DowneasTTer

Last winter my wife and I decided that after 18 years on a couple of old hybrids we needed new bikes. So we purchased a couple of Giant Escape RX 0's. You can follow that thread here.https://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...X-0?highlight=. Well after over 8k miles and 13 months of use we decided to look at the new cf model…. the Escape RX Composite. The price was right but, and it was a big but for me, Giant decided to use non-series shimano parts instead of the 105's on the RX0s. So we figured we would wait to see if next years model might have better components of course at a higher price. My LBS gave me a great deal, offered to sell the new Composites at $300 off msrp and swap out the 105's on the RX0s for $50.00. All I needed was to buy a couple of 105 FD (as the Composites use braze-on mounts) and new cassettes. So for around $1375.00 each we have two new Escape RX Composites with complete 105 drivetrains. One of the other RX0s has been sold and the other should be in a couple of days. The new bikes have about 100 miles on them so far and better than met our expectations. Here are a few pics of mine. Please excuse the dirt as the pollen season has started here in North Central Florida. btw the new bikes are about 2 pounds less than the RX 0s were. W/0 any stuff mine which is a large is around 18 with the 105s, GP 4 season tires and my wife's, a small, 17.8 lbs. of course once we add the bags, computers, etc it will be more



The requisite garage door shot of the entire bike.



You can see the ergon grips and handlebar bag bracket



The drive train



The frame has the built in "ride sense". I haven't yet placed the speed or cadence magnets on the bike.



Giant added rack mounts on the bike. I don't know of any other carbon frame with them. It's a nice touch for a tourist.



Another shot of the rack mounts. Instead of including hardware they are simply plugged. A screw driver later and …….

I know there have been a couple of other Composite posts but thought you might be interested in soon close up photos and the drive train upgrade. After only 100 miles I can say that these are truly wonderful hybrids.

Axiom

Sweet bike. With slimmer white wall (reflective maybe?) tires, a racier seat and SPD pedals I'd rate it hot on the 'hot-or-not' thread.

TakingMyTime

That is a very nice looking bike! I've looked at Giant's website before but I don't remember seeing that paint scheme.

cbr9927

Wow, when I had my RX It was 20 pds and change. Size M all stock, maybe they had a faulty scale at the shop.
The Top tube was too long for my build and sadly it had to go.
Its a heck of a comfortable ride.

DowneasTTer

It's possible that the shops scale was off as well. But I can say the difference between the crankset fd, rd, and cassette were remarkable. Add the tires and it was a good upgrade. Now with all the other stuff… grips, bags, water bottle cages it probably is back up there. Oh well I'm not planning on racing it anyway. At my age and health the lower weight helps me lift the bike on the rack….. and that's a platform at that

ColonelSanders

Hi DowneasTTer,

I found your updates on your original RX 0's quite interesting and would like to hear how big or little a difference you find the composite version, over the lightweight alloy and composite fork version that your original RX's had.

Cheers

PatrickGSR94

Oh dang a carbon frame with rack mounts! I may consider that for a future commuter bike!

Are fenders at all possible? Looks like I see eyelets on the front fork for the fender stays.

ps249

I own an RX composite as well. I purchased mine back in October. It truly is the best bike I have owned. Excellent geometry. My only problem is I live in Michigan. Still to cold and snowy to go riding. I usually have to wait till the end of March to start riding. From what I have seen so far, looks like the RX composite is a very popular bike.

UBDAM

All these positive comments about Escape RX almost make me wonder if I made the right choice with my Escape 0.

DowneasTTer

Yes their are eyelets on the front fork. It would be easy to add fenders. I think Giant is missing the boat here as they don't mention the mounts in their product description. There are riders out there who would enjoy a carbon frame but are limited to Alum or steel due to the need for racks, fenders and other attachments that a tourist or commuter would like.

DowneasTTer

I think the thing is that most people don't want to spend $$ on a bike they only see in a catalog as most LBS will not stock a hybrid in this price range. I know that's the case with my shop. Plenty of road cycles in the $1 to $2k range on the floor and they sell. However, the only hybrids are in the $400 to $600 range and of course these sell. I takes a leap of faith on the part of both the buyer (committing to purchase an unseen product) and a shop owner (willing to order a bike that the buyer might not complete the sale and have to put on the floor). In my case I knew I loved my Escape RX 0, I love the way my TCR Composite rides so it was basically a no brainer to order the Escape RX Composites.

DowneasTTer

You are partly to blame for my nest egg taking a hit. Your posts helped with my decision to purchase a couple for my wife and I. So far we have put only 100 miles on them due to rain in the area. But we are enjoying them… one of the reasons for living in North Central Florida. Hope you can get out and enjoy yours soon. And again thanks for your original posts.

