Giant Escape R1

eirebhoy

I went into Penny Farthing today on Wexford street and was mainly looking at the Dawes Discovery bikes. They had the Discovery 401 at €560 and that's pretty much bang on my budget. He said that if I'm looking at spending that I should probably go for the Giant Escape R1. I asked him the price and he said it was €560 as well. Probably a case of him knowing how much I was willing to spend. He mentioned the hydraulic brakes as an advantage over the Dawes.

Anyway, this place have it for €530:
http://www.cyclesuperstore.ie/shop/pc/viewPrd.asp?idproduct=20953&IDCategory=38

So anyway I just want to see if I'm getting the best value for my money. I'll be using the government tax free scheme. Would this be a good choice for my budget of €550?

I mainly use the bike for work but also any little trips I make I use the bike. A hybrid bike is exactly what I'm looking for. I'm using a heap of junk at the moment and still manage to fly along so I won't know what hit me when I actually have a naturally fast bike.

stuf

Just from personal experience I wouldn't p!ss on Penny Farthing if they were on fire. One of the worst bike shops in Dublin and it's my local.

Cycle Superstore is conversely one of the best and will give you solid advice based on your needs although they will push Lapierre bikes a bit more as they are the sole dealer for Ireland (the country not the island to avoid geopolitical squabbles) and have better margins on them.

Bottom line is Cycle Superstore sell good bikes well - Penny Farthing sell good and bad bikes badly.

eirebhoy

That's the problem though I'd go into Cycle Superstore and ask if the Escape R1 is the best for my budget and they'll try to sell me a Lapierre.

petethedrummer

well they can't force you! Buy the one you like the look of, you'll be more inclinced to take care of it.

DirkVoodoo

Why would you be afraid about them pushing Lapierre? To the uninformed it might seem unfair, but you clearly want a Giant and its not like you HAVE to buy lapierre if you go to them. A mate of mine, big mountain biker and used to work in Hollingsworth is a big fan of Lapierre, he has an RCR500 (white with tiagra) and I have to say it looks fantastic. They sponsor a pro team too so its not like you would be buying a "Land Rover" bike.

495 gets you the RCR100, cracking machine (no discs, its more like a flat bar road bike):

eirebhoy

DirkVoodoo wrote: »

Why would you be afraid about them pushing Lapierre?

I just want an honest unbiased opinion. Cheers for the recommendation.

Would discs have a big advantage over the normal rubber breaks? The normal breaks don't tend to last long for me.

DirkVoodoo

Ah yeah no worries. The only thing I don't like about the RCR100 is the grips used to be this kind of foam material as opposed to rubber. A bit cheap but you could get the shop to swap them for you before you buy.

I honestly have never used discs. I got a mountain bike which has yes to be used, but I did go for a spin up and down my road and they were obviously a lot more effective than caliper brakes.

Disc pads need to be replaced too, and I would imagine they are more expensive than rubber blocks. I have never had too much trouble with stopping power on calipers, but some people put a lot of emphasis on having them around town. Whatever makes you happier I guess but there are pros and cons to each setup.

The escape would be more on the "mountain" side of Hybrids while the RCR with its 2200 setup would be more "road" oriented.

neilled

What about getting a dawes from the UK? A quick google will show many bargins and the bike to work scheme dosn't specify that the bike has to be bought within Ireland. The 601 is a tasty looking machine if you ask me............
Also on my list would be the Giant CRS (the alliance version seems to be on sale in a few UK online stores) FCR's as well.


If i was buying a hybrid again at any time in the future I wouldn't bother with trek again. Don't get me wrong, great bikes and I love mine to bits all that but their bricks and mortar only sales means that you can't get any good online discounts and when there's a bargain going somewhere non local there's diddley squat chance of you getting your hands on one unless you pick it up.

eirebhoy

neilled wrote: »

What about getting a dawes from the UK? A quick google will show many bargins and the bike to work scheme dosn't specify that the bike has to be bought within Ireland.

Any idea how the Vat would work on this? I wouldn't have to pay any tax at all?

neilled

eirebhoy wrote: »

Any idea how the Vat would work on this? I wouldn't have to pay any tax at all?

I assume it works the same way as it would through the revenue scheme - uk vat rate is currently 15.5% so you'd save on that and then your prsi presumably.

stuf

TBH - I don't think the Lapierre bias is that bad in CS - I don't really know because I went in looking for the RCR100 and came out with the RCR100. They are an honest bunch and won't sell what you don't need. I've had experience of been dissuaded from buying certain parts from CS and given advice to allow me to think about whether it was something I really wanted.

Also - you don't need disk brakes unless you're going to be riding through mud on a regular basis - that's an example of Penny Farthing trying to sell you something you don't need. Disk brakes require more maintenance and would be harder to work on yourself

eirebhoy

Cheers. The RCR100 was actually the bike I had my eye on first. That's after jumping to my first choice again.

stuf

eirebhoy wrote: »

Cheers. The RCR100 was actually the bike I had my eye on first. That's after jumping to my first choice again.

It's a great bike for the money and moves like sh!t off a shovel when you're not used to anything better.