The Giant ATX 2 feels lightweight, comfortable and quiet on the descents, despite the poor fork, which we’ll get to in a minute.

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Coming in under 14kg makes the Giant ATX the lightest bike here, and combined with its fast rolling tyres, comfortable saddle and seat post that extends long enough for my 6ft 1in frame, it’s a decent climber. Giant uses its own ALUXX-Grade aluminium and, as the world’s biggest bike builder, they’re pretty good at making frames.

Yes it’s downhill where the ATX is less composed then, despite the fine frame. While that fast rolling rubber is fine on hardpacked trails with enough support in the sidewalls despite their narrow girth, get them on looser, more natural trails and there’s less grip than you need. And then there’s the fork, it lacks the traction the Calibre Two Cubed‘s RockShox XC30 generates and the rebound is fast enough to make the front end feel pingy and less than stable off drops. The ProWheel chainset also drags the ATX down, I was plagued by ghost shifting where the bike skipped between the smallest chainrings.

The ATX has plenty of flaws, but underneath there’s a decent frame in an astonishing six sizes, and glimpses of the bike’s potential. Giant has incredible clout in terms of spec buying power and design, they need to put it to good use and make some much needed changes to the ATX.