tostaky

Hi !
Very pleased to have found that forum !

I got an old mtb that really show his age. I,m looking to replace it for something more in line with what I want to do.

I want to get a bike that would allows me to do some training (60-100km each week, so not a big training !) and do easy rides with the kids. I will have a trail a bike attached to my bike when riding with the kids

I use road, and gravel road and i'm a 5foot 6 male (so small frame needed)

Right now the Rapid 3 2017 is in special at the bike shops near me. I very like the look of that bike and the price is fine for me.

Would be a good choices for my needs ? Does any bike could be better than this one (budget is 700 cdn or less).

One more thing, the Rapid 3 have a disc brake, is it something to look for ?

Thanks !

hokiefyd 

Welcome! The Giant Rapid 3 should be a fine bike. With only 28mm tires, you'll want to be careful on gravel. I would ensure that gravel I rode is of the small and finely-dressed variety. Larger or coarser gravel has a higher likelihood of damaging your wheels or tires. I think a Giant Toughroad may be a better fit for your use. It has a similar retail price (but maybe your bike shop has a good deal on those, too), but it comes with much larger tires, which would make gravel riding more enjoyable and comfortable, especially if the gravel or road is less than smooth. Or even a Giant Escape Disc, which is more road-oriented than the Toughroad, but comes with 32mm tires. That would sort of be in between a Rapid and a Toughroad.

mcours2006

The Rapid is a hybrid but it's very much like a road bike with flat bars. I had one before I converted it to a drop bar. It was great as a flatbar, but I like it even better with droop bars.

Disc brakes are fine. I wouldn't give it another thought. These days they are seen as more desirable than rim brakes anyway. Claris 8-sp is more than enough for your riding needs.

Of the Toughroad, Escape, and Rapid, I believe the Rapid is the lightest one of the lot, and I would say it's the most road-like.

finch204

What the heck? Why don't we get one in the US? The Rapid looks like a cool flat bar road bike. I'm a little confused though as it almost seems like it is competing against Giant's own FastRoad SLR bike. If I had one, I wouldn't take it on gravel roads though, but that's just me. It looks like it belongs on pavement.

mcours2006

That is interesting about the Fastroad SLR1. There's a $300 difference between the top model for each, but not much in the way of component upgrade to warrant it, aside from the funky top tube.