Originally Posted by
paulriccio
Thanks for your opinion. Honestly, I am open for whatever. I just want to burn calories, get outside, and have some fun. Up to this point, I have been strictly on road but trails seemed like a draw if a new bike allowed. The old Mangusta 5000 was just brutal on hills around here. I was literally passed by senior women on hills.
It is hard when you cannot test drive these things (not in my area) so I value your opinion. I could just suck up the hills and use the Giant for trails. Any advice helps, I thank you.
Edit: Why the FX? It seems similar but minus the front suspension. Straight handle bars as well. Weight?
I agree the Giant Roam seems like a poor choice for 30 or 40 mile road rides. It seems to me you are better suited going with a drop bar bike with clearance for somewhat wider tires than a standard road bike. There are so many drop bar bikes these days in the Gravel or Light Touring/Adventure category. When I was shopping for new bikes 8 years ago, it was a niche occupied by brands like Surly, and its QPB sister company Salsa. And I bought the now discontinued Salsa Casserol. These days, Giant, Trek, Specialized and Cannondale, and pretty much ever major bike brand has one of these in their catalog. Giant used to have the AnyRoad, but now they have the Toughroad, Trek makes the Checkpoint. Specialized, the Diverge. And Kona makes the Rove. And Jamis makes the Renegade.