No 26" Giant Anthems/Trances for 2013?

[spiderpig]

So was at the LBS the other day and from what they were saying, there will be no Giant Anthem's or Trance's avail in 26" for 2013, they will all be 29".

So wondering if i bougth a 26" is it going to be worth nothing to sell 2nd hand in a couple of years if i wanted too, now that they are starting to really push 29 ers?

Anyone else heard this? Would seem people are being pushed rather than having a choice now if its true....

 

[willsy01]

Sounds like bullhonky to me...

 

[cooken]

I also heard from a local Giant dealer there will be no 26" anthems for 2013. Didn't ask about the Trance.

It seems that no one is buying 26" XC bikes anymore. Specialized and Scott seem to be dropping 26" XC models next year too.

 

[eastie]

I could imagine some manufacturers may be looking to ensure their 26" range is both 26 and 650 compatible. If they aren't already they may be better skipping a normal release date and doing a mid year release. I think giant did this with one of their 29ers recently.

 

[cleeshoy]

So was at the LBS the other day and from what they were saying, there will be no Giant Anthem's or Trance's avail in 26" for 2013, they will all be 29".

So wondering if i bougth a 26" is it going to be worth nothing to sell 2nd hand in a couple of years if i wanted too, now that they are starting to really push 29 ers?

Anyone else heard this? Would seem people are being pushed rather than having a choice now if its true....

Second hand bikes tend to be worth very little regardless. As a financial investment bikes are shocking, but they're awesome fun to ride

I imagine it would be costly making both 26" and 29" options. If the trend is towards 29ers (or 650b) then it would make commercial sense to produce a bike type that appeals to the bigger market and eliminate the less popular option. 80-20 rule applies here me thinks.

From last year it appears Specialized made a strategic decision to go down the 29er option for men's XC race bikes.

 

[tubby74]

was at a store not 3 hours ago on a trance x1, told him I'd heard no 26" trances next year, he insisted I was wrong and they would still be around.

which is odd as I'd called another giant dealer just before I went out and they said they had no stock and other stores were clearing out 26 inch models as no one was buying, said 29'ers outsold them 10-1 this year.

 

[static_X3]

Anthems i understand but no 26" trance? Really? Looks like my next bike will be a stumpjumper! Unless.....

 

[ScooterXC]

many brands have decided not to bring 26ers to Aus for the 2013 range
sad for us who don't believe in them, and love our 26ers!! GRR!!:yell:

edit: I doubt parts brands will discontinue 26er parts though, so you can still build a dream one

 

[vtwiz]

I find the no 26er Trance thing hard to believe.

Giant are only releasing the Trance 29er in alloy for this year with the best spec being pretty much full XT. That means the Carbon Trances will still be available an I bet they will still sell the alloy 26ers too.

The 29er Trail Bike is a new thing for Giant hence why they are only introducing it in Alloy. They wouldn't just drop all the 26er Trances at such an early stage in their 29er trials.

 

[Pebble]

I don't know, look at the XTC this year, if you want 26" there is only the one choice of bike and it's in my opinion really only just above entry level. Granted the lower end HT's still come in 26" options though.

I wouldn't find it hard to believe that Giant would omit 26" XC duallies for a year (didn't they do that with the STP?)

 

[rone]

Maybe they envisage a future in which everybody wants to race and nobody rides for fun anymore.

 

[StanTheMan]

Maybe they envisage a future in which everybody wants to race and nobody rides for fun anymore.

No most people are hipsters and just get on the bandwagon. Just like in car scene.....ohhh race cars have big brakes big wheels & no suspension lots of camber....must be good for a road car. :rant:

wonders what they'll do about warranty issues. They've replaced my Anthem X 26" once, under warranty. If they are not making it anymore.....

 

[akashra]

I would find the lack of a 26" Trance odd too, given its target market and use. But this is the internet, and rumours quickly become fact. Let's just wait and see what Giant actually announce. Don't worry too much about warranty. They tend to keep a pretty big shed of older frames, or when something becomes retired, they replace with whatever's new.

I agree the price you'll fetch for a secondhand bike is barely worth selling it. I have an Anthem that I've not tried too hard to sell, but it is basically a new bike with all the parts we replaced and I haven't sold it when it's been listed - even at a fairly low price.

