I've been trying to sell my Giant Escape 3 for a little while now in order to upgrade to something like the the Roam 2 or possibly Roam 1.
I purchased this bike in March of this year after deciding to go car-less mainly due to Seattle's ridiculous fees and taxes. I figured it would be practical, but a pain.
Turns out I've come to really really enjoy biking around and don't see myself getting a vehicle anytime soon, thus the impetus to upgrade.
Alas, it seems no one has any interest in my little Escape despite an excellent price and some tasteful upgrades.

Marathon Plus 700c x 45
Ergon Grips w/ barends
Koolstop Salmon pads
SKS mudguard

Now that we're moving into the cold/grey/wet season, I figure there's even less chance I'll be able to sell the bike for even a low price.

I've started going through all of my options to upgrade this frame as a potential solution to my problem and here's what I've come up with...

Suntour NEX HLO 63mm travel fork
Deore t610 rear freehub
Deore t610 v brakes + levers
Full Deore M610 2x10 groupset (28t/38t crankset, 11t/42t cassette)

So basically a low travel hydraulic lockout fork and full suite of Shimano Deore components.
All of this will end up costing just under $450. I know most will say that it is a silly thing to put this much money
into such a cheap bike, but I'm just not willing to buy outright a roam 1 (or even roam 2 ) without selling this one first.
So I guess I feel a little bit stuck at this point. I can either spend money and have two bikes or spend slightly less money
and have one bike. I think fitted out with the components listed above I'd have quite a nice bike, the only thing being missed from a
more premium setup would be disc brakes, which I've honestly never missed anyway.

So here's the question. Is there any detail I'm overlooking that prohibits the fitting of the components listed above? Anything that you would spec differently (and why)?

I'm particularly open to suggestions of a suspension fork. Price range would be about $150 max though...


All the best,
Travis