I bought a 2018 Giant Anthem1 a couple years ago. It was a built up bike so all the parts were not stock. Bike was new the shocks, rims, tires were different from stock.Some of the Australia models had the same shocks as this one did. This is my personal review and thoughts about this bike.
- SPECS
- SRAM 1×12 GX EAGLE 10-50, S1 DUB CRANK 30t CHAINRING
- ALUXX SL GRADE ALUMINUM FRAME
- ROCSHOX RECON FORKS 120mm,ROCSHOX DELUXE RT 110mm SHOCK
- CONTINENTAL RACEKING FRONT AND REAR 2.2
- SYNCCOS RIMS
- RACEFACE BARS 780mm
- SHIMANO 6000 BRAKES FRONT AND REAR
- GEO SIZE MEDIUM
- MEASUREMENTS IN MM
- SEAT TUBE LENGTH-440
- SEAT TUBE ANGLE- 73.5
- TOP TUBE LENGTH-610
- FORK RAKE-51
- TRAIL-89
- WHEELBASE-1133
- CHAINSTAY LENGTH-438
- BOTTOM BRACKET DROP-45
- STACK-585
- REACH-437
- STAND OVER HEIGHT-761
- HANDLE BAR WIDTH-780
- STEM LENGTH-70
- CRANK LENGTH-175
- WHEEL SIZE-29in
- SEAT TUBE ANGLE73.5 is a little on the slack side but still was not bad overall decently comfortable. I prefer a little steeper angle but this one worked decently.
- HEADTUBE ANGLE69 makes for very quick steering which is a plus on tight technical trails. But on the descents it makes the steering very jittery and nervous.
- THE RIDE
- FLOW TRAILS The GIANT ANTHEM 1 handled smooth flow trails great. This bike was really fun the precise steering and the way it pedals. It rolls really good with the race king tires it is a bike that goes without a lot of effort. It is really good on flow trails.
- TIGHT SINGLE TRACK Overall this bike surprised me on how well it did. The quick steering and good pedaling platform can get you through some really tight stuff with a reasonable amount of energy.
- CLIMBING This to me is where the bike really shines. The pedaling platform is great very efficient every push of the pedal moves you forward. Along with the GX 1×12 this bike really climbs well.
- THE HARDWARE
- BRAKES The SHIMANO 6000 are very reliable and they do a good job of stopping you reasonably fast. They are not to catchy and they have pretty good modulation.
- TIRES CONTINENTAL RACEKING 2.2 one thing these tires do well is roll good. They are very smooth rolling tires but when it gets slick they don’t do as good. These tires are made for rolling easy and fast more for xc style riding. But overall they are easy to pedal and are fast rolling tires.
- DRIVETRAIN SRAM GX EAGLE 1×12,10-50 s-1 crank 30t chainring. The GX is a really good drivetrain it shifts flawless very smooth. The gx is my personal pick I have had a few bikes with this drivetrain and I really liked the way they have performed smooth and reliable. The 10-50 rear and the 30t front gets you up the really steep climbs.
- SHOCKS ROCSHOX RECON 120mm front, ROCSHOX DELUXE RT 110mm rear. The suspension was very good for the terrain I was riding. The front was not to stiff soaked up the bumps really well was not to harsh worked really well. Back worked really well not to stiff or harsh soaked up the terrain good and remained firm which made a good pedaling platform.
- HANDLE BARS RACEFACE liked the width mine had about 20mm rise. Which worked really well seemed to be the right width for me.
- CONCLUSION I think that the 2018 GIANT ANTHEM 1 makes a good trail bike. Even though it is intended for xc riding. That also depends on what kind of trails you are riding if you do a lot of jumps this is not the bike for you. But for single track or smooth flow trails this is a really good bike.
- You have a good pedaling platform GX 1×12 this bike goes really good. The only complaint I have is no dropper post but you can always put one on. Below there is a link to a video on this bike. This bike is stock mine was not but there wont be much difference in riding.