After not very long at Interbike’s Dirt Demo, a distinct trend made itself apparent – carbon fibre versions of existing bikes. We’ve already told you a bit about the Cannondale Rush Carbon, while GT have a carbon I-Drive 4 model (of which more soon). And then there’s this, Giant’s all-carbon (except the linkages) Anthem Advanced.

It’s a great-looking bike, with a distinctively-shaped front end. The swingarm looks very similar to the aluminium bike, but in carbon fibre – the bonded-on metal plate by the chainrings to ward off chainsuck damage is a particularly neat touch.

The Maestro suspension is exactly the same as the alu Anthem, and the bike’s geometry is unchanged. Which is no bad thing. The original Anthem is a very fast and efficient bike, but the carbon model feels even faster. It’s very light, it’s stiff in all the right places and Giant has a long history with carbon so we’d expect it to last.

It’s one of those bikes that makes you feel that you’re letting it down if you don’t stay on the gas all the time. It really is quite inspiring. The suspension is unobtrusive yet effective, the handling is racer-sharp and it’s generally a blast to ride. If you’re after an FS race bike, this should definitely be on the shortlist.