Giant Anthem or trance?

rowdyflat

chez le médecin
Yeah Duck I also dont get this current fashion either.
I understand it is partially compensated by a steeper seat tube moving the riding forward BUT
Call me old skool but I find the climbing part the unpleasant bit and want to make it as easy as possible.
Yack has heaps of uphill switchbacks. Buller well... never seen a place with such hard climbs.
 
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caad9

Likes Bikes and Dirt
In the last 18 months with steeper seat angles, this has improved dramatically.

After a recent ride at Harcourt, it was eye opening to see how capable some big bikes are going uphill now- on technical climbs, that is.
 

Ultra Lord

Hurts. Requires Money. And is nerdy.
The back end of the Trance 27.5 climbs pretty damn well for a 140mm travel bike. It's the front end that hurts the climbing, and that's not specific to the Trance, but spread across the whole modern design theme of shoving the front of the bike as far away from the rider as possible..... Coupled with a slckish head angle it makes the front very light, floaty and vague, with a generally disconnected feel from the rider trying to get it to go somewhere.
You also say you have to hold back on your anthem going down so you don’t go OTB.
Lifes a compromise.

The new trances climb better than the trances of old. The 29er better again. You learn to compensate.

Good weight distribution and stable cornering trump climbing IMO. It’s all about carving turns on the way down. Xc bikes don’t do that as good.
 

hifiandmtb

Sphincter beanie
If a Giant climbs with those characteristics then the geo is wrong.

Something like the Ripmo is slacker & steers on climbs crisply.
 

Chriso_29er

Likes Bikes and Dirt
If a Giant climbs with those characteristics then the geo is wrong.

Something like the Ripmo is slacker & steers on climbs crisply.
Depends what you call a climb :)

I have no issue climbing some crazy 15 - 20%ers on my Trance, but I will say its a hell of lot harder keeping the front in line than on my Scott Scale.
Front end does wander if you not right over it on the steeper stuff.
I also have my seat slid forward on the rails to make up a little for the slack seat tube angle.

Most normal climbs its perfectly fine.

As far as efficiency while climbing goes. It climbs so well with suspension still active I never bother to lock it out.
Compared to my XC hardtail on a popular Melbourne XC climb (com games) My 3rd best time out of 23 is on the Trance. 3:47 vs 3:27 on the Scott Scale.
 
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The Duckmeister

Has a juicy midrange
You also say you have to hold back on your anthem going down so you don’t go OTB.
Lifes a compromise.

The new trances climb better than the trances of old. The 29er better again. You learn to compensate.

Good weight distribution and stable cornering trump climbing IMO. It’s all about carving turns on the way down. Xc bikes don’t do that as good.
My 2011 Anthem is quite a different beast to the newer generations. Both the now-discontinued 27.5 and the new 29er are a fair bit slacker in the front than mine, so are a lot better at descending, but they do trade off a little bit of the climbing sharpness of the old 26er. And as I saiad earlier, given the OP's intended riding, a newer-generation Anthem will be more than capable for his purpose.
 

Warp

Likes Dirt
My 2011 Anthem is quite a different beast to the newer generations. Both the now-discontinued 27.5 and the new 29er are a fair bit slacker in the front than mine, so are a lot better at descending, but they do trade off a little bit of the climbing sharpness of the old 26er. And as I saiad earlier, given the OP's intended riding, a newer-generation Anthem will be more than capable for his purpose.
This. Actually, actually I was rooting for an Anthem and sort of make it an "SX" version adding a beefier fork and tyres. But Giant threw that option away by making the seatpost 27.2mm... so that means very limited dropper options and more suited to strictly XC duties (for me).

Shame... my Anthem 27.5 SX was a killer bike. Seriously fast.
 

Minlak

custom titis
3k? That's a fair chunk of cash. What kind of e-bikes are available for that kind of money?
Funny you should say that. Just starting to see price shrinkage as the range is massive now and supply is outstripping demand. And starting to see the first second hand ones that have been barely ridden show up in forums and Facebook markets. Funnily enough people that bought them thinking it would get them riding more didn’t seem to ride them :)
 

pink poodle

気が狂っている男
Funny you should say that. Just starting to see price shrinkage as the range is massive now and supply is outstripping demand. And starting to see the first second hand ones that have been barely ridden show up in forums and Facebook markets. Funnily enough people that bought them thinking it would get them riding more didn’t seem to ride them :)
At least now when arseholes say "get a motor" e-bikers can say they already did!
 

schred

Likes Bikes and Dirt
I have a 17 anthem, with 130mm air shaft, decent tyres and beefy bar and stem it's a fun bike at 130/110. Faster and stiffer than my older trance everywhere, a very fun and fast bike. Rode my buddys alloy '18 trance 2, was a pig in comparison, really.
 

rowdyflat

chez le médecin
A bit late in the thread to say this [ dont howl me down ] but despite being keyboard warriors i bet there are some people out there who dont ride much and are pretty new at it or who ride up lots of hills and are always a bit scared riding down and are better suited to an Anthem.
I know a few around here.
 

Warp

Likes Dirt
A bit late in the thread to say this [ dont howl me down ] but despite being keyboard warriors i bet there are some people out there who dont ride much and are pretty new at it or who ride up lots of hills and are always a bit scared riding down and are better suited to an Anthem.
I know a few around here.
ME.

But no dropper, no deal.
 

creaky

XMAS Plumper
A bit late in the thread to say this [ dont howl me down ] but despite being keyboard warriors i bet there are some people out there who dont ride much and are pretty new at it or who ride up lots of hills and are always a bit scared riding down and are better suited to an Anthem.
I know a few around here.
I really don't get the logic in this position. If someone is scared going down then why get the steeper, shorter travel bike that is going to provide less confidence going down ?
 

The Duckmeister

Has a juicy midrange
I really don't get the logic in this position. If someone is scared going down then why get the steeper, shorter travel bike that is going to provide less confidence going down ?
Conversely I don't get the position of suggesting a bike that is less than ideally suited for 95% of the riding it'll be doing......
 

creaky

XMAS Plumper
Conversely I don't get the position of suggesting a bike that is less than ideally suited for 95% of the riding it'll be doing......
For an experienced rider who has found their niche or has multiple bikes, I completely agree.

We’re talking about a less experienced rider so progression is expected. But you don’t want to get a bike that will hold back your progression. I would suggest the more versatile bike in this case.
 
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