Tested: 2006 Giant Glory

Giant Glory /// $4,500
giant-bicycles.com; 800-874-4268

Used to be that anyone with a dual-crown fork belonged to the same posse; all united against Lycra and climbing. But these days even the gravity crowd is fractured into two distinct camps: freeriders and racers. While the ones devoted to stylish big airs garner the most attention, their speed-seeking cousins are increasingly overlooked. Many bike companies don’t even offer DH race bikes anymore.

Giant, on the other hand, disregarded the dwindling race entry fees and ignored the fading market potential and developed the Glory. The 9-inch-travel bike is designed for blasting down singletrack absolutely as fast as possible. Could it handle a massive road gap? Sure, probably just as well as a freeride bike. But in place of the higher bottom bracket heights and stretched wheelbases that many big-hit bikes employ to save the pilot when things go awry, the Glory has very maneuverable geometry. The low bottom bracket (about 14.2-inches on our size large test bike) is a solid inch lower than on many other long-travel bikes, and the 46.7-inch wheelbase is easily two inches shorter than many others. To further enhance the ruthless trail-carving handling, the shock placement creates a lower center of gravity. Topping it all off, the Glory features one of the most efficient suspension designs going.

The Glory was a blast to ride in any terrain, but the steeper the trail became, the better the bike performed. It really excelled in extra-tight, steep, burly rock gardens. It was one of the most maneuverable big bikes I’ve ridden. The shorter wheelbase didn’t feel quite as stable at mach speed or straight-lining technical sections, but the low center of gravity instilled confidence whether I was darting down rocky ridges or engaging in two-wheel drifts.

Giant’s Maestro linkage system—a floating pivot design where the suspension counteracts pedaling forces—proved super plush in almost any terrain and was hardly affected by mashing the pedals. The ProPedal feature on the Fox DHX 5.0 rear shock was essentially unnecessary; the Glory was a neutral and efficiently pedaling machine. The suspension remained active during hard braking and there was only minimal suspension-induced pedal kickback.

The parts matched the frame’s podium-seeking demeanor quite well, especially the Fox 40 RC2 fork. With adjustable high- and low-speed compression damping, the fork could be set up to be as plush and efficient as the frame. The 40 is a marvelous addition to any bike and it saved my ass more than once. The Sun Ringle Abbah hubs, laced to 36-hole Mavic EX729 rims withstood hard hits and botched landings; the Race Face Evolve cockpit and cranks were stiff and strong and not too heavy; and the 2.5-inch Kenda tires tracked exceptionally well. These are race-level parts. The only questionable items were the Hayes HFX9 brakes. Although the brakes feature 8-inch rotors, the HFX9s are Hayes’ entry-level models and begged for more power. The strong performance and race-ready parts make the Glory an impressive value at $4,500. If you’re serious about downhill racing and in the market for a new rig, you owe it to yourself to take a ride on the Glory before laying down cash on anything else. —Dain Zaffke