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2006 Giant Anthem review by CyclingNews.com

Based on the number of people coming to The Biking Hub who are looking for information about the Giant Anthem, Giant’s new cross country racer is one of two new bikes that are really generating a lot of buzz in the xc world (the other is the Cannondale Rush). Ever since the bike was unveiled on the trade show circuit in 2005, there’s been plenty of talk about the Anthem and rightly so. Built around Giant’s well-received Maestro suspension platform, the Anthem is set to replace the venerable NRS as the company’s dedicated cross country race bike and the expectations are high.

The first legitimate review of the Giant Anthem that I’ve seen on the ‘net was recently published on CyclingNews.com, and it contains plenty of meaty tidbits for all of you who are pining after the latest and (supposedly) greatest xc offering from the manufacturer. The CyclingNews writeup discusses the Australian version of the bike, with the only significant differences being in the parts spec — so you can read on knowing that the overall ride characteristics of the frame won’t be too different from what we see here in North America.

The reviewer’s biggest criticism of the Anthem centered around pushing the bike to the limits of its intended purpose (ie. xc racing) and he found that it didn’t perform well enough to be considered a cross country bike with trail-minded capabilities. Of course, it was admitted that the Trance would be a better option for those of you looking for a Maestro-equipped trail bike. Anyways, head on over and check out the review, there’s lots of good stuff there, including closeup photos, a response from Giant Australia, and more.

Note: the image above shows the US-version of the 2006 Trance 1 and not the Australian version of this bike.

As an aside, I recently picked up a 2005 Trance 4 for cheap, and am in the process of stripping down the frame and building it up with my favourite bits. I’ll post up my initial impressions of the frame and a longer term review after I’ve spent some real time on it. For those of you who live in Europe, keep in mind that the ‘05 version of the Trance is the same one that you’ll see at your local bike shop in 2006.

Hat tip: Mr. AshwinEarl

This entry was posted on Wednesday, February 22nd, 2006 at 4:01 pm and is filed under Outside reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.