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

Just like you can't sell your Escape right now used bikes are cheap this time of year. I guarantee $450 will buy a great condition used bike that's far better than the Roam.
Sell your old bike next spring.

I have been checking craigslist for hardtail hybrids and maybe the situation is a little better where you are, but I'm not seeing much
out here in Seattle. Plus, anything I've seen that fits the bill is usually too large a frame size (My Escape 3 is a small and I find it quite comfortable).

I kinda feel like I'm in this bike deep enough to just stick with it at this point.

If anyone is wondering about the gearing choice, I pull a Burley Nomad with a 55lb Irish Setter about 5 miles a day, so yeah...

No one has any fork recommendations? The only other fork that has caught my eye thus far is the Rockshox Paragon Gold RL, though it's pretty far over my target budget at about $255..

Any thoughts on this particular fork? Not really sure if it'd be worth the $150 premium over the Suntour the recipient frame and my use considered..

Welcome!

The geometry on your Escape was designed for a rigid fork. A suspension fork is much taller, and will physically raise the front of your bike up by a few inches. It doesn't sound like much, but your head tube and seat tube angles will become much slacker (less vertical), and the bike may handle and ride pretty strange. I would not recommend swapping your fork for a suspension fork. If you want a suspension fork, then I would buy a bike with that from the factory, as the frame will be engineered with the proper geometry from the get-go. As an alternative, consider a carbon fiber fork.

Note that, depending on how you're buying them, you may need BOTH a hub assembly and a freehub. They're technically two different components, but a freehub is sometimes (often?) sold as part of the hub assembly itself. If that's what you're buying -- the entire hub and freehub together, then disregard this, but I would double-check that. In any event, you may find that replacing the rear wheel as an assembly will be less expensive than buying a hub because you'll have to presumably pay a shop to re-lace the new hub into your wheel. You'll likely also need new spokes, because the Deore hub will most likely have a different flange height than your stock Giant hub, requiring shorter spokes.

If you're a year-round commuter in Seattle, and ride wet roads often, I would seriously consider disc brakes. You won't be able to easily add them to your current bike, but they come stock on something like a Roam. You're planning to spend upwards of $450 equipping your current Escape, but you can out-and-out buy a new Roam 2 for $600. Surely, your local bike shop would offer $100-150 on your Escape 3 as a trade, making your financial outlay about the same (and then you get what you really want). You'll also have hydraulic disc brakes, which will be much nicer for wet weather commuting than rim brakes. I would be very surprised that you couldn't sell your Escape 3 for $150 on the local Craigslist. Around here, I think you'd sell that pretty quickly.

Just checked your Craigslist post. Your selling this at $350? Being that you can get a new bike at only $390, I'm wondering if the price your asking is a bit high????

Granted you did the upgrades, but people might be looking for that bike around $2---250, maybe even during the spring? Be prepared for people to talk it down. Some lower than others. Does the shop offer free services if the shop sticker stays on. If so, put that in Craigs list posting. Sell...Selll...Sell!

The 28/42 combo you're considering would be a really low gear ratio. I know you said you pull a big dog in a trailer, but 0.66 is still pretty extreme unless you're climbing some crazy steep hills - like mountain bike climbing. The 26/34 on the Roam 2 Disc gives you a 0.76, which should be plenty sufficient for riding roads and rail trails. And like hokiefyd said, the geometry of your Escape isn't designed for a suspension fork. If you drop your selling price to $200 and add that to the $450 you planned to put into the upgrades, you'd have more than enough to buy a brand new Roam 2 Disc.

I've heard that adding a suspension fork could eff up the "riding" geometry of the bike but I guess I didn't give that enough thought. I did the math
based on my bike's wheelbase and adding a suspension fork could change geometries by as much as 3 degrees! So with that known, a suspension fork is definitely out.
Unfortunate, but I still feel like moving ahead with the new groupset would be worth the money and effort. I do like how stiff the chromoly fork is in regards to the front brake. Very stiff; gives a great brake feel even with the crap levers and cheapo tektro arms. So there's that.

I gave a bit of thought to the rear cassete and agree at this point that a 42 cog would be a little much. I think I would go with an 11t-38t. That would give me a lowest gear very slightly lower than what I have now but keep the progression nice and smooth. I suppose I haven't stated yet that my main annoyance with the bike is the super steep drop from the 34t ring to the 24t ring on the freewheel. I find myself wanting an in- between gear ALL the time. I find that the only time I use the large chainring up front is when I do especially long and fast hill bombs. Never sees use otherwise. Maybe I'm simply making too much of it, but I can't help but be annoyed by the awkward progression of this drivetrain.

