Demo Derby!

I had the misfortune to have crashed on my bike at the end of July. Besides a few very tender ribs, I also managed to hit a rock square on with my Stumpjumper frame, essentially wrecking the frame. A few weeks off the bike to heal and go on a much needed break was perhaps not all a bad thing, and as I returned to SA I now have the unpleasant and time consuming matter of dealing with the insurance on my damaged bike. The most likely scenario is that the insurance will replace the frame only, as Specialized still has a 2015 Stumpy frame in my size to which my components can be built to without much fuss, but if the insurance decides to write off the entire bike, I have been toying with the thought of a more XC orientated bike going forward. The next year sees me doing the Eselfontein 3 day race, the Lormar 3 day race, Attakwas, possibly the Cross Cape Cycle Route and Joberg2C. A trail bike poses a rather large penalty on the longer days and I would like to think that my riding has evolved to the point where I would be able to enjoy most of the technical sections on our races with 100mm of travel .

The first bike that I have demo'd is the Giant Anthem 29er 2. The 2018 model is sporting a Shimano SLX group set with a 32 T crank and a 11-46 T cassette. The stock bike is fitted with a 780mm handle bar and combined with a relatively short stem, the bike felt very stable and solid while I put it through its paces today at Meerendal. The stock saddle was also not unbearable, but will probably be replaced by my trusty Specialized Phenom or Power saddle, which took me years to settle on.

Now what is important to note with this bike is that from a price point, it is 50% cheaper than my current bike, so a like-for-like comparison cannot be made. I have also not recently had any XC bikes in my stable, so my frame of reference needed to be updated as well.

The bike is well specced and not much will have to be changed from purchase to the first ride. Some frame protection on the down tube, crank protectors, front mud guard (the Marsh Guard type), a reliable bottle cage and the Specialized Enduro lock on grips would probably be the extras that I would put on along with a new pair of Shimano pedals.

After setting the bike up I took the bike through its paces and was pleasantly surprised by the Maestro suspension that seemed very compliant in descent mode and very efficient in lock out mode. Combined with the Fox 32 Float up front, the boost hubs and the wide handle bars the bike had a more "light trail" feel than a pure XC / marathon feel.

The SLX groupset was also crisp and responsive and the gear ratio was more than sufficient for what Meerendal was throwing at me. On a multi stage race I might be tempted to drop down to a 30T chain ring up front as the difference between the 37T and the 46T cog at the back is quite a huge jump. I found myself not wanting to ride in the 46 that often because of the jump in range, but perhaps this is something that I need to get used to.

The bike seems well designed with good cable routing and a clean cockpit. The only design question I have for Giant is why the Seat Tube / Top Tube joint is not yet reinforced as this is seemingly where previous frame versions had a very noticeable weakness. Furthermore a 30.9mm seat post would just give the bike a much more solid stance and gives much more options to those who want to fit a dropper post to their ride. The 27,2mm seat post is therefore for me a bit of a let-down.

In terms of pricing, the bike offers an excellent value proposition at under R40K list price. If R40K was my budget, I would be hard-pressed to find a better value proposition.

Overall the bike scores a 4/5 from me. I was seriously impressed and have added this to my short list of bikes to consider.

Just a final word of thanks to Williams Bike Shop in Somerset West for the use of one of your Demo Bikes. Being able to take a bike out for a weekend and to go and ride my usual trails with it just adds to visualising yourself on the bike, and I have come to realise that there are still some very capable bikes in the under R40K range out there.