Giant Via 1

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Comments:

I have a garage full of bikes; I'm a bike-a-holic, and I'm proud of it. Lately I've been riding my 2011 Giant Via-1 almost every day. The 3-speed hub makes it the perfect bike to run errands in town. This bike is very well suited to run to the bank, the grocery store, the farmers market, or to fetch a cup of coffee. I find that I'm cruising around at a leisurely average right about 12 mph in 2nd gear, and I can kick this up a bit – with a tailwind – to about 14-15 mph in 3rd. (If you have a longer, say 5+ miles, commute or you have to deal with substantial hills or winds, this probably isn't the bike for you; you'd probably want at least 5-6 different gear ratios to handle this sort of duty.) The bicycle was 90% set-up for "town-biking" right out of the shop with a nice set of color-matched, heavy-duty fenders and rack, a kickstand (yeah, hard to believe, but I LOVE the kickstand), a stout chain guard, plus a cool U-lock holding mechanism. I added an inexpensive tail- plus headlight, tossed some old panniers on the rack, and it's now a complete, gasoline-free urban transport system. Also considering that it's a DOUBLE-BUTTED steel frame, this bike really was a bargain. Speaking of bargains, if you're thinking about buying this bike to replace your car for trips around town, here are some interesting economics: I've figured that I'm easily saving about $0.30/mile relative to driving my Subaru, so by the time I get about 1,500 miles on this bike, it will have paid for itself! Even if you run, on average, one 5-mile errand every week, you'll have the bike paid for in about 5-6 years AND you'll be having fun and doing something good for your health and the environment, too. If you commute 5 miles every weekday, you've paid for the bike in a year. The bike looks darn cool. Giant brilliantly kept the stickers and labels to a very subtle, almost non-existence. There is only a Giant logo – no letters – on the head tube, a 1-inch "VIA" on the seat tube, and an almost imperceptible "Giant" embossed on the chain guard. Also, the seat stays are continuous from the rear axle to the seat tube to the head tube, so that they also form the top "tube." It looks like a design taken from the "mixte" frames of the 1970s, but much cooler, more masculine, and more functional. The Kenda Kwest tires – inflated to about 70psi – plus the steel frame give the bike a perfect ride. It definitely feels stiff enough to be reasonably efficient, but pliant enough to tame cracks and potholes in the road. It's fun to ride, and your groceries will arrive unscathed. There are only two minor detractions that bring my review down from 5 to 4 stars: The saddle is too soft, and I'll be replacing it with something else. Also, the Shimano 3-speed hub is just a little bit tricky to adjust "just right"; I have it working very well right now, but I had to fudge the adjustment outside of the Shimano specification just a bit. (And, well, maybe the old Shimano Nexus 4-speed would have been a tiny bit more useful.) Okay, so the bike should probably be rated at 4 1/2 stars. Whatever the rating, I love this bike, and I'll keep thinking of excuses to ride it and leave my car in the garage.