Igo

There's an Escape. I told you I didn't have the only one.

fez_

Damn that bike looks good.

dizzydtrain

Crappy pic. Just picked up a Cannondale quick 3

Dunbar

That Giant Escape frame looks a lot like the Trek FX.

Igo

Rumor has it that the Trek FX looks a lot like the Giant Escape. Giant is the largest frame builder in the world and has built many frames for Trek in the past and, as far as I know, may still do so.

badger1

Still does; with the exception of the very highest-grade carbon frames (road and mountain), all Treks are made either by Giant (mid/upper-mid level) or other off-shore (Taiwan; China; Vietnam) factories. In the case of Specialized ... everything. Their high-end facility (in Taiwan) is Merida. Cannondale, the same (off-shore production).
Further, the similarity should not be surprising; the Escape, like the FX, or the new (2012) Specialized Sirrus, for example, are all basically flat-bar versions of 'light touring' frames; the geometry/overall 'look' will necessarily be pretty much-of-a-muchness.

alexaschwanden

Sweet Cannondale quick, tell us how you like it when you get a few hundred miles on it.

Igo

Do you know of a quality aluminum frame still built here in the US?

Igo

I like SRAM 4X better than Shimano Altus and I like a 32C or even a 28C tire better for commuting than a 35C. So that nails it. At $450 the Escape is a better buy IMO than the 7.2 FX.

badger1

Certainly nothing relatively "affordable"; there are some custom frame builders in the States who work in aluminum, and I recall reading somewhere that there is a bit of comeback of sorts -- but of course those would cost! We (in Canada) used to have Devinci aluminum frames actually made in Quebec, but their domestic production ended several years ago as far as I know.

DAK

Here is my new bike that I just got yesterday

dizzydtrain

Will do, still waiting to be cleared to ride bikes again but that will hopefully be soon.

Igo

Beautiful, but what is it?

nrowensby

Looks like a 2011 Jamis Coda to me....

Igo

I'm not very familiar with Jamis. I've got to look into them.

DAK

It actually is a 2012 Jamis Coda Sport, it's a wonderful bike!

I read around that 2011 might have better components or something though, but it's kind of hard to find used Coda's around my area.

a1penguin

The black and silver is a nice combo! I like that Jamis doesn't display their brand name on every possible location on the frame. I want to look at the bikes, not the brand name.

alexaschwanden

Sweet Jamis.

brandini

Nice! I test rode an escape to get a feel for the Seek I ordered. Very similar but the seek has discs and is a bit more upright/mountain/curb bomber in feel and position. I do love the top tube shape on the Escape though!

erg79

Dead sexy. Did you raise the stem, or is there normally that much space on it?

BarracksSi

A lot of Jamis bikes, his included, have a sleeve on the steerer tube that allows the stem to be adjusted up and down pretty easily for the rider's preference. No swapping spacers, no adjusting the tension on the top cap, no angled shims (like Specialized stems), no multi-piece stems with toothed hinges -- just loosen the pinch bolt, slide it up or down the sleeve, then tighten again. It's even got a ridge in front (visible in his pic) and a corresponding notch in the stem to keep it aligned forward.

I haven't seen it on any other brand, at least not yet. I think it's kinda cool. If you want the stem slammed to the headset, of course you'll have a lot of steerer tube that you can't get rid of without also ditching the stem and sleeve, but for most people on this kind of bike, that's not an issue.

X-LinkedRider

Other way around. Giant makes that frame for Trek.

Dunbar

LOL at the Trek haters. I never said anything about who makes the frame. Just that the new Giants look at lot like Treks.

Dunbar

The downside is NVO stems are proprietary. So instead of having a virtually an endless choice of stem lengths and angles you get maybe a handful of options from NVO. This limits your options significantly as far as changing stem length or bar height.

JeePakXJ

Here is my 09 Trek 7.2FX. Looking for pointers on how to make it better for commuting on the road.