hokiefyd 

Well, I did buy the Giant ARX 2 today. I drove two hours down to Charlottesville, VA, which is the closest dealer to have ANY of these in stock, let alone one of each color in the large frame. I rode it and was immediately impressed with the feel. There's not a lot out there on this bike (or the ATX Lite, which this was called last year), so I'll document it with some photos for anyone searching. I'll also post my initial thoughts on various aspects of it. It was 40 degrees F with light drizzle today, so I didn't ride it much, but I did spend some time with it on the bike stand (I might have had a bottle of spray wax and a microfiber cloth...).

arx01 by jnjadcock, on Flickr

Getting ready for the ride home. The Swagman XC2 rack does a nice job. It's not an expensive rack, but it's not the cheapest rack, either. Much of our riding is either directly from home, or I also have a rack that I have across the front of my Ridgeline's bed, so I can carry two in the bed with fork mounts. I used the Swagman today.

arx02 by jnjadcock, on Flickr

I'm 6'0" with a 32" inseam, and I bought the large frame. The medium fit okay, but the cockpit was more cramped. I could have installed a longer stem or set the saddle back, but I think the large frame is a good choice for me. It's more of a "French fit", which I like.

The head tube angle is a slack 68 degrees, and this will take some getting used to. At pressures I like to run (low), the tires like to lay over when turning and do a bit of "self steering" (the side knobs grab and try to keep turning more). It's a bit of a weird sensation, but I think it's something to get used to. Otherwise, the bike has a very nice feel to me. It feels nimble, it feels light, and it's fun to ride.

arx03 by jnjadcock, on Flickr

The cockpit is pretty basic. It has a 680mm handlebar and a simple 90mm stem, and Tektro M285 brake levers and Shimano SL-M310 shifters. These shifters (Altus group) are very common on low-to-mid range bikes like this, and they work great. They have a very positive ratcheting action, and I have these on my daughter’s Raleigh Alysa, replacing the OE twist shifters. Nice shifters, nice value. The brake levers have an adjustable reach, which is nice.

arx04 by jnjadcock, on Flickr

The drivetrain is also basic. FD-M191 in the front and RD-M360 in the rear, with a 28-38-48 no-name crankset and an 11-32 8-speed cassette. Giant’s spec sheet says it has an 11-34 cassette, but mine is an 11-32. This is the exact same drivetrain as what’s on my Trek Verve 3, and it just works. The chain is a KMC Z8, without a Missing Link (I will swap one in).

The frame seems to be of good quality. The rear dropouts have THREE fender/rack mounts: two that you can see from the outside (and that are threaded all the way through) and one additional one on the inside (that is not threaded to the outside).

arx05 by jnjadcock, on Flickr

More goodness back here. I like bikes with rear brake calipers mounted within the rear triangle; I think it looks clean and tidy this way. (Both brake rotors are 160mm on this bike.) The kickstand is a Giant accessory kickstand that I bought, and I appreciate that it has an integrated mount on the frame for this.

arx06 by jnjadcock, on Flickr

Another view of the cheap crankset. It’s a “Prowheel Swift 201P” -- a no-name brand to me. The chain rings look very cheap, though they seem to work fine. And they are actually bolted to the crank spider rather than spot-welded or riveted, so that’s nice. It has a simple cartridge bottom bracket with square tapers. I like this; I have tools to service and it’s dead simple. Both shift cables and the rear brake line run internal to the down tube, and pop out just upstream of the bottom bracket. It’s all very tidy.

arx07 by jnjadcock, on Flickr

Another view of the cockpit and the Giant stem. The grips are slip on, but the end caps are removable, so you can use accessories that slip into the end of the handlebar (like a Mirrcycle mirror), or you can slide the grips on further to use over-the-bar bar ends without needing to cut up the grips. They’re not all that comfortable to me, so I may replace these.

arx08 by jnjadcock, on Flickr

The tires are CST Maverick Lites, size 27.5x1.95, or 50-584 (and they do measure exactly 50mm on these wheels at 40 psi). I couldn’t install much larger than these, at least not with large side knobs, because I’ll have some clearance issues with the front derailleur cage on the small ring. These should work fine for now, though. They roll smooth on the road and likely offer enough traction off the road for what I’ll do with it.

