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Bantry Bay (Northern Beaches, Sydney)
Bruce Ridge (Canberra)
Bungarra Alpine Centre (Snowy Mountains)
Currumbin Border Track (NSW/QLD Border)
Daisy Hill (South Brisbane)
East Kowen (Kowen Pine Forest, Canberra)
Forest Pipeline (Northern Beaches, Sydney)
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Golden Jubilee Field MTB Park (North Shore, Sydney)
Hassans Walls (Lithgow)
Hinze Dam (Gold Coast)
Jackson (Jackson)
Jindabyne (Snowy Mountains)
Kiwarrak State Forest (Tarree)
Majura Pines (Majura, Canberra)
Manly Dam (Northern Beaches, Sydney)
Mt Joyce (Gold Coast Hinterland)
Mt Kosciuszko (Snowy Mountains)
Nerang State Forest (Gold Coast)
Newnes (Lithgow)
Old Man's Valley (Hornsby, Sydney)
Ourimbah (Central Coast)
Oxford Falls (Northern Beaches, Sydney)
Pilot Wilderness (Snowy Mountains)
Red Hill (Northern Beaches, Sydney)
Rotorua Redwoods (New Zealand)
Silver Mountain (Kellogg)
Singleton (Hunter Valley)
Sparrow Hill (Kowen Pine Forest, Canberra)
St Ives and Belrose (North Shore, Sydney)
Stromlo Forest Park (Canberra)
Terrey Hills (Northern Beaches, Sydney)
The Oaks (Blue Mountains)
Thredbo Resort (Snowy Mountains)
Thredbo Valley Trail (Snowy Mountains)
Whistler Bike Park (Whistler)
Wingello (Southern Highlands)
Wylde MTB Trail (Cecil Park - Western Sydney)
VIDEO: Giant Anthem 29er vs Giant Reign 26
Over the past few months I've found myself spending most of the time riding my Giant Anthem X 29er 0. This has come about for two reasons. The first and most important reason is that I'm trying to have an extended period without injury, the theory being that on the XC bike I'm going to ride less technical trails and probably not ride as hard as I would on the Enduro bike.
The second reason is to ride for longer each time I go out in an attempt to build fitness and endurance.
The Giant Reign 1 26" hadn't seen much action until I busted the freehub on the XC bike. Last weekend I took the Reign for a lap of Manly Dam.
The Manly Dam trail has undergone some significant upgrades in the past 6 months but most notably the Allambie Fire Trail Descent from the Wakehurst Parkway to Curl Curl Creek has been groomed like a downhill ski run. The time was right to put the foot down and see how fast I could go.
Last weekend I took out the Reign, while yesterday I took out the Anthem. What do you think would be the faster on the Allambie Fire Trail and the technical sections of the Allambie DH? It's a very interesting comparison.
Anthem X 29er 0 – 4"Travel, Maxxis Crossmarks 2.10, Avid Elixir 9s, clipped in
Reign 1 – 6"Travel, Maxxis Minion DHF 2.35/Ardent 2.25, Avid Elixir 5s, flats
Footnote: Obviously I picked up a bit of current trail knowledge after my first run and therefore the ride on the Anthem had a slight advantage. This is most evident in the left hander leading into the waterbars on the Allambie Fire Trail.
I took the Anthem out again today and here are the improvements on yesterday. I might need to take the Reign out again to level it out.
Firetrail: 10 Seconds faster!!! I was braking for the last turn before my previous runs had taken the corner after the water bars.
DH Section 1: 2 Seconds faster
DH Section 2: 3 Seconds faster
Trail Centres and Trails featured in this blog