Hi Everyone,


I've been looking at getting a nice bike for riding around town on the streets and paved bike paths that we have as well as to take with me camping and ride on dirt trails/around the campground.


The dealer in town is a Trek/Giant dealer and came to really like the Trek DS line and Giant Roam line. The Giant is cheaper and has better components and rode well to me except for the fact that I think I need to cut an inch off of the end of each handlebar. I like the value aspect and the bike seemed comfortable. The roam 2 is $570 and the roam 1 is $820. Roam 1 is full Deore and roam 2 has altus shifters and acera front and rear derailleurs. Also the roam 2 has shimano M315 hydraulic disc brakes and the roam 1 has shimano M365.


Riding both back to back the Roam 1 shifter better and the brakes were noticeably stronger. Is it worth the almost 50% bump in price to grab the Roam 1? I can afford either bike.

Ride them each again.
I think the Hydraulic brakes will win you over. The best upgrade I have done.

Hope this helps.

-Snuts-

One of my bikes has rim brakes and a Deore/Acera mix of derailleurs, and the other bike has hydraulic disc brakes and Altus derailleurs. When I notice the biggest difference in the brakes is at the bottom of steep hills, and it is a huge difference in stopping power. As for the derailleurs, they certainly feel different all the time. But the only time I notice a really huge difference is on hills when I need to shift more quickly (especially going uphill) – that’s where the better derailleurs are most noticeable.

So I would say that if you plan to ride a lot of hills, then the better brakes and shifters would be worth considering. That’s a huge jump in price, but it may very well be worth it in hilly conditions.

Have a look at the Giant Toughroad SLR 2, it has a carbon fork, frame made with Giant's highest grade of aluminium, better wheelset and is at least 2lbs lighter than the Roam 1.

I looked at both and decided on the roam 2 as I didn't feel the roam 1 was worth 400 more. If I had the cash though, I'd get the tough road

It looks like pricing structure changed a bit from 2016 to 2017. The roam 2 does have hydraulic brakes. I'd post the link to each so you guys can see the specs but I cannot do that unless I have 10 posts. The price difference for 2017 is $250 (I think they may have changed pricing/model scheme for this year?).


It looks like the SLR2 is equipped similarly to the Roam 2 - but with a better frame and carbon fork.


With the giant SLR2 would I be able to put some 700x32 tires on for a more road oriented ride? The carbon fork should help with harshness as well as the larger 700x50 tires on it. I imagine 70% road and 30% dirt trails though.


Thanks

I have the Roam 2 2015. It's been flawless (when kept properly adjusted) and I beat on it pretty hard (fast, rough gravel - packed, rutted dirt trails - etc)

For my riding, I love having a suspension fork to tame some of the hits at speed. Not sure the Roam 1 justifies the price jump.

As stated above, if I was riding smoother surfaces....I'd go w/ the Toughroad 2.

Better wheelset too.

The bike is very versatile, you could fit 28mm tyres on it if you wanted to.

Also you could easily go to 60mm on it.

Colonel

What range of tires will fit on my roam 2?

Thanks

I am not as familiar with the Roam 2, but when I had a look at one when I was last in a Giant dealership a few weeks ago, I would say that 50mm would definitely fit, but that would be close to the maximum, taking into account you want a bit of room around the tyre and frame. The Roam's don't have as much tyre clearance space as a Toughroad.


I think the Giant rims on the Roam have an internal width of 17mm(it could be 19mm) and so a 50mm tyre will probably measure 50mm.


I am using different rims to what Giant supplied on my Toughroad(as I wanted to go to very clyde friendly rims) and I think my rims are 23mm internal width, so my 50mm tyres look wider than 50mm to me, a lot wider, but I haven't pulled out the vernier calipers to determine it.

Thanks

Hi Gang,


I've been deliberating about these bikes... Here are my latest thoughts:


I can get the 2017 roam 1 (with all better components than the tough road 2) for $820, or the Tough Road for $870. The bike may be a couple pounds heavier. Can that be a big difference for recreational riding? I can lock the fork out and have a rigid setup or unlock on rough sections to help damp the bumps (kind of a cheesy cheap fork but it helps).


Will the upgrade in the frame and frame material/tapered head tube, and carbon fork be worth it with lower end components? I feel like I can get a very similar ride with better components and crispier shifting for less money going with the 2017 Roam 1?

Hi Nicholas,
I made a mistake in my previous post, the Giant Roam 1 is 4.4lbs heavier than the Toughroad SLR 2, largely due to the suspension fork on the Roam.


