[Closed] Anyone with an Anthem set up as a trail bike?

That's called a Trance 🙂

What's a trail bike? I ride my standard Anthem at trail centres, peaks, dales, lakes etc and don't have problems either with the terrain or keeping up with people. Have I missed some thing?

not racey \z they were designed for, quite obvious really

not racey \z they were designed for, quite obvious really

They aren't made for racing, you can race on them, they are xc/trail bikes.

less of the willy waving, the lad asks a question, you chip in with nothing helpful.

I have a trance as I thought the anthem was a bit too race on paper but having ridden an anthem over in nz I found it really easy to adapt to and would have no problem getting one if I had to replace my trance.

as with all bikes, a longer fork always seems to improve them

Ask stupid questions and all that.

as with all bikes, a longer fork always seems to improve them

You call that helpful 😆

he asked about longer forks, I gave an answer about longer forks. I also gave my opinion on how the anthem compares to what many consider to be the "trail" bike in the giant range.

I suspect my post was helpful.

😆

Longer than 120mm forks? the Anthem has 100mm therefore shouldn't you you be thinking about putting longer forks on a Trance..?

anthem x has 120mm sids doesn't it?

Nope, 100mm both ends.

Various forks depending on the spec i.e X0 though to X4 but all 100mm's

Sounds like it would mke a fun bike. I thought you had a Santa Cruz though? Whats up with that?

Run mine with 100mm forks, Hope Hoops on DT 4.2 rims over all maner of terrain with no real issues. Thought about upping to 120mm but if it isn't broke etc. Don't do big drops/jumps though but thats just cause im scared.

i do - not to replace but as an addition. They look like good fun 🙂

Fun, but what exactly are you looking for?
What SC do you have?

I've got mine with a 120mm Reba with 20mm axle, shortish stem (70mm, but did run 40mm for a while), strong enough wheels (719s), reasonably high bars and a Minion up front..... do I reach the required gnar level?

Good enough setup like that to handle anything Innerleithen can through at it (minus the drops on Matador, not sure if i'd trust the frame for that)

I don't get the recent "trail riding" label that seems to have appeared. dh trails aren't the same as xc trails, which are also completely different to bmx trails.

should it be 'Every-trail'?

I don't get the recent "trail riding" label that seems to have appeared.

Its just cross country, or what used to be called mountain biking.

I tried a 125mm fork on its predecessor, the NRS. It made it handle quite differently and not always for the best.

I'm building a 2010 Anthem up with 140-95mm u-turn Pikes, 20mm bolt thru, shortish stem and chunky tyres to ride in the Lakes and Dales.

To avoid the trail bike debate it is intended to be a light weight cross country up and over mountain bike.

Its an experiment and the frame may break, because its blooming light!

Oh and if anyone wants to see one that someone else made earlier...
[img] [/img]

I think they are designed to take up to 120mm

I'm running 100-130 revs on mine, use the negative air chamber to bring the travel down to 120mm. I don't have wide bars (690) but run with a 70mm stem. It's got fairly normal hope hoops with mavic 721's on it. I'd ride it over pretty much anything, but I'm too much of a wuss to jump it far (I'm the weak link, not the bike). If you want to ride like a loon, trance / reign could be what you really need though

Racer Adam Craig has a 120mm fork
[url= http://www.bikeradar.com/news/article/pro-bike-adam-craigs-giant-anthem-x-advanced-sl-25368/ ]bikeradar[/url]
[img] [/img]

holyjezus - nomad

Mine's set with 100mm stem, 100mm SIDs and 660mm bars. I have pondered running mine with wider bars and may well try it one day but I find they hinder climbing too much.

I think a 120mm fork would make it a more trail friendly bike, but I don't find it much of a slouch in the techy stuff as it is. It's really a blast.

As for chunkier rims, I don't see the problem here- I've had Olympics on mine that're 4 years old now and I've actually just had them built onto new hubs because they died first.

I've used it at trail centres (it's much quicker round Glentress than anything bigger) and it's great there. I also find that it's perfect for the Rivelin Valley trails and I suspect it'd do nicely on some of the tamer trails like the Roman Road but I'd not take it into the depths of the Peak.

