Sorry for keeping this thread going for ever but I want to get this bike right…….Messiah….so I buy the rims from LB ( where are they??? and how do they get em to you? How long etc)……….my LBS will be building it so do I get just the rims from LB and then get my LBS to source spokes/hubs etc?………I know all of this might seem obvious but for the Tallboy I just specced it up and pulled the trigger ( well my LBS did…told you I was shite) and I want this one to be as good if not better and bespoke….cheers

Northwind ….I’ve got the Thompson Elite X4 stem on the Tallboy and it weighs 145gr…………what does a 50 mm KCNC WEIGH?????

Like the sound of those wheels “messiah” have you built them before? I’m just a bit dinasaurish and naive regarding carbon wheels…….i know stronger than alloy ive seen the video but!!!

Tempted though

LVC are great, or they were for me…..supplied a great bike/guide Ellesworth I think the bike was…there seems to be only one area where everybody rides …Red Rock Mountains..it’s great fun and can be done as a half or full day….not scarily up/down but just great to be out of the city ripping up some dry dusty trails……cactuses and sharp rocks are the enemy, so don’t fall off

In Vegas……Gun Store – go there and shoot some awesome stuff-the best

The Wynne hotel has a fabulous show called “le reve” go there!!!!!! if my advice here is wrong, I’ll eat my own feet on STW

helicopter ride into Grand Canyon……. Use the main company ( can’t remember name)…. blew me away big style

Great restaurants, in hotels (all accessible free)gamble with a tenners worth of chips and drink free all night….move freely from classy 5 star hotel to 5 star hotel beer in hand….24/7

Awful really ;-)………I’d add jealous to this but I’ll be in Bahamas tomoz whooooooop !!

Let us know how it goes

Go on then wider wheels/hubs comete that weigh equal or less than 1620 gr??????

Looking forward to doing this now :-)))))

I’m going for the 29er if I do it..and will post pics

Cheers for your replies…..I’ve just had so much trouble with Avids on previous bikes ( bleeding, bleeding and more bleeding bleeding) that I’m loath to give em another go

I’m not that “in the know” re speccing up my bikes…what’s the Pike/SLR issue……I e got em on my Tallboy and they seem ok to me (our trails are mainly XC, plantation and rocky/ muddy ups and downs….. Very light at 1620gr

With reference to the mating of the reverb/ shifter….would you not put the reverb button on the left ?

Going on hols tomoz …..long flight no STW = :-((((

Just ordered one with the 800 lid lamp £185

Gentle stretch/excercise (to the pain not past) then ice…….and repeat until mended

Ooooooooooooh consider myself spanked……. I did type in MTB batteries lumenator 2000 and got nothing ……..I will try harder next time ;-)

Will do………..aaaaaaaaaaagggggghh!!!!!!! It’ll be old blokey postey photo time again

My, not very experienced, view is if you’re over 6″ you don’t feel as secure on a 26″ as you do on a 29″……. that’s my personal view only but I had loads of OTB’s and front wheel snatches on my 26″ ……..I still felt like I was hanging over the front end on the Anthem 29er ( great bike by the way soooo light and racy) but I just feel so much more confident on the Trance 29…….total do it all

Just had same with my CTD shock …… thin chain lube pipe fired in under the lever and eventually it freed up

Many thanks as usual guys………I’m desperately trying to keep the bike under 28lb and as I don’t throw bikes around in too insane a fashion ( at 58 I don’t bounce as well as I used to, hence two cracked ribs at the mo) so I think I’ll go SLR’s and 32 on the front and of course report in accordingly

Cheers P

I’ve had both in 26″ and now 29er……now reckon the Trance 29er is awesome ( especially if you’re over 6 feet and I am)

Anthems sold

I’ve ran Mud x’s all round for ages ( 11/2 of the 2 ive been riding)but as I’m getting a little bit better and I suppose faster I’m noticing that they are not so hot on the front but still great on the back……took off the front and fitted Hutchinson Toro 2.35 …..so far seem much more confidence inspiring and less likely to wash out…..kept the mud x’s as spares for the rear

