I've gotten used to shifting, and love almost everything about this bike now. I commute to class with it every day, and use it to go grocery shopping.
The only real problem with it I still have is the rack. The "minimalist" design of the rack really limits functionality as well as options when it comes to attaching panniers, rack bags, or rear baskets. Of course there is no option to use any kind of bag that would require a flat bed on top. You are limited to panniers that can attach to the rack bars. The rack bars themselves also suffer from a couple of problems. First, the rack is angled, giving any basket or pannier you attach to it limited support. In the case of a wire frame basket, this could actually result in an eventual bending of the frame of the basket. Second, the rack bars are too low to accommodate some panniers that require you to use some sort of bungee system that keeps the bag secure by fastening onto the bottom of a traditional rack, using tension to make sure the pannier stays put. This is most grocery panniers out there. It seems you would probably be limited to using more expensive types of panniers that have a more advanced hook system. The only grocery panniers with this type of fastening system I could find are from Ortlieb, and they run from $100-$140.
There isn't much of an option to add your own rack to this bike, because there are no eyelets to mount one, and the integrated rack gets in the way of most other types of racks that might clamp on to the seat stay. I think Giant should have left this rack out of their design, and instead have just mounted the fenders on with something more lightweight, and give people the option to add their own rack if they want to use one. Or I should have gone with a similar bike that comes with a better rack.