DowneasTTer

Yes the catalog page on the web site or printed one doesn't due the frame/graphics or paint justice. It is far better looking in person.

ps249

Lol well I take that as a compliment. These RX composites are awesome bikes at a nice price. I was just looking at a picture of the Specialized Sirrus Pro - that is one awesome bike! (But the msrp is $3,000). Colors almost match the RX composite but it has 105 shifters and top of the line hydraulic brakes. Looks are one thing- but how the bike feels and performs is another. People ask me why I spent $1,500 on a bike. My answer is simple: " I will never be able to afford a $40,000 sports car. This bike is the equivalent." Did you get a computer for your bike yet? I got the Cateye velo 9- its a wired computer. I have had terrible luck with the wireless ones lately so I am staying with the wired for now. Keep us informed with your ongoing reviews......

DowneasTTer

Please take it as a compliment because it is. These are indeed great hybrids for the price point and the free to me 105 upgrade has made it even better. And I do own a $40,000 sports car, well it was when I bought it back in 01, an Audi TT Quattro Roadster, still have it and enjoy it during the summer months. It's a great way to get the bikes to the trail in a hurry

I do use a computer, but I'm a little strange, pay for a light bike and use a heavy GPS…. I have a Garmin Oregon 500 with a Ram mount. I also have a tempe sensor attached to the seat bag. The mapping functions plus the ability for geocaching on trips makes it worth it for me. Next is to connect the ride sense magnets and syn with the gps. In addition I wear a Garmin Fenix as my primary watch and ride with a smart helmet, the Life-Beam one that includes an optical heart rate monitor.

Wanderer

That's a great looking bike! I wish they offered it with disc brakes........................ how much room is there for wider tires?

DowneasTTer

Thanks, You could go 32's without any problem. With the V brakes maybe even larger. I have Hayes discs on my mountain bike. They are very nice but really not needed on a road bike based hybrid. I do wish they were 105 calipers thou. There is the added cost and weight plus more maintenance costs over the long run. It kinda of reminds me of my disappointment on buying my smart car with drum brakes on the back. Discs would be nice but the older tech works great and is a little less expensive.

badger1

DowneasTTer,

Been meaning to chime in: those are lovely bikes. My (much loved) LBS is also a Giant dealer, and has the RX Comp in stock. I would be very tempted, but sadly Giant's hybrid/mtb geometry does not work well for me; I need the stack height of a medium w/ the t/t length of a small (very long legs/short torso for my height). Oddly, the Defy road geometry works perfectly. That aside, I'd buy one of these in a heartbeat.

But to the point: I have a suggestion re. brakes (as in mini v-brakes). When I rebuilt my '10 Sirrus Comp, one of the things I did was get rid of the Tektro mini-vs, and replace them with TRP CX9s (https://www.trpbrakes.com/category.ph...d=185&subcat=0). They were installed spring 2011; I use them with Avid SD7 levers/XTR cables.

I'm going into my fourth year with them; I'll replace the pads again this year, but other than that I have not had to do a thing to/with them except clean them up when I clean the bike. Unlike any other v-brake I've had, they've needed no fiddling, no constant re-centring, no adjustment whatsover other than twisting the barrel adjuster to compensate for pad wear. They use a proprietary cartridge shoe (and road pads, which I like) that is really easy to adjust, etc. They are very, very powerful (the construction means little/no flex at all). They are a bit expensive, but worth every penny in my view. TRP is the 'racing' arm of Tektro.

P.S. If you're interested, here's what they look like on the bike (apologies for lousy pic):

roadandmountain

What do these bikes weigh?

edit: I see it's been answered in OP.

These are intriguing bikes: great, great geometry which would allow me to forego custom geometry.

It seems like these bikes are at the apex of versatility: fat tire, fender, rack, flat and drop bar compatible. Amazing!

If only they could sing a song, fetch the paper, and do the grocery shopping. Hmmmm....

DowneasTTer

Well it took me a little while but today I put my old Topeak Explorer rear rack on my Escape RX composite. I think that this is the only carbon fibre frame I've seen with built in rack mounts. I published some pictures above showing the mounts themselves. However, Giant put plastic plugs in the mount holes instead of supplying the screws. Not a problem pop out the plugs and you will find nice treaded metal inserts. Here are the results...



Overall rack installation.




Close up of seat stay attachment point.



Close up of drop out attachment point. I haven't yet figured out what Giant put the treaded bracket on the non drive side chain stay just before the QC. Any ideas? The next thing I need to do is set up the ride sense.



The bike ready to head to the trail in the morning.

DowneasTTer

OK it's been a while since an update so here goes:


Due to health problems of course being in our 60’s doesn’t help we haven’t been able to ride as much as usual. So the composites only have a little over 1500 miles on them so far. Of course since we took the RD and Crankset from the older RX 0’s to have a complete 105 drivetrain, these pieces now have more than 9500 miles on them. We decided to take a short, one week, RV shake down trip to Sanibel Island last week. The weather was perfect and we were able to do a couple of 50+ miles rides around the island several times. These are the best bikes we have ever ridden now that the stock saddles were replaced with Specialized ones (mine with a Avatar Comp Gel and her’s with a Ariel Comp).


