I’m demo-ing one of these next week. Does anyone have one or have thoughts on it? What are good alternatives?

I liked the look of it as a good all round bike. I want something I can do big days out in the hills on but also enjoy the descents a bit more than I do on my hardtail.

Thanks

I have an elderly Ex6.5. It works for me as an all round off road bike. It only feels sluggish compared to a hard tail on the road. Off road it climbs better than my hardtail if traction or keeping the front wheel down are an issue

I’m 6 foot 4. I founs the Anthem a bit twitchy and the spec of the time had my weight further back wich was rubbish up hill and great downhill

Hard to advise really. Don’t sweat it too much there are loads of good bikes…

Thanks for that. I had a go of an Anthem X2 recently and it was a nice bike. Petty I know but I can’t get the Anthem anyway because my friend has one. If I get an X2 it would look odd riding matching bikes and if I got an X1 he’d think I was a nob. It overlapps a bit too much with my hardtail anyway, and wouldn’t help me out that much on descents.

+1 for not getting the same bike as your riding buddy, unless you is gay. 😉

Have you considered the canyon nerve xc? Raved about by the bike mags, and blinding specs for the money?

Tomd – it will be interesting to see how you fare. I thought that this would be the perfect bike for me and a balance between XC and AM (plus I have only ever had trek mtbs). But it really didn’t suit me and vice versa. The shop couldn’t believe when I returned saying it was the worst ride I had ever had! This is not a criticism of a bike, more the fact that different set ups suit different people. I had the same reaction, but to lesser extent, with a stumpy. Found both really hard to ride on steep stuff and twisty single track and dull climbers. Ended up having bad crashes on both with 4 weeks off after the stumpy demo. Rode same roots on XC bikes and flew down them – really odd!

For balance – have a friend who loves his!!

Got myself a trance x1 a couple of months ago, can’t recommend it enough. Looks much better in the flesh than on the photos, climbs as well as my hardtail and tackles the descents as well as my mates orange 5. Other than that I rode a cube ams130 pro at a demo day and was very impressed with it if you can get over the paintwork.

Ardec – I’ll have a look at the trance, I think I can get a demo locally.

teamhurtmore – I’ll post up later next week once I’ve given it a shot.

Dantsw13 – yes I had looked at the Canyon but I’d like to demo it ideally. Also, my local shops are really helpful and would probably fill the frame with ball bearings if I ran in on a Friday begging for a quick repair on my Canyon.

Giant are doing that giant test ride scheme, have a look on the giant website

I had a trek ex8 and while I liked it I never loved it
Now have a 29 er hard tail and love it- never really feel ih holds me back on descents in fact on really steep stuff I prefer it

Maybe a trek remedy instead of a fuel? Fine for big XC days but also really really good for the DH part.

Test ride a 2010 EX9 and FSR Expert. It was the first year of the drcv shock.

Didn’t get on with the EX9 at all. The suspension felt harsh, the geometry gave me no confidence (felt like I was too ‘over the front’ & it had very little grip.
The FSR on the other hand was the complete opposite. It felt like I’d been riding it for ages.

The two I went riding with also tried them & preferred the FSR.

Not sure how much different they are now.

Perhaps give the Camber a try too.

Love my EX but i had to fiddle with it to make it right. Rear shock has less than recommended pressure and it feels a lot better. I kept the original bars and stem on to see if I could ride in comfort… no chance so had to go for a 70mm and 760mm combo. Brakes (Avid) are bloody terrible, swapped to Hope – all good. lastly the wheels, my god Bonty are crap! Aluminium nipples! they corrode and pop the spokes, replaced again with Hope/Stans.

All these changes were costly BUT my EX rides better than my Scott, Nomad and Maxlight.

I reckon it depends on the person. I would love to test more bikes, if you have the chance then do it, have fun.