prj71

Was at the local bike shop yesterday and was told the ToughRoad will be discontinued in 2019.

travbikeman

That doesn't sound like a good business decision. Thought those were selling very well?

hokiefyd 

I think Giant left a huge gap in their product line with the cheapest ToughRoad being $910. If someone wanted a rigid 29er/700c hybrid capable of wider rubber, they don't really have any options with Giant. You could buy a $500 Giant ARX and use 700c wheels on it (they fit). Their other mainline hybrid, the Roam, has a suspension fork. It's a great seller, but everyone doesn't want suspension. The Escape is nice, but it's very much a "road" hybrid.

I think Giant should have a ToughRoad 3 and/or 4 model. Make the 3 a ~$750 bike and make the 4 a ~$600 bike. Sure, frames would be lower grade, but they do this all the time with transition from aluminum to carbon in some lines. The 3 might have the same running gear as the SLR2 (3x9 and M315 hyd disc), but give it a more basic frame with conventional seatpost and standard Giant GX-28 wheels (like the Roam has). Maybe the 4 would be a 3x8 setup with Tektro hyd or mechanical discs.

As it is, the TR is a premium brand only, and I don't think folks saw the value in paying $910 for what is, in popular perception anyway, a rigid version of the $600 Roam 2. Is the TR SLR2 worth $310 more than a Roam 2?

ColonelSanders

I don't disagree with anything you have stated there, but another factor I suspect in the Toughroad's demise is that Giant improved the Roam line recently, whereas when I first bought my Toughroad, I felt the Roam was the poor cousin to the DS and Crosstrail.

Fbody4life

I have a 2017 Roam 2 and a 2018 ToughRoad SLR2; road them both today and the TR definitely feel like a more premium bike. I went to the bike shop with plans to buy a Escape disc for the road since I already had the Roam but the moment I felt how light the TR was I had to have one. I have to carry my bikes up and down a flight of stairs and the difference is amazing considering how beefy the TR looks. The rough areas I ride that I have to unlock the fork on the Roam to bare it I can just plow right through on the TR without a care.

Anyways I'm happy with both bikes for what I use them for and glad I bought my TR before their gone.

Fbody4life

Crazy; seems this is exactly what they are doing with the FastRoad with a cheaper SL3 model coming out.

prj71

That fork is heavy and cheap on the Roam...

hokiefyd 

I probably would have strongly considered something like a $750 ToughRoad SLR3 or SL3 or 3 or whatever they would have called it, before I bought my Roam 2.

hokiefyd 

Your Roam will (should!) take the same size tires as on the TR. I have 50mm Schwalbe Hurricanes on my 2018 Roam. I presume the 2017 frame is the same as far as tire clearance goes. I have been running with my fork locked more, now that I have the larger tires. If I unlock the fork, it feels about like a Honda Goldwing or something -- you just can't feel the bumps. I like the choice -- but I have been running "locked" more often lately.

Witterings

Is that all of the Toughroad series ... in other words including the SLR GX models as well do you know??

prj71

I'm not sure if the dropbar version will be dropped. The guy at the bikeshop just said ToughRoad.

Seems Giant is trying to find the bike that fits into the light off-road / gravel adventure category. At one time they had the Revolt, AnyRoad and ToughRoad offered at the same time. Then they dropped the Revolt in 2018. Now just left with the AnyRoad and ToughRoad.

Hopefully the guy at the bike shop is wrong and they keep the ToughRoad around.

Esthetic

The biggest problem i see is the Toughroad SLR Tiagra model is separated by $50 to the much superior TCX SLR 105.

badger1

It's continuing in at least one dropbar model in the U.S.: https://www.giant-bicycles.com/us/bi...ad-slr-gx-2019

Don't know about demand for the original Toughroad in the U.S., but according to my lbs it's been pretty weak up here.

HerrKaLeun

Sad to see it go. i have the 2016 SLR1 and bought it as NOS (it was the LBs owners private bike with few miles). At original MSRP i would probably not bought it.
For the price they asked the SLR 2 should have been a 1x11 or at least a 2x10. Definitely not a 3x anything for $900. and that was before I was informed enough and felt comfortable enough to buy bikes online.

