We knew it was coming, and Giant has finally unveiled the 2010 Anthem X Advanced SL full carbon mountain bike.  Weighing in at just 21.8 lbs (w/o pedals), it’s one of the lightest production mountain bikes on the market.  It’s also one of the most expensive, but hey, you gotta pay to play.  We interviewed Giant’s marketing guru for our podcast about the development of this bike, so if you want the history, listen to that (Episode #2)…this post is about the present.
And presently, Giant’s introduced four new or totally redesigned models: The Anthem X Advanced SL (above), the Trance X Advanced SL (now full carbon!), the Reign XO and the resurrected Faith.  They all use Giant’s Maestro suspension design, with travel ranging from 4″ to 7″ to cover all types of riding.
There’s lots to cover, so check out the pics and details after the break…
NOTE: Click any pic to enlarge
2010 GIANT ANTHEM X ADVANCED SL
Up front, the new Anthem X Advanced SL gets Giant’s Overdrive tapered headtube, going from 1.125″ to 1.5″, with their curved side sections wrapping around the outside, similar to their TCR carbon road bikes.
The carbon itself is premium Toray T800, which is very light and very stiff, and Giant buys the stuff as thread and takes it from there.  They control the entire carbon fiber manufacturing process from the thread on, meaning they weave it, impregnate it with the resin, shape it, lay it up and cure it before bonding the bits together.
In this bike’s case, the end result is a frame (with shock) that’s a whopping 200 grams lighter than the aluminum Anthem X it’s displacing as Giant’s king of the XC racing heap.  Frame/shock weight is 4.63 lbs (2.1kg) for size Medium.  Built up with SRAM XX, that size medium with everything but pedals is a feathery 21.8 lbs (9.8kg).
Mated to the Overdrive headtube is Giant’s “MegaDrive” downtube, a big, boxy, wide carbon tube that keeps things stiff under power.  The downtube is virtually as wide as the BB shell at the bottom and
The Anthem keeps travel at 100mm front and rear and is intended for XC racing. The rear triangle is completely enclosed with two spines running from the the front of the chainstays to the top of the seat stays.  The bottom rocker is aluminum, but the top rocker arm is carbon, a first for a Giant mountain bike. A small bridge connects the right and left sides at the top of the seat stays just behind the rocker links.
It combines the SRAM XX group, including a Giant-exclusive custom tapered RockShox SID XX with the pushbutton remote lockout, with a variety of all-new Giant housebrand parts, including stem, handlebar and seatpost (more on this bits later).  Wheels are custom-colored blue/black Mavic CrossMax SLR paired with Maxxis CrossMark tires (interestingly, all the other bikes shown here are spec’d with Kenda Tires).
The rear chainstays on the SL0 (“zero”) are slightly narrower to better accommodate the XX group, however they’ll be able to accommodate future chainline / Q-factor options.
SPECS & PRICING:
- 2,100g frame, shock and hardware
- 21.8 lb. complete (M, no pedals)
- 4 inches/100mm of rear wheel travel
- OverDrive head tube w/ 1.5-inch lower bearing
- MegaDrive downtube
- 71/73° head/seat tube angles
- 425mm chainstays
- 10mm bottom bracket drop
- SRAM XX w/ 156mm Q-Factor
- Fox Float RP23 w/ ProPedal
- RockShox SID XX (w/ custom tapered steerer tube)
- Two bottle cage mounts (top and bottom of downtube)
- $7,800 retail (with full SRAM XX kit)
- Anthem X Advanced SL 1 MSRP: $4,950
Pro rider Adam Craig has been racing this thing all season, and if it’s good enough for him, likely it’ll serve our racing purposes as well.
2010 GIANT TRANCE X ADVANCED SL
I spent a good bit of trail time on a 2009 Trance earlier this year and have to say, it was a blast (read that review here).  But this takes what was good and makes oh-so-carbony better.  In fact, really, the new full carbon Trance X Advanced SL will likely make the aluminum 2009 version obsolete in no time.
The Trance is a 127mm (5″) travel trail bike, and a really light and likely fast one.  Out of the box, the top-of-the-line SL0 model weighs in at just 24.5 lbs (w/o pedals) for size Medium.  Frame weight is 2.25kg / 4.96 lbs (frame/shock/hardware).  That’s 400g (0.88lb) lighter than the 2009 Aluminum version!
Despite the weight loss, the frame claims to be 7% more rigid for better tracking and pedaling efficiency (versus the alu model), made possible largely due to the massive MegaDrive downtube and tapered Overdrive headtube.
The headtube shares the same curved outer shaping as the Anthem and TCR, tapering from 1.125″ to 1.5″ and sitting on a Giant-branded FSA headset. The downtube gets Giant’s signature bent frame design (actually, the Anthem is the only one that has a relatively straight downtube).  This design allows for the shock’s bottom mount placement to be correct based on their Maestro suspension design, and, given the low standover sloping top tube, adds some clearance for a bottle cage within the front triangle.
Frame geometry remains the same as 2009, which is a good thing…the bikes ride well, striking a solid balance between plush suspension and efficient pedaling.  Making them lighter just adds icing.  The only difference with the new models is headtube heights on the Large and XL have been chopped 5mm and 15mm respectively, putting the handlebar slightly lower.  This should give the bike a more aggressive feel for those who choose to remove all spacers and run a flat bar, though the bike comes with a Giant branded riser bar.
The upper rocker arm is carbon fiber on the Trance, also, and the bottom is alloy.  The wishbone is a single beam from the chainstays up, splitting into a “Y” before molding into the seat stays (unlike the fully split design seen on the Anthem).  Power is translated through an XTR drivetrain mated to a RaceFace NextSL triple crankset.
