Giant 2010 MTB launch

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The braced seat stays offer a reasonable amount of tire clearance.(Image credit: James Huang)

Giant's new 2010 lineup of full-suspension mountain bikes will retain the company's superb Maestro dual-link architecture and geometry but virtually everything will change. Five all-new frames highlight the range for the new year and bring with them less weight – incredible losses in some cases – equal or better stiffness and improved aesthetics to boot.

Topping the XC range is team rider Adam Craig's race bike of choice, the revamped 100mm (4")-travel full-carbon Anthem X Advanced SL. At a paltry 2.1kg (4.63lb) claimed weight for a painted frame w/shock and hardware, it's a full 200g (0.44lb) lighter than last year's aluminum Anthem X. Even better, a top-end medium-sized '10 Anthem X Advanced SL0 built with SRAM's new XX group will peg the needle at an impressive 9.8kg (21.8lb) straight out of the box without pedals.

The production model is actually the fourth prototype that Craig tested and earlier versions were actually even lighter with the lightest being under 2kg. However, Craig and Giant ultimately decided that it was worth a bit of extra weight to gain more chassis rigidity and the new model supposedly boasts a modest five percent bump thanks to the material upgrade but also heavily revised tube shaping.

As such, the front end now boasts an 'OverDrive' tapered 1 1/8"-to-1 1/2" steerer with a correspondingly enlarged 'MegaDrive' rectangular down tube that measures a whopping 205mm in circumference (measure your current bike for comparison). The top-end SLO model also gets a Giant-exclusive tapered version of RockShox' SID XX, which by itself is claimed to deliver a 25 percent jump in bending stiffness as compared to the standard fork.

The top-end Trance X Advanced SL0 model will weigh in at a race bike-like 11.1kg (24.5lb) for a medium size without pedals and it should be noted that it easily could have been lighter. However, Giant global mountain bike category manager Kevin Dana felt that middleweight items such as the versatile Mavic Crossmax ST wheels and Fox 32 TALAS FIT RLC fork (with 15mm thru-axle dropouts) were better suited to the frame's broader capabilities. Lighter and/or smoother riders – or ones that just want to drop weight – could shed another half-kilo without too much trouble to make for an even faster rig.

The OverDrive tapered front end and correspondingly bigger down tube make an appearance here as well and also work with the more aggressively hydroformed tubing to yield a five percent increase in stiffness as compared to '09. In addition, rear dropouts are now compatible with RockShox' 12x135mm Maxle Lite thru-axle, the new down tube-routed full-length housing paths are cleaner and less prone to ghost shifting, and cable guides are included for remote telescoping seatposts, too. Moreover, the S-bend down tube even provides enough room for a bottle cage.

Although reducing weight isn't quite as important here as with more pedaling-oriented segments, a lighter bike still makes for a machine that's easier to control in the air, more eager to change direction, and quicker to slow down and the Faith certainly doesn't disappoint in that area. At a claimed weight of 4.06kg (8.95lb) for a painted frame with coil-over Fox rear shock and hardware, the Faith sheds an almost unbelievable 1.1kg (2.43lb!) from last year's Glory and a complete medium Faith 0 is 16.7kg (36.8lb) without pedals.

An OverDrive front end, co-pivot Maestro suspension layout and huge hydroformed aluminum down tube and top tube make their way here as well and help make for a seven percent stiffness increase over the last-generation Faith (which was far heavier). Convertible 12mm rear dropouts will work with standard, Shimano Saint or Maxle thru-axle setups, too, and will also allow for either a 66.75° or 66.24° head tube angle (and corresponding changes to chain stay length and bottom bracket height) to fine-tune the handling.

Claimed weight is now a much more competitive 4.06kg (8.95lb) for a medium painted frame with rear shock and hardware while a complete Glory 0 model is a rather feathery (for a downhill bike) 17.19kg (37.9lb) while retaining the same stiffness as last year. That's akin to a 70kg (154lb) rider losing nearly 19kg (42lb) overnight and it doesn't take a brain surgeon to envision the changes in handling dynamics that results.

Last year's OverDrive tapered front end carries over but the suspension layout now gains the co-pivot arrangement as with the rest of the line along with completely overhauled hydroformed tubing shapes. Convertible rear dropouts can be configured to work with standard 12mm, Shimano Saint or RockShox Maxle thru-axles, the 83mm-wide bottom bracket shell (with ISCG05 tabs, of course) offers a straighter chainline with wider DH-style hubs, and new down tube-routed cables are cleaner-looking and less prone to ghost shifts under heavy impact.

As with the rest of the revised '10 lineup, frame geometry on the new Glory is mostly carried over from the previous version's proven setup, including a 65.5° head tube angle, relatively short 445mm chain stays and a -24mm bottom bracket drop. The only significant change is with the medium frame size, whose top tube is now 37.4mm longer than before to take a more logical in-between position relative to the small and large.

Giant touts the Trance X Advanced SL as 'the ultimate go-to bike' for mixed-terrain riding involving equal parts climbing and descending and our test loop suitably included a 600m (2000') uphill slog before jumping on to the famed Colorado Trail for a fast semi-technical descent back to the base. As we've come to expect from Giant's dual-link suspension design, pedaling efficiency was superb – even with the Fox RP23 rear shock's ProPedal feature turned off – and the feathery weight of the new carbon chassis made the journey noticeably less painful.

The new Trance really showed its mettle once we finally headed downhill though with sharp handling owing to the newly tapered front end and stout front triangle. Suspension movement was well controlled across a wide variety of bump sizes, too, plus a taut, springy feel throughout the travel range and no mid-stroke wallow. Good stuff all around for a first taste and a good indicator of what's to come long-term.

Transition to lift-accessed trails and the new Reign X0 showed similar benefits, in particular the stiffer and more accurate-handling front end plus the excellent traction of the Maestro rear end. The stock single-ply Kenda tires were perhaps a bit too light for Keystone's rocky terrain (we got three flats on one run before swapping to DH tubes and increasing tire pressure) but to be fair, the Faith or Glory probably would have been better tools for the job.