giant lust V anthem

[hairy1]

Hi,

I've hi-jacked my partners login and am not that hairy. I'm looking for something racey - up until a couple of years ago I was riding lots, but then I injured my knee. It's starting to get better and I'm able to ride more, so want to get on to something nice and fast. Looking at a couple of models in the Giant range - the 27.5 anthem (small) and 27.5 lust (small) which both seem to be quite similar in sizing and geometry (except for standover height). I'm 5"7ish and upgrading from a 5yr old 26" (16") mens hardtail.

I have a friend who is a pretty serious racer and has demo'ed a 29" anthem - she didn't really rate it, so I'm not that keen on this wheelsize from giant.

Have any women tried out either of these 27.5 options? thoughts? I've taken both for a spin around the carpark, but I live in Darwin and the bike shops don't have demo fleets, so its pretty much a case of buy before you try....


cheers

Alice

 

[Ezkaton]

My lady got a Lust in November, and after some stem height, seat height and seat angle adjustments she really likes it.

However, it is her first 'real' bike!
She said it felt ridiculously light and she thought she was going to break it, haha. It has held up well though, of course! Barely took a scratch during her first crash/face plant OTB too.

The spec is a little low (27.5 2) when it comes to brakes and drivetrain, but it seems to do the job well, and of course anything can be upgraded if need be anyway!

All we've changed so far is the grips, as the stock are fat and squishy. I just stuck some nicer lock ons on there for her, and put on some Saint pedals.

She's 5'9 and riding a medium frame comfortably.

If you are after any other specific info, feel free to ask... I'll try answer as best as I can.

 

[marc.r]

My girlfriend is now looking at a lust. HELP HER MAKE THE DECISION

Can't decide between a lust 2 Al or a lust 2 advanced. both have ridiculously (women friendly supposedly) narrow bars that need changing before riding. 640mm???? wtf. She doesnt need downhill width bars that are common on mens trail bikes now but a nice set of 700mm bars would be reasonable surely and if they are too much you can cut them.. you cant grow 640mm bars...

they are really nice easy bikes to ride, just tested the al version for the last 2 days. smooth and comfortable but the head angle is a touch sharper then I would like even for a xc minded trail bike. I think this is meant to make it more responsive to less strong upper bodies in tight stuff but I and my partner prefer the anthems handling even though it has only a slightly slacker head angle (69.5 vs 70). however... the anthem doesnt have a safety conscious extremely low standover and doesnt come in pretty colours so we have discounted it as emotional connection is as much a part of bike buying as out and out performance. if she likes looking at a girly looking bike and gets excited by it she is more likely to "fall inlove" with it and ride it more.

as far as 650b goes... with racing ralphs its all pretty ridiculous they arnt really fucntionally bigger or feel any different then 26ers. I actually put it side by side with my 26 inch wheel with 2.4 inch trail kings and its pretty much the same diameter. the 26 with big tyres might have even been a mm bigger! that being said... if you swapped the rubber for some bigger bags that were still fast rolling e.g. ardent front ardent race rear you would probobly get a bigger diameter and more of that increased roll over that is such a benefit to 29ers. I'd say the difference would be the same as going from old gen 26 inch tyres to the modern high volume 26 inch tyres.

From my research the lust 2 AL is about 13kg and the advanced comes in at about 11.5kg which is a significant difference in weight. the advanced has slightly higher componant spec but not a lot in it other then brakes and they run the same cranks, suspension componants.

lust advanced seems to go for about $3k flat and the Lust 2 Aluminium about $2200.

If we bought the Aluminium would probobly through some deore or slx brakes on it straight away taking the price to $2350.

The other thing that slows this bike down is the heavy wheelset on the alu version especially with the really heavy deore cassette. However, for $700 bucks we could grab a set of light bicycle carbon wheels and an xt cassette, go tubeless and drop about 800gm from the rolling stock overnight.

after these upgrades the aluminium lust 2 would come in at the same price as the lust advanced and would have lighter wheels but heavier frame/lower level parts still.

so the options are

lust 2 with brake upgrade $2350
lust 2 with brake upgrade and china carbon wheels + xt cassette $3000 (hopefully could sell the stock wheels for about $200 bucks)
lust 2 advanced $3000

what would you take??

 

[ChopSticks]

I'd take the carbon !!!

the $700 placed on wheels are better used on the frame!
and would be a nicer platform to upgrade as you want/funds allow.

It would/should also be a nicer bike to rider too compared to the Al.

 

[SummitFever]

I don't think you're really going to be able to tell the difference between the carbon and alu frames. The carbon will be a little lighter, but getting a set of good lightweight wheels will make more difference than any carbon frame will every make. As you wear out the parts, get better (or lighter) replacements. That's always the smart way to go, because if you're wearing out parts then the use justifies buying better replacements, if you don't wear out the parts then you're not riding it enough for it be an issue.

 

[bamctaggart]

picked up this for my wife the other day, has fox forks and shock, slx breaks and gears etc, and i put some white DMR V8 magnesium flattys on it for starters. Great light bike, misses loves it, shes only a beginner but i wouldnt want her on any other bike to be honest. Get the lust and get the better breaks, carbon i wouldnt worry about!
Its a medium and shes 170cm tall and its spot on for her using the telescopic measurer and dumb weights and she says it feels great

 

[pistonbroke]

Do you need a dual suspension mtb? Are you riding rough trails?
My wife bought this for about $2.5k.

Specialized Fate.
Carbon frame is beautiful and very light. Spec wasn't great but we blinged it up with carbon bars and post and some XT brakes.

However, the Lust's are great looking bikes and are proving popular at the xc races in Victoria. I would get the Advanced model.

 

[pharmaboy]

Whatever works for you. The market for a used men's bike is larger than a woman's bike if that impacts you. Really, it's a bike that gives more confidence to the rider because of the lowered top tube, and comes in nice colour ways.

For a lady I'd never reccomend a bike with a series of upgrades, boys and their toys are what upgrades are about, all the ladies I ride with are about function, don't care about deore versus xt or alu versus carbon bars etc, but colour matters. If you want a lighter bike, then buy it off the rack like that.

Which bike did you think about just before you went to sleep, or if you walk into the store, which one catches your eye first and gives youthat little feeling inside?

Seriously, there are no shit bikes in the price range, but you have to love the bike you have, then you'll ride it more