Land Rover or Giant Escape 3 or CBR Explorer 400

Emrod

Hey,

looking to purchase my first bike, a Hybrid, in the nxt week or so and I have narrowed it down to 3 bikes

Land Rover Commute 1.9 - 21 speed 7005 alu frame, rigid fork, EZ shifters - £325
http://www.2x2worldwide.com/LR2011/COMM ... int9.html#

Giant Escape 3 2013 - 21 Speed, aluxx frame (??), rigid fork, EZ shifters - £300
http://www.dalescycles.com/2013-giant-b ... bike-p3986

Claud Butler Explorer 400 - 24 speed, 6061 alu frame, front suspension with lockout, EZ shifters - £360
http://www.gooutdoors.co.uk/claude-butl ... ke-p201950

I know that the Giant bikes are well recommended on this site but are they better than the Land Rovers and Claud Butler bikes?

The Claud Butler has the highest spec but is it required and is the build quality better then the other 2?

The Land Rover looks like a solid bet but is it a decent performer? I would like something quite pacey if possible.

Help!

I am very close to making a decision so any advise at all would be much appreciated!

ta!

BelgianBeerGeek

The Giant. The others are too heavy and clunky. Giant are a great make, Mrs BBGeek has a Giant MTB and it's normally her bike of choice.

Emrod

Really? does the weight difference have a real effect? I ask out of complete ignorance rather than doubt, it has been about 6 years since i was last on a bike and the weight in my old bike was probably around 18kg so I know a heavy bike when i see one!

does the 21 speed Giant vs the 24 speed CB make much of a difference?

getprg

I've become a bit of a Giant obsessive since my first 4 years ago - we now possess 6 - 4 for me and 2 for SWMBO. Only 2 have been new - the rest acquired 2nd hand. Five are road bikes and one a mountain bike. Five are aluxx and one is carbon fibre.

The only downside I can see is that when I'm out riding with the club or on sportives no-one gives my bike a 2nd look - everyone wants to drool over mates' Wiliers and steel frames bikes.

The Giants have been great value (cheap actually - I picked up a 2 year old Defy2 for just £270 and an immaculate nearly unused 2008 SCR2 for £200 to leave out in Spain). They are reliable and the frames give a great ride for the money - the defy rides almost as smoothly as my carbon fibre frame. With the road bikes when you want to upgrade the frames are often a good base to work with.

So my vote would go to the Land Rover .............. kidding

Emrod

thanks getprg,

I think I am leaning toward the Giant now. Build quality seems to be more reliable by all accounts.

Does 21 speed vs 24 speed make much of a difference in real terms? Bearing in mind the highest I have ever used was an 18 speed!

DaveHudson

I work for a store selling Claud Butler, The explorer range is ok this year but that's the only range they have done ok with! It's been a noticeable decline in their overall range in the last two years, I spent a lot of the day yesterday looking at other brands to stock.

Not bad bikes but I'd say if the Giant is looking good to you, Go for the Giant. I am losing faith in the CB brand and looking to drop them from our store next year.

Emrod

Thanks Dave, that's pretty much sealed it, I will be going for the Giant Escape and I may even possibly upgrade to the 2 rather than the 3. It is part of the cycle to work scheme and I can purchase it through Halfords so the cost jump from 299 too 399 is a bit more easily absorbed.

Annoyingly though it is all 2013 stock and not 2012. in 6 months time I suspect i would be able to get the Escape 2 for around the £350 mark but hey ho...

getprg

As to number of gears I don't think it makes a lot of difference - I have a triple with 30 and a compact with 'just' 18 in my quiver. More important when starting out is the range of gears (highest to lowest) and with the ranges offered by the 3 you are looking at they will all offer a sensible lowest gear for the tougher climbs.

Emrod

does anybody know if the Giant Escape models, 2 or 3, are fast? In comparison to the land rover or claud butler?

Or even in comparison to Specialized Sirrus?

supersonic

They are as fast as you pedal them ;-)

To be serious, they is going to be little in it. They all have slick tyres, a similar riding position - the Giant is the lighest, but the CB has the highest gear, and better gearset courtesy of the 8 speed cassette. 7 speed bikes often have screw on freewheels which limits the high gear cog to 11 teeth, rather than 14. Also the axle is much stronger on cassette hubs.

jejv

supersonic wrote:

the CB has the highest gear, and better gearset courtesy of the 8 speed cassette. 7 speed bikes often have screw on freewheels which limits the high gear cog to 11 teeth, rather than 14. Also the axle is much stronger on cassette hubs.

I think Supersonic made a mistake :shock:

I think he meant "have screw on freewheels which limits the high gear cog to 13 teeth, rather than 11"
(can get 13-25 or 13-28 freewheels).

But even 48(front teeth)-14(rear teeth) is a high enough top gear for most people. I'd worry about the bottom gear more.

The way most people really use these things is the bike stays in the middle ring all the time, except maybe when going up a hill.

supersonic

Yep, typed it the wrong way round lol! Many seem to be 14 though, for some reason, would have to look at the exact specs.

tptvmbircn

Giant all the way, never been on a land rover but its a bit naff, the claud butler they ain't too good (experienced by a friend of mine, more or less helping him replace almost everything component wise) plus as already mentioned the LR & CB are much heavier!

BelgianBeerGeek

Emrod, I posted to get the thread going, but meant every word. If you buy the Giant you won't regret it. I have had all kinds of bikes but if I was going to replace the Bianchi, a Giant would be up there. Having looked after the missus' for a while, the build quality is great.
Sounds like I work for 'em, dunnit?

Emrod

I actually tried out the Giant Roam 4 and the Giant Escape 2 and much preferred the Roam 4!!

Just to be awkward

The escape felt flimsy in comparison to the roam 4. Was just a little bit lighter.

Havent tried the Sirrus yet though.