Looking for fast 29er really, something that could just fly in beacon brecons kinda rocky trails?

for the same price?
Get out and demo!

Anthem 650b if you believe Giant!

Personal though innit, go and try a few bikes, see what you like.

Salsa Spearfish (new DW link one)Mag did a review of Anthem, Spearfish and a carbon canyon a while back. They liked all of them.

I had a 26anthem and it does feel quick and nimble.. But cannot keep up with my buddies 29er counter parts (granted there are other factors involved) , but just felt effortless in their bikes ..always get left behind on flats.

I am actually looking at that spearfish.. But my nemesis that i need to beat is riding that particcular bike with a grin smile in his face.

I was impressed how light it felt compared to my Commencal.

Not had a chance to ride in anything more than a car-park, but think it would be tough to beat as an XC29er machine.

The tricky thing these days seems to be defining an XC bike 🙂 Where does XC end and Trail begin. Can a 120mm 29er be an XC bike, for example?

I’d throw the Pivot Mach 429 into the mix (carbon version if funds allow). That has 100mm of rear travel, can take 100 or 120mm fork. Angles are XC/Trail rather than XC/Race (69 degree head angle), but chainstays (at ~450mm) seem to be more geared to climbing efficiency than hooligan descending. It is also, by all accounts, stiffer than a very stiff thing.

Of course, Pivot have dropped the 29er for 2015, but maybe that will result in a few bargains popping up.

I chose an old style Spearfish over an Anthem due to all the pivots and stupid stem sizing on the Giant.
Also locking the shock out on an Anthem is a long reach down.
Very happy with Spearfish, have never ridden an Anthem though.

i like my carbon titus rockstar, pretty nimble and speedy and not so mainstream, if thats a good thing?

Some very good deals on last years Anthems if you hunt around and can find your size.

My Turner Czar is most definitely better than the Anthem I had previously.
But then it should be as it costs a gazillion pounds more!
For the price I can’t believe you can do much better than the 29er Anthem, but then as has been said above depends on what “XC” you are riding

I have an Anthem X29er with a fairly light weight build.
I have ridden it through 12/24 hr xc events, Affan, Bpw, an all day every day ride.
I demo’d a few, even a £4k carbon scott but the anthem X for me rode the best.
I built mine though to the spec I wanted/afford.

[url=https://flic.kr/p/piJzBL]anthem 5[/url] by Quintet100, on Flickr

Like that bikestand quintet100

Where from,any good?

Bike stand from rutland cycles. £16.99
Yes very good stand, 29er nice and snug.

Cannondale Scalpel carbon 29er has to be the fastest bike in the world

I went from 26 Anthem to Transition Bandit so couldn’t believe the difference.
Loads better,up down,cornering.Did 60 miles xc on test ride.

My Turner Czar is most definitely better than the Anthem I had previously.

Excuse the slight hijack, but how are you getting on with that Czar? What’s it like on the way down for example (I’m assuming it’s a blast on the way up) and are you running it with a 100mm fork or 120mm?

It looks very similar (on paper) to the Mach 429 Carbon that I mentioned earlier: DW link, 100mm rear travel, 100m or 120mm forks etc. Just a bit shorter in the top tube, half a degree slacker at the front and marginally (6mm) shorter at the back.