Canadian

I live in the prairies. It's pretty damn flat here. So the Giant Anthem (Anthem 2, in my price range) makes for a fantastic Mountain Bike. Being a 5'7" 121 lb female, I also like it's lightness.

Question: If I were to ever be taking it out west to the Rockies for a week or something, will the 3'5" severely hamper me? I'm not much for daredevil riding, and with my size, was hoping I'd be able to get away with the Anthem being my only Mountain Bike. Thoughts?

(Note: I'm a roadie with a very heavy Trek 820 hardtail.)

streetlightpoet

Should work just fine if you are riding in the same manner that you do back home.

ca7erham

I have ridden in the rockies with a rigid mtb and had no issues, so you should be fine. Also, for the type of riding you just discribed, you would be fine with a hard tail unless you really think you need a fully suspended

Canadian

Yes, I don't really need the full suspension. But I'd be getting the new Anthem for a fraction of the price because I got hired at a LBS. All my co-workers keep trying to convince me to go for the Anthem because of the discount (originally I was thinking I'd get a Women's Specific road bike to add to my current Trek 1500, but we'll see). I figure if I want to give the sport a serious shot, and I can pay the same as someone else for twice the bike, I might as well.

Zephyr11

I've ridden a hardtail and 4-inch travel bike and haven't ever had an issue that was due to the bike. I think I do a little better on the 4-inch than hardtail, but I don't think I've encountered anything on the 4-inch that I could do on a longer travel bike...99% of the time it's a skill issue. And I've seen hardcore nuts on fully rigids out here, so obviously it's not just the bike. 3.5-inches should be fine...I don't foresee any issues. Plus as a fellow woman who doesn't weigh a whole lot, I can say that the light bike is nice.