I paid $489 for this bike, plus $25 for the kickstand, and was out the door for under $550 including state sales tax. I think this bike is a pretty decent value, and offers an option for those looking for a rigid frame bike that is super versatile. It looks like it’ll bomb down dirt trails and fire roads just as well as it will cruise along paved paths and neighborhood roads. I look forward to many enjoyable miles on this bike.

hybridbkrdr

A blog on 650b wheels: https://www.raleigh.co.uk/2017/11/65...s-700c-wheels/

Patriot1

New bike days are fun! Good looking bike enjoy!

pakeboi

Nice Bike !
I rode one the other day at the LBS .

AU Tiger

Nice! Glad you found what you wanted.
I really like that color scheme.

hokiefyd 

Thanks everyone. A few other thoughts. Giant has smartly run the left shift cable over to the right side of the frame to go into the down tube (and the right shift cable goes over to the left side). This is a trick from the days of cable stops on the down tube, and prevents a tight radius with each shift cable, and prevents paint chaffing on the side of the head tube from where the cables rub. No cables touch the head tube at all.

And a comment about the paint. I'm not into matte finishes, and Giant's website describes this paint livery as "Matte Black/Yellow/Blue". As you can see, it's definitely a glossy finish...or at least it has multiple thick coats of glossy clearcoat on top of the paint and decals. Which is another nice touch, even on this high value bike -- the decals appear to be the wet-application kind, with clearcoat applied on top. The end result is smooth and glossy tubing.

I do like the shape of the fork. It has a very clean crown area (no obvious welds), and has the appearance of a carbon fork (though it's just aluminum alloy).

andrei_r

Awesome first glance review. You didn't comment on that, but the platform pedals look pretty decent as far as I can tell from the pictures. Not a big fan of the color scheme. Last year's atx blue was much more pleasant to my eyes. Great to have a serviceable crank although no name on a bike at this price level. Clever little touches like the cable routing, caliper positioning and kickstand mounts are all very important selling points to me. This bike is just built to work right from the start. Did you get a chance to weigh it as is?

ChiefTJS

That's a darn nice looking bike! Thanks for a great first look and hope to see how she does when the weather warms up.

hokiefyd 

I have an old digital bathroom scale I keep down in the shop, and this bike registers 28 pounds on it. It feels lighter than that, but I think the scale is pretty accurate. My Trek Verve 3, with a rack and full fenders, and large bar ends, registers about 34 pounds, which seems about right.

Maybe because this Giant looks like a simple and light bike, it doesn't feel like it weighs 28 pounds. I think the crankset is pretty heavy...and the fork probably weighs more than it needs to for the job it's doing (it seems rather oversized).

hokiefyd 

Oh, regarding the pedals...yes, they're good. They'll Wellgo, marked K20410, but that part number seems to bring up various other pedal designs. They're very similar to these, marked LU-P9:

LU-P9 - Wellgo

They're about as wide as most pedals, in terms of the distance from where the spindle bottoms out into the crank arm to the very outside of the pedal, but I like how long they are, front to back as mounted on the bike. Most pedals are "undersquare" (wider than they are long), but these are at least square, or maybe even "oversquare".

They're not high quality in terms of material quality (they probably cost the Giant factory $1.50 for the pair), but I rather like them.

travbikeman

Very nice! Almost seems like it's a more affordable Giant Toughroad?

hokiefyd 

A more affordable, 27.5" version of the Toughroad, yes. The two seem to be similar bikes in concept. Rigid frame, simple in design and execution, fun to ride. The Toughroad has two main differences: basic component level (Toughroad uses much nicer components in general, better frame materials, etc), and tire size (Toughroad using 622mm wheels and ARX using 584mm wheels).

