Torn between the Trek DS 3 and the Giant Roam 1. I'm a Trek fan, I've owned 2 in the past. Never had a Giant and not afraid to own one. Im looking to ride with my kids, ride by myself at times a little faster to get the heart pumping and maybe do some light of roading on some trails (nothing serious). I've looked at the Roam 3 in person, seems nice, but I'm wanting the hydraulic disk brakes. Anyone compared the DS3 and Roam 1?

PS, I know the DS 2 and the Roam 2 have hydraulic brakes, I just rather the DS3 and Roam 1.

I have the DS4 and really like it. I have had Giant bikes in the past and they are great too. In this case I would choose the Roam 1. I like that it has an all Shimano drive train and its a 10 speed setup. I think the brake set is a bit better on the Roam 1 although I don't think you would notice much difference. And on a personal note I like the way the bike looks. The rest is likely to be very similar. I say test ride them both and see which one feels better and go from there.

That's a tough decision. Never ridden either.. I almost bought a used trek ds once. The frame looks slightly different maybe more road oriented on the trek? Just guessing though. I think the components might be better on the giant. Unsure about crank though. If both bikes fit me exactly the same I'd probably go for the giant. Fit is really most imporant though.

You can't go wrong either way, I too shopped both these bikes.

I went Roam 1 as it gave me better drivetrain for my money , and still $60 less . Couldn't be happier, it's a fun bike .

Thanks for replying, yea I thought about the DS4, but I can't quite spend that much. I'm gonna make a lil drive and see which one I like more.

Absolutely, I'm gonna see which one fits and feels better.

Your rite about components, and that's something lingering in the back of my head.

That's the right way to shop a bike. In the end, all of the components involved here are absolutely fine for moderate use, and they can be changed later down the road anyway. What you can't change is geometry and fit (to a large degree). Ride both and decide which one is most comfortable to you.

It's an easy comparison, you generally don't even need to look up the specs. The Giant is lower cost and has better components than the Trek. This is true in just about every case when comparing Giant to Trek (or Specialized, or most any of the other brands).

But if you want to get specific:

Trek DS3 - $879.99
Shifters - Acera
FD - Acera
RD - Alivio
Cassette - HG20 (Tourney/Altus)
Crank - FSA Dynadrive (low end square taper BB)
Brakes - Shimano M315

Giant Roam 1 - $820
Shifters - Deore
FD - Deore
RD - Deore
Cassette HG50 (Deore)
Crank - Shimano T521 (Deore Treking w/Octalink Hollowtech BB)
Brakes - Shimano M365

Like I said, for $60 LESS, with the Giant you get an awesome bike with high end components that will last you a lifetime. With the Trek, you are paying more for pretty much entry level parts across the board.

Also, in case you didn't know - Giant manufactures Trek's frames for them (and others - Giant has the largest frame manufacturing facility in the world). That's one of the reason's Trek is more expensive, they are buying the main part of the bike from their competitor and slapping their own logo on it.

Cheers
TRJB

PS. Full disclosure - I ride a Giant Roam 1. It's a fantastic bike, I love it. Like some of the others, I shopped all of the brands when looking. It's not that I'm a Trek hater, but they are just way over-priced bikes across the board, and that counts for a lot in my book.

Wow, I didn't realize that about the frames being built by Giant. Thats a big eye opener. Honestly, after reading this post, Im definitely leaning more towards the Roam 1 now. Thanks for the post.

Going get the Roam 1 Thursday morning. There is only one in the state of Louisiana rite now. I'm gonna make the two and a half hour drive to go get it. Who knows, once I get to the bike shop, I may see something different lol.

Good stuff the Roam is a great bike, which shop had it? I am originally from Lafayette and it's always good to see what shops are keeping up with trends back home.

A shop in Covington has it. I called Acadiana Bike Company in Lafayette and they said I would have to pay close to $70 for them to ship to the shop. Really disappointed in that. I have to go East tomorrow for my part time job, so I'm gonna swing by there and pick it up.

By the way, I work for Lafayette Fire Dept. I'm in Lafayette 10-12 times a month.

That is so silly. No LBS should charge you a premium to stock a bike you are going to buy. If anything a deposit would be a reasonable expectation but not a premium.

Good luck with the toy! The Roam 1 is a fantastic bike.

Yea I was very disappointed about that. I wanted to buy local, but its not going to happen. And it won't nearly be $70 in gas for me to drive and get it.

Sorry to hear that, it does sound weird. I worked at Capitol, with Jason Benoit for a long time. They only do Trek and Cannondale now from what I've heard though.