Here is a link that lists the Giant Roam 1's weight as 13.6kg for a Medium size


Keep in mind that Giant also gives you a better wheelset on the Toughroad SLR 2, than comes on the Roam.


$820 seems a tad overpriced for the Roam 1, especially versus the Toughroad SLR 2, I'll list the pricing in Australian dollars and US dollars, so you will see what I mean.


In Australia, the Toughroad SLR 2 retails for $AUD1,299/$US997 and the Roam 1 for $AUD999/$US767, so in Australia, the Toughroad SLR 2 costs $AUD300/$US230 more than the Roam 1 and to me that seems fair enough, but if you have to pay within $US50 of the cost of a Toughroad for your Roam 1, it seems like you are not getting a very good deal on that Roam 1.


A large part of my rationale for why I was more than happy to buy the Toughroad SLR 2 is that I wanted over time to update to the exact parts that I wanted, so I could get a bike I am very happy with.


I have already replaced the stock crank on my Toughroad for a Shimano M591 with external cups/bearings that I got for a great price and wow, what a nice difference.


Sometime this year I will probably replace my brakes with SLX brakes and go to ICE-Tech rotors and also increase the rotors to 180mm.


Even saying all of the above, I am happy with the stock brakes and stock gear levers and derailleurs, even though obviously better setups exist.


For me the key in my decision making process was being able to source quality replacement parts as an update and to find a good bike mechanic that didn't charge the earth to do the labor for me, as I made changes over the months that I have owned my Toughroad.


The Roam 1 is a good and capable bike, but the Toughroad with its frame, fork and wheelset, give you the foundation to over time, to turn your bike into a truly excellent bike.

Go for it, I did, actually I replaced the curvy MTB style bar with a straight flatbar, that took away all the wrist pain and made the bike a lot easier to control. Basically I duplicated the bars they put on the 90's MTB's.

I am late to this Thread and Have had similar questions.. Roam 1, Roam 2 and Toughroad SLR.
Because this Thread was Back in Feb, I will start a New Thread.

Drivetrain components wear out and can be replaced with better ones. Frame, fork and wheels are for nearly forever. So go with the the one tha thas better frame/fork/wheels.

That suspension fork on the Roam is just a pogo-stick. Not suitable for actual off-road. And for any tough bike paths the Toughroad carbon fork and 50 mm tires will give you the same if not more comfort. I'm 180# and dialed the front tire pressure in to 20 psi (rear 35 psi) and it is comfortable but still rolls very efficiently. We have a lot of frost-heaving on our paths and I also ride on unpaved paths (with wood sticks laying on etc.) and the Toughroad rolls easily over anything. I test-rode the same paths with an old MTB with similar useless suspension fork and didn't notice an improvement (and that was when the toughroad was new to me and I still had it at 40 psi front).

Lower pressure doesn't really cost you energy

There are many posts here about people replacing that Roam suspension fork with a rigid fork because it is so useless and heavy. It is just for looks and to make you think you can go off-road.

I agree about The Roam's fork.. but EVERYTHING else is great it seems. Id go rigid with fork.. or get 100mm rockshox recon onto it.
The ten speed deore drivetrain is beautiful and gear ratio is awesome.. higher road gears.. and decent enough low gears for those not around steep inclines.

For what it's worth I ended up going with the Roam 2. If roads are uneven the springy fork does take some of the sharpness out of the bump so I mostly leave it unlocked unless I am climbing a big hill and standing up. I also put 32mm road oriented tires on it and it made a pretty nice difference. I do light off-roading every now and then and it works great. I am glad I saved my money over the Roam 1 and the bike really does shift and run very quickly and is very smooth. Hope this helps! I am very satisfied with my purchase. Honestly I feel if I would've went with the tuffroad I would've lost too much efficiency for the kind of riding I do.

I am still tossing around which Bike I want to buy.. I have looked at so many and have counted many out for consideration for this or that.. I do want a bike that I can have for years and be happy with.. a Bike that if Need be I could simply upgrade some parts to get even more out of it.

The Roam Bikes I really like the Gear Ratios.. Great for where I live in FL.
The Tough Road is good too.. I would however change out the Crank for One with a Larger big Cog 48 or 50 teeth.
What I have been hearing often with the Tough Road is.. Most people have been changing out the tires to more road friendly tires and have been extremely satisfied.

I am really looking for a 10 speed cassette but could most certainly wait and just get use to biking again..

If You think the Roam 2 is a Great Bike.. I may just go ahead and pick that one up instead.. The price is Pretty solid..
I do wish the Roam 2 was painted like the Roam 1.. lol.. But that's ok.