙂

It’s all part of the alternative lifestyle, maaan.

Think they are ’09 SIDS, and on paper the headangle on my charge duster with rebas and the anthem with SIDs should be the same…. hence why I was so surprised it felt so different to ride the anthem.

I’m afraid XTR is most definitely out of my price range so I’m comparing weight / efficiency of the alfine to XT or XT/SLX mix.

Might ask for another go on the anthem, maybe this time I’ll bring a shock pump and have a fiddle. I’ll drop on-one a line too, would be interested as to the total weight of the whippet with alfine. I would thought around 25lb?

Oh the decisions….

DT78 is a 2011 anthem out of your price range? I just put it on buy now, pay 12months time, which is basically interest free payments 🙂 and then will transfer to a 0% credit card.

As said above the alife whippet seems an odd choice to me, a geared one seems like a much better bet (although I was totally put off the whippet because of the crummy drawing of a whippet on it, it’s more of a horse, but I am a stupid critical artist!).
Also having owned a Anthem, I wouldn’t say that it is always the wonder bike that everyone else makes out, it is possible that like me it doesn’t totally suit you. I so wanted to love the anthem, perfect of paper, right angles, and top tube length and a race bike but, I have never hated a bike before but I sure hated the anthem. We just didn’t get on at all, so it might not be the suspension set up, it just might not be “your” bike. I would try and get a ride on a new one to make sure, I spent a lot of cash trying to get that bike to feel right it just never did.

Go for the Anthem – I have a 2009 with a few upgrades and it flies – awesome bike that I have had no problem with (shock serviced twice in two years which is pretty good I think.)

When you commute off road all year round and you add cleaning time to the average speed calculations the Rohloff becomes a lot more efficient than normal gears.

No it doesn’t. Cost effective, maybe, but it doesn’t get more efficient. Quoted figures vary, but let’s say 98% the efficiency of a derailleur system. Would you want to give the field a 2 minute headstart before starting a race? That’s basically what you’re doing with a hub gear!

Geared Whippet FTW.

No it doesn’t. Cost effective, maybe, but it doesn’t get more efficient. Quoted figures vary, but let’s say 98% the efficiency of a derailleur system. Would you want to give the field a 2 minute headstart before starting a race? That’s basically what you’re doing with a hub gear!

You don’t seem to reading what I think I’m writing. 🙂
In my first post I say that I’ve bought a lighter weight normally geared bike because I wanted something faster for nice days.
Then I said that If I could only have 1 bike then it would be a light as possible hub geared bike – but only if I could have only 1.
As for the efficiency on the commute in the winter I have a bike I don’t need to clean – if I were using a dérailleur system covered in mud I doubt it would be running at it’s most efficient when thick with mud and the true commute time would be ride time plus cleaning time.
I’ve never suggested it’s a good idea as a race bike it’s just that the the op’s mention of a hub geared whippet made me think that that would be the ideal bike for me if I only had one. Hopefully this reads as I think it does. 🙂