New Hybrid - Orbea vs Giant

tobdom

Looking at getting a new Hybrid bike on the B2W scheme. Already have a decent road bike so looking to get a hybrid to stick a child carrier on the back.

Looking at options in & around the €500 mark, not much more. Have been looking at the Orbea Carpe (30 / 40) models and the Giant Escape (3).

Any particular opinions or advice, good or bad for these options?

on_the_nickel

tobdom wrote: »

Looking at getting a new Hybrid bike on the B2W scheme. Already have a decent road bike so looking to get a hybrid to stick a child carrier on the back.

Looking at options in & around the €500 mark, not much more. Have been looking at the Orbea Carpe (30 / 40) models and the Giant Escape (3).

Any particular opinions or advice, good or bad for these options?

No idea about the model but I've had loads of Orbea road bikes and don't have anything but good things to say about them.

Fian

I have an orbea vector 20 hybrid bike and it is great. got it recently when my previous trek hybrid got to the point that repairs were going to outweigh the cost of replacement.

Great hydraullic disc brakes - they feel just as good as my ultegra disc brakes on my road bike. The sora gearset also works a treat.

Reasonably light and unlike alot of hybrids it has decently high gear ratios - I think it goes to 50/11.

I'm really delighted with it.

I see the carpe has a 42/11 gear ratio, which is a bit too low imo. The Giant is 48/14 - even lower again. On that basis, unless you would be comfortable to change the cassette to one with an 11 cog, I would go with the orbea as between the two. Though if you could stretch to a vector I would recommend it - Mine is €800 new but there are also cheaper models i think at €500 or so.

Edit - "Gearset" changed to "gear ratio"

tobdom

Thanks for the responses. The bike shop I've been considering my purchase with have just responded to me in relation to their recommendation for me, with regards to Giant vs Orbea in that price range..... "For you the Giant will be the better choice because of your height , as the Orbea Frameset we find is generally a smaller Fit and may not work 100% , so i would always advise the Giant for someone 6 foot 3 inches and over."

I'm a little over 6' 3" and I know that this guy knows his stuff, is trusted & recommended. That's likely to settle it for me I think. I'm not sure the gearing would be a major concern for me, nor am I too pushed about having disc brakes - I'm not likely to be doing too much in the wet or major speeds/downhill.......

Any additional perspectives still appreciated. Thanks!

Donie75

I had a look at a few hybrids myself lately in my local bike shop. I looked at the Trek FX2 Disc (€539) and the Giant Escape 2 Disc (€599).
I am looking for something a bit more upright for cycling a short commute to work and for spinning around town. Definitely trying to avoid a flat bar racer. I was very impressed with the Giant. The spec was very good with Hydraulic Disc brakes, etc. The Trek looked a little bit nicer but had mechanical discs.
I think I'm going to buy the Giant.

Fian

tobdom wrote: »

Thanks for the responses. The bike shop I've been considering my purchase with have just responded to me in relation to their recommendation for me, with regards to Giant vs Orbea in that price range..... "For you the Giant will be the better choice because of your height , as the Orbea Frameset we find is generally a smaller Fit and may not work 100% , so i would always advise the Giant for someone 6 foot 3 inches and over."

I'm a little over 6' 3" and I know that this guy knows his stuff, is trusted & recommended. That's likely to settle it for me I think. I'm not sure the gearing would be a major concern for me, nor am I too pushed about having disc brakes - I'm not likely to be doing too much in the wet or major speeds/downhill.......

Any additional perspectives still appreciated. Thanks!

I think you are absolutely right to choose a frame that fits you above other considerations. You might consider asking the guy in the shop about swapping out the cassette (the is the cogs on the back wheel) so that it has an 11 tooth cog on it. He might do that for free, cassettes are cheap.

tobdom

Have ordered this one!

http://www.marreybikes.com/men-s-hybrid-bikes/8231-giant-escape-3-men-s-hybrid-bike-2018.html

Didn't specifically want the red one (as opposed to black) but much shorter lead time on it, given I'm getting the XL frame anything I went for would have to be ordered in.

Thanks again for the responses!

Roberto_gas

Got my giant escape 2 city disc 2018 yesterday....very impressed with it...