Giant Bicycle Inc. Bowery

Price Paid:  $250.00 at Cycle Paths

Model Year:
2007

Favorite Ride:
anything with hills

Bike Setup:
Changes from spec:
Saddle (selle italia), seat post (something a little lighter than the stock item), mudguards (tortech full guards), tyres (panaracer kevlar belted 23mm) and slime tubes.

Summary:
Having ridden fixies on and off for about 20 years, I do really like this bike. GIANT have done an excellent job with this machine. Being a single speed means its essence is in its simplicity, this is complimented well with its under-stated styling that GIANT have bestowed upon it. The ride is very smooth and quiet, with the forks and tyres (although budget items) complimenting the focus of the machine as a robust no frills about town bike / winter trainer. This is most definetely NOT a track bike and rides very differently from my GIANT Omnium. It is a great road fixie for the price.

I've rated the bike as a 4 as I think there is room for improvement, although the Bowery is greater than the sum of its parts.

Strengths:
> Really nice ride (smooth, quiet, rolls well)
> Wheels bearings run really smoothly
> Under stated styling
> Excellent value for money

Weaknesses:
Technically the bike isn't gonna win any awards in the workshop, and GIANT could easily make some small improvements to the Bowery to make it something really special. Issues I have with it include

1)The cranks are pretty cheap, drilled at 165mm from centre, but cranks arms are quite a bit longer, suggest cost cutting. Plus chainring appears very cheap.

2) 3/32 not 1/8 pitch (although probably easier/cheaper to change ratio as chainring is 130 PCD (Shimano) and 3/32 rings are cheaper than 1/8)

3) The chain doesn't appear to be a proper single speed chain, but just a length of 8/9 speed chain - how long it will last on a fixie I will find out.

4) Fixed/fixed NOT fixed/free hub (not too clever for using the freewheel)

5) The use of the 26mm tyres means very difficult to fit mudguards, I've changed to 23mm tyres so I can fit guards.

6) No mudguard or rack mounts on the rear of the frame, although mudguard bosses on front forks (go figure??).

7) I'm not relishing fixing a rear wheel puncture on the road, with all those adjusters and nuts. I've fitted kevlar belted tyre and slime tubes.

8) The stearing is a slow, but as stated it aint no track bike

Similar Products Used:
Arthur Caygill 853 track bike (miche / campag components)
Giant Omnium track bike (miche / campag components)
531c coverted to fixie (components: what I could find)

Price Paid:  $515.00 at LBS

Model Year:
2007

Favorite Ride:
Any

Summary:
Bought to replace a converted road bike FG. It was between a new frame with old components or this. I've ridden 20 hrs on it already and it's a solid choice- I was able to dial in my setup and it's comfortable and stiff. My longest ride has been 2.5 hrs on it and no roblems. My only changes to it were my saddle and pedals.

Strengths:
Great, solid FG, feels durable, exactly what you need for winter training. Road angles for road training, 2-3 hrs on a FG with track angles is not comfortable.

Weaknesses:
The only thing that I could think of is maybe the cranks, functional but ugly.

Similar Products Used:
Bianchi pista, converted road bike

Price Paid:  $515.00 at LBS

Model Year:
2007

Favorite Ride:
Any

Summary:
Bought to replace a road bike converted to a FG. It was between a new frame with old components or this. I've ridden 20 hrs on it already and it's a solid choice- I was able to dial in my setup and is comfortable and stiff. My longest ride has been 2.5 hrs on it and no roblems. My only changes to it was my saddle and pedals.

Strengths:
Great, solid FG, feels durable, exactly what you need for winter training. Road angles for road training, 2-3 hrs on a FG with track angles is not comfortable.

Weaknesses:
The only thing that I could think of is maybe the cranks, functional but ugly.

Similar Products Used:
Bianchi pista, converted road bike

Price Paid:  $250.00 at ebay

Model Year:
2006

Bike Setup:
Stock factory components.

Summary:
As stated earlier reviews, this is not a track bike; My crit bike has much quicker handling. It is however an excellent value and a solid, fun, competent fixed-gear road bike.

Strengths:
Great value for the money. Fun to just cruise around or commute on. No-name entry level components work just fine.

Weaknesses:
Slow handling. A little heavy. Not super responsive. If you want lightning quick responsive track bike handling, get a real track bike.

Similar Products Used:
1970's Paris Sport track bike (mucho fun).

Price Paid:  $0.00

Model Year:
2007

Summary:
Solid commuter rig. Essentially a single speed road bike or fixed that is practical as a daily rider because of the road bike geometry and conveniences like dual water bottle mounts. It's NOT a track racer, it's more like a single speed commuter, so don't be disappointed by the 21+ pounds that this rig weighs in at. The Giant website photo is deceiving because this bike looks different in real life: has f/r brakes and levers mounted, lame chainguard installed, and fork blade is straight not curved like in photo. I bought this as a commuter rig for my daily 16 mile roundtrip commute and it's been solid and smooth. Parts are super heavy, but I'll take the durabilty and low bling factor for what I need it for. Bike cleans up nicely once you strip off the chainguard and stickers.

Strengths:
- Affordable
- Good geometry (same as Giant road bikes)
- Chain tugs included
- Comes with brakes and levers
- Comes with freewheel and fixed cog
- Water bottle mounts
- 48:18 makes a good commuter gear
- Burly 700x26c tires, smooths out the pot holes nicely
- cromo fork makes curb hops feel doable
- Solid 36h wheel/rims

Weaknesses:
- Only weakness is the weight really, but like I said it's a 21 pounder commuter city rig, not a racer
- Wish it had rack mounts like the Langster, but that's me, not everyone will care about that

Similar Products Used:
Bianchi Pista