Giant Roam (or Rove) E+ for gravel with hills, light off-road/trail?

[CCroft]

Hello all,
'Helping the wife choose her first ebike and this "adventure" style bike seems to check all the boxes for a good "all-around" bike.

My main concern is whether it has sufficient power/torque for some hilly gravel riding and occasional moderate hilly off-road (two-track) now and then. She took these kinds of rides on a friend's Giant 2017 ToughRoad e+ awhile back and really liked it, but it has 500w/80nM compared to 250w/50nM on the Roam. Then again she said she didn't end up using the highest assist levels even on the most difficult portions, so maybe the Roam's power would be adequate? From the reviews/comments I've read here on EBR sounds like people have been very satisfied with the bike.

'Any thoughts/experiences much appreciated!

 

[tammin]

Just picked up Rove STA E+ for my wife yesterday. I already have the Roam E+ GTS, so I was familiar with the bike. We test rode first, then pulled trigger. I've used my Roam on local single track and fire trails. Except for the absolutely steepest climb I have never felt like it needed more power. My Stance e+2 has enough grunt to go up anything, including one steep pitch that the Roam couldn't make. Then again, that's not what the Roam was built for. It does fine up any street hill I've thrown at it - I can't imagine it not being able to make it up any street hill. I don't think these bikes make very good off-road bikes. The suspension on the front is almost non-existent, so you have this heavy beast basically getting beat to crap on the trails. Also, my 2021 Roam has an Altus derailleur without a clutch, so I've dropped the chain a few times when I was dirt riding it. This year they went to a different off-brand derailleur that has a clutch and slightly different shifters (both the Roam and Rove).

FYI, re differences between Rove and Roam, there are some. For one, my wife's Rove size small uses a smaller wheelset than my Roam, which makes the standover/getting on/off height even better for her. Also, it looks to me like a different gear cluster than my Roam, with a larger 1st gear.
One fun thing about these two bikes is the batteries are interchangeable.