I know Jason very well. He's one of our District Chiefs over here, awesome guy. I've bought a few bikes from them in the past. Great people over there.

Well I bought the Roam 1 this morning. It's one awesome bike and I'm not disappointed one bit. I did look at some other models and looked at some Trek's. but I kept going back to the Roam 1. I actually almost left with a road bike. I really miss my road bikes that I've had in the past. But for the type of ridding I'm about to start doing, the Roam is way better suited. Although I do see myself getting another road bike soon. I miss getting on the road and cranking out some sweat. Anyway, super excited about the the new Giant and ready to put some miles on it. And the brakes are amazing.

Sweet, welcome to the Roam club!

Hope you have a great summer and have lots of opportunity to ride the heck out of it and enjoy it!

Post some pics in the sticky picture thread when you get it out and about.

Cheers
TRJB

Awesome, will do. I just got finished riding. It's absolutely perfect, but one complaint. The seat (saddle) is horrible. It's been a while since I've been on a bike but dang I'm hurting. I'm gonna HAVE to do something. Are you guys still riding with the original saddle?

When looking to buy a bike, I always work on the assumption that the stock saddle is going to be a cheapie/throw away item and so plan for a different saddle.

I ditched the original saddle after my first long ride on it (~60km's) because it was very uncomfortable on short rides and brutally uncomfortable on long rides. Even with padded cycling shorts.

Initially as a stopgap I stuck on a cheapo "Velo Plush" saddle that I had in a bin in the garage that came off of a previous Costco bike. Not a great saddle either, but it was much better that the stock Giant one.

So then I figured it was time to spend some coin on a "real" saddle, and after much research and reading over and over again that for longer rides less padding is supposed to be better than more, but the design of the saddle and the fit for your sit-bone width was important, I went to my LBS to be fitted, and chose the "Specialized Henge" to try out. It gets really good reviews online, and the guy in the shop really recommended it based on what I told him about my riding style. He also attested to the "less is more" philosophy for padding. Well, my experience with the Henge was exactly the same as the factory Giant saddle - pretty uncomfortable off the initial hop. Quite painful after 30 km's, and an instrument of torture after 60 km's. It went back for a refund after 2 honest attempts.

Then after reading countless positive reviews for the Planet Bike ARS saddle, I decided to try one out. Mountain Equipment Coop here in Canada has their own OEM version of this saddle made for them with their non-intrusive "MEC" logo on the nose rather than the large (somewhat ugly) red lettering of the Planet Bike version, but otherwise exactly the same, for a paltry $36CDN ($27USD). It's medium width, a lot more padding than the factory one or the Henge, but still not anywhere near a "granny" saddle.

That one has stayed for me. It's still not perfect and I might try something different sometime, but after 3-60km rides over the past couple of weeks, it's in the "significantly better, actually not too bad" category for me. I can definitely live with it for the time being and price.

Next step for me will be to try the Selle Royal Scientia - those look pretty good to me, but I'm seeing if I can come to love the MEC/Planet Bike one a bit better first.

Like others say though, saddles are like shoes - there is no "one fits all", and certainly others' recommendations will just be a guideline. You need to find one that fits and works for you personally.

Coincidentally, my LBS that carries Giant and Specialized has a bin of "take-offs" where people who buy a new bike and want a different saddle right off the showroom floor dump their factory saddles and they sell them for $25 each. In the bin, there was one of these, one of those, etc, and 3 of the Giant Connect's that come stock on the Roam. I think that says something about the Giant factory saddles...

Cheers
TRJB

I don't dispute what the guys above say and I've never even ridden a Roam 1 but can say that my personal experience when getting on a bike (with a stock saddle) after a few years was that my arse hurt at first. After a few weeks I didn't even notice it, even on 40 km rides.

Do give it a few weeks and some miles before you commit to getting a new saddle, you never know, you might save some coin.

TRJB is right -- saddles are like shoes/clothes -- they'll never fit two people the same.

Depending upon the saddle style you like, a local Trek dealer might have a bin of Bontrager Boulevard saddles that are take-offs from new bikes. The one that came on my Verve is just sublime -- I've never wanted for something else. It's a comfort-oriented saddle, and far from a "sport" saddle. But it's somehow large enough and small enough at the same time for it to work right, at least for me.

I think you said that you had a Trek dealer local to you, right? Might be worth a visit to see what saddles they do have.

It is unfortunate that you sometimes have to spend some good money before you find a saddle that you really like.