Sefutau2020
Well-Known Member
- Region
- USA
- City
- Northern VA
First impressions of the Giant Roam E+ are that it is a great bike. I liken it to a Dodge Durango SRT. I got rid of two bikes I love, a 2015 Raleigh Willard 2 (my favorite bike of all time) and a 2021 Trek Verve 3, which I had just purchased 3 months prior.
I first used the bike in “auto” mode, which yielded 6.3 miles per bar on the battery meter. The bike is pretty heavy, so I purchased a kickstand (a first for any bike I’ve owned), but well worth it. I also changed out the saddle to Velmia Touring, which makes for additional cushioning in the rear as I go over bumps. This bike is extremely fun and easy to ride. The 700x45c tires, roll well on pavement, and inspire me to ride anywhere. I mostly ride paved trails and on the road. I never ride single track or gravel roads.
Now for the best part. As I have gotten older, well north of 50 years of age, it has been harder to ride the same distances as I once did. Also, hills are really the killer, and in my neighborhood, there are several I have to tackle before I arrive home after a long ride (usually 30 miles). With the Roam, I initially tried the auto mode, which made riding extremely fun, and going up hills was absolutely no problem. It does appear the motor hits a wall at 20 mph and the bike doesn’t seem to coast as well in Auto mode, if you go over the 20 mph limiter. I am fairly an active rider….usually 5 or 6 rides per week. My second ride, I wanted to see how far I could go in Eco mode. For me, being a large frame man, 6’3 and north of 250 lbs, I was able to average 16 miles per bar…consistently. This means, I could ride in Eco Mode for roughly 80 miles. That to me was great. I also noticed in Eco mode, the bike coasted much better down hills, and this will be the mode I ride in. You can definitely get a good workout in Eco Mode. I only notice the boost while going up hills. So for all of the folks that think E-bikes are cheating, I would disagree vehemently. With pedal assist, you still have to pedal to get the bike moving, but I realized something in addition to that, you can go farther, investigating more areas on a ride, without worrying about running out of energy to get home. I hope this helps some folks out there.
For me, Giant hit it out of the park with the 2021 Roam E+ GTS….well done.
I first used the bike in “auto” mode, which yielded 6.3 miles per bar on the battery meter. The bike is pretty heavy, so I purchased a kickstand (a first for any bike I’ve owned), but well worth it. I also changed out the saddle to Velmia Touring, which makes for additional cushioning in the rear as I go over bumps. This bike is extremely fun and easy to ride. The 700x45c tires, roll well on pavement, and inspire me to ride anywhere. I mostly ride paved trails and on the road. I never ride single track or gravel roads.
Now for the best part. As I have gotten older, well north of 50 years of age, it has been harder to ride the same distances as I once did. Also, hills are really the killer, and in my neighborhood, there are several I have to tackle before I arrive home after a long ride (usually 30 miles). With the Roam, I initially tried the auto mode, which made riding extremely fun, and going up hills was absolutely no problem. It does appear the motor hits a wall at 20 mph and the bike doesn’t seem to coast as well in Auto mode, if you go over the 20 mph limiter. I am fairly an active rider….usually 5 or 6 rides per week. My second ride, I wanted to see how far I could go in Eco mode. For me, being a large frame man, 6’3 and north of 250 lbs, I was able to average 16 miles per bar…consistently. This means, I could ride in Eco Mode for roughly 80 miles. That to me was great. I also noticed in Eco mode, the bike coasted much better down hills, and this will be the mode I ride in. You can definitely get a good workout in Eco Mode. I only notice the boost while going up hills. So for all of the folks that think E-bikes are cheating, I would disagree vehemently. With pedal assist, you still have to pedal to get the bike moving, but I realized something in addition to that, you can go farther, investigating more areas on a ride, without worrying about running out of energy to get home. I hope this helps some folks out there.
For me, Giant hit it out of the park with the 2021 Roam E+ GTS….well done.
