Why the difference?
 

This spring I bought a Nashbar Flatbar roadbike. Overall it's a fine bike, but it felt sluggish to me - particularly in the higher gears. So after a a long ride I stopped in my LBS and took a Giant Escape 1 for a test ride. It was much quicker and responsive and I ended up buying one. So here's my question. I went back and compared everything between the Nashbar and the Giant to see if I could identify the key reasons why the Giant was the better the bike. I looked at the specs and realized that, on paper anyway, there is not a nickel's difference between them. They're both aluminum frames, weigh about the same, and have very similar geometry. I put "28" tires on the Giant to match the 28's that come with the Flatbar. (I got the 19-inch Nashbar and the Large Giant.) So I am left wondering, "What's the difference?" Any ideas? (Below are the links to the specs for both bikes.)

Nashbar: Nashbar Flat Bar Road Bike - Road Bikes

Giant Escape 1: Escape 1 (2015) (2014) | Giant Bicycles | United States

The Giant has more gears... thats all I really see though. Who put your Nashbar bike together, and did you ever have it fully tuned?

Assuming the tires were at identical pressures, your positions were identical, and the geometries were relatively close, I would assume the higher cost of the Giant is due to a higher quality frame.

One of the ways this may be evident is thru increased power transfer. This is achieved by having a stiffer rear triangle. The fat downtube keeps the bike tracking straight and the thin top tube takes the sting off the bumps. The Giant has more manipulated tubes that allow more tuning. A characteristic of thick tubes is a dead sensation, while a thinwall frame would generally be "livelier." This could be what you are feeling. Did you confirm any speed gains or are you just going by gut feeling?

Another thing could be the wheels. Lighter wheels accelerate much faster. But they both have fairly generic wheels

Tire quality? If you have the patience, you could try swapping tires.

Its also called a fitness/performance hybrid. Marketing lingo.

Basically, the bicycle industry figured out some people hate road bikes with drop bars and begin producing a version modified to accept flat bars.

That's what created this new hybrid bike market: a sportier and faster hybrid.

That would be my guess as well. Just because both have tires of the same size (622mm diameter, 28mm width) doesn't mean they are of the same quality or performance. A tire with an inefficient tread design and stiff sidewalls can have far more rolling resistance than one with smooth tread design and supple carcass.

Then why do people on these forums flip out at the mere suggestion of putting drop bars on a hybrid and insist the frames are not built to be road bikes?

Because its expensive and it makes you look like an idiot! If you want a road bike, get a road bike. A hybrid bike has a different, more upright geometry than a road bike. You can put drop bars on one but by the time you're finished with the conversion, you could have spent the money on a very nice road bike.

Humm I don't know..

People take drop bar bikes and convert them to flat bars and people take flat bar bikes and convert them to drop bar.. It's all good in my opinion as each person can and should pimp and trick their bike out how they want it..

Personally I would not do either but I also don't have an issue with anyone who does..

To the OP's question it could be a ton of different things as to why one bike was smoother than the other. Gearing, tires, crud buildup on the drivetrain, bad hubs, brakes dragging ect.. It's really kind of hard to give an answer..

If you still have the Nashbar bike then maybe have a mechanic look at it..

Isn't something like the 2014 Trek 7.7 FX, just the Madone 3 series roadbike with a flat bar handlebar?

That's the point. If you like the Madone, buy the Madone! Converting it is pointless.

Read [MENTION=340386]DorkDisk[/MENTION]'s post. All those little engineering tweaks cost money but they produce real results. It's like comparing two violins each from a different manufacturer. They can look exactly alike but sound totally different. That difference in sound is what you pay for and changing to higher quality strings only helps so much. You can tweak the Performance bike with better tires and the like but it'd be better to put the same coin into improving the Giant.

Nobody is converting it but Trek. You buy the 7.7fx... done deal.

As to the OP's question, I think drivetrain and wheels/tires make the most difference in feel. Especially tires. But having converted my 8 speed to 9, I can tell you that it makes a difference also. 8 speed parts are generally heavier across the board.

Very interesting replies. Thank you. Let me respond to some of your ideas. The difference in the number of gears doesn't seem like a likely answer to me as the range of gear is the same. In both bikes, the highest gear is 48/34. The tires and wheels are really similar so it's hard to imagine that as the difference. While they both have aluminum frames, perhaps the Giant frame is stiffer and perhaps that's the difference. It's the most plausible suggestion. I guess the take-away lesson from this is that biking building is art as well as science - just because the specs are the nearly identical, doesn't mean the bikes are. So studying specs and geometry of a bike can only take you so far.

Pointless to you. Not pointless to Trek, or to the buyers of the 7.7 FX. I've taken one out for a spin and it is a pretty sweet ride. I sure wouldn't mind owning one.

There is a LOT more to frame design than just the materials. You need to study the frame specs also

But you were saying that putting a flat handlebar on a road bike wouldn't work very well because of different geometries.

Hasn't Trek shown that for their Madone at least, that is not true?

My guess would be tire weight or wheel weight since it makes a big difference in how it feels to spin it up even if it's as little as 100g. A quick look shows the Nashbar tires are half the TPI of the tires on the Giant.

The Trek 7.7 already has flat bars. If you like a particular style of bar, buy the bike that fits you best.