JackOfOwls

My nephew just bought a used (but like new) Roam 3 Disc 2018 off craisglist for me. He paid $250, which is about half of what it retails for. I'll be using it mostly for grocery runs with a Schwinn Cargo trailer attached to it. Right now I'm using a Malboro Fuji Folding horror from the mid 90s that must weigh a ton, has a severely faulty left shifter and brakes that would take the length of a football field to stop if I was coming a'down the mountain. I'm assuming the Roam 3 Disc will be quite an upgrade from that. Ironically, that same nephew won the Fuji Folding bike when he was a mid-teen with Malboro cigarette coupons and within a day of acquiring it he bent the back axle because he started doing crazy stunts on it. He's in his 40s now. I wonder if I'll like my new Roam 3 bike. Haven't even seen it yet.

JackOfOwls

Not much traffic in this topic but I got my new Giant Roam 3 2018 off Craigslist yesterday. It needs work but thanks to this forum I have already fixed an issue with the front wheel not being able to free spin due to the disc brake caliper being out of whack.

JackOfOwls

Here's a pic.

hokiefyd 

Looks great; I like the green! Do you have a picture of it out in the sunlight?

JackOfOwls

It's overcast today but I'll try to get a pic for tomorrow. I still need to do some work on that front derailleur which is not as smooth as it should be. Hopefully it can be tuned properly regardless of the entry level components for its price range ($500). Waiting for my repair stand and some quality hex wrenches I ordered to be delivered.

hokiefyd 

Here's my 2018 Roam 2, with newest addition: Topeak MTX DXP trunk bag (thanks to Santa). I was out for a new year's morning ride, and stopped by a small pond for a couple of pictures. I'm glad that I moved the fenders over from my Trek Verve (which I don't really ride anymore): I've benefited from them on a number of rides now (wet surfaces with puddles). These are the 40mm Schwalbe Little Big Ben tires, which are a nice balance between tough durability and good ride quality (they're a reasonable weight -- 590g). They have Schwalbe's "RaceGuard" level of tread protection (4 out of a best of 6 on their scale), which includes two layers of fabric under tread.

The Topeak MTX DXP trunk bag is reviewed pretty thoroughly on the internet. It's a durable bag with zip-out panniers on each side (denoted by the "P" in the nomenclature). The DXP has a zip-expandable main section also, for larger capacity (vs. the EXP, which does not have an expandable main section). I like that I can slide this out and I've already got a Topeak Explorer Disc rack on order for my MTB, so I can run the bag on either one.


IMG_20190101_100211784 by jnjadcock, on Flickr


IMG_20190101_100200331 by jnjadcock, on Flickr

I have about 300 miles on my Roam now...have owned it since last summer.

Tony_G

That's a nice looking bike. I think you will enjoy it.

I've put 7,900 miles on my 2017 Roam 1. I even rode a full century ride on it, in addition to many metric centuries.

I've since bought a road bike that was twice as expensive as the Roam. I like the lightness of the road bike,
but even after 3,900 miles on the road bike, I still find the Roam to be faster and much more confidence
inspiring on fast (paved) downhills. Both for straight roads and curvy ones. And the Roam rides like a
Cadillac compared to the road bike.

I'm looking forward to snow, when I'll leave the road bike at home and the Roam will earn its keep.

hokiefyd 

I have many times looked at and considered replacing the suspension fork with something else (like a carbon or chrome-moly steel rigid fork). But then I ride it, and remember why I really like this genre of bicycle. I have a good number of bikes, many with rigid forks, but the Roam gets the most of my limited bike-riding time. It's just a really comfortable bike.

mavericg

hokiefyd 

Welcome, mavericg. As far as size, if you feel more comfortable on a small regarding stand-over, then I'd probably buy the small. If you feel a little too upright on it, you can always adjust the saddle rearward and/or install a longer stem, which would move the handlebar forward. But you can't make a frame that's too tall for you (stand-over) shorter, unless you install shorter wheels and tires, which bring other compromises.

As far as fenders, any set of fenders designed for 700c/29" wheels should work. It's generally recommended to use fenders that are 10mm wider than your tires, for good coverage. I, however, have 45mm wide fenders with 40mm wide tires on my Roam, and I find that works good. I wouldn't want to go much tighter than that (5mm difference), but I think 45mm fenders work well. If you stick with the stock 38mm tires, 45mm fenders should be good. The fork does not have lower eyelets for mounting fenders, but have rear-facing mounting points a few inches up from the bottom that work for mounting fenders. You may need a small L-bracket to mount them, depending on how your fenders mount to the fork. You can see that on my Roam a few posts up. I can take more detailed pictures of the front mount if you like. I have Planet Bike Cascadia fenders on mine. They have great coverage with long rubber flaps that hang down. I stay completely dry on wet roads with these. I also have a Planet Bike Blinky 3 rear light and I've come to like Planet Bike stuff -- they seem to be well-made products at reasonable cost.

As far as panniers, rear ones would probably work best (there are no mid-fork rack mounts on the suspension fork). You could fabricate a mount using P-straps or similar, but a rear rack fits great. I have a Topeak Explorer rack on mine, which fits the Topeak MTX QuickTrack bags. You can get Topeak rack bags with fold-out panniers, or you could also certainly hang standard panniers from the rack as well. I like the flexibility of the Topeak system because I have a few bikes that I regularly ride and, with a Topeak rack on each one, I can just click the rack bag into whichever bike I'm riding that day.

mavericg

thanks mate. Yeah I'm torn with the sizing because being 170cm shows it's the higher max end of a Small while 170 being the starting point of a Medium. I've rode Medium but the Small isn't available for comparison.

