New Giant Bikes

[Elisa Francesca]

Ryan Cousineau wrote:

> I hope Elisa is still reading this thread. There are two reasons this thing is so low-geared: the
> first is the intended audience; the second is because you can't stand on hills. That latter point
> may or may not be a deal-breaker.

I doubt the gearing is that much slower than on my current 5-speed. However, I can't stand up to
climb hills even on an ordinary bike - just don't have the balance for it yet. If the Revive can get
up a steep hill without needing standing then more power to it. However, how slow is slow? I'm no
speed freak, but I would hope the overall range on the 8-speed Nexus is greater than on my 5-speed
in both directions.

> For some riders, that's enough. My wife (telling secrets out of school...) has obvious balance and
> confidence issues on our regular bike-path rides. She just hasn't ridden a bike very much, and
> finds starting and stopping awkward because she can't put her feet down very well. Something like
> this Giant Revive could make all the difference to her.

Everything lies on being able to _try_ the darn thing. I've written to [email protected] to ask if there
is a showroom anywhere in Paris, but so far they have not deigned to answer me. I'm hardly going to
disburse 1150 Euros just on the strength of their advertising.

EFR

 

[Buck]

"Elisa Francesca Roselli" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>
> I doubt the gearing is that much slower than on my current 5-speed.
However, I
> can't stand up to climb hills even on an ordinary bike - just don't have
the
> balance for it yet. If the Revive can get up a steep hill without needing standing then more power
> to it. However, how slow is slow? I'm no speed
freak,
> but I would hope the overall range on the 8-speed Nexus is greater than on
my
> 5-speed in both directions.

Not sure about the Nexus, but I'm guessing it is similar to the range offered by their standard
setup. For the standard drivetrain, here's the info:

20x1.75 wheels 48 tooth front 13 - 26 cogs

Gear inches Gain ratio MPH@60rpm MPH@100rpm
21.5 2.6 6.2 10.3 69 5.2 12.3 20.5

High-rpm work on this thing got me bouncing pretty quickly, but I'm sure I hit at least 90rpm and
was wanting more gear.

The strangest part of the ride was trying to get used ot the position. I've ridden a number of
recumbents and have no trouble getting into the reclined position. But on the Revive, the position
is so close to upright that it is tempting to lean forward and put weight on the bars. The position
is just far enough off of vertical to be disconcerting to me. I buzzed around for about 20 minutes,
but never could quite get comfortable. The seating is fine, but I would have to have some adjustment
in the recline to get really comfy on it.

As for climbing hills, I don't know. It felt squirrely on the flats to me, so I'm not sure how I
would settle into going up a hill on one. I will admit my bias for upright bikes, so take this with
a grain of salt.

In response to your question about cargo capacity, it does come with a rear rack and you can mount
baskets back there. Forget trying to mount anything on the steering column. That thing is
adjustable fore/aft and up/down. I'd hate to see what it would do with a load on it. Adding weight
up there might make it accidentally adjust (it did this on me while I was riding it) and the extra
weight on the bars might make it even more squirrely. You also need to keep in mind that the entire
bike is suspended. Any weight you carry will be suspended on the same spring and will have an
effect on handling. Speaking of that spring, it felt pretty squishy under my 220lbs. They said it
can be replaced. If you buy one, you might have to make some adjustments on the suspension to get
it riding right.

Good luck finding one to ride!

-Buck

 

[William Blum]

"Badger South" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> I was looking up some brands of Giant Mtn bikes for comparison shopping and was startled to see
> this strange bike on their homepage.
>
> Is this for real, or has Giant flipped out? <grin>

No, it's for real.

Take one for a spin. I did. It's definitely an interesting experience...

It's definitely not the kind of bike I was looking for, but I'm trying to get my wife interested...
and I think she'd like it.

 

[Badger South]

In article <[email protected]>, William Blum <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>"Badger South" <[email protected]> wrote in message
>news:[email protected]...
>> I was looking up some brands of Giant Mtn bikes for comparison shopping and was startled to see
>> this strange bike on their homepage.
>>
>> Is this for real, or has Giant flipped out? <grin>
>
>No, it's for real.
>
>Take one for a spin. I did. It's definitely an interesting experience...
>
>It's definitely not the kind of bike I was looking for, but I'm trying to get my wife interested...
>and I think she'd like it.

Thanks for the info William, and to everyone one else who had an opinion. They were all informative
and varied.

Great group, here. ;-)

Swapping gears, man it was so windy today... "how windy was it?"

...I was pedalling forwards and the scenery was going forwards too! ;-D Had to check once to see if
I was on bungee or something.