Want a spin on mine Rob? Might be a bit small but I suspect it'll make you want one. It's the fastest bike I've ever ridden.

Hows about a ride on wednesday luke? Fox house round houndkirk etc. 7:30 start

Sounds good to me, I'll ride the porker you can ride the Anthem. I'll need to sort the new wheels as they're currently bare.

I ran my old anthem x with 130mm revelations, 50mm stem, 2.35" maxxis, double ring, bash guard and lower chain device. Was a lovely trail bike, just had doubts about its overall strength if I came up short on a big jump though.

This is mine by the way.

[img] [/img]

don't worry - its more nomad territory 🙂

will give it a go sooner rather than later if you are ok with that tho

Yeah. Still keen for Wednesday. Where's the Fox House?

If it helps I have a x1 with 100mm sids / light wheels & rocket rons and a nomad with 36s etc... I am the best part of 10% faster (garmin) round afan and cwmcarn on the anthem. Not too far off the same top speed either, just alot more squeaky moments on the anthem (= more fun)

Anthem doesn't need bigger forks, the SIDs are fine if you can ride. I do have a spare set of uturn pikes I keep getting tempted to try on it though...

I like that munrobiker, perfect for where I live.

luke will fb you

Here is one for sale on fleabay (not mine) with 140mm Revelations up front
[url= http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/110813551003?ru=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.co.uk%3A80%2Fsch%2Fi.html%3F_from%3DR40%26_trksid%3Dm570.l2736%26_nkw%3D110813551003%26_fvi%3D1&_rdc=1 ]ebay ad[/url]
Looks nice
[img] [/img]

Out tonight on my freshly built up Anthem. I'll try forks at 100-120 and 140mm and see how it goes. Been up to Lancaster castle and down the steep banks and steps to give it a shake down and it feels nice and tight. Looking forward to Hawkshead and some challenging terrain to test it out properly.
[img] [/img]

I did attempt to measure the difference in BB height with the forks at 100-120-140 and the difference was an increase of less than a 1/4 of an inch each time - so all in less than 1/2 and inch increase in BB height. I may try some of those fangled off-set shock bushings to drop the BB and slacken the head angle some more.

One thing you may need to check is rear mud-room.

I ran an XTC once and that was dire, and I don't remember the demo Anthem I tried been much better?

I've not had any problems running 2.25 Nobby Nic's on my Anthem

Yes - I've got one. I have got it set up as a 'do it all but quite light' trail bike (I don't race) to complement my heavier Heckler build.

Anthem X
Reba 120mm
Hope hoops on Crest front (with Superstar 9mm bolt through)/Arch EX rear (Superstar rear 10mm bolt through)
2 x 9 set up (26/38)
70mm stem
710mm bars
i950 dropper post 🙂

It isn't as light as I would want it to be but it is a great all rounder. I wouldn't imagine it would be as much fun/confidence inspiring in the stock 100mm fork/long stem set up.

Clearance is tight for anything that really is more than 2.3 inch at the back. With the 2.4 Ardent it was too tight for my liking so its got a 2.35 High Roller which has loads of clearance. I can't see me needing anything bigger than that for the riding I do in the Lakes.

I think that Anthem Xs in some territories are sold with 120mm travel forks. The original Anthem was sold with 80mm travel forks in the UK but Australia got them with 100mm travel forks.

"I wouldn't imagine it would be as much fun/confidence inspiring in the stock 100mm fork/long stem set up."

It is, just as much so, in fact I would probably say better as the turn in/change of direction will be better than with a 120+ fork.

I used to ride a 130mm bike and the Anthem is much more fun/confidence inspiring in stock form. I think people these days have been sold on the fact that you need lots of suspension upfront to make a bike reasonable to ride.

@FunkyDunc - I will be testing the length of travel with the U-turn on the Pikes and see what works.

On the subject of pedalling the suspension travel myth, in this months STW there is the term 'All Marketing' bike which made me chortle.

It climbs better at 100mm and ok at 120 but its shite on steep rocky tech climbs at 140. It seems to strike pedals on rocks a fair bit at 100mm. Its a little bit twangy on really rocky descents but it took everything in its stride. All in all good dirty fun.

Oh and it definitely pedals nicely. Er and crashes quite well too