My wife is purchasing a ladies giant crs for going touring. Is this bike up to the job? Can anyone speak from experience and let me know if this is a wise buy
Any information appreciated
Fred
Experience of ladies giant crs
My other half has one (can't remember which model - the £250 one) for commuting/general purpose. It's fairly solid but I don't think I'd recommend it for touring, I'll give a run down as to why:
1. Step through frame is very heavy
2. Rear rack had to be fixed to one of those seat-clamp adaptors (although it does have front rack mounts) - I can't remember if it was because there were no rack braze ons or just because they were too low or made redundant by their location in relation to the back brake (very common I've found on a number of bikes!).
3. Gears on this cheaper model are pretty poor - she was used to using Shimano Sora on her road bike and finds the shifters and in particular the front mech pretty poor by comparison. I've promised that parts will be upgraded as they wear out!
4. Geometry is just a bit too 'sit up and beg' so any headwind is a real battle and comfort is an issue on longer rides with all the weight on the saddle.
5. Handlebars are angled back so not suitable for bar ends to give different hand positions - they'd need changing.
She's happy with it but when I said that she could use it for our up coming French tour (which will be a lightweight trailer towing outing), she said that the difference was night and day with the road bike (a Giant SCR3W) and being unloaded, would use that.
I have to say, I've seen a few people touring on Ridgeback hybrids around this area and they always look very sturdy and great value for money - good range too. Perhaps worth a look.
Hope this helps.
1. Step through frame is very heavy
2. Rear rack had to be fixed to one of those seat-clamp adaptors (although it does have front rack mounts) - I can't remember if it was because there were no rack braze ons or just because they were too low or made redundant by their location in relation to the back brake (very common I've found on a number of bikes!).
3. Gears on this cheaper model are pretty poor - she was used to using Shimano Sora on her road bike and finds the shifters and in particular the front mech pretty poor by comparison. I've promised that parts will be upgraded as they wear out!
4. Geometry is just a bit too 'sit up and beg' so any headwind is a real battle and comfort is an issue on longer rides with all the weight on the saddle.
5. Handlebars are angled back so not suitable for bar ends to give different hand positions - they'd need changing.
She's happy with it but when I said that she could use it for our up coming French tour (which will be a lightweight trailer towing outing), she said that the difference was night and day with the road bike (a Giant SCR3W) and being unloaded, would use that.
I have to say, I've seen a few people touring on Ridgeback hybrids around this area and they always look very sturdy and great value for money - good range too. Perhaps worth a look.
Hope this helps.