MM71

Hey guys,

Newbie here. I started biking two years ago and bought a used bike from my friend. It was a very cheap mountain bike and my friend bought it at a local store for CDN$300. I only use it for like picking up grocery or running my errands. Since I'm planning to bike to work, this bike won't cut it. So, I'm in the market looking for a new bike. My commute is about 17km one way and it includes a bit of gravel road and the rest is paved bike path. I went to a couple of bike shops and I was suggested to buy hybrid. After a bit of research, I narrowed my focus down to three bikes : Gaint Roam 0, Specialized Crosstrail Elite(2016), Specialized Crosstrail Comp Disc(2016). I have tried Giant Roam 2 and like the feel of it. But I couldn't find Roam 0 anywhere to do the test ride(I'm from Ottawa by the way). That goes same from both Specialized. A sales representative from Giant told me that Roam 0 should feel the same as Roam 2 but lighter. And I couldn't find Specialized to do the test ride either since I ride small and they only have medium for test unit. So here I am asking suggestion from you guys..Should I get either Roam 0 or Elite (They are about the same price in my city). Or spend extra 300 to get Comp. I'm 34 years old male if that's relevant.

Specialized Comp :
https://www.sportinglife.ca/sportingl...ike-%5B2016%5D


Specialized Elite :
https://www.sportinglife.ca/sportingl...ike-%5B2016%5D

Giant Roam 0 :
https://www.giantottawa.ca/en-ca/bike...c/24681/89666/

Allez3

Can't go wrong with Specialized.

I'm totally impartial though. I bought my first one in the 80's. Had a Trek mountain bike once for a couple of years but rarely road it. Everything else has been Specialized.

MM71

Thanks for your suggestion! I like the look of Comp..but does it really worth extra $300? I don't understand much about components but as far as what I've learnt from sales reps goes, they are almost identical except comp has a bit better suspension and has a switch for locking suspension on the handle. That said I don't really trust that guy since he said both bikes have the same aluminium frame which is not true.

sail

Be sure you really want front suspension.

ColonelSanders

The Comp has better wheels, gearing and brakes than the Elite, whether it is better enough to be that noticeable is up for debate.

The Comp also has the higher grade of aluminium and because of that and other component choices, would probably be 1 to 1.5kg lighter than the Elite.

Did you consider the Giant Toughroad?

Check out this video and see the sort of terrain the Toughroad is happy to ride on.

Craptacular8

I'm with you, I'd skip the suspension, and look for a hybrid that accepted wider tires like this ToughRoad does. That said, OP would need to decide if he wanted the bike to be able to accept fenders/racks, as the ToughToad 1 lists their proprietary front/rear rack as an option (not sure if this means it only accepts their racks?), while the one priced where the rest of the OPs choices at just over $1,000 does not mention that option, and I can't tell from the pic if it has the mounts available or not. The straight out Escape would be another option. I don't know much about them to know if it will take tires wider than the 32's listed, but guessing it would, and even if it didn't 32's would be sufficient for most gravel roads/paths, and it's crankset is definitely geared more towards faster riding with a good range of low gears for hills, and higher gears for fun fast riding. Don't know about fender/rack mounts, but guessing they are there. This would be far cheaper, and lighter than anything with the suspension.

I do have a front suspension bike in my fleet that I ride almost exclusively on gravel. It does fine, and the weight penalty doesn't hamper me much there, but that's because once I get it up to speed, it sails along. I would not want to do the stop/start of commuting on it if I didn't have to though, as it's suspension adds little to the comfort factor on gravel. If/when I do a tear down/rebuild on it, I'll be putting a suspension corrected fork on it. The tires, and tire pressure (run about 45psi) makes the ride smooth.

ColonelSanders

The Toughroad has two eyelets at the back and the usual seat stay eyelets for any rear rack, one is not limited to Giant's own racks.

The fork on the Toughroad has mid-fork eyelets and an eyelet near the fork dropouts that so many forks have as standard, but no eyelet on the fork crown.

Nonetheless, there are still a fair few front racks that can be fitted to the Toughroad as well.

MM71

Sorry for late reply. I've been sick with nasty infection. Anyway, that bike looks nice and you seem comfortable riding on all those trails. But there are two types of Toughroads(SLR1 and SLR2) with differences in some components. Which one would you recommend? Does it really worth to pay extra for more expensive one?

ToughRoad SLR 2 (2016) | Giant Store Ottawa

ToughRoad SLR 1 (2016) | Giant Store Ottawa

EDIT:

OK after reading through four pages of Toughroad Thread, I pulled the trigger and paid the deposit! Can't wait to try it tomorrow!

ColonelSanders

Wow, you don't mess about.

You will love your new bike.

With every new ride I take on mine, I just get more and more impressed by it.