andyowenwest

I'm about to buy a new a new hybrid bike for 2021 and currently have two contenders

Boardman MTX 8.8 2021 (£650)
Or
Giant Roam 1 2021 (£850)

The specs of both bikes are really similar (shimano deore, hydraulic brakes, same suspension fork) with the exception of gearing

The boardman has 32-48t chainrings with 11-36t cassette

The giant has 30-46t chainrings with 11-42t cassette

The bike will be used for a mixture of off and on road riding (trails, commuting, leisure etc)

Would the wider range of gearing on the Giant be noticeable / worth the extra £200?

Barrettscv 

Welcome to Bikeforums!

If you are planning on climbing unusually steep hills while loaded with touring gear or a weeks worth of provisions, the gearing of the Giant might provide a benefit. Also, some cyclist prefer a faster cadence while climbing. The Giant will permit this while the Broadman requires a slower cadence at very slow climbing speeds.

Both the Broadman and the Giant permit climbing at 3.5 mph, any slower than that and many cyclist are better off walking. Most people start to have problems balancing a bike at speeds less than 3.5mph. It can be done, but it's not ideal.

The Giant allows a faster cadence of 62rpm at 3.5mph while the Broadman requires the cyclist to mash the pedals at 50rpm. Most cyclist would be capable of either a 50 or 62rpm cadence at that speed.

GrainBrain

Looking at the two bikes, the Boardman seems more focused on being a road hybrid and the giant is more towards mtb.

I think the £200 difference on the giant is from the tubeless ready wheels and tires, finishing kit with Giant's Dfuse seatpost, and what looks like a hollow two piece crankset vs the three piece tapered crankset on the Boardman.

You could have a shop swap in an 11-42 onto the Boardman for the shops cost of the cassette, like £80?

Boardman lists a 68mm bottom bracket, while I would take a guess that the giant has a 73mm bottom bracket. I would suspect that the giant would clear bigger tires then the Boardman, and the giant does come with wider tires.

Kind of a tough choice, £200 is enough of a difference that you could buy the Boardman and a nice pair of shoes and pedals. But for me I'd pay more for the Giant just to have the tubeless tires.

andyowenwest

Thanks for the warm welcome and great replies - super speedy!

Based on barrettscv's reply - I dont think i'll be touring with a weeks worth of supplies any time soon, seeing as Im trading up from a aluminium framed road bike with 12-26t cassette and 34-50t chainring It seems the gearing of the boardman is ample for my commuting and weekend off road use - Thanks for the calculations too

Based on GrainBrain's reply - I think you might have looked at the 2020 model specs as the 2021 version has tubeless ready wheels and is a 2x10 setup - given that this makes the difference even less as well as being able to change the casette if needed I think youre right about the shoes and pedals!

Boardman it is,

Thanks all

GrainBrain

I was on Boardman's site and it didn't list tubeless ready for 2021, I even checked the UK version of the site. I'll give one last push for the Giant, just for the wider tires if you're going to get serious about trail riding. Though I still run inner tubes on my mtb Switched to tubeless on my gravel rig though and I'll eventually switch completely away from inner tubes.

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DorkDisk

I would suggest OP confirm what type of "tubeless" system G uses on those bikes.