The Anthem Advanced Pro 29 1 is Giant's flagship XC thoroughbred and, for its top-shelf price, it is tricked out with a matching component list. Along with a blingy kit, its efficient yet confident ride puts it squarely in line as a top contender for the best cross-country mountain bike crown.
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Giant marketed this bike as an XC racing machine that works well both in terms of uphill and downhill situations.
Giant Anthem Advanced Pro 29 1 - Technical details
At the heart of the Giant Anthem lies its lightweight and robust frame. The full composite frameset uses the brand’s Advanced Composite Technology. This is a high-performance-grade carbon that’s been chosen for its stiffness-to-weight ratio. The bike’s front triangle is moulded as a single monocoque – then at the rocker link, Giant has employed its Advanced Forged Composite tech which enables the use of intricate and complicated shapes that are stiffer, lighter and stronger than the aluminium equivalent. As such this composite build is 241g lighter than the previous Anthem.
Moving onto the suspension, the FlexPoint Pro suspension system comprises a linkage-driven single-pivot system that delivers 100mm of rear-wheel travel. As well as the fancy rocker link, there’s also a full-composite swingarm in a bid to shed extra grams. This suspension layout allows for the use of shorter chainstays which improves climbing ability and the overall agility. There’s 110mm of front suspension.
The frame's modern geometry has been crafted to strike a balance between agility and stability, allowing riders to confidently tackle challenging terrain. It’s been shaped with Giant’s 29er-specific XC race geometry that features a 67.5-degree head angle and a 75.5-degree seat-tube angle. This medium frame gets a reach number of 450mm and 435mm chainstays on all sizes.
The frame comes with a single mount for a bottle cage which can be limiting on longer rides but that can be solved by purchasing a Giant bidon or a hydration pack. Internal cable routing is employed for all the cables and the bike uses the OverDrive headset that uses oversized 1 ½” and 1 ⅛” bearings with a tapered steerer tube. The cockpit employs a chunk7 bar with a 35mm clamp diameter.
Giant Anthem Advanced Pro 29 1 - Componentry
The Anthem Advanced Pro 29 1 comes with suspension from Fox in the form of a 34 Float SC Factory fork and a Factory shock, both of which benefit from Fox’s Live Valve tech. Live Valve is what Flight Attendant is to RockShox in that it adjusts the fork and shock’s compression damping on the fly, meaning that riders don’t have to worry about flicking lock-out remotes as they race.
The underside of the top tube serves as the location for the Live Valve's battery and control unit, which can be easily attached and removed using a clip-on, clip-off system. The majority of the Live Valve cables are internally routed but at the point where they plug into the suspension care needs to be taken so they don’t pop out or snag.
The Anthem features 29-inch wheels, which have become the gold standard for trail and cross-country mountain bikes. These larger wheels roll over obstacles more effortlessly, maintaining momentum and providing better stability at high speeds. Paired with tubeless-ready tyres from Maxxis, riders can enjoy increased traction, reduced risk of flats and lower rolling resistance on various trail surfaces. The Anthem comes stock with Giant’s XCR 1 29 WheelSystem which is weight and allows for rapid braking and acceleration. As standard, these wheels are wrapped with a pair of Maxxis Rekon Race 2.4in tyres but for my test period, I fitted a pair of Hutchinson Wyrms to eke out a little more grip when things got wet.
Giant equips the Anthem with SRAM’s GX Eagle drivetrain paired with a set of Shimano XT two-piston brakes.
The Anthem's stock bars can be cut to width and come fitted with Giant’s XC grips. The stem is the standard Giant Contact Stem found across a range of Giant’s bikes and the size of this stem varies with frame size ordered. The bar and stem are both aluminium.
The Giant contact switch dropper comes standard on the Anthem and is equipped with a possible 150mm on the largest model – it is cable-actuated.