The LBS still has 2017 TR ($780 asking for an S-size of SLR 2 - but that may be just hard to sell S-sizes)

It is the almost only hybrid with rigid fork that fits large tires.

For the money they also should have had Through-axles and other goodies. The proprietary D-shaped seatpost is more a disadvantage since any seatpost replacement will be costly.

i love mine, and don't' mind paying money for good stuff. but i see how it was unpopular due to weird marketing decisions. The color schemes also didn't help. Just keep the black/gray and don't do neon green, blue etc.

The GX (dropbar) still has a 2019 model, but seems to have low-grade components. $1,050 for a 2x8 drivetrain bike is a non-starter these days. The higher 2018 levels had SRAM brakes, which is a deal stopper for me.

Witterings

I wonder if it falls into the "mid range" category where the spec isn't quite good enough / value for money for the real enthusiast in comparison to some of the other offerings with 105's / through axles and yet the every other week 10 miler / occasional weekend cyclist it's too expensive in comparison to say a $400/500 hybrid where if you're not a hard rider you won't see that much benefit.

Personally I see the gravel bike arena as the market with the biggest potential for sales I would have thought but they and all the other manufacturers are ramming the price up in comparison to say a hybrid / MTB and also against reasonable quality road bikes and whilst every serious cyclist (tongue in cheek) or everyday commuter cyclist might appreciate the benefits against cost the weekend cyclist won't so it doesn't really satisfy one end or the other of the market.

This could explain why they're continuing with the one they are as they've found most of the sales are at the lower end and an entry point for someone to try an alternative to a hybrid .... unless they just haven't released the rest of the range for next year yet and there's a host of goodies to come

In which case I might delay my purchasing of one for a while as I'm happy with last years model (think they messed up with delivery in the UK this year as they're only just about to arrive so have missed a good month / two of the season before they're in the shops) and with the new ones being announced and I'm not the most popular medium size may see if I can pick up a bargain in a couple of months

prj71

On this type of bike, I'm not sure why you would have to replace the seatpost. I have the Dfuse seatpost on my Giant Fastroad and I love it. The seat is perfectly aligned all the time.

Agreee on the color schemes. Some of them are a little too feminine for my tastes.

cycling705

Giant does have some head-scratching color schemes and designs. If I was in the market for a new bike, although not all, some of their color schemes would actually turn me away.

Witterings

It's funny what appeals to different people and you quoted someone saying their colours are a bit feminine ... I don't find them feminine (but I've only been looking at the SLR GX range) but I do find them a bit bland when there are so many more vibrant and eye catching schemes out there .. that said I'd probably end up reluctantly buying the one with the more boring colour scheme if it had the best spec I was after for the money.

HerrKaLeun

+1 on the alignment, that is nice.
But I have the carbon seatpost and couldn't just easily buy an aluminum post for the tow bike. If D-shaped was industry standard, it would be nice, but proprietary sucks.

cycling705

You are right - what is bland to me could be inspiring to someone else. I guess it's all in personal preference, as with anything.

One example that I was referring to relates to the ToughRoad SLR2. The 2017 model was one of the best looking bikes I've ever seen. It was downright sharp. However, the 2018 model of the SLR1 was (at least to me) too "busy" and hard on the eyes.

Again though, I'm sure other people see these two color schemes in an opposite manner. Giant surely has done plenty of market research to see what people are interested in.

HerrKaLeun

The fact that sales were so low they discontinue the TR proves their market research had... room for improvement...

cycling705

Very true.

prj71

This looks feminine to me. I would buy the SLR 1 if it wasn't for the girly color scheme. They've girlied up their mens mountain bikes as well. Save the girly colors for their Liv brand of bikes.

https://www.giant-bicycles.com/us/toughroad-slr-1-2017

https://www.giant-bicycles.com/us/toughroad-slr-1

hokiefyd 

It looks like the 2019 ToughRoad is on the Giant website. They have an SLR 1 ($1,300), an SLR 2 ($950), and an SLR GX 3 ($1,050 - drop bar version). Maybe that one bike shop had bad info. Or maybe it'll be discontinued after the 2019 model year?

prj71

Thanks for the update.