-B
--
Email Replies to johnson<nospm>01j <att> ntelos <dott> net

 

[Chalo]

"Buck" <s c h w i n n _ f o r _ s a l e @ h o t m a i l . c o m> wrote:

> "Elisa Francesca Roselli" <[email protected]> wrote:
> >
> > I'm no speed freak, but I would hope the overall range on the 8-speed Nexus is greater than on
> > my 5-speed in both directions.
>
> Not sure about the Nexus, but I'm guessing it is similar to the range offered by their
> standard setup.

The new Nexus 8 has about a 3:1 range, equivalent to an 11-34 freewheel.

The Nexus 7 has a 244% range, equivalent to a 13-32 freewheel (or a 12-29).

Either one of these has a significantly wider range than the example you used for comparison.

Chalo Colina

 

[Elisa Francesca]

Buck wrote:

> In response to your question about cargo capacity, it does come with a rear rack and you can mount
> baskets back there. Forget trying to mount anything on the steering column.

That would pretty much be a deal-breaker for me, since a back panier alone is simply not enough for
my shopping expeditions. On my current bike I have every luggage option running at once and it is
_still_ not enough. I am something of a turtle who carries her whole house around wherever she goes
but I don't want to have to make more trips to that gruesome supermarket than are strictly
necessary.

> You also need to keep in mind that the entire bike is suspended.

That too may be a defect in my eyes. I keep seeing suspension touted as a major comfort feature, but
the one time I tried out a fully suspended bike I couldn't balance on it because the trampoline
effect kept throwing me off. I'm very heavy and I don't like much bounce. The 2004 replacement for
the Melbourne bike I was wanting to buy has a suspended front fork as well as seat but is less well
specified in other areas - big reasons for my hesitation.

I wish I could design my own bike with the various bits I need. Why doesn't Giant give you
pay-per-option choices the way any car dealer would?!!

EFR

 

[Robert Chung]

Elisa Francesca Roselli wrote:
> Buck wrote:
>
>> In response to your question about cargo capacity, it does come with a rear rack and you can
>> mount baskets back there. Forget trying to mount anything on the steering column.
>
> That would pretty much be a deal-breaker for me, since a back panier alone is simply not enough
> for my shopping expeditions. On my current bike I have every luggage option running at once and it
> is _still_ not enough. I am something of a turtle who carries her whole house around wherever she
> goes but I don't want to have to make more trips to that gruesome supermarket than are strictly
> necessary.

http://www.xtracycle.com

 

[Buck]

"Chalo" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...

> Either one of these has a significantly wider range than the example you used for comparison.

The example I used for comparison is what comes on the bike if you don't opt for the more expensive
model with the Nexus hub.

-Buck

 

[Buck]

"Elisa Francesca Roselli" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> > You also need to keep in mind that the entire bike is suspended.
>
> That too may be a defect in my eyes. I keep seeing suspension touted as a
major
> comfort feature, but the one time I tried out a fully suspended bike I
couldn't
> balance on it because the trampoline effect kept throwing me off. I'm very
heavy
> and I don't like much bounce. The 2004 replacement for the Melbourne bike
I was
> wanting to buy has a suspended front fork as well as seat but is less well specified in other
> areas - big reasons for my hesitation.

Bikes on the showroom floor have suspension that is rated for people in the 160 -180lb range. If you
are outside of that range, you have to have a new spring or new elastomers (depends on the type of
suspension) installed. Even at 220lbs, I had to upgrade the suspension on my mountain bike to get a
proper ride.

Of course, air suspension don't need a parts switch. Just more air!

-Buck

 

[David L. Johnso]

On Tue, 21 Oct 2003 17:46:11 +0000, Buck wrote:

> Neat bike for a Sunday cruise around the neighborhood with the family. But pretty much worthless
> everywhere else.

I saw some of these, among other odd bikes, today at a semi-LBS (Performance). I was surprized at
the price, $799 -- though I could not tell how that model was equipped. A mite pricey for a
neighborhood cruise, IMO. It also looks recumbent enough that you could not stand to climb, though I
imagine most of their target audience wouldn't do that, anyway.

The other one I saw, also by Giant IIRC, was shaped more like a standard double-boingie
mountain bike, but outfitted more like a cruiser. The wheels were some sort of cast thing -- I
guess aluminum, but maybe carbon -- spokes something like a Spinnergy 4-blade thing but with
some curl to them.

Couldn't see the price of those at all, but I would guess more than I would ever consider spending
on such a thing.

--

David L. Johnson

__o | Deserves death! I daresay he does. Many that live deserve _`\(,_ | death. And some that die
deserve life. Can you give it to (_)/ (_) | them? Then do not be too eager to deal out death in
judgement. -- J. R. R. Tolkien