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I love my anthem, but do find that it could do with a few degrees off the HA. Would a works angleset fit, and would i need a non tapered fork?
just buy a trance
Or you could try some offset shock bushes.
Which anthem? Wheel size and fork length? I have a 12 model with 100mm as standard, extended out to 120mm and that made it slacker. Maybe worth a go as a starting point
Interested in this too. Mine is a 2010, 71 deg head angle with 100mm forks.
I suspect that doing this would completely miss the point of an Anthem, as well as ruin it.
I ran mine with a 120mm fork, and it was brilliant, slackened it out a bit making it more stable and didn't really lose much of its mountain goat climbing style either. Mate of mine in our club used to run one with 160mm 36 Talas, and let me tell you, that was going waaaay too far.
Offset shock bushing works well costs a button and doesn't upset anything.
They offered the Anthem X with 120mm forks in some markets...
It basically depends on the headtube/headset, if it's a pressfit type then chances are, you can fit an angleset.
I suspect that doing this would completely miss the point of an Anthem, as well as ruin it.
What point is that then? A bike with a head angle so steep it's practically useless above jogging speed? This thought process that a bike can be ruined with a reduced head angle is complete BS.
I agree with the buy a Trance suggestion. Until recently Giant thought 2 degrees off a road bike head angle was perfect for mountain bikes. Those older bikes are too far gone to save.
I put 100-140mm u-turn Pikes on an old 2010 26" Anthem and it did not like 140mm forks, but 120mm was good. However any extra hammer you could give the bike because of the CH nky forks and slackened head angle were undone by the noodley frame and the spindly rocker arm.
In my opinion just buy a slacker heavier weight bike and do the job properly. It is a pared to bone XC whippet that hasn't got the strength for any mild gnar.
Others may differ but with my lump on it I didn't like it. I will say that it was very fast and light in the woods and up hills.
Depends on the Anthem though, the proper ones they made in 2010 that were full carbon, including the rocker, are as stiff as anything and are let down a little bit by the head angles in some circumstances.
The point of the bike isn't gnarly smashing stuff, it's covering the ground very fast, but it's more than capable and if you don't use it as a race bike I expect most would benefit from a slacker angle.
I'm lucky enough to have one of the proper ones hung from the garage wall, it's great fun and very capable, even on the crossmark tyres it came with. It's a hoot to ride on difficult descents, but I wouldn't miss the steep head angle for what I use it for. I've put better tyres on it and will probably slacken it out a bit at some point too. I won't be putting different forks on it or swapping it for a different frame, I already have that bike.
In fact, I'm going to go outside and measure the bushes right now and get some ordered.
The point of the bike isn't gnarly smashing stuff, it's covering the ground very fast, but it's more than capable and if you don't use it as a race bike I expect most would benefit from a slacker angle.
Covering ground very fast as long as it's smooth and fairly flat?
That's what it was designed for, but it's competent to be very good fun on all but the steepest rocky descents, even if it's not as quick as a bigger bike would be. Does that make more sense?
I've just taken my shock off to measure the bushes. Took longer than expected because all these little jobs begin with tidying the entire workshop and then I remembered I was supposed to swap the grips over so I did that, then I remembered that the bottom shock mount is behind the cranks so they had to come off too.
What I discovered is the lower shock mount is directly onto the lower swing arm pivot axle, no bushes, no top-hats, just straight on. So I can't put an off-set on the bottom.
Is that the same on everyone else's Anthems, or is it just a quirk of the carbon frames?
In my experience slackening the head angle rarely improves the ride and bush measuring is a definite no no 😉
I have an Anthem 29er and the only thing that I find truly limiting is the lack of bb clearance when you are going over rocks etc.
My Trance 29er is better at that...but it does not feel as fast
What I discovered is the lower shock mount is directly onto the lower swing arm pivot axle, no bushes, no top-hats, just straight on. So I can't put an off-set on the bottom.
Somebody probably should've pointed that out earlier 😉
Same on all Anthems