Trail ready on a budget: Giant Fathom 29

Hardtails have long been the go-to choice for riders just getting into mountain biking, as well as a select core of experienced mountain bikers who ride hard, just without suspension. With the new Fathom and Fathom 29, a line of aluminum hardtails, Giant is looking to bridge the gap between the two. The aluminum hardtails mix progressive, trail ready design with a wallet friendly price.

Giant Fathom : Trail ready

The Fathom, and big-wheeled Fathom 29 are designed to bring progressive bike design to a more budget-friendly pricepoint. With that in mind, the bikes come ready to hit the trail, out of the box. Grippy, high-volume 2.5″ tires will be enough to take on any trail, while Giant Contact Switch dropper posts specced on every model adds confidence on the descents.

Giant uses its new Crest 34 suspension fork to give the Fathom 130mm of front wheel travel. Mixed with a slack geometry, and tidy internal cable routing, it’s a bike that does more tahn look the part. A 66-degree head tube angle is slack enough to take on tougher trails, without being extreme, while a steep 75-degree seattube makes the hardtail an efficient climber by keeping rider weight centered on the bike.

27.5″ or 29″ but always tubeless

In addition to the new Fathom 29, Giant also offers the fathom in 27.5″ wheels, for a different style of ride. Either way, the Fathom comes set up, ready to go with tubeless ready rims and tubeless tires.

Giant Fathom and Fathom 29 : pricing and availability

Giant is releasing four models in the Fathom line. There’s two 29″ wheels bikes, the $1,600 Fathom 29 2 and the $2,000 Fathom 29 1. There’s also two 27.5″ models, the Fathom 1 and Fathom 2, with the same pricing as their big-wheel brothers. Giant just lists availability for the trail hardtail as “soon.”

Fathom 29 1 – Desert Sage, $2,000
Fathom 29 2 – Black/Blue Ashes, $1,600
Fathom 1 – Teal, $2,000
Fathom 2 – Concrete, $1,600

giant-bicycles.com/ca/fathom