I am currently looking at replacing the flat bars with Jeff Jones H-Bar loops. Haven’t done it yet still in the thinking phase. But these look to offer a number of hand positions that possibly would add to the comfort level on our longer rides this summer. If so I would move the Ergon grips currently on my Composite to my mountain bike. I posted a thread here: https://www.bikeforums.net/hybrid-bic...h-bar-use.html asking for input from BF members.


I have been asked by a couple of members to give my impressions of the differences between the alum based Escape RX 0’s (msrp $1275.00) we had last year and the Escape RX Composites (msrp $1550.00) now. This is a little difficult as the we have never ridden a stock RX Composite. Before taking out for the first time we swapped out the drivetrain of the stock Composite to a fully 105 one as stated at the beginning of the thread as well as tires and bar ends. Plus I wanted to get a good feel for the bike over a few miles.


So here goes. The biggest difference now is of course the frame. I was not able to ride one of these composites before purchase as my LBS doesn’t stock high end hybrids but that was also true of the RX 0s last year. I figured the geometry was about the same for both bikes as the Composite was basically an upgrade of last years RX 0 with better frame and lower end drivetrain and no pedals. Therefore my wife would be comfortable on a small and me on a large. Come to find out that is not the case as the Composite frame has both a longer top tube and steeper seat tube angle. That made the reach for my wife a little uncomfortable and the height of the bar a little too low as well. The LBS solved this problem with replacing the stem (Giant Connect 80mm) with an angled Giant Connect 70mm. That made a big difference in her riding comfort.


We also swapped out the Giant supplied tires for Conti GP4S. Well she go new ones and I put on the ones from my RX0 with about 1500 miles on them. I love these tires and to date have never had a flat. They roll well and are quite a bit less weight to begin with. Worth the price IMHO. But, still buy them only on sale.


So the big question does the frame substance really matter? The RX 0 has the best Alum frame material (ALUXX SL-Grade) that Giant has while the Composite has the lowest Carbon Fiber material they offer (Giant Composite Technology). Is the price difference worth it or is it just a good marketing plan? After 1500 miles I can safely say there is a big difference in ride comfort for me at least. The Carbon frame is much more forgiving as far a road quality goes and the bike is much more responsive to my engine (leg input). While the frame geometry says the RX Composite is a hybrid the ridding says it’s a flat bar road bike. It rolls, pedals and is as responsive as my TCR Composite and for me much more comfortable due to my 65 year old frame.


If you are looking for a way to spend that IRS refund check as well as looking at a high end hybrid I don’t think you can find a better choice than the RX Composite. As they sit now with the upgrades I would put them is the same class as some of those cf hybrids costing $1000.00 more and in stock form I would say you couldn’t find anything in it’s price range.. yet.




Here is a picture of my Composite on the new bridge over the Withlacoochee River in Dunnellon.

ps249

The bike is looking awesome. I like the flat top tube- kind of reminiscent of a king cobra. Also thanks for the comparison review between the 2. The aluminum bike is similarly spec'd. I could have gotten that one for around $999 brand new. Of course you know what one I ended up with

Bhrazz

This thread is awesome, made me realize and decided which im gonna get.....

Sadly, Ill have to go the RX ( not the RX composite ), even If I really wanted the composite.....

I like to ride my bike as much as I can all year long... Sadly I live in montreal, when is between -5 and -10 ( 23-14 in F ) I still ride. Really, the only thing stopping me is the accumulation of snow....

After reading comments, the cold will kill my bike. ( and I also remember killing a fishing pole in carbon when it was cold ).

So, I will have to go with Alum.....
@DowneasTTer : Thanks for your help, I REALLY do appreciate it.

( original post of mine : https://www.bikeforums.net/road-cycli...l#post16790217 )

ps249

Nice choice as most people would go for the Giant Escape1 or 2 models. I also chose the RX carbon and I have no regrets. You can tell just by standing next to it that it is a work of art. It is so similar to a roadbike- but with flat bars.

DowneasTTer

Quick update as of today (26 May 2014) both my wife's and my composites have 2011 miles on them. Other than an easy adjustment due to cable stretch after the first 200 miles or so, they have needed nothing but cleaning and a little chain lube. We currently ride 40 miles/day due to the super weather down here in the Sunshine State. There are no additional modes in the works. However, they will be living on the back of our motorhome during our summer travels starting soon. One of the amazing things has been the tires we have on these bikes. I swapped out the original tires for the Contie GP4S ones from my old Escape RX0. At the time of fitment on the composites the tires had a little over 1500 miles on them and showed very little wear. Currently they have over 3500 miles on them with at least another 1000 miles of wear on the rear and 2000 on the front. Unbelievable as the stock Giant ones I was using before only ran for 1800 miles or so before showing the wear layer. Plus NOT ONE FLAT... That said on tomorrows ride......