Charlie524

Hello,

Looking to replace a 17 year old Specialized Hard Rock. I do mostly pavement rides on the weekend with occassional gravel and light trails. I like the fact that both bikes have the option to lock out the front fork for when I am on pavement. Anyone have input on either of these bikes? Thanks!!!

therealjoeblow

I'm biased as I own 2 Giants (a 2002 Sedona LX, and a 2015 Roam 1), but there's a reason - Giant bikes offer better value than other brands almost every time. IE, in most cases, either the price is better if the components are exactly the same, or if the price is the same, the components are better.

In this case the Giant wins in both cases. It's $30 lower cost ($570 vs $600), and has better components across the board. In particular where it counts, Acera drive train vs Altus and Tourney components; Shimano hydraulic brakes vs Tektro mechanical, 9 speed vs 8 speed (yes, IMO the extra gear makes a difference to find just the right groove).

Other than that, the fit of one *might* be slightly better for you, but pretty much everything is adjustable so I would not expect that to be a significant factor. Or you might like black vs blue for color (although that white Roam 2 is a really nice looking bike).

I ride the same terrain as you, paved roads and trails (some poorly) about 50%, the other 50% on gravel and dirt bike paths and trails, no extreme off-road, but a lot of rough surfaces.

The Roam is a fantastic bike for this kind of riding, perfect in my books, I love mine!

Cheers
TRJB

Charlie524

Thanks for the advice! Actually, the Crosstrail I was looking at retails for $650 and does have hydraulic brakes. I'm still leaning more towards the Giant. Thanks again!

travbikeman

I shopped the Giant Roam 2 and the Crosstrail Sport among many other bikes like the Trek DS. The Roam is a really good value. But I ended up passing since it just didn't fit me right. The Crosstrail is something that fits me better. I did recently test ride the toughroad, to me that was a better fit for me than the Roam. Had my LBS had a toughroad when I was shopping over 2 years ago, that might have been a better bike.

There are also other really good value bikes from brands like Fuji, Marin, GT and others. Happy shopping!

Charlie524

They both seem to fit me well. Maybe I'll have to test ride each again.

prj71

They look pretty equal on paper. Both have 700 x 38c tires which is good for gravel. Try 'em both and see which one feels better.

FYI...The Giant Roam 2 also has hydraulic brakes.

Roamer2

I tested both (albiet the sport disc Crosstrail) on long rides. They were very similar...but the Roam just fit me better (and it was 100 less for the available NOS 2015 model)

Esthetic

I rode the Diamondback Trace, Cannondale CX4, Trek DS2 , the Crosstrail Disc, and even a Marlin 6 ( similarly equipped and priced) in the past 3 days. Only the Giant I have yet to demo, but so far I enjoyed the Crosstrail Disc and Trek DS2/DS3 the most, just felt more confident and nimble with their geometry and their equipped stem/handlebar. It it were style alone and the colors that are more attractive to me, the Crosstrail Disc in the gloss gray with black and red trim is stunning. Figures, California style.
I rode the Specialized first I must say, and It became a point of reference with the others. I just found it really enjoyable over pavement and dirt trail located behind the shop that lead into a huge parking lot..got to hop some curbs on it too
The shop that has the Crosstrail (which is also a Cannondale dealer) offers 1 yr on the parts but Lifetime...yes Lifetime... tuneups on all their bikes . My local Trek dealer offers 2 on the parts, but only 3 yrs on the tuneups.
My 2001 or so Haro Escape vbar 8.2 lasted me 15 plus years, so at age 40 this summer this next purchase of mine may take me to my last days as a rider ( with upgrades of course..) so I'm really leaning on picking up the 2017 Crosstrail Disc later this week
It's nice to see there are many happy owners of these bikes, the hybrid market wasn't much of a deal back when I last shopped bikes. I really do the Swiss army approach as I still like to toy around on grass, dirt etc...but really want something efficient on the road too. I understand there may be better values out there with a better derailleur/more speeds here or there, but I plan on riding the crap out of the one and upgrading as I go. Really happy I was able to demo all of these, I hope anyone in the market for any of these to try to do the same. The feel of the bike is so important and first impressions are everything.