If Giant made a Toughroad 3 or 4, in the $500-600 range, I'd certainly have considered it. As I noted above, rigid 29ers seem to be in a much higher price class for some reason, whether it's from Giant or any other brand. I'm not sure why there's not a market for a rigid 29er closer to the entry level. Maybe those folks are looking for suspension forks, I don't know.

Giant's Talon 3 is at a similar price point to the ARX (about $30 more). It appears to be basically the same components, except the Talon has a 180mm front brake rotor (vs. ARX's 160mm) and it has a Suntour 100mm suspension fork. I wanted rigid fork, so I went with the ARX, but the Talon 3 would have been near the top of my list if I were looking for suspension.

ColonelSanders

Nice looking bike.

Juggy_Gales

In November I bought the 2018 Toughroad SLR2
I must say I love the bike.. I have added some things to it since I bought it.. some of what I put on it are within the threads here somewhere.

I had wanted something more road oriented but able to handle some trail and gravel..

Congrats on the New Bike.. I had looked at this, the ATX, Revel, Roam, Talon, Sedona, Cypress and some others..
When all was said and done.. I decided to get a Bike that I wouldn't feel the need on upgrading the main components.. Part of me thinks I probably should have gone with the Talon and saved some Money and to have experience with a suspension fork..
But.. The Toughroad SLR2 really does ride nice and is a Gorgeous Bike.. Really looks nice..

I added a Rack with a Trunk bag and 2 panniers.. I must say.. I am able to load a lot of weight on that bike..
I went food shopping and brought a sizeable amount of stuff back.. The front did feel a bit more lighter than I liked because with me and everything else on the back tire.. the front was steering diff..

The Next Bike I will buy will have a 1X or 2X Crank and a 10 or 11 gear cassette.. I find that the 3X Crank has many redundant feeling gears and getting low enough on inclines is annoying at times.

hokiefyd 

Suspension forks can be nice; it just depends on the situation. I have a newer hybrid with a 63mm comfort-oriented suspension fork and it's nice when poking around the park or on light trails. But that bike is setup for comfort all the way -- large saddle, upright position, tall stem, etc. The suspension fork works well on that bike (it's a 2015 Trek Verve 3, similar in concept to a Giant Cypress DX).

For this bike, I wanted one with a little more aggressive riding position, for more speed on and off the road, and I didn't want suspension. And I do like 3x7/3x8 drivetrains; my Trek Verve is a 3x8 and my Trek 750 is a 3x7. If Giant made a Toughroad with a 3x8 and hydraulic disc brakes, I'd have seriously considered it. I do like the 27.5" tire size on this, but I'd have also looked at a 3x8 Toughroad if it existed.

Juggy_Gales

The Giant Toughroad SLR2 does have hydraulic disc brakes.. and I must say.. they work fantastically.. But it is a 3X9 drivetrain.. I just find that the smallest gear in the crankset, I just don't use at all.

hokiefyd 

Right; it and the ARX both have hydraulic brakes. The ARX has Tektro HD-M285s in 160mm front and rear, and the Toughroad comes with nicer Shimano M315s (also in 160mm). It does have the 3x9, with Acera. The ARX also has Acera (but in 3x8).

The Toughroad uses a 22-32-44 crankset, which definitely makes for a pretty short 1st gear (combined with the 34 tooth large sprocket on the cassette). The ARX comes with a 28-38-48 crankset, which makes the smallest chainring a bit more usable, though I probably won't use the large chainring much.

My hydraulic brake comment earlier meant that I'd have considered a Toughroad if they had a less expensive version with a 3x8 drivetrain, as long as they kept the hydraulic brakes (vs. going to mechanical discs). I'm not sure why they don't have a Toughroad 3 or 4, to offer folks something like the ARX, but with 622mm wheels (for the 29er tires), in the $600 range. I guess Giant figure it wouldn't sell. Or maybe they just want to keep "Toughroad" a premium name, and leave the ARX for folks like me who want a rigid bike in the $500-600 range.

