New commuter: Giant Seek 1








First Impressions: commuted on the bike for the first time today. Commute is 12 miles each way. Bike is sick looking! Almost no graphics on it. I've been riding my road bike with backpack for the past six months and really like having a rack and panniers. I was considerably less sweaty this morning. About five miles of the commute is on the sidewalk and this bike rides a lot better than the road bike on the sidewalk. The Alfine hub is very nice. Whisper quiet. No noise even when coasting. Disc brake are good. Will come in handy in the rain. The last two gears seem a little steep for a hybrid. Need to be going 24+ mph for a comfortable cadence for me. Good for downhill but I live in Florida. I need to get a new seat but I've never bought a bike with a seat I liked stock anyway. Handlebars are super wide but thats any easy fix. I really like the bigger tires (700 x 32) for the rough parts. It has Ergon type grips which I've never used but really like. Will be putting some on my mountain bike. It took me 3 more minutes than my average time on the raod bike but it wasn't my slowest time. overall I really like it so far.

And yes that is my super cool office

Very nice. White is always striking.

nice bike!
I really like that all white look with minimal graphics.

Congrats!
I have one of those water bottles. They're awesome.

I really hope Giant does well with the lightly branded Seek line. Maybe the philosophy will spill over onto the rest of their bikes.

Seems that almost all IGH bikes are overgeared from the factory. I guess they get complaints if someone can't spin down their "big hill". Fortunately, swapping the rear cog is fairly painless, although changing more than one tooth usually requires a new chain.

Rack, lights, fenders, disc brakes, IGH - looks like a commuter to me. I'd say you've made a choice that will serve you well. As Jeff says, you can change the gearing with a larger cog, but you could also consider a smaller chainring, in which case you wouldn't need a new chain, just pop some links out of the one you have. Also, I wonder if some of the seat discomfort is due to the seat angle? It might just be the angle of the photo, but it looks like the nose might be a bit high. Enjoy!

Nice Ride!

I don't really care much for the tires..... :-]

Other than that, sweet ride.

gb

Like you, I had to get a new saddle for my Seek 2. That stock saddle was pretty horrific to me because it caused awful chafing... (TMI, I know).

I'm going to need a cigarette! :-)

for that distance you find swapping drop bars will get you faster again, and still provide some upright positions. I did that with my bike, it's a pain but I'm a drop bar guy, and there's nothing wrong with that :-)

sweet book case - i've got the exact same one with the bookends too! oh! and nice ride

Pretty bike! And insulated H2O bottles RULE.

+1 And shows up well at night too!

Great looking bike! I'm tired of all the advertizing on products. Love those orange bags!