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Giant bikes come in a variety of styles that are perfect for city streets.
Whichever way you like to ride to work, and however slow or fast, there’s a Giant commuter bike for you!
In this article, we’ll see what commuter bikes the world’s largest bike maker has to offer.
What Makes A Good Bike For Commuting?
The best attributes a bike can have for commuting depend somewhat on who you are, why you’re cycling into work, and what route you’ll take.
We’ll look at some useful features now.
Comfort
In a commuter bike, one crucial determinant of comfort is the bike’s frame geometry.
If the angles and lengths of tubing in a frame place you in an upright position, you’ll feel comfortable riding into work over shorts distances of a few miles.
Other bike components, like the handlebar, the saddle and the tires all play a major role in riding comfort.
A swept-back handlebar that reaches back to the rider allows an upright posture and eliminates wrist or hand strain.
Wider tires can be run at lower pressures, hence they soak up vibrations from the road and add comfort.
Saddles are a personal thing with respect to comfort.
They may be too narrow, too wide, too padded, or not padded enough.
Some comfort factors depend on individual anatomy and the clothing you are likely to wear on a commute.
Strength & Durability
Commuter bikes are usually practical bikes, built to last.
Choice of frame material is mostly irrelevant, so anything from a cheap steel frame to an expensive carbon one might be suitable for a commute.
The above being said, performance attributes like lightness and stiffness are usually of secondary importance in a commuter bike.
Commuters often need strong wheels with plenty of spokes and double-wall rims.
This is especially true if you’re a heavier rider or intend carrying much luggage on the bike.
You can assume a high standard of reliability from Giant.
Speed
Speed doesn’t sound like an important feature in a commuter bike.
But, if you can ride quickly, you can also ride farther and may be inspired to get fitter.
These things matter to a proportion of commuters, some of whom are also competitive cyclists.
A fast bike is usually a road bike, but some bike types are inherently quicker than others.
Other Features
Some bike features are useful to most commuters.
These include fenders and a cargo rack (or at least the eyelets that allow you to install them), reflectors, and bottle mounts for attaching bottle cages.
Rarely, you might find commuter bikes with extras like bells or dynamo-driven lights.
Normally, manufacturers leave the smaller details for the cyclist to add.
3 Best Giant Bikes For Commuting
Below, we’ll show you three very different Giant bikes that are all great for commuting.
Which you’ll prefer will depend on what type of cyclist you are, or want to be.
1. Giant Escape Disc 2 Commuter Bike
An urban all-rounder that you’ll love riding to work is the Giant Escape Disc 2 Commuter Bike.
This bike offers great value for money with its lightweight ALUXX aluminum frame, dependable Shimano gears, powerful disc brakes and robust puncture-resistant tires.
To color in some of the above detail, this bike has twin 30/46t chainrings at the front and an 8-speed 11-34t cassette at the rear.
At the lowest end, that gives you some incredibly easy gear ratios for tackling hills.
The wide gear range is especially useful if you need to add luggage to the Giant Escape 2, which is possible via the integrated rack mounts.
Fix a rack to this bike and let it take the weight of your work gear!
You’ll find plenty of strength in the double-wall, 28H aluminum wheels laced with strong 14g (2mm) stainless-steel spokes.
These are fitted with wide 38c (38mm) tires for comfort, with enough clearance for you to go up to 45c if desired.
What We Like
- Components – reliable Shimano and Tektro parts.
- Gears – a versatile gear range for easy climbing or fast flat riding.
- Frame – high-quality, lightweight frame.
What We Don’t Like
- Tires – durable tires, but slow with high rolling resistance.
2. Giant Contend 3 Road Bike
An inexpensive road bike for commuting is the Giant Contend 3.
This bike is built around an excellent aluminum frame with a well-balanced geometry for endurance and speed.
Among its features is Giant’s D-Fuse technology, which helps deliver a smooth ride.
This is a bike for faster or longer commutes.
It comes with Shimano Claris gears, which are low on Shimano’s hierarchy but include the same style of integrated gear and brake levers found on expensive bikes.
With its 11-34t Shimano cassette and 34/50t compact FSA crankset, the Contend 3 offers a hill-killing 1:1 gear ratio at the lowest end.
And it gives you a fairly big gear to push on flat roads for speedy commutes.
Despite its caliper brakes, this bike offers clearance for tires up to 30mm and comes with 700x28c tires installed.
This bike is fun and fast to ride and might have you taking the long route into work!
Video: Giant D-Fuse Technology
What We Like
- Geometry – well balanced for endurance and speed.
- Gears – a low 1:1 gear ratio will help you over any hill.
- Dampening – D-Fuse technology in the seat post.
What We Don’t Like
- Wheels – Giant S-R3 wheelset (24H, 20H) is not ideal for bigger loads.
3. Giant Talon 2 Hardtail 29er Mountain Bike
If you were going to pick an MTB for commuting, the Giant Talon 2 Hardtail 29er Mountain Bike would be a fine choice.
Although it also comes in 27.5” sizes, the 29er model with tires switched to slicks has excellent potential as a commuter.
Of course, if your commute is short, you can just use the tires the bike comes with, maybe going off-road a bit onto light trails or forest paths.
The 29er version (29” wheels) has a front suspension fork with 100mm of travel and lockout.
As with many MTBs, the gear range on the Giant Talon 2 is wide.
A 32t chainring at the front drives a 9-speed, 11-42t cassette at the rear.
So, you’ll have no trouble on hilly commutes or any urban incline.
This bike has sturdy double-wall alloy wheel rims, each laced with 32 stainless steel spokes and installed with 2.2” Kenda Booster wire-bead tires.
What We Like
- Frame – high-quality ALUXX aluminum frame (again).
- Gears – some extremely low gears for hill-climbing.
- Lockout – lock out front suspension on the road for more efficiency.
What We Don’t Like
- Pedals – cheap stock pedals are ripe for an immediate upgrade.
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