Giant Cross City 2 off road ability

[Jigsawgirl]

I am shopping for a new bike after not riding for about 6 years. I like the Giant Cross City 2 https://www.giant-bicycles.com/au/cross-city-2, which at $599, seems like a good choice in my price range. I will be mostly sticking to bike paths and street use but living in Geelong I can see the need to do some dirt track / gravel type rail trail riding too. The Cross City has 32c tyres and I was wondering how these would go on rougher surfaces at a gentle pace?

My other option is a Mountain / hybrid like the Giant Roam 3 https://www.giant-bicycles.com/au/bikes-roam, which I don't like nearly as much, but with the 38c tyres, does seem more suited to the rail trail rides but much worse on the street / bike path.

Has anyone had any experience with the Cross City type commuter bike on varied terrain?

[fergy1987]

Buy to suit what you will be doing the most of.....if ur just crossing a gravel trail on your travels the cross city is fine.....riding a mountain style tread on a bikeway sucks.

[Jigsawgirl]

I guess I will go with my heart and go with the City Cross style hybrid. Not really fussed with the front suspension on the Roam, just seems like something else to go wrong on a lower priced bike.

So now I am also looking at the Reid Urban X2 https://www.reidcycles.com.au/urban-x2.html, but will have to wait till I get up to Melbourne to take a test ride. The Reid and the Giant are both about $600 and seem very similar except for the disc brakes (I am more than happy to have the older rim style anyway). Which do you think is the better option? The Reid is both slightly cheaper and has better gearing (I think), but I am not sure how the frame and build quality of the Reid compares to the Giant?

[Farmer Elvis]

Go the giant, don't worry about the disc brakes, for your riding the calipers will be fine, a lot easier to change if u get a flat and easier to service

[trailgumby]

Go the disc brakes if you want to be able to stop without soiling your knicks in wet weather.

Got caught in the rain with about 10 minutes to go on Sunday. Took several seconds for the water to be shed off the rims and the pads to finally bite and I ran over the line at the lights by a bike length or two.

Will be looking in earnest for a disc-braked roadie on my return from Europe in 3 weeks.

[Jigsawgirl]

Just purchased the Reid Urban X2. I had to ring around as there were only two left in Victoria in the large frame size. I test rode both the Reid (medium) and the Giant and they were very similar, the Reid was perhaps a little touchier on the handling. I also tested the Reid on cobbled laneways, and while a very rough ride it handled it well - and I can't imagine having to ride on anything rougher than that. In the end it came down to the Reid having better specs than the Giant, especially the 9 vs 8 speed and the better brakes, and the $50 cheaper price didn't hurt either.

Looking forward to going for a proper ride now that the weather is warming up. Thanks