Striking the Specialized Roll as a comfort/cruiser bike, the ARX and the Raleigh Redux appear to be the only entries in this market niche. It's apparently a small niche...!

Juggy_Gales

What I like about your Crankset which is similar to the Roam and the Escape is that Large 48 tooth Cog.. Of course on inclines that would be punishing.. But would make for very fast speeds on the flats.
I do wish the Toughroad had that style crank..
I hear the Tektro Hydraulics work fantastic.. And Based on when I was test riding bikes.. I personally didn't feel a diff between the Tektro and Shimano 315. Both stop very confidently.

I wasn't able to test ride an ARX, no one had one in stock around here at the time.. The also didn't have the Escape 1.

hokiefyd 

My Verve had a 28-38-48 also, which I switched out for a 24-34-42 crankset from an older mountain bike I had. But I've since put the stock crankset back on. I used to sit and spin up every hill, making the smaller small chainring helpful (we have some short-but-steep hills around here), but I've started keeping it in a more moderate gear and standing up to crank up a hill. Not punishing myself, but more like on a stair-climber machine...just a smooth pump-pump-pump-pump rhythm. So the 28-38-48 doesn't really bother me like it used to.

The large frame'd ARX (and above) does come with 175mm crank arms. My Verve has 170mm arms. I'm not sure there's a meaningful difference, but if I ever did replace the stock crankset on this ARX, I'd probably get a 170mm set. The crankset does look cheap, but it's made of steel that will likely last forever the way I take care of stuff (I don't power shift or abuse my equipment), so I'm likely to never change it!

Next will be things like different grips and bar ends, and I'll figure a way to get a mirror and a bell on it for bike path and C&O towpath use...and will probably install a rear rack for picnic lunches and things of the sort. So far, and only on extremely short jaunts (it's SNOWING today), the saddle is surprisingly comfortable. I'll change it if I don't like it on longer journeys, but it's okay so far.

Juggy_Gales

Things I added and changed on the Toughroad..
The stock saddle was horrid... So I went with the Selle Royale Avenue.. Wasn't too costly but vastly added comfort.
I added a Rack on the back that I could strap whatever to or use a trunk bag and panniers.. I bought the Ibera Pak Rack and the bags that go with it.. eventually I will upgrade to some Ortliebs.

I highly recommend that or the Topeak one.. In fact.. for your Color scheme.. The Topeak's rack and Trunk Bag would match your bike well.. let me find a couple pics..





The Bar ends weren't bad but I switched to ergo type grips.. that matched the bike's color scheme of black and red.
I added lights.. and a small handlebar bag that holds my wallet, keys, money and phone..
Also for when I need to lock it.. a Abus Bordo Granit X folding lock. And a Pump..

I do need some sort of Bell or Horn other than me yelling like an idiot haha.

hokiefyd 

Thanks for the ideas! The Selle Royale saddles do look good to me. I have a $40 gift card to Richard's (sic) Sporting Goods, and they carry those saddles there, so I might pop on one of those. The Serfas ICS RX saddles are also pretty nice (but I'd have to front my own cash at a local bike shop...or online). I'll check both out.

I have racks on all of my bikes, but they're just generic racks. And I have a trunk bag with zip-out panniers that I have that I move from bike to bike when needed. In truth, I use that trunk bag only when I'm carrying lunch or other items. All of my daily ride tools are in an SKS Cagebox. 9 bucks on Amazon Prime, and it works like a champ. I put two water bottle cages from Be 50 Strong on each bike ($5 each from Walmart), and the front one on the down tube holds my water and the rear one on the seat tube holds my Cagebox. On most rides, I don't bring the trunk bag with me, and this keeps everything clean and tidy. If I'm carrying lunch or more water or anything else, then I slip on the trunk bag.



