Originally Posted by
a1penguin
Generally bike stores are willing to swap out stems for shorter ones at no charge. So if a bike has a long reach, a shorter stem can help. If you are interested in a specific bike, but feel like the fit isn't quite right, work with the LBS to dial in the fit. It can take a while for your body to toughen up and get used to the seat. As I've been doing longer rides as the weather improved, it took time for my butt to get used to riding for so long. I also have learned to take my butt off the seat for a while and give it a rest.
Here's my take on a suspension fork on entry level bikes. A suspension fork has a higher cost than a rigid fork. If you compared two bikes at the same price but one has suspension fork and the other doesn't, the one with the suspension will have used cheaper components elsewhere to make up for the increased cost of the suspension fork.
Another comparison is tire size. A larger tire size runs at lower pressure and provides a smoother ride. You might want to consider the largest tire size each bike will accommodate. The same bike with underinflated vs overinflated tires will have different ride. The one with higher pressure will transmit road bumps to rider, while the squishy, underinflated tires will absorb more of the road unevenness.
Don't be afraid to go back for additional test rides.
I don't think you'll go wrong with any of these bikes. But the first rule of purchasing a bike is that IT MUST FIT. Otherwise, you won't like riding it and it will collect cobwebs in the garage.
Of the bikes I've ridden, the price goes up with the suspension fork. The Giant Cypress has a version with a solid fork, however, some of the components are lesser than that on the Cypress DX (like 21 gear instead of 24) so I had ruled that out. This might be a stupid question but do all suspension forks lock? I've been looking at the Roam and it specifically says that it has lockout whereas the Cypress does not. Is that a good thing to have for city riding on a suspension fork? I'm going back to the LBS tomorrow to do a couple miles test rides in the adjacent park with the Giant Cypress DX and Giant Roam 3 and see how I feel between the more sporty position of the Roam vs the comfort, upright position of the Cypress.