Giant Escape 3 vs Carrera Crossfire 1/2 or Parva

Robin-o'-the-Hood

Hello. Long story short: bike stolen from outside house while on phone to CMS again. Need to replace but not much money...so have pretty much narrowed it down by necessity to the above Giant (£299) Crossfire 1 (£249), Crossfire 2 (£299) or Carrera Parva (£199)

(also looking at a 2nd hand Trek at £250 but seller hasn't put frame size or model in the advert so waiting to hear back)

Does anyone have good bikelore to share on these?

PS apart from trying the bike on to see how it fits, as I'm 5'8.5" (the 0.5" is important to me) with inside leg of 30" what frame size should I really be looking at...I can't remember what my stolen bike was...it just fitted. (A v.old Carrera Fury I bought second hand)

Thanks to anyone who give me any tips

Robin-o'-the-Hood

Also looking at a Claud Butler Explorer?

AndyBSG

What is the bike being used for?

Unless you're doing serious off roading(i.e with jumps and drops) there's really no need for suspension that just adds weight, cost and just saps energy and speed.

So by default that would leave you with the Giant as the Parva really isn't that good at all.

Other ones to consider are the Claud Butler El Camino, Claud Butler Urban and Dawes Discovery.

The giant is a decent bike at that price point though.

Robin-o'-the-Hood

AndyBSG wrote: »

What is the bike being used for?

Unless you're doing serious off roading(i.e with jumps and drops) there's really no need for suspension that just adds weight, cost and just saps energy and speed.

So by default that would leave you with the Giant as the Parva really isn't that good at all.

Other ones to consider are the Claud Butler El Camino, Claud Butler Urban and Dawes Discovery.

The giant is a decent bike at that price point though.

Thanks. The 2nd hand Trek is a 3 and a half year old 8.3DS '38 inches from floor to handlebars' but I'm not sure what frame size that equates to.
I'm using it for a 10 mile round trip commute and roads/tracks which is why I was looking for a hybrid.

AndyBSG

Robin-o'-the-Hood wrote: »

I'm using it for a 10 mile round trip commute and roads/tracks which is why I was looking for a hybrid.

Definitely don't need suspension forks then, they'll just slow you down, add weight and be something else that needs maintenance.

Pretty much any of the bikes I mentioned plus the Giant you were looking at would suit your needs.

The El Camino and Discovery can be picked up for as little as £250 if you're happy to buy online.

Personally i'd pay the bit extra and go for the Escape though as Giant are known for being pretty good value for entry level bikes

Robin-o'-the-Hood

AndyBSG wrote: »

Definitely don't need suspension forks then, they'll just slow you down, add weight and be something else that needs maintenance.

Pretty much any of the bikes I mentioned plus the Giant you were looking at would suit your needs.

The El Camino and Discovery can be picked up for as little as £250 if you're happy to buy online.

Personally i'd pay the bit extra and go for the Escape though as Giant are known for being pretty good value for entry level bikes

Great advice thank you. (The Trek's owner was 6' tall while I'm 5'8 so suspect would be too big for me)

Robin-o'-the-Hood

This might be academic now as its possible - just possible - that my bike has been recovered by the Policemanists