Review and 1st ride report – 2015 Giant Anthem 29er at Harris Park on the South and North Fork Walla Walla trails.
What better way to take the new steed out on its maiden
voyage than for an Epic day in the Blue mountains? After missing the
boat on the early season order of a new Giant Anthem 29er and chomping
at the bit as they have been sold out nationally for months, thanks to
Scott’s cycles and the NW Giant rep for getting to me a 2015 Anthem as
soon as it was available! After debating on whether to go “tweener”
(27.5) or “29er” for my new dually, opted to stick with the big wheel
platform as I’m a XC rider with a knack for fast XC riding, keeping both
wheels firmly on the ground, and LOVE the way the big wheels roll. I
must say, I definitely was NOT disappointed. Plus the shock and parts
spec of the aluminum Anthem 29er is stellar. That said, I decided to
upgrade, likely unnecessarily after really comparing the parts, to a
full Shimano XT over the stock SLX, throwing on my nice and light Stans
Crest/XTR wheels I outfitted the Anthem with 2.1” Maxxis CrossMark
tires, thanks to our generous sponsorship from Maxxis. Love how these
tires roll over the trail, yet still corner and climb excellently. I
also picked up a pair of the 2.2” Maxxis Ikon’s, reviewed as an even
better boot, which is hard to imagine! Once I give those a roll, will
offer up a future review. Rounding out the customizing was the always
personal cockpit changes (threw on my 3T LTD flat carbon 640mm bars,
120mm stem, and personal saddle, which happens to be a Fizik Arione
Tri2).
I set off for Harris Park for a South Fork/Cabin Creek/North Fork trail option. If you’ve ridden these trails, the 1st several miles are rocky and ROUGH. I feel for newbies who head here for a 1st time mtb experience on an entry level bike and get beat up. It takes several miles to get into the “good stuff”, which never disappoints, nice flowing single track with the spectacular the South fork of the Walla Walla river flowing alongside... makes for some great riding. And the Anthem? I’ve ridden this trail numerous times over the years of the evolution of the MTB, from back in the day of rigid 26” fork, to my previously best dually (2010 26” Anthem X), to last time on my hard tail Giant XTC Composite 29er. This trip was, by far, my most enjoyable. The bike performed flawlessly, with the Maestro suspension soaking up the rough terrain like someone came through and smoothed out the trail. The new Fox Evolution series shock and fork are spectacular, LOVE the new “CTD” (Climb, Trail, Descend) settings. I had dialed in the compression right in the middle on both, with the air according to Giant’s factory recommendations for my weight. Perfect. Was slightly concerned that would find the aluminum chassis “flexi” compared to the solid XTC composite hard tail sporting a down tube seemingly honed from a solid 4x4 post, but did not find it to be. Not having that “solid” connection was DEFINITELY better in almost every situation! Once beginning the ½ hour + steady climb up to the old plane crash site, I set the rear to “Climb” mode with a flick of the lever and was amazed at the climbing efficiency. Over the years my least desirable feature of some dual suspension bikes has been the dreaded “bob”. I did not experience this on the Anthem. Tipping the scales in the mid 25 lb range allowed the big wheeler to feel exceptionally nimble under me, navigating the tight switchback climbs with ease. Giant has their Anthem geometry dialed in. Going down the other side into the North Fork trail, I flipped the shock levers to “Descend” and set off on a smile inducing, smooth, chatter free, fast and flowing downhill. Shimano’s latest disc brakes are truly amazing, 1 finger feathering is usually all that’s needed, and no rotor rub or fading after a long decent? Wonderful. Once at the bottom, flicked the shocks back into “trail” mode where I would spend much of the time. Sections of the trail are accessible by ATV, and in places there are numerous “softball size” loose rocks scattered across the single/double track, always presenting a challenge, but the big wheels handle them better than anything else I’ve ridden up here.
