ColonelSanders

Despite having geometry more like a mtn bike than a road bike, I suspect the wheels just won't stand up to the same punishment as the wheels on the Trek DS line, the Giant Roam line or the Specialized Crossroads line.

roadandmountain

Giant is not marketing this bike as an off road bike or 'cross bike.

themishmosh

Yup, flat bar road bike. I personally think the components are perfect for the price point. Tiagra isn't appreciable different from 105. You'd have to go with better shifters (like the R780) to improve this bike. For the money, it really blows my mind--this bike easily would be $3k just a few years ago.

roadandmountain

I took another look at the geometry of these rx o/comp bikes and am perplexed by some of the figures:

rx 0: 17.9" chainstays???? A full inch longer than their mtn bikes, nearly 2" longer than road bike stays. Why?

rxcomp: 71/72 degree head/seat angle. The long top tube suggests the bike is meant for someone with average or shorter legs yet the seat angle is meant for riders with slightly longer legs? Perhaps the "laidback" seat angle contribues to ride comfort a bit?

I don't doubt that these bikes ride great, but some of these figures seem unusual. Perhaps they add to ride comfort, but I don't see why more conventional numbers wouldn't serve just as well?

roadandmountain

I also like the fact that they're thinking 'outside of the box' with geometry. Hybrids are usually spec'ed with shorter top tubes to place the rider more upright--these rx bikes are spec'ed with longer, top tubes to stretch you out.

I do find some of the other figures to be a bit hard to explain. If anyone has any input, I'd appreciate it.

DowneasTTer

All I can tell you is after owning a RX 0 for over a year and recently purchasing a RX Composite they are both super hybrids! While the RX Composite has a better frame IMHO they both ride very well. Sometimes the old statement "the whole is not simply the sum of all the parts" works.

cbr9927

The top tube on the Giant RX bikes are very long compared to Trek, Specialized, Cannondale Hybrids. I test rode my medium Escape Composite and it felt fine, however after buying it and riding for an hour so more it was painful to my shoulders to stretch out that little bit more vs my current Sirrus. The bike shop does not do exchanges or returns so it had to be put on ebay. Moral of the story, Giant bikes from my exp and are for long torso people. My Sirrus is a medium and fits me to a T.

DowneasTTer

Why didn't you try a stem change first. Just wondering. The stock medium I would guess comes with a 100 mm stem or maybe 90 as my large is a 100 and my wife's an 80. Giant makes connect stems as low as 60 and some higher angles as well.

cbr9927

I tired a bunch of stems and even a swapped the bar. None of that felt completely good over a long ride. With a shorter stem I could see the front hub and it affected handling. I can't fit some bikes I guess.

ps249

I finally got to do my first 20 mile ride with this still new bike. Rides very quiet and extremely smooth. I find my speeds increasing over my older aluminum Giant hybrid. I can ride a good 19 mph with out any real effort. My older bike was around 17 mph with a little effort. The carbon takes very well to bumps- much more that I thought it would. The trigger shifters are in the perfect spot so you can keep a few fingers on your shifters and a few fingers on your brakes at all times. I am 5'11 and the medium frame is perfect size for me. Someone around 6'2" or so should test ride a large. For an all carbon bike - the $1,450 price range is a bargain. You can feel how light this bike is as you ride. The Escape RX composite really bridges the gap between a fitness bike and a road bike.The shifters work flawlessly- I shouldn't have any trouble with them. For a full carbon hybrid - I give this bike a rating of 5/5 stars. You really cant get much better for a hybrid.
You can also cruise a lot longer and faster with the RX compared to the heavier bikes. This hybrid is a speed demon.

DEW21

I was really hoping you were going to hate it, and then I would travel up to Saginaw and take it off your hands. When your ready to upgrade, send me a PM. Seriously, glad you like it.

Sigrude

I found a large one in stock at a bike shop today. $1450 and tax plus a free set of pedals. I will pick it up later this week.

ps249

Your gonna love it.

themishmosh

Just curious, but what does an RX composite weigh bone stock?

DowneasTTer

My wife's small was around 19 ibs before I swapped out the drivetrain to 105's (crankset, cassette, RD & FD and GP4Seasons tires). Now it's in the 18 lbs range. My large was around 20 lbs before the swap. Then between 18 & 19 after the swap. That's without any other change. Since then we have added rear racks and cf bottle cages. Haven't been back to the shop for a re-weight. I expect it to be between 19 & 20 now. There are less heavy CF hybrids out there but I doubt that they are in the $1500.00 range....

DowneasTTer

Oh go for it and you can reuse your topeak explorer I did and I'm glad I did... did love the RX 0s though.

themishmosh

Thanks for the weights. I think anything 20lb or less is pretty legit. What may differentiate a good from a great CF bike may be the weight. I think much below 20lb is hard to come by without spending some bucks.

You planning to keep your rear rack on all the time? I had mine on my Trek hybrid for a while but really only use the rack a couple times a year on my longer trips--thinking about removing it and putting it on as needed. I have a topeak and it does unbalance my bike with the rear weight.

ps249

I normally keep my bikes 4-5 years> I will post when Im ready to upgrade.

blacktails

Any chance you could say where you bought your Escape Composite and how much you paid for it, in case you got a deal on it? I'm around the Seattle area also and am interested in the Escape RX Composite. I've only seen it for $1500

ps249

I got it from my LBS here in Saginaw (The Stable) They could only go as low as $1,450 on it. It might be further discounted this coming fall.