29ers rock for me used to have an Anthem 26″ the. Progressed to Anthem 29 after a trip to Vegas inc MTB Ing in the Redrock mountains….never looked back …. now got Trance 29 and Tallboy both great machines and well sorted for virtually any terrain…. Giant have stated that they are phasing out 29ers otherwise I may have got the 2014 Trance carbon but they’re only putting out a few of the lower models…….all marketing BS in my mind…..2-3 years time they’ll be back

I got the 2.35 ones

Scandal42…..why the nightmares???……just watched vid of it, looks scary but nice…….johnnygooner…..that looks like a plan…..many thanks, can’t wait. We are a 2 guys (one old—-me (58 but fit)…..and 1 car so minimal faffing

Cheers guys…..loads of stuff to go on there…..are the ( weather permitting) Snowdonia/Snowdonia trails obvious or is in LBS for maps etc?

Mud X’s mmmmm like em!!

I’ve just flown over to London and started reading my first STW delivered to my door just before Xmas……I am a mountain biker only and therefore have a prejudice obviously but is the clue not in the title…..sorry if I’ve repeated somebody else’s views but I’ve only got 5 min of wifi and can’t read full post…..if I had had MBR and WBM with me I would have probably finished em both on the 1 hour flight….as it was I read about 1/4 of STW and loved it……if it becomes “general biking world” I’ll unsubscribe….. If anyone from STW is reading this … Keep up the good work!!!!!….rant over

Topeak mini track pump awesome bit of kit….. even reinflated my tubeless after farty burpy incident

Is that half a mile from Billingham Andy or Isle of Man ( that’s where I live)

Many thanks all.. Job done

The tyres are Sweetskinz Hazarea…. love the look of em but they have less than no grip so I’ve bid on eBay for some mudX’s……mancave is only tidy cos it’s just finished and I’m not there.
Righog: I’ll not be doing any major fettles on this baby, it is what it is, a “dog” that I’ll use 2-3 times a year when I visit me mum……I only take it on 10-15 mile loops from her door….. If it dies it does and I run back to her house

I bought a pair of Berghaus arctic walking boots sent them to “Feetfirst” and they put 5:10 soles on for £30 quid…. Worn em since Nov awesome!!! You could use any goretex or similar boots

Previous posts gave me the tip

Got the 34 Kashimas on my Tallboy, great so far

Anything Makita will smash it and last for ages…… for concrete get SDS and SDS drill bits…..

Ok maybe I overreacted to one of those nights……maybe persevere for a bit

Great deals on 2013 Anthems/Trance’s now……Giant have included one 29er Anthem and one Trance for 2014 only…..that’s why I bought a Tallboy…..if they’d brought out a top end maybe carbon Trance 29 er for 2014 it would be mine…when you consider the top end models advanced etc virtually sold out it seems a bit silly…. Egg baskets etc….great bikes tho

Cheers people…..about time you saw some IOM pics ( without busted heads hopefully)

Yep, especially with stans….if you blow it up with Co2 you may be successful in getting it inflated but your usually runny gooey sealant turns into a furrball inside the tyre meaning it won’t work again……might get you home but that’s it

Yep, especially with stans….if you blow it up with Co2 you may be successful in getting it inflated but your usually runny gooey sealant turns into a furrball inside the tyre meaning it won’t work again……might get you home but that’s it…..can’t remember make but there is a new sealant on the market that is ok with Co2 ask your LBS

Doesn’t that just put the link in your post whereas I’ve seen actual pics on with the text ie bad crash guy…. Forgive me I’m shite but I do try

My 2012 Anthem X29er 1 weight 1 pound less than my 2013 Trance X29er 0…….better kit on Trance but you can always upgrade bits later

http://classifieds.mtbr.com/showproduct.php?product=83653

This is the rockguard I got the Ultra model

Sweet bit of kit….almost as pretty as its big sister…… Google rockguards for Santa Cruz etc and get the on that wraps around your BB……if its the same as Tallboy the built in one doesn’t cover it………love SC bigly!!!!

Yeah bit of Hawaiian shirt going on in there ;-)