I set off for Harris Park for a South Fork/Cabin Creek/North Fork trail option. If you’ve ridden these trails, the 1st several miles are rocky and ROUGH. I feel for newbies who head here for a 1st time mtb experience on an entry level bike and get beat up. It takes several miles to get into the “good stuff”, which never disappoints, nice flowing single track with the spectacular the South fork of the Walla Walla river flowing alongside... makes for some great riding. And the Anthem? I’ve ridden this trail numerous times over the years of the evolution of the MTB, from back in the day of rigid 26” fork, to my previously best dually (2010 26” Anthem X), to last time on my hard tail Giant XTC Composite 29er. This trip was, by far, my most enjoyable. The bike performed flawlessly, with the Maestro suspension soaking up the rough terrain like someone came through and smoothed out the trail. The new Fox Evolution series shock and fork are spectacular, LOVE the new “CTD” (Climb, Trail, Descend) settings. I had dialed in the compression right in the middle on both, with the air according to Giant’s factory recommendations for my weight. Perfect. Was slightly concerned that would find the aluminum chassis “flexi” compared to the solid XTC composite hard tail sporting a down tube seemingly honed from a solid 4x4 post, but did not find it to be. Not having that “solid” connection was DEFINITELY better in almost every situation! Once beginning the ½ hour + steady climb up to the old plane crash site, I set the rear to “Climb” mode with a flick of the lever and was amazed at the climbing efficiency. Over the years my least desirable feature of some dual suspension bikes has been the dreaded “bob”. I did not experience this on the Anthem. Tipping the scales in the mid 25 lb range allowed the big wheeler to feel exceptionally nimble under me, navigating the tight switchback climbs with ease. Giant has their Anthem geometry dialed in. Going down the other side into the North Fork trail, I flipped the shock levers to “Descend” and set off on a smile inducing, smooth, chatter free, fast and flowing downhill. Shimano’s latest disc brakes are truly amazing, 1 finger feathering is usually all that’s needed, and no rotor rub or fading after a long decent? Wonderful. Once at the bottom, flicked the shocks back into “trail” mode where I would spend much of the time. Sections of the trail are accessible by ATV, and in places there are numerous “softball size” loose rocks scattered across the single/double track, always presenting a challenge, but the big wheels handle them better than anything else I’ve ridden up here.
This ride report would not be complete without mention of
the encounter Dennis and I had with a young black BEAR as we were coming
back in the North Fork Trail. This encounter started with an odd
sounding “cry” that had both Dennis and I thinking, “What was that?”
Sounding like a cry or yelp, or possibly like a sasquatch call...next
thing I see is a young, 1 or 2 year old black bear shimming up a 2’+ dia
tamarack tree 15’ off the trail next to us! We’d observed some very
healthy “piles of fresh berries” on the trail on our way up, with Dennis
even convinced, after 3 ½ hours of riding, that there was a bear
whistle in one of the piles he passed. He also swore he saw a purple
unicorn, so we’ll discount the source...
After the smooth flowing 15 minute decent back down from
the plane crash site, enjoyed the 1st several miles of flowing
singletrack back towards the park. Had been anxious to see how the last
few miles into Harris Park would feel, as it’s a rough go, a
b-b-b-brutally rocky/rough ride on a hard tail, so left the Anthem set
to “descend” mode and was grateful for it.Powering this 4 hour ride were several vanilla Gu gel’s and packs of “Chomps”, yet another generous sponsorship opportunity, thanks to the Hilti NW/Set Coaching/Scott’s Cycles team for putting together these great sponsors.
Summary: The Giant Anthem 29er is an amazing ride. Fast, very comfortable, agile, efficient and, well, a perfect choice for hours of mountain biking the great NW trails, be it the Blue mountains, Phil’s Trails of Bend, McKenzie River trail, etc. I personally can’t wait to try it out at Beezley Burn race next year, which I have to say, courses like that are why I have come “back” to the dually after a brief foray back into the hard tail world. Even though my mind tells me I’m 25 year old cat 1, the back and body are that of a 44 year old trying to squeeze cat 1 distances out of a cat 2 training volume, and the Anthem is just the ticket for that journey.
Thanks for reading,
JohnnyG
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