SKS Cagebox: https://www.sks-germany.com/en/products/cage-box/

Be 50 Strong bottle cages: https://be50strong.com/product/bottle-cage-blue/

I will keep this thread updated with changes I make to the bike.

hokiefyd 

I did confirm that these are, indeed, the LU-P9 pedals. They had K20410 on one side and, figuring that was the part number, I didn't flip them over. I was down in the shop today for something else, and I took a quick peak at the pedals and the other side did say LU-P9. I have no plans to change these at this point -- they're comfortable and they work.

In fact, if I might like how large they are, I might put a pair on my Verve also.

hybridbkrdr

How do those Tektro brakes compare to V-brakes?

I briefly tried one in a store with mechanical disc brakes and the gradual feel made me freak out. It seemed "too slow" and gradual.

hokiefyd 

They really don't compare.

I don't have a lot of experience with disc brakes, but will share what I've experienced. I always thought discs were just bling, and never paid much mind to them. Especially to hydraulic ones (REALLY bling). But then I was on vacation in Utah over Easter weekend, and rode two bikes with hydraulic discs and one with Deore LX V-brakes, and was completely sold. The V-brakes would get hot and start to change pitch and lose braking effectiveness quickly. I had to "pulse" the V-brakes just to KEEP brakes on some of the hills.

We don't have hills that severe where I live in Virginia, but I do still notice the braking with V-brakes to vary with conditions and temperature. And the V-brakes on my Verve have nice Kool-Stop dual compound brake shoes, and they're the best V-brakes I've used. And although I've never personally worn a rim out, that part of rim brakes (using the rim as a consumable surface) does bother me.

The disc brakes I used in Utah were both Tektro hydraulic systems (HDC300 on a Trek 8.4 DS and Auriga on a Magnum Peak e-bike). Both of them have metallic brake pads, which offer excellent braking, at the expense of more noise. They are louder in general, and can give off brief squealing when used hard. But I tell you, I could bomb down a hill at 25 mph on that 55 pound e-bike, and it would stop so hard that I'd have to keep my weight back to avoid lifting the back tire. I've never experiencing braking that good with rim brakes. And then there's the consistency -- braking was solid all the way down a hill. No special technique required. The brakes just ~worked~.

I will say that the brakes on my new ARX don't feel quite as strong as the ones on my dad's bikes in Utah. There are a few differences, though. First, mine are hardly broken in yet. I spent a few minutes on Sunday bedding them in (getting pad material on the rotors), and they're definitely getting stronger. They will improve with use; they literally don't have 2 miles on them yet. Also, though, these M285 brakes (which are the tier just below the Auriga group, which are actually M290 in Tektro's part number sequence) come with organic/resin brake pads; the nicer groups come with metallic pads. I understand that organic pads don't have quite the performance of metallic pads, though they are quieter. This is probably why organic pads are put on the entry level brakes and metallic pads are on the nicer groups. Over half of Tektro's hydraulic brake systems use the same brake pad family, so I can easily upgrade these with metallic or ceramic pads in the future if I want.

The other aspect is PURELY cosmetic/subjective. I love the 100% smooth feel of the hydraulic levers. You can "feel" the cable pulling through the lines and around ferrules with mechanical brakes. With mechanical discs, you can "feel" the cable pull and how it pulls at the caliper. With hydraulic systems, you feel nothing, except just "solid" when the pads engage with the rotors. Not unlike an automotive brake pedal. It just has a very nice subjective feel to it.

The brakes are the primary reason I bought a new bike. There was and is absolutely nothing wrong with the V-brakes on my Trek, and I'll continue to also ride that bike, but I was so impressed with the disc brakes on my dad's bikes that I just had to try that for myself. And I'm really pleased that they're so accessible (financially) now. You don't have to spend big bucks on a bike to get nice brakes. That good hydraulic brakes are on $500 bikes now is a testament to how mature the technology is.

ColonelSanders

Nice frame lock


Do you have a chain that inserts into the frame lock, as well?