Originally Posted by
streetlight
What a fantastic review! I must have got mine the same week as you, Bryan. Lots of great ideas for me for upgrades, although I'm far less knowledgeable than you. I knew these OEM tires were going to be the first thing to go after my first ride, so your review helps corroborate my impression. I have some Schwalbe Marathons with a diamond patten tread on my other bike, and I find those tires much quieter and faster than the stock Giants. On weight ... my old "comfort" bike was so much chubbier, I found the Escape 1 featherlight, but the numbers don't lie, as you show. I certainly don't "feel" extra weight in the frame, but I have this vague sense of the tires dragging, but after reading all your review and DorkDisc's comments, I wonder whether I need some better grease in the wheels?
The difference between the old tires (760 grams each), and the new tires I installed(500 grams each), is a net loss of slightly over a pound of rotating mass. The weight loss was a very noticeable improvement when riding. The bike seems to get up to speed faster and with less effort. Replacing the stock tires sooner than later will pay off in the long run.
I can only imagine how much better it would ride with a quality wheelset installed. I haven't tried to regrease the wheels just yet, still trying to find some better wheels. Which leads me to my current issue, finding a budget friendly, tubeless compatible, and lighter wheelset with QR axles. There are various options, cheapest I found was a DT Swiss narrow 29er MTB wheel with a $70 - $80 set of adapters that will set you back somewhere around $400 combined. The used market around me is mostly filled with through axle wheels. Just another thing to consider when buying the Giant is the outdated axle specs. I found The Colorado Cyclist custom built wheels to be the best value at the moment, but those will have to wait for now.