Giant Anthem Advanced Pro 29 1 - Performance
It’s very rare to get on a bicycle that actually turns me into a decent rider. The suspension gives the bike a level of compliance that inspires a great deal of confidence on the trails and allows more aggressive cornering than previous bikes I’ve ridden. My first impressions of this bike are how chuckable it felt – this is thanks to the short chainstays. This combined with a lightweight composite wheelset means the bike immediately feels extremely agile underneath you.
When climbing, power transfer is smooth and efficient thanks to the lockout system which is powered via a junction box situated just underneath the top tube. This gives the bike a stiffness which means it doesn’t feel too slow on the road if you ride from your house to the trails, and makes long rides on the Anthem good fun. On top of that, the frame is very stiff in the corners and during hard accelerations – not a shock considering what the bike was designed to dismiss.
Giant intended this to be a pure XC racing machine and, while I didn’t get the chance to actually race on it, I did take it out for some intervals in the woods and can say that the bike performs well as a racing machine. It’s stiff under full sprinting and the suspension forgives mistakes that can occur at maximal exertion. The suspension is extremely efficient as the Live Valve automatically adjusts the stiffness of the suspension based on the terrain. Generally speaking, the suspension was brilliant with the only hiccup being the tendency of the cable to pop out of the insert in the fork, this obviously disconnects the live valve and means the suspension won’t lock out anymore, which would be a bit of a pain if it happened during a race.
My main takeaway from this was that the frame is extremely well made, something I’ve experienced with bikes from Giant in the past. One frustrating thing about the Anthem was the Live Valve wire popping out regularly. If you were racing, this would be quite frustrating as it would see the end of your ability to lock your suspension out.
Another limitation of this bike was that there was only room for a single bottle cage on this frame. Obviously, it’s designed as an XC machine and those events have a pit area each lap but, on long training rides, it can be frustrating to have to stop every 90 minutes or so to fill up a bottle. That said, there aren’t many other things that were wrong with this bike. Generally speaking, I ride a BMC Twostroke for most of my XC racing and Xterra triathlon racing, and I was wondering where I’d ride the BMC over the Giant and the only situation is a non-technical marathon ride. Essentially any situation where a gravel bike isn’t allowed and two bottles would be advantageous. Other than that, the Anthem is superior to ride in every other way.
The Giant Anthem comes stock with a set of Maxxis dry tyres which are very fast rolling but struggle in the wet. However, with a set of mud tyres the grip (obviously) improves a lot and the live valve system really comes into its own as the terrain gets more technical (which happens in the wet). As my wet-weather tyres were on a heavier set of wheels, the difference was stark and it really made me miss the light wheels that come stock on the Anthem. The final observation of note is the Live Valve battery life – I’ve only had to charge it once and I have ridden this bike a lot for months.
Giant Anthem Advanced Pro 29 1 - Verdict
This is a top-of-the-range bike that will set you back £7,500. For that money, you want a good bike of course and in the value-for-money department, the Anthem is worth its price tag. It is possible to find a similar level of performance elsewhere, however.
Specialized offers the Epic Pro for the same money but there are some clear differences in its build kit as it gets a much fancier drivetrain in the form of SRAM’s X01 Eagle AXS. Although, with its RockShox suspension package, it doesn’t get any form of wireless, or automatic suspension adjustment, so that’s where you’re money is going on the Giant. It’s set to be fairly light, too, at a hair over 10kg.
Scott’s Spark RC Pro drops a chunk of money off the Anthem’s price at £6,700 and, for the money, it looks like a serious contender. Again, it doesn’t get any fancy automatic suspension adjustment tech, but it does get a Shimano XTR drivetrain and brakes as well as a Fox’s Transfer SL dropper post. It also gets a carbon wheelset though it gets a shorter reach figure.
The Giant Anthem is an all-out racing machine but can also be great fun on the trails with the manoeuvrability of the frame giving the bike a fun feel that I’ve never had from a bike as ‘racy’ as this one.
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