I do have some steep and long climbs when I go to the grocery store (and thus have the trailer in tow) and maybe I'm just not fit enough yet, but I absolutely have to use the 28-34 combo when I go these routes. For reference, I'm 5'7'', 160lbs, and in a lot better shape than most but not what I would consider really "fit". Yet

Regarding the rear freehub, I stopped by my LBS yesterday and they actually stock and sell the full assembled rear wheel for the Escape 2 (freehub) for $60!!
That saves me at least $20 or more (depending on the spokes) and simplifies some logistics behind the build.
So minus the suspension fork plus the factory Giant Escape 2 wheel,that put's the build at $330. Not bad.

The only downside that I can see to building this bike is the inability to easily go to disc brakes. That being said, I've never had any problem whatsoever with
my cheapo v brake setup even in the cold and wet last winter. Yeah, they make a somewhat annoying raspy sound when wet, but they still stop the bike just fine
even with the trailer. I figure with the upgrade to Deore brakes and levers they can only get better, so not really worried about it. I do think I'll be making and adding a "booster" to the rear v brake to help stiffen the stays to give better brake feel though. It's perfectly functional, but quite vague, i must admit..

I wonder if anyone has ever "slotted'' their rim brake rims? You know, the shallow little vanes that are cut into rotors to help cleaning when dirty and wet?
As I happen to be a machinist, makes me feel like experimenting

$60 for a new freehub wheel is a great deal, and a great upgrade just on its own. You'll be able to customize the gearing much easier that way, regardless of how many speeds you go with on the back.

Then maybe I was wrong earlier about the 28/42 being too low. Since it sounds like you're needing low gearing with tighter gaps, have you considered a mountain bike triple crank such as a 22/32/44 (what I have on my Kona) combined with a 12-36 cassette? I think the cogs on the Shimano 12-36 are 12-14-16-18-21-24-28-32-36, which would be a much more gradual progression than what you have now. And it would give you a range of gear ratios from 0.61 to 3.67, which might be more suited to the riding you describe.

Plot your gearing here.

What do you want to accomplish or what is the old setup lacking? In this day and age I'd just go to 1x11 or 1x12. Hey, I have a 2x10 SRAM GX on my hybrid and if you are really interested, send me a PM and I can sell you that and upgrade mine. It has 42/28 crank and 11-36 cassette.

A new freehub is proprietary to the hub, so that requires re-lacing the wheel and most likely buying new spokes. I assume you get the freehub because you currently have a freewheel?

Assuming your suspension fork idea cam from a lack of comfort, try larger tires and less pressure. You may be limited to 40 c or so, so check that first.

+1
I went from 28mm tires (80-100 psi) to 35mm tires (45-80 psi) on my Fuji. It made a world of difference in comfort and no real difference in speed.

Comfort is definitely subjective, and each of us has our own threshold of what is and is not comfortable. My Giant Roam has 29x2" tires (nominally 50mm), run at 20 psi front and 40 psi rear, and it's still a more comfortable ride if I run with the fork unlocked, especially on fire roads or gravel/dirt trails. It's not objectionable with it locked, though, and I've contemplated replacing it with a carbon or chrome-moly fork of the correct length.

When the bike had stock grips and tires (700c x 32??) I developed wrist pains and suspected the harsh ride as well as simply being new to biking.
I put on the Ergon grips and Schwalbe Marathon Plus 700c x 45 tires and from then on have been pain free. I live/work/ride in south Seattle. My commute
is pretty much industrial areas that are quite poorly maintained and still think I would benefit from a suspension fork, but am willing to go without.
I hit a sharp edge at a RR crossing the other day at a relatively cautious and slow speed and managed to actually dent the front rim even with the properly aired schwalbe! How the tire came away from it unscathed is completely beyond me.. I avoid that part of the track now

Hokiefyd, how do you like your roam? There doesn't seem to be much chatter about them online and no one in my area stocks them unfortunately..

AuTiger nailed it methinks, I think I'll be going with a 3x10 Deore groupset. 24/32/42 up front and 11-36. The ratios work out so that I would be on the middle chainring 95% of the time and enjoy a super duper smooth progression. I"d have an ultra low for hill climbing with the dog/groceries and the top chainring gives a scary fast combo for hill bombing. I like the idea of being able to avoid the third ring up front, but the crazy spread and smooth progression has got me leaning toward the 3x10 setup..

As far as going with a composite fork, I've never ridden one, but am not quite convinced it would be worth the money. I see that a lot of the mtb guys claim that a chromoly fork actually feels better to the vs aluminum or composite, but that's a very different use really..

suspension fork would have zero appeal to me, but maybe it's a thing out there. Carbon fork (rigid) would be more appealing.

