As much as I like my 2016 CoMax 2 and I HIGHLY recommend it, I consider it to be a "road bike" and that is exactly what I bought it for. My CoMax 2 may never see anything but hard pavement. I have another bike for off road. 28 tires would certainly help the "off road" capabilities. It should be noted I was just on the Giant Canada web site and they recommend the Fastroad CoMax series to be used 100% on road.
When I was shopping for my latest bike, I looked VERY CAREFULLY at the Sirrus line and I test rode them a couple different times. I just looked at the Sirrus composite frame bikes again and while they are very compelling I have not changed my opinions about Giant vs. Specialized, at least in this category. In this category and price range I feel Giant offers better value in parts and a higher tech frame. I think the seat post mount in the Giant represents newer thinking and I suspect it is stronger where it should be and flexes where it should. The "arched" upper frame tube should be stronger than the Specialized design.
Having exchanged a 2015 SLR 1 for a 2016 Comax 2, I can tell you the composite frame rides better. As I have posted in other threads, it is more "dampened" more "composed" and more "stable". To me the ride is less "nervous" and simply has a higher quality "feel".
Of course I am biased but I vote CoMax here...
Originally Posted by
Michael Novo
While I've grown up riding bicycles like many, I was a mountain bike kid and still have my 17 year old Trek sitting in the garage. Couple months ago I decided that rather than sink the money in to get the MTB back up and running that it was alright to spend the money on a part time commuter but mostly fitness bike. The 2015 Trek 7.4 FX was the ideal choice in my price range. After about a month of riding I was going through a controlled intersection and a pickup truck driver distracted by his cell phone clipped my rear tire and sent me tumbling and the bike banged up pretty well. Insurance covered a replacement so I began looking at some other rides. Do keep in mind that I had just 30 days of solid fitness riding under my belt so my opinion is worth that or a bit less. My stats are 6' 3", former powerlifter and about 260lbs and will drop to my more comfy weight of 220. 22.5" on the 7.4 and XL bike sizes in most other makers.
Some forum suggestions suggested to take a look at the Specialized Sirrus line of bikes which also lead to suggestions of the new Giant Fastroad Comax 1 so I took both out and here's what I found.
Giant Fastroad Comax 1 // Looks great. While I don't personally care too much about the paint job, Comax 1 is nice. Where the seat tube connects to the top tube seems a bit lumpy but something easy to get over as I wouldn't give it a second thought when riding. I enjoyed the 25mm stock tires and they felt great on the test ride. Seeing as how I sometimes ride very packed limestone trails as well as ride around Chicago, the dealer offered to put on 28mm tires for me to try and said he'd be leaving them on. They felt great too. At my level I cannot say that I felt much difference. Nice sharp and sporty ride. The bike weighed in at 21.6 lbs (they weighed it just for fun). The road felt sharp and smooth for it being a hybrid. I was very happy with the ride and was already looking to possibly order it.
Specialized Sirrus Sport Disc // First off I did ride a Large Sirrus Comp Carbon which felt great, however it was just a kiss small so to get a feel for the geometry the dealer also had a Sirrus Sport Disc in stock in XL. I took both out. The first thing I noticed was that I liked the saddle on both of the Specialized bikes better than the Giant. I cannot compare to the 7.4 as I swapped it out with my old saddle and never rode stock. The specialized Sport felt great and stable with the Carbon being just a bit more nimble but again the difference for me riding on mostly flat land was very subtle. As soon as I started riding the Specialized I loved it. With the 30mm tires it felt just right for the style of riding I do. Honestly I was mentally selling myself on the Giant because for the exact same price point you get "better components" but in riding the bikes I realized that regardless of what was cranking under my feet, the Specialized simply was a better fit for me.
Finally the 7.4 // A bike that I was very comfortable on. I was doing 20-25 miles every other day on it and it felt great. I did find that I wanted to lean over juuuust a bit more as I would get to the last bits of the ride (usually I ride without stopping) but really it was just an awesome bike. 32mm tires felt great and really I have very little negative to say about it. The components might be pretty low level but again I don't ride at a pace or skill to say that I can for sure tell a huge difference between any of the 3 bikes. On the Sirrus Comp Carbon it did feel when cruising that the gear I hit felt a bit more just right than what the 7.4 offered but again that's a stretch. But for the fact that I got hit by a truck on it, I would be happily riding around on it and not giving any of this a second thought. The big question a newbie like myself might ask...did you feel a difference between the carbon and aluminum bikes on such flat land? Yes. But really small. I could mildly feel it when accelerating and even then only when I did so up a bridge. When just in cruise mode and going flat I would be hard pressed to say that I felt $500-$1000 worth of difference when it comes to carbon vs aluminum. BUT one note is that the small bumps and variations in the road surface did not bother me on the carbon bikes nearly as much as the 7.4.
To sum up // If budget is a factor, I can't really say that it's worth the cash to go up from the 7.4 for a guy like me. $770 on the 7.4 gets you a great ride both around town and for fitness. I can say that when I got on the Specialized, I did so with a negative viewpoint as one dealer came down on the company a lot and said they are a bit overpriced for what you get. Regardless, when I got on it just felt like "yup this is the one" even though I went in with it being last on my list. It's really only because of the insurance that I ended up ordering the Sirrus Comp Carbon. If it wasn't then I'd likely be leaning towards the non-carbon models that were more in my price range. The only thing I won't miss from the 7.4 is the 3 sprocket crank. If you want the next level up and the components matter to you more than me...give the Giant Comax 1 a ride. It was close but the comfort of the Specialized beat it out by a bit.
Hope this helps someone out in the future!