I bought a Giant Revive DX for my wife on ebay. It arrived a few days ago and I must say I am impressed with its build quality and the well considered feature set. There was a lot of attention paid to details- for example, there is a spring that conects the fork and frame. It took a few minutes to figure out what it is for, but then I realized- when you stand the bike on the kickstand, the spring keeps the steering from flopping over and making the bike fall down. The computer (it seems sort of silly for a bike like this to have a speedometer) mounts into a cutout in the handlebar with a lock lever that holds it in place. Very neatly done! The chain is completely enclosed, there is a boot over the shock, the 7 speed hub works flawlessly. The quiet roller brakes, front and rear, work well. The seat is very quickly and easily adjustable, as are the handlebars. The step-over height is very low, so it is very easy to get on and off the bike. My wife is small (5' 2") and the bike adjusts to fit her perfectly.
This is a VERY sturdy bike. It is also a heavy bike, a fact of little consequence, unless you have to lift it in and out of a car or van. It has a long wheelbase compared to most bikes, and the handlebars are high, so you may have trouble fitting it into most vehicles. I have no idea how it would go on a bumper-type rack. It fits into my Honda Odyssey if I drop the handlebars to minimum height.
Quibbles:
1) for people who don't ride bikes much the steering takes a little getting used to. The wheelbase is a little long and there is considerable fork rake, both of which make steering at speed very stable but contribute to some wobbliness when one first starts up. The long wheelbase also makes for a relatively large turn-around radius. The steering is the only thing my wife has had cause to mention in a less than enthusiastic tone.
2) Its been fashionable, for several years, among people who exercise, to carry around and sip water constantly, and Giant's neglect of this habit is hard to understand considering the otherwise excellent attention paid to detail in the design of this bike. There is a water bottle loop on the accessory bag that fits the luggage rack, but if you don't get the bag, you can't carry the water.
If you're looking for one of these bikes, check ebay. There were 5 of them listed when I bought my wife's bike, all with such low mileage so as to be indistinguishable from new, yet the price, including shipping, is a few hundred dollars lower than the retail price. Giant doesn't change these bikes much from year to year, so they must have a difficult task competing with the sizeable used-market where nearly new bikes sell for hundreds less than new bikes.
TD
This is a VERY sturdy bike. It is also a heavy bike, a fact of little consequence, unless you have to lift it in and out of a car or van. It has a long wheelbase compared to most bikes, and the handlebars are high, so you may have trouble fitting it into most vehicles. I have no idea how it would go on a bumper-type rack. It fits into my Honda Odyssey if I drop the handlebars to minimum height.
Quibbles:
1) for people who don't ride bikes much the steering takes a little getting used to. The wheelbase is a little long and there is considerable fork rake, both of which make steering at speed very stable but contribute to some wobbliness when one first starts up. The long wheelbase also makes for a relatively large turn-around radius. The steering is the only thing my wife has had cause to mention in a less than enthusiastic tone.
2) Its been fashionable, for several years, among people who exercise, to carry around and sip water constantly, and Giant's neglect of this habit is hard to understand considering the otherwise excellent attention paid to detail in the design of this bike. There is a water bottle loop on the accessory bag that fits the luggage rack, but if you don't get the bag, you can't carry the water.
If you're looking for one of these bikes, check ebay. There were 5 of them listed when I bought my wife's bike, all with such low mileage so as to be indistinguishable from new, yet the price, including shipping, is a few hundred dollars lower than the retail price. Giant doesn't change these bikes much from year to year, so they must have a difficult task competing with the sizeable used-market where nearly new bikes sell for hundreds less than new bikes.
TD