Unboxing the 2018 Giant Anthem 2!

I had the 2017 Giant Trance 2. Then I sold it. Now I have a 2018 Giant Anthem 2.

The excitement is constant around me, believe it.

The bike showed up in this oversized box about five days after I ordered it. My co-workers took up both work stands with other projects. Customers, I guess. So I had to take it to my home workshop.

The box just barely fit.

It was well-wrapped. There were no pinched cables.

Such padding.

Wow

There is a lot of plastic waste on this bicycle. Not environmentally friendly. Sad.

Wheel stickers are really gross. They have to be removed.

The dropper post was a pain to install. I had to cut the housing down by like a foot.

Oh here's some junk it came with. Anybody want that hat?

Right on.

Not bad.

Also, on this year's model, unlike last year's Trance 2, it comes tubeless. I used Finish Line juice in the back and the stock Giant stuff in the front. The Finish Line stuff is supposed to last forever because it's made of Kevlar. In 30,000 years cyborgs will still be riding my rear tire. The front uses latex.

Oh and the back shock doesn't hold air that well. You know they used to give shock pumps with these bikes? Lean times.