The Trance will run Mavic CrossMax ST wheels and a Fox 32 TALAS FiT RLC 140mm fork with 15mm thru-axle, which means a) it’ll be a competent trail bike and b) you could drop some weight if you wanted to.
SPECS & PRICING:
- 2.25kg (4.96lb) frame/shock/hardware
- 24.5lb complete (Med. w/o pedals)
- 5 inches/125mm of rear wheel travel
- OverDrive head tube w 1.5-inch lower bearing
- MegaDrive down tube
- 69.5º / 73.5º head/seat tube angles
- 435mm chainstay length
- 0mm bottom bracket drop
- Mavic CrossMax ST wheels
- Fox TALAS 140 fork / Fox Float RP23 with Boost Valve and ProPedal
- Trance X Advanced SL 0 MSRP: $6,800 (shown)
- Trance X Advanced SL 1 MSRP: $4,950
2010 GIANT REIGN X.0
The 2010 Giant Reign X.0 stays true to the trend and drops some serious weight over the 2009 version, losing 675g (1.49 lbs!) from the previous model.  A Medium frame/shock/hardware tips the scales at 3.1kg (6.83lb) and the full bike w/o pedals is 13.7kg (30.2lbs).
The weight savings comes largely from a redesigned front shock mount that now shares it’s axle with the bottom rocker like the Anthem and Trance, which Giant calls its Co-Pivot.  The bottom bracket area sits 13mm above the wheel axles to keep it from bottoming out when you’re using it’s 6.7″ (170mm) of All Mountain travel.
The frame is Giant’s ALUXX hydroformed aluminum and gets both the Overdrive and Megadrive treatments, yielding a 5% increase in stiffness.  The bent downtube leaves enough room for a bottle cage, too.  Like the carbon fiber frames, Giant hydroforms and shapes their tubes in-house.
Additional weight savings comes from the use of Avid’s Elixir CR brakes on the top-of-the-line Reign X.0, foregoing Avid’s beefier Juicy and Code brakes.  In our opinion, this isn’t a bad tradeoff…we tend to run the lightest brakes and smallest rotors we can to satisfy our weight-weenie tendencies, and we can still stop plenty effectively.
Note the rear derailleur cable sneaking out from the chainstay.  The cable runs through continuous housing along the bottom of the downtube (as does the rear brake hose), then ducks into the chainstay right behind the bottom bracket.  Drivetrain is a SRAM setup with RaceFace 2×9 cranks w/ chainguide.
The rear triangle is joined by a “Y” shaped wishbone like the Trance, albeit in aluminum, and its motion is controlled by a Fox DHX Air shock.
To accommodate more aggressive riders, the Reign incorporates the option to run RockShox’s 12mm Maxle Lite rear thru-axle.  It threads directly into the replaceable derailleur hanger on the drive side (the green bit in the 2nd picture up).
SPECS & PRICING:
- 3.1kg (6.83lb) frame/shock/hardware
- 30.2lb complete (Med. w/o pedals)
- 6.7 inches/170mm of rear wheel travel
- OverDrive head tube w 1.5-inch lower bearing
- MegaDrive down tube
- 67º / 72-72.5º head/seat tube angles
- 440mm chainstay length
- -13mm bottom bracket drop
- DT Swiss rims
- Fox TALAS 140 fork / Fox DHX Air shock
- MSRP $4,500 to $5,000
2010 GIANT FAITH
After a three-year break, Giant has resurrected it’s Faith model as a dedicated Freeride bike, freeing their Glory to become a full-on downhill rig. There’s only a slight travel difference between the 6.7″ Reign and 7″ Faith, but the bikes are set up to have very different personalities.
For example, the Faith is a single-ring crankset with MRP chainguide and massive coil spring shock.  It does share the Overdrive tapered headtube and a big, hydroformed downtube give it a 7% stiffness boost over the last model.
It shares the the Co-Pivot Maestro design and full length derailleur cable housing as the Reign with rear derailleur cable running through the chainstay. Like everything else here, it also gets the Richard Simmons treatment.  The 2010 Faith drops a whopping 1.1kg (2.43lb) from last year’s Glory.  The frame/shock/hardware weighs in at 4.06kg (8.95lb) and a complete bike sans pedals is 16.7kg (36.8lbs).
The rear dropouts are replaceable, with options for running 12mm Shimano Saint or RockShox Maxle thru-axles, too.  Changing the dropouts gives the bike a range of headtube angles from 66.75º to 66.24º with minor changes to chainstay length (442mm to 445mm) and BB height.
The upper rocker arm gets a little mid-section reinforcement with a plate that lines up exactly with the seat tube, and they’re machined out on the inside face to save a little weight.  Speaking of the seat tube, its curvy shape lends itself to a shorter seatpost, which follows the more gravity- and jump-oriented intended uses for this bike.  The wishbone is “Y” shaped here, too.
The bottom bracket shell is 73mm wide and has built-in ISCG05 tabs, letting it accept a variety of drivetrain options, even letting you mount a front derailleur.
SPECS & PRICING:
- 4.06kg (8.95lb) frame/shock/hardware
- 36.8lb complete (Med. w/o pedals)
- 7.0 inches/177mm of rear wheel travel
- OverDrive head tube w 1.5-inch lower bearing
- MegaDrive down tube
- 66.24-66.75º head tube angles
- 442-445mm chainstay length
- 5th Element-like graphics
- Fox TALAS 140 fork
- RockShox Vivid 5.1 Coil Spring shock
- Sun-Ringle MTX Rims
- MSRP: ??
We’ve got info on the new Glory DH bike coming soon…suffice to say it could have won The Biggest Loser.
