Giant Anthem Pro 1

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.

The Giant Anthem was first introduced in 2006 as the successor to the classic NRS. Following the Trance and Reign before it, the Anthem was one of the original models to feature the (then) new Maestro dual link suspension design. That Anthem was a thoroughbred race bike – it had just 80mm of travel front and rear, a vicious 72° head angle, and 26in wheels wrapped with 2.0in tyres. It was originally only available in alloy, but even then weighed less than 11kg in its top trim.

There have been several revisions to the Anthem platform over the last 12 years, with carbon frames and bigger wheels having since been thrown into the mix. I tested the latest Anthem 27.5 last year, and came away impressed with its sprightly ride and the suppleness of the updated Maestro suspension design. However, with the Anthem 27.5 featuring wider tyres, a dropper post and a bump in travel to 110mm on the back and 120mm up front, it was clear that Giant was pushing the Anthem 27.5 into trail bike territory. This left a gap in the line-up for a thoroughbred full suspension cross-country bike, and that’s where the new Anthem 29 comes in.