New Years Anthem

After a long night of playing card games with the neighbours I arose out of slumber this morning to head out to the trails and get some new year air. But, disaster has struck. Upon rolling out the Niner I discovered a looses headset, and thus decided it was time to roll out the Anthem for a quick spin around Bunya Reserve.

Chasing Bunyips

Today was my time to trial my brothers "de-specced" Air 9 carbon, which is now mine! So these are my initial impressions, based on my experience with my own Giant Anthem X, 26inch race bike (dual suspension).

It's been a long while since I've ridden a hardtail, and consequently, it was a total contrast to my dual suss bike. As my brother says "dual suss makes you lazy"! I found myself looking for smoother lines around paths that I was used to blasting over.

As a first up trial I took the Air 9 to Mt Nebo, a good test of a bike, with both firetrails, tarmac, singletrack, climbs and descents to put its capabilities to the test.

First impressions are that this bike is a rocket sled. It eats tarmac and firetrails for breakfast, and I was surprised how easily it rolled along my usual trails with something approaching contempt. It was harder on my arse though, feeling every bump I never knew was there before. I suppose though, that this should have been expected as it is a race bike, and as such is stiff and solid and "launches" when you put the pedal down.

Niner in the Wild. What a great looking bike!

I scored a PR going up a climb that always seems to make me slow down to a crawl. And while it was nothing to gain the respect of the Strava crowd, I was pleased nonetheless. The bike just rolled along and over whatever was put in it's path.

Going down some of my favourite descents brought to light the true reason I got dual suspension. While going like a missile, it was as rough as they come and I was looking for that soft and sumptuous Maestro suspension of my Giant on more than one occasion. I did have to hit the brakes a few times as things were going a bit too fast and I didn't feel in the mood to shoot off a cliff at light speed. The brakes by the way were fantastic, even if they are only SLX and not XTR that was on the bike. The modulation and feel were awesome and I knew just how much pressure to apply to any given situation.

All up, 50k's of great riding on a course I hadn't travelled in a while. I did notice the extreme uphills were harder though, even though this bike is lighter than my Anthem X. I had a much lower cog thrown on the Anthem to cope better with the hills etc around my place and I hadn't realised before just how low the gearing was until riding a "normal" geared triple cog machine. Still, it'll be good for me in the long term I guess :-)

This is actually a steep uphill!

Next up was a cruise around some tight singletrack just up the street. This was fun and a learning experience! Not having piloted a 29er around tight trails before I was probably much slower than normal. The geometry of the Niner was great and felt dialled, but in some instances I would have preferred the Anthem's smaller wheels and "singletrack rocket" abilities. Horses for courses I guess. Then again, I know I'll improve as I become more acqainted with the Air 9 and all it has to offer. Next time I might have a go at beating my previous Strava times for that area and see how it goes.

So all up, I love this bike. I know I'll be a better rider in a few short weeks, once I get used to the bike and it's big wheeled abilities.

I'm now part of the Niner brigade. Stay tuned for more fun in the weeks to come.

Jeff