Yea

I just bought the Escape RX Composite yesterday at my LBS. I had looked a quite a few hybrids like the Trek FX series, and the Specialized Sirrus series, but I liked the way the Escape rode the best. I think I got a great deal on it. It was a demo model but was very lightly ridden and looked absolutely like new. It probably had about 20 miles on it I got it for $1100 and I talked them into installing a Topeak explorer rack and fenders for that price. This bike at this price point seemed to be a no-brainer when comparing it to aluminum framed bikes at around the same price.

I have been without a bike for a while since selling my previous hybrid a few years back. That bike was a 2003 Bianchi Bergamo. That was a decent and comfortable bike, but it had a lot of "rolling resistance" for lack of a better term. It just seemed too heavy and I took a lot of effort to get it to stay going on my commute of 11 miles each way. It seemed like it was always losing momentum, never gaining. So this time around I wanted something different, but I did not want a drop handle road bike. I wanted something between a hybrid and a road bike if you will. I tried a couple of the trek FX 7 Series and the Sirrus elite disk. I was also looking at the Giant Escape City for the lower price point. All of those bikes were better than the old bike, but still felt heavy. Convinced that I was going to have to start seriously looking at a road bike, the store rep showed me the RX composite and told me that this would probably fit the bill. He convinced me to take it for a spin and... I was hooked! This is the way I think a bike should ride! Light, airy, quick and fast. No it is not a mountain bike, in fact it is it is not a typical hybrid in respect for the off road capabilities. I would honestly classify this as a flat-bar road bike. Exactly what I wanted. It is this commuter's dream come true.

It comes with the Ride Sense system that pairs with any ANT+ computer or smartphone with a compatible app. I have a Galaxy S4 and got the ipbike app and a Topeak RideCase phone mount and it works flawlessly together. Added the Topeak MTX TrunkBag DXP bag to complete my setup and I am as thrilled as can be.
So anyone out there looking for a nice upright position, flat-bar, hybrid style road bike should seriously take a look at this before buying.

ps249

Nice post. This is a bike built for 10-50 mile daily bike hikes- this is not just a bike for spins around town. This is my first foray into carbon bikes and to be quite honest- I am hooked and not sure I want to go back to aluminum. This bike also glides smoother, longer, and faster than my previous aluminum frame hybrid. The geometry is excellent for me. The only thing I had to swap out was the saddle- the stock saddle that comes with this bike was a little too stiff for me. Above all- the looks of the RX carbon is the best looking hybrid I have seen. THe paint scheme is one of the best. I use a liquid spray wax and wax every part of the frame. I usually do this every 2 rides. Mine still looks brand new. Happy trails!

DowneasTTer

Welcome to the "club". The Escape RX Composite is one of a few GREAT bargains in CF hybrids out there right now. and..... you got a super deal on it. My wife and I currently have a little over 2,000 miles on ours and have enjoyed every minute on them... well after the saddle swap and that FL rain storm.. There have been a few posts about the length of the top tube. It's about an inch longer than last years top hybrid the Escape RX 0. However the frame fits me well. For my wife we swapped out the 80 mm stem for a 74 mm 15 degree one... problem solved. We added topeak explorer racks, swapped out the drivetrain to 105's, replaced the tires to GP4S and added Ergon GP2 grips. ps249 is correct it's not a garage queen. It's meant to be ridden miles and miles per day. Living in FL and being retired allows us to ride 30 40 miles on a daily basis. If a bike isn't going to stand up we will find out in short order as we generally ride about 8,000 miles/year. At this point in the year it appears the RX is indeed in it for the long haul. Good luck and enjoy your new ride.

ps249

I am on vacation this week and I finally took it to the rail trail in Millington, MI. (Southern Links Trailway). My first time at that rail trail. The best scenery was at the end of the trail in Columbiaville at the Holloway Reserve. Beautiful country! I also snapped this picture while at the Reserve. This beauty rides as good as it looks.

Im also using this pic as my pc screensaver

Jrasero

So a little update on the 2014 GiantEscape RX Composite. So shortly after receiving my bike I had some medical expenses come up and decided to sell it. I learned a hard lesson about bikes and how they depreciate insanely fast even worse than cars. Either way looking back the bike was niche and still is today. The top tube being 22" for a small in retrospect is pretty long and really the length you would see on a hardtail mountain bike. I always felt a tad too stretched out on the bike. Secondly while the bike's frame and fork were carbon the bike was pretty heavy at over 20lbs. What really didn't age well was the Tiagra/R350 parts which were so middling performance wise and even back then for $1550 were just too expensive, now you can easily get a sub 20lb carbon road bike with Shimano 105 for under $1500.


After selling the bike I took a few years off from cycling and last year bought a left over 2016 Kestrel RT 1000 105 flat bar bike for $1000 shipped on Nashbar. The Kestrel RT really is a road bike that Kestrel slapped on a flat bar while being only 18.5lbs and being very fast. Buying the Kestrel taught me another lesson, never buy a brand new bike from a bike shop. I am not against local bike shops but buying a hold back/leftover really is your best bet since you get a new bike with a full warranty while still being up to date tech/performance wise.


I managed to sell my Kestrel recently for $900 which means I paid $100 for one seasons use. Again I found an awesome deal on a holdover on a new 2017 Scott Addict 20 Disc, now I know this is a race road bike but this bike had a MSRP of $3800 and assembled with no tax I got it for $1650. I bring all of this up because 5 years ago I bought the 2014 Giant Escape RX Composite for $1700 with tax included new from a bike shop and now today I have advanced to a bike that simply destroys the Escape at essentially the same price.


I will say if you are just getting into cycling or just going to put around than if you can score a 2014 Giant Escape RX Composite in great condition for $300 or so then yeah even today the bike has it's merits