01-26-2024, 01:49 PM
The Giant Escape line of bikes has been around a few years now. With Giant the higher number the lower grade is in the lineup. Enter the Giant escape 3. 700c what I would call a sport fitness style hybrid bicycle. very popular for the masses from fitness to pleasure on pathways and light trails. I picked this up the other day becuase the price was right and purchased more than one bike for $150us. Not being able to pinpoint the exact year of this bike i do know from frame style it is 2016 or a couple years newer. I am not a big fan of the bang for the buck of newer entry to mid level bicycles nowadays but sooner or later bike guys like myself still have to deal with more modern fair from time to time.
What remains the same is new or old to me the better value is in finding a lightly used, used bike and refurbishing and upgrading a solid platform of a used bike. Like many other brands the Escape lineup has changed very little over the components the bike has and only the price of the bike new has gone up as much as 25% or more. So finding an older model and upgrading it has always made the most sense to me as far as value and many times coming in much cheaper than a new model plus mush better components and even add ons.
What I did not like about the bike was the components selection i.e. The Tourny line up from Shimano, Especially for the sticker $560 plus tax for a new one with the same equipment, the other was how Giant decided to run the cables and housing, housing running the length of the frame where ever it needed to go. What were they thinking of on that one? The came in @ 29lbs 14oz with a greenfield kickstand when i brought it home. I have steel bikes withe front shocks coming in lighter than than that.
The frame its self is pretty nice overall, slender and sleek looking except for all the cable housing and the tourney rear derailluer to bulk it up. So I took it upon myself to and ask, Can one take an entry level fitness bike and make it not only perform better, but look better and come in on the scales a tad lighter, plus come in at much lower in priceing compared to the newest model today.
Of my answer is yes, I believe I can, all the way down to the pedals. The upgrades will include; Pedals, lock-on grips, barends, F/R derailluers, Chain, Avid single digit5 V-brakes, Avid brake levers and a new revised cable/housing solution to full housing runs. With a target of $450us
Like the Gt Tachyon line The escape is a great platform to build up off of and for this Escape 3 it will be about as good as it can get and still be a practical upgrade and price range
Still waiting on some bits and pieces to come in so I can finish the build. I thought for fun i would measure just how much housing was used by Giant for this bike and WOW! a staggering 14ft of housing. I cannot remember the last time i used that much housing on a upper end Brand bike. I hope my idea of modifying this Escape will trim some of that fat down where it should be. The rims used are very nice at most any price range. Not a fan of the ef line of combo shift/levers so i decided to go with pods and the upper end Avid treatment for the brakes. Having the shifters and the brake levers separate makes the postioning more customizable. The New rear Derailluer looks much more sleek than the the Tourney did for sure, and the Avid Single Digit 5 brakes are much wanted improvement over the no name v's that came on it from the factory. The stock crank is straight and true without runout, so it will stay, Plus the bike has had very little use or wear.
What remains the same is new or old to me the better value is in finding a lightly used, used bike and refurbishing and upgrading a solid platform of a used bike. Like many other brands the Escape lineup has changed very little over the components the bike has and only the price of the bike new has gone up as much as 25% or more. So finding an older model and upgrading it has always made the most sense to me as far as value and many times coming in much cheaper than a new model plus mush better components and even add ons.
What I did not like about the bike was the components selection i.e. The Tourny line up from Shimano, Especially for the sticker $560 plus tax for a new one with the same equipment, the other was how Giant decided to run the cables and housing, housing running the length of the frame where ever it needed to go. What were they thinking of on that one? The came in @ 29lbs 14oz with a greenfield kickstand when i brought it home. I have steel bikes withe front shocks coming in lighter than than that.
The frame its self is pretty nice overall, slender and sleek looking except for all the cable housing and the tourney rear derailluer to bulk it up. So I took it upon myself to and ask, Can one take an entry level fitness bike and make it not only perform better, but look better and come in on the scales a tad lighter, plus come in at much lower in priceing compared to the newest model today.
Of my answer is yes, I believe I can, all the way down to the pedals. The upgrades will include; Pedals, lock-on grips, barends, F/R derailluers, Chain, Avid single digit5 V-brakes, Avid brake levers and a new revised cable/housing solution to full housing runs. With a target of $450us
Like the Gt Tachyon line The escape is a great platform to build up off of and for this Escape 3 it will be about as good as it can get and still be a practical upgrade and price range
Still waiting on some bits and pieces to come in so I can finish the build. I thought for fun i would measure just how much housing was used by Giant for this bike and WOW! a staggering 14ft of housing. I cannot remember the last time i used that much housing on a upper end Brand bike. I hope my idea of modifying this Escape will trim some of that fat down where it should be. The rims used are very nice at most any price range. Not a fan of the ef line of combo shift/levers so i decided to go with pods and the upper end Avid treatment for the brakes. Having the shifters and the brake levers separate makes the postioning more customizable. The New rear Derailluer looks much more sleek than the the Tourney did for sure, and the Avid Single Digit 5 brakes are much wanted improvement over the no name v's that came on it from the factory. The stock crank is straight and true without runout, so it will stay, Plus the bike has had very little use or wear.
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