It's likely my next hardtail will be a 650b, so will stick to the duallie for the next 12mo at least and just leave the current 26" HT locked away.

 

[spiderpig]

Yeah i realise bikes are never a good investment option, but the thought crossed my mind if everyone is pushed/brain washed into 29 ers over the next year or 2 and not many 26" bikes are produced, if I did want to sell it the market may be even harder again as the 26" bike might be seen as "old school" and couldn't be as good as the 29" generation....

It was a bit of a shock to here it from the dealer as we had been thinking of buying my wifey a new 26" Anthem Advanced for ages, tax return came in, went to LBS to get some info then he dropped that.... hadn't put too much thought into it before that... so now we don't know which way to go.

Have no idea what the whole 650B thing is either? Guess we are out of the loop and just been happy mushrooms flogging our old 26" specialized enduro's around :behindsofa:eep:

 

[akashra]

Have no idea what the whole 650B thing is either? Guess we are out of the loop and just been happy mushrooms flogging our old 26" specialized enduro's around :behindsofa:eep:

27.5" tyres. For those of us wannabe 29 owners who can't handle a whole 29er.

 

[cleeshoy]

Yeah i realise bikes are never a good investment option, but the thought crossed my mind if everyone is pushed/brain washed into 29 ers over the next year or 2 and not many 26" bikes are produced, if I did want to sell it the market may be even harder again as the 26" bike might be seen as "old school" and couldn't be as good as the 29" generation....

If you look at it another way, selling a 26" might be easier as the market will be flooded with all those 29ers. Your 26er will be considerd a "niche" product (I must be a glass half-full kind of guy )
Whilst there is a push to 29ers (and 650b even), I think 26" bikes will still be around for a while yet.

If Giant don't sell the bike you are after, I am sure there are other brands out there that will.

 

[spiderpig]

Made some enquiries at a few more LBS and its def whats happening. One shop commented they bought up what they could from Giant when they heard the news. This shop happened to have a nice new 2012 Anthem x advanced 26" in small at a good runout price in stock, perfect size for the wifey so put the deposit down.... she's stoked :hat:

 

[Pebble]

A used 26" bike will be worth less to some people in the future because they will have gone forward with the 29er trend. But there will be others who won't want to buy 29" so their only option to get a decent bike will be to look at the 2nd hand market.

Really it could go either way but I don't think it's likely to be much worse than resale you get anyway mainly because there is always going to be that niche that likes 26" still. It could just mean it takes longer to sell.

And as for the market of 26" wheels, I guess Giant must have sold most 26" bikes in the low end market...the entry level HT's etc. I guess it's already been pointed out in this thread that when something is becoming mainstream (29ers) it's harder for a buyer looking to spend a reasonable amount of money on a new bike to opt for something that could be mostly phased out in the future (26ers).

But hey buying a 26" Anthem on a run-out price you can't really go wrong, even if you did choose to upgrade in a few years time.

The other interesting trend to follow is carbon bikes, just picture in 5yrs time it will be like " What, you still ride an alloy bike and 26" wheels, are you crazy?"

 

[stinkytodamax]

I'm dissappointed that the 26 Anthem isnt going to be anymore. I love mine its the perfect fun trail bike and I still believe handles streets ahead of any 29er especially in tight single track. For my riding style and short stature a 26 is still the way to go to have a good time. My 29er was definataely faster on the climbs but nowhere near as fun on the decents or over jumps.

Looks like I'll be holding onto mine until it falls apart.

I think even Specialized aren't bringing in any 26 Stumpy's so the 29 only thing keeps on sneeking up the travel range. Cant wait till the DH rigs are 29 only.

 

[rone]

The trend for the mass produced bike ranges will be for the bulk sellers, which at the moment seems to be the 29ers, next year will probably be 650b, as the fashion aspect of the new is exploited. The 26er is not dead, but Giant/Specialized/Scott et al will concentrate on whatever has the potential to bring in the biggest biccies.

This leaves space for the intermediate size manufacturers to plug the gaps, and I don't forsee a point where you can't buy a 26" hardtail, just not one with Giant on the downtube.

I still maintain that my 26" steel hardtail is about as much fun as you can have with clothes on.