Thanks for the advice on panniers and mudguards. I might explore the topeak versions and will look for a compatible mudguards.

hokiefyd 

Were you comfortable on the medium? Good on stand-over, or marginal? Good on reach? I know it's easy to say, but I'd focus less on the numbers and more on how you feel on the bike. The shop doesn't have a single Roam model in small? If you're buying a Roam 1 (high end model), perhaps they'd agree to bring in a Roam 3 (bottom model) in small for you to test the size. They'd probably be able to sell a Roam 3 or 2 pretty easily (due to the lower cost) and the size would give you an idea of what the small would feel like.

Failing that...if you think you'll always question if medium is too large (if you're torn now), then order in the small and have the shop install a longer stem or even a set-back seat post if necessary. I think it's easier to "make a bike larger" than it is to "make a bike smaller".

mavericg

hokiefyd 

The ToughRoad frustrates me because it's a great bike, but Giant doesn't offer a more moderately-priced one. They used to have the ARX, which was sort of like a budget ToughRoad with 27.5" wheels. It had entry level components and was priced at 500 bucks. Then there's the ToughRoad...a very nice bike with carbon fork and nice frame, for about 1000 bucks. But there's nothing in between. I'd like Giant to offer something like a cross between the ToughRoad and the Roam -- use a frame similar to the frame on the Roam 2 (priced at $610), add a carbon fork with the correct geometry, and come out around $700-750. They can do it...they have the Escape 1 with a carbon fork, hyd disc brakes, and $790 price tag. I'd like like to see a ToughRoad SLR 3 or something, or a non-SLR ToughRoad (SLR seems to be a better frame quality).

Anyway, I digress. You'll enjoy the Roam 1. It's a super comfortable bike.

mavericg

Hey can you confirm that there's no inlet for fenders for the roam? As I was actually thinking of buying the Topeak TX fenders for Front and Rear and wondering if I can easily place it? As for the Rear Rack, any issue if I stall the Topeak MTX version as well?

hokiefyd 

You should be able to get Topeak Defender TX fenders to work well. In fact, Topeak's website shows a Scott bike with a Suntour suspension fork with these fenders mounted.

https://www.topeak.com/us/en/product...8-defender--tx

They'll work on the Roam exactly the same as you see on the website. There are three rear mounting points for racks/fenders on each side, so you have plenty of options in the rear. I have fenders with the Topeak MTX rack on mine and they work well together.

mavericg

Awesome! Thanks for confirming.
There are so many Topeak Rear version, did you buy the Super Tourist DX version for disc? Also for the trunk bag, is it the MTX bag with side panniers? Cheers

hokiefyd 

The rack is just a basic Explorer non-disc without spring. This one. You don't need the disc version for our bikes because of where the rear brake calipers are. The ones with the "QuickTrack" channel are compatible with their bags that slide and click into place.

The bag is an MTX Trunkbag DXP. This one. The DXP (with a P) means it has the fold-out panniers. You can leave them folded into the side panels if you wish. But they have tons of bags (click here). If you want the type that slide into the rack and click into place, just look for any bag with the "MTX" or "MTX QuickTrack" designator.

mavericg

Just collected my 2019 Giant Roam Disc 1. loved the smooth ride and geometry (as i've been riding road bike for years now). basically, this year will use this bike as a commuter / weekend rides in the neighborhood. ive chosen this bike over the Toughroad 1. It's not as heavy as I expected just a few lbs heavier than TR 1 but it's manageable. Will post some pictures soon

Upcoming add-ons will be:
- Topeak Defender TX Fenders
- Topeak Rear Rack
- Topeak Trunk Bag
- Shimano Gr500 pedals
- Wahoo Speed and Cadence sensors
- Bike lights
- Garmin 820 (this is my spare one)
- Giant Ergo Max Grips with Bar end (on order in ebay)
- Looking for a good commuter saddle (recommendations?)

-

hokiefyd 

Yes, I think we look forward to pictures. Saddles are so personal -- you really need to find what fits you. And I find that saddle fit even varies by the day for me. Sometimes I like a narrower/firmer saddle and sometimes I like a wider/softer saddle. All of my bikes either use a 27.2mm seatpost, or are shimmed to use a 27.2mm seatpost, so I have a few saddles that I like on seat posts and I swap them around as I desire. You'll notice that my pictures earlier in this thread show a large gel saddle on a suspension seat post on my Roam. I usually use a narrower Specialized saddle on a rigid seatpost, but I find that I like the softer saddles in the off season like now when I'm not riding as often or as far.

mavericg

hokiefyd 

Hey, that looks great! Say, is that a chain stay protector I see on the drive side chain stay? Did that come that way from the factory?

travbikeman

That's a nice color to the new Roam! BikeTiresDirect.com has been having good sales on saddles lately, although not at moment. Every couple of weeks they discount different items and they may have saddles on sale again in a week or two.

I bought this Selle SMP saddle on sale for $63 (originally $80) a few weeks ago:

Selle SMP TRK Medium

mavericg

yes, there's a chain stay protector at the drive side. Also the x-defender in the front is opened up like a wing similar to Toughroad which also act as a mudguard.

hokiefyd 

If possible, would you be able to inquire at a local-to-you Giant dealer if they can find a part number for that chain stay protector? The Roams sold in the US all have the X-defender down tube protector, but only one model here has the chain stay protector, and my bike shop can't find a part number for that chain stay protector. Since they're equipping all Roams with that where you live, perhaps your local bike shops would be able to come up with a Giant part number (if one exists)? I would like to buy one of these for my Roam (I prefer original equipment parts to aftermarket, if I can find them), but nobody stateside can figure it out.

Many thanks.