Sorry if I sound excited, but I’ve just come back from the quickest session I’ve ever had at Loftus on a brand new Giant Anthem X2 (1hr flat. I usually take a lot longer).
Grant (my lovely man) at MC Cyclery cut my car buddy Eddie a deal (caring is sharing) and Eddie asked me a favour, to go pick up the bike for him, of-course I obliged. In return Eddie let me take the bike out to Loftus tonight (yyeew!).
MCC’s head mechanic Ash set the fork and shock for my weight, lowered the stem and ripped off the reflectors (I love his style). He also trued the wheels a little, tuned up the gears and adjusted the brakes. As soon as he was done I got the bike in the car and headed straight to Loftus to meet up with Cifton and Zi.
I took a few pics, tried to avoid mud too (lol). It’s not my bike and I didn’t want to put a scratch on it but I got straight into it.
Initially I didn’t think the bike was magic at all, it weighs in at 13.04kg’s, not that light but it felt light and I thought it was because of the super fast rolling Kenda small block 8’s. Position wise it’s totally stretched out XC in comparisson to my Reign with my arms almost straight out in front of me.
As we hit the single trail the bike felt a lot more alive. It changes direction really well, a lot better than the Reign and I can get the power down a lot easier. I raised the saddle up and the bike felt even faster and more alive. I started to hunt for the smoothest line at all times, but even on the rougher stuff you can still sit and pedal.
On the downhill stuff the tyres suffer, hitting bigger rocks throws you off your line, but when the tyres give it doesn’t feel scary, it’s strange and it eggs you on to go faster.
On the steep loose climb I stayed in the middle ring (I always granny it on the Reign) and I powered up the ****ing thing like never before. I ran out of momentum on the last pinch and got out of the saddle and mashed it. The front fork bobs a fair bit but the rear grips and feels great. What’s more amazing is that I got up that hill in half the time and felt charged and ready to go where I’d be suffering after the climb on the Reign.
All in all I have to say I’m impressed. The wide bars feel AM, the stance is XC, the acceleration and rear feels like a hardtail. You never feel like your pedals are going to smash into the rocks (like you do on a Reign). You do end up hunting smoother lines and tend to roll over humps you’d usually do stupid bunny hops over. It’s no puppy dog that wants to muck around like the Reign is, it’s just a lot more focussed, and faster on a trail like Loftus.
I like it!
Now for some pics:
Brand new Anthem X2 in medium.
MC Cyclery’s head mechanic Ash doing his thing.
Loftus oval toilet block ready to rock.
Train tracks, last shot before she gets dirty.
Post ride, too dark to wash her now, will do so (lovingly) tomorrow. Reign’s feeling a little jealous? Nah, not really :)
PS: THANKS EDDIE FOR THE OPPORTUNITY! :) I owe you a few beers.