If you price the bike correctly for your market it will sell. if you have no offers after a week or two, your price is too high

and upgrading those things I hope works for you, but probably gonna lose money in the long haul

I like it. This type of bike is extremely popular in general, and nearly every brand has an entry in this "dual sport" segment. Trek DS, Giant Roam, Specialized Crosstrail, plus many many others. There's the "Official Giant Roam Owners Thread" on this forum, where you can get some more info and see what some have done to theirs. I have a lot of pictures and a review of mine in this thread. If you're even half interested in a 2018/2019 Roam, you can see detailed pictures of my 2018 Roam 2 there. I swapped the original 700x38 Giant Crosscut tires to 29x2" Schwalbe Hurricane tires. The 2" tires do add some comfort to the ride. I run them at 20 psi front/40 psi rear.

I usually like Trek bikes, and I like the Trek DS (competitor to the Roam). But I like the Roam better.

Hokiefyd, I sure am conflicted at this point!! The more I think about it the more I know that I'd really prefer to simply upgrade. I know a suspension fork would treat me well. When you mentioned the Crosstrail I remembered that I had ridden one for a day out in Leavenworth Wa and had an absolute BLAST just bouncing around off of rocks and ledges and whatnot. I just looked up the specs on the Crosstrail and it uses the same Suntour NEX HLO fork as the Roam 2 and only boasts 55mm of travel.
I NEVER would have guessed that the fork was of such relatively low travel... The Roam 2 actually uses the 63mm travel version of the same fork. Even better!

So let's talk numbers here..
The new deore 3x10 groupset will cost $240, deore levers and brakes $90, and the new Escape 2 rear wheel assembly $60.
$390 total for the (very nice) upgrade to my current Escape3 frame.

Math behind the Roam 2...
$660 after tax minus $100 trade for the Escape3 (I would keep the Schwalbe tires and Ergon grips if I traded in)
That's $560 for the upgrade to the Roam 2.

So basically, (disregarding the unfortunate amount of money lost on the Escape frame) for $170 more than the upgrade of the Escape
I could have entry level hydraulic disc brakes and suspension front fork BUT a lesser quality Alivio 3x9 groupset vs the Deore 3x10 that I could have
on the Escape...

So what does everyone think, a lower investment and higher spec groupset or a higher cash outlay and lower spec groupset but with entry level hyd disc brakes and susp fork???

Either way, I know that I'm spending way too much time thinking about this

On the Roam 2 2018 to 2019, looks like they've changed from Shimano M315 hyd discs to Tektro M275 hyd discs and increased the price by $10.

Any thoughts on this Hokie??

Also, it appears that there's a 2018 Roam 2 in Bellingham, about 80 miles from me...

And that downtube protector sure is snazzy...

Oh boy....

Only $100 trade-in from the same dealer who sold you the Escape in March?

Financially both options don't make sense, but this is a bicycle, so we don't use reason to justify spending money. Do whatever gives you the bike you really want. Because if you keep changing or upgrading like this, it will get expensive without actually giving you a valuable bike.
The bike you keep for a long time and ride a lot is the best value per $ spent.

Don't worry too much about Alivio vs Deore. The Altus/Altus drivetrain on my Kona shifts better the Acera/Deore on my Fuji. In my opinion, there are things much more important than that on a bike.

They're functionally equivalent. Both are lower level hydraulic brakes that work well. The BR-M315 Shimano is in the "Altus" groupset. Tektro's lowest "label", I think, is Auriga, and that's on M3xx series brakes I believe. Maybe M295. I'm not as familiar with Tektro's line. My Giant ARX had Tektro HD-M285 brakes and I can tell no functional difference between them and the Shimanos on my Roam. In fact, they use the identical brake pad application part number and pads are directly interchangeable between them.

The 2019 Roam 2 actually uses an Acera drivetrain. The front derailer will be an FD-T3000 and the rear derailer will be an RD-M3000. These are very functional and you'll enjoy good shifting performance. The shifters themselves are Altus level shifters, and I replaced the shifters with Acera ST-M3000 shifters and it actually seems to shift better with the Acera shifters. But still functional with Altus. I agree with AU_Tiger: "good" and "bad" derailers can both shift well or poorly, and there are more important considerations for a bike. The fundamentals like fit and whether you want suspension or disc brakes or...those are the critical things. Components can be changed over time, but the fundamentals like frame design cannot.

Both the Roam and Crosstrail (and DS, and others) use the SR Suntour NEX fork. The Roam and DS claim 63mm of travel, while the Crosstrail does claim only 55mm. I presume this is because there's additional "stuff" inside the lower stanchion for Specialized's "Brain technology" damping, which reduces the travel. I think it's the same basic fork...just different guts. I don't think the Specialized "Brain" fork has a lockout, so that's something to think about, or at least double-check as you shop.