ParkingTheBus

Recently My hybrid bike of 2 years was stolen after I left it outside unchained for 10 minutes (stupid me). My LBS has a Giant Escape 2 Hybrid bike for 489.99 bucks.

I currently take the bus to work as most of the times I'm too tired to bike to work on my mountain Bike. It's a decent Giant revel, but the friction along with sore legs from squatting at the gym burns me out lol.

I'm just kind of hesitating buying this bike... I just bought my MTB for 600, and my old hybrid was 400 bucks, is it worth shelling out another 500 for a bike?

rebel1916

Sure

PennyTheDog

A more cost effective solution is to get slick, higher-pressure tires for your mountain bike. That's the main source of speed difference between a hybrid and a mountain bike.

the sci guy 

friend of mine just got an escape 2, its a great looking bike for sure.
but i agree with the poster above, go for just adding some more road friendly tires to your current bike for a while, see how it goes and if you don't like it, save up to get the escape.

alan s 

If it is worth it to you, then it is worth it.

Jaywalk3r

Street tires would go a long way towards making your MTB more commuting friendly, especially if it has a lockout fork. However, if you use the MTB off road a lot, the inconvenience of swapping out tires often might justify the expense of the hybrid.

The hybrid probably has useful commuter features like rack and fender eyelets, but not disk or hub brakes. The MTB has disk brakes, but the suspension fork might make installing fenders especially problematic, even if the lack of fender eyelets is overcome. With street tires, either bike could be used for commuting, but neither is ideal. I personally prefer 700c wheels on pavement, which the Escape has. The Escape has greater potential to evolve into a much better commuter bike over the course of a few years of ownership and use.

Normally, it doesn't take long for a $500 commuter bike to pay for itself, but that may not be the case when the alternative is public transportation instead of car payment, insurance, and gas. Ultimately, it would almost certainly pay for itself. Depending on how much you spend on public transit, it might take months, or it might take a couple of years.

Your best option might be to keep your eye out for a used hybrid. It could save you money, or it could allow you to upgrade parts to start out with a very well "evolved" commuter within the same budget, or a little bit of both.

spare_wheel

Its definitely worth buying a hybrid or a relaxed geo road/cross/touring bike -- especially if you think it will increase your motivation to commute. The geometry of newer suspension mountain bikes makes them terrible bikes for pavement riding, slick tires or not.

atoms

Even if that mountain bike is fully suspended?

PennyTheDog

It looks like the Giant Revel just has a front shock. To me, if you're really trying to keep the cost down, you'd get a lot more bang for the buck just changing tires. The mountain bike would work fine. Then later you can look into getting a more commuting-specific bike. But the Giant Escapes do look nice to me.

cplager

You can also consider buying a second wheelset so you can have a wheels with slicks for commuting and a wheels with knobbies for off-road.

phillybill

you get a nice commuting bike with a hybrid at a good price. There sturdy, generally not a lot of money, can take a rack and fenders....ect.

DJ Shaun

Giant Escapes are nice hybrids. I ride a Giant Rapid which is a sportier (and slightly pricier) hybrid.

Nothing wrong with commuting on a hybrid.

fietsbob

Or a Folding Bike .. taking it in with you is the best theft deterrent, and if you are nackered
you can always take it on the Bus With you.