Originally Posted by
Juggy_Gales
What I like about your Crankset which is similar to the Roam and the Escape is that Large 48 tooth Cog.. Of course on inclines that would be punishing.. But would make for very fast speeds on the flats.
I do wish the Toughroad had that style crank..
I hear the Tektro Hydraulics work fantastic.. And Based on when I was test riding bikes.. I personally didn't feel a diff between the Tektro and Shimano 315. Both stop very confidently.
I wasn't able to test ride an ARX, no one had one in stock around here at the time.. The also didn't have the Escape 1.
My Verve had a 28-38-48 also, which I switched out for a 24-34-42 crankset from an older mountain bike I had. But I've since put the stock crankset back on. I used to sit and spin up every hill, making the smaller small chainring helpful (we have some short-but-steep hills around here), but I've started keeping it in a more moderate gear and standing up to crank up a hill. Not punishing myself, but more like on a stair-climber machine...just a smooth pump-pump-pump-pump rhythm. So the 28-38-48 doesn't really bother me like it used to.
The large frame'd ARX (and above) does come with 175mm crank arms. My Verve has 170mm arms. I'm not sure there's a meaningful difference, but if I ever did replace the stock crankset on this ARX, I'd probably get a 170mm set. The crankset does look cheap, but it's made of steel that will likely last forever the way I take care of stuff (I don't power shift or abuse my equipment), so I'm likely to never change it!
Next will be things like different grips and bar ends, and I'll figure a way to get a mirror and a bell on it for bike path and C&O towpath use...and will probably install a rear rack for picnic lunches and things of the sort. So far, and only on extremely short jaunts (it's SNOWING today), the saddle is surprisingly comfortable. I'll change it if I don't like it on longer journeys, but it's okay so far.