Rock Anthem: Giant's bike in action on the exposed outcrops at Dalbeattie

£2,999
16, 18, 20 and 22"

Giant's Anthem has been something of a sensation in the mountain biking world since its launch in 2006 - bucking the trend towards bigger suspension and making XC (cross country) almost cool again.

In a sport dominated by the baggy-clothed "freeride" aesthetic, the Anthem is a bit of an anachronism. Its long-and-low frame has a relatively short 3.5 inches of travel at the rear and it comes equipped with 80mm travel front forks, when most other bikes have 100mm as a minimum.

But the Anthem has got away with being a bit of a throwback because it is a blisteringly fast bike - and great fun to ride at the same time.

Despite retailing for a whopping £3,000, the Zero is still only second from top in the Anthem range. The carbon fibre framed Anthem Advanced sells for a truly breathtaking £4,700.

The Zero is still an impressively lightweight machine however, weighing in at just over 23lb.

Quite how featherweight a bike it is was brought home to me when our test model was delivered. As the courier passed it over the doorstep, I honestly thought there'd been a mix-up and I'd been sent a road bike by mistake.

Opening the box put matters straight however, and revealed what a handsome beast the Zero is.

Last year's Anthems were a cheap-and-nasty looking bunch to be honest, all metallic primary colours and loud graphics - but the Zero is a much more attractive proposition with its two-tone cream and bare aluminium colour scheme.

Light fantastic: The Anthem demands to be ridden hard

Kit
Giant bikes always offer decent value for money - and while the Zero shares the same super-lightweight aluminium frame as the Anthems 1 and 2, it doesn't want for anything in terms of bling.

Rear suspension is provided by Fox's benchmark RP23 shock, while the Fox 32 F80 RL fork keeps the front end nice and light and provides supple suspension and impressive tracking. It goes exactly where you point it.

The bike has gorgeous Sram transmission, including the lusted-after X0 carbon shifters - although our test bike had an X9 rear mech instead of the specified X0.

Other highlights are Avid's Juicy Seven brakes, Mavic's light and tough Crossmax SL UST wheelset, Race Face carbon bars and seatpost and top-of-the-line Race Face cranks, stem and bottom bracket.

The main weak point in the spec was the combination of Hutchinson Piranha Kevlar semi slick tyres and condom-thin inner tubes. This led to two punctures in the first two rides on the bike.

I swapped these for chunkier tubes and tyres in preparation for a trip to Scotland - and traded the painfully hard WTB Silverado saddle for the same firm's comfier (and heavier and cheaper) Pure V. But even after adding a water bottle and mini pump as well, the Zero was still so light it seemed at risk of floating away.

And in fairness, the Mavic rims are compatible with tubeless tyres - and most riders buying the Zero will probably want to take advantage of their weight-saving and puncture-resisting qualities.

Zero tolerance: The Anthem is a comfortable bike to ride for long periods

Ride
All this tough-but-lightweight kit combines with the bike's aggressive geometry to produce an astonishing turn of speed out on the trail.

The Zero's featheriness means that it picks up speed quickly, while Giant's acclaimed "Maestro" floating pivot suspension system means that it carries speed incredibly well too.

Taking it for a blast around my local woods, the Zero immediately demands to be ridden fast - goading you into attacking the singletrack and floating its way over logs and smaller ditches.

Climbing is another of the Anthem's talents. Some of the long switchback singletrack climbs on Scotland's 7stanes routes actually became fun for the first time as I left other riders behind or stayed up with riders far fitter than myself.

Even when you'd normally grind to a halt panting and wheezing, the Anthem still urges you onwards and upwards - its light weight and tight turning circle giving you no excuse to put a foot down.

One thing that needs watching on the Anthem is the low bottom bracket. This occasionally causes the pedals to strike on rocks and other trail obstacles - and sometimes brings the rider to a halt while hopping logs as the big chainring sticks into the wood.

But a positive effect of this low bottom bracket is that the Anthem is surprisingly stable when youre heading downhill.

The long stem means you can feel as though you're leaning right over the front, but it certainly managed to cope much better with some of the black routes on Scotland's 7stanes than expected - and the long final descent at Cwmcarn in south Wales was an absolute hoot.

Verdict
So the Anthem Zero is a great bike, there's no doubt about that, but is it worth £1,200 more than the very well-specced and not-much-heavier Anthem 1?

To be honest, the Anthem 1 is equipped with performance benchmark kit and will meet most riders' requirements more than adequately - while the extra money for the Zero buys pretty much the best of everything in terms of componentry and finishing kit.

Of course very few of us can justify spending £3k on a push-bike, but if you can - or even if you can't but want to anyway - then you'll struggle to find a faster or better value MTB than the Giant Anthem Zero.

And if you're buying it to race, you'll only have yourself to blame if you lose.

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