Giant Faith 0 - Previewed

May 31, 2011

Anyone who has watched a recent NWD movie knows that freeriding has long moved past its skinny ladder bridge and wheelie dropping early days. Today's riders, both pros and local shredders, are doing moves that most of us never even dreamed of only a few short years ago. The large majority of this progression is undoubtedly down to the rider's skill and courage, but the evolution of the freeride bike cannot be over looked either.


It's bikes like Giant's Faith 0, previewed below, that allow Kurt Sorge to charge off the lip of a 70ft canyon gap at the Red Bull Rampage without worrying about his equipment. With the DNA of a downhill bike, but using geometry and suspension suited to big, technical moves, the Faith 0 is Giant's top tier freeride bike.



The Faith's burly frame features massive diameter aluminum tubing that certainly portrays a sturdy ride, especially the bike's immense MegaDrive down tube that is wide enough to match the bike's equally large, tapered head tube and 83mm bottom bracket shell at each end. Underneath the eye catching metallic green paint job is a set of hydro-formed tubes that have been shaped to best handle the loads that the 7" bike is built for. The impressive shaping gives the bike a very distinctive look when inspected up close - even the seat tube isn't spared - and the neon green graphics accentuate the bike's contours.


While the Faith platform uses a slightly altered version of the Maestro suspension layout as seen on its bigger brother, the DH orientated Glory, its frame features different geometry to better suit the bike's intentions. Instead of all out speed between the tape, it needs to be slightly more maneuverable at slower speeds and be able to handle steep booters. For this reason its head angle is more than a full degree steeper at 66.75°, which results in a more compact wheelbase and a bike that can be thrown around easier. At the rear of the bike you'll find a set of clean looking, replaceable thru-axle dropouts that allow half a degree of handling adjustment to let you fine tune the handling.


Giant's Maestro Suspension controls the Faith's 7" of rear wheel travel via two stout links, creating a virtual pivot point in a position that would otherwise not be possible to use - high and just behind the seat tube. The imaginary pivot's position is tailored to give the long travel Faith an ideal axle path for the bike's intentions, while still allowing it to accelerate relatively well under power. Everything rotates on large sealed bearings, and the lower link's main pivot does double duty as the rear shock's lower mounting point, saving weight and simplifying things in the process.

Specifications
Price	$4400
Rear Shock	RockShox Vivid Coil RC2
Fork	RockShox Totem Solo Air w/ 20mm Thru Axle and Tapered Steerer, 180mm Travel
Cassette	SRAM PG970 11x32, 9-Speed
Crankarms	Race Face Atlas FR, 36T
Chainguide	MRP Mini G2 Guide, Custom for Giant
Bottom Bracket	Race Face, External
Pedals	Giant Alloy Platform, Sealed
Chain	Shimano HG-73
Rear Derailleur	SRAM X.9
Shifter Pods	SRAM X.9, Trigger
Handlebar	Giant Contact AM, 750mm, 31.8
Stem	Giant Contact FR
Brakes	Avid Elixir CR (Giant LTD Edition), [F] 185mm [R] 160mm
Hubs	[F] Giant Tracker w/ 20mm Axle, [R] DT Swiss 350 w/ 12mm Axle, 32h
Spokes	DT Competiton, 14/15g
Rim	Sun Ringle MTX31
Tires	Kenda Nevegal, 60 tpi, 26x2.5 Stick-E
Seat	Giant Freeride
Seatpost	Giant Contact, 30.9

The Faith's burly component package looks to match the bike's intentions quite well. Suspension duties are looked after by RockShox, with a strapping 180mm travel single crown Totem up front, complemented by their Vivid RC2 out back. Both units feature a number of external adjustments that allow them to be setup to deal with hard impacts that a bike like this will see, but without sacrificing small bump compliance in the process. It is also nice to see matching green graphics on both the fork and shock as well.


Slowing the green bike down is a set of Avid's Elixir CR brakes, complete with matching anodized green highlights. Interestingly, Giant has paired a smaller, 160mm rotor out back with 185mm front disc. The Elixir's are well known to have power in spades, but there is a question in my mind as to how the smaller rear saucer will handle the abuse that the bike is intended for. A number of Giant's house brand, Contact, parts are used on the build, including their solid looking FR stem and 750mm wide Contact bar. Laced to Giant's own brand hubs are a set of robust looking P-AM1 rims, which are also from their own component lineup. While not many riders will be familiar with this hoops, the look like they are ready to brush off any and all abuse that we'll be able to dish out.


Highlighting the fact that the Faith 0 is a purpose built freeride machine is its single ring MRP Mini G2 guide. There are a number of similar travel bikes out there that make use of a dual ring guide to allow the rider to get to the top under his/her own power, however slow that pace may be. Not the Faith - it is assembled with sessioning hits and going big in mind, not climbing. The only ascending that the Faith 0 will be doing is on a lift, in the back of a pickup, or getting pushed back up to the top of the run-in by its rider.

Watch Giant's Faith 0 come to life:

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