What is a hybrid bike?
A hybrid bike is a cross-between road and mountain bike.
Just like mountain bikes:
Some hybrid bikes have front suspension and all have a wide range of gears (that allow you to ride uphill easily).
And unlike mountain bikes:
Hybrids have slimmer tyres (up to 50mm wide, although 42mm is common) and less suspension (up to 65mm vs. 100mm+ for mountain bikes).
Less suspension and slimmer tyres is what makes these bikes more efficient than a mountain bike.
There's less effort and more go.
The Giant Roam. The Liv Rove.
The Roam is an example of a super popular hybrid option.
Liv is Giant's women's division.
And the Rove is the women's equivalent of the Roam.
Giant has been making the Roam since 2010.
So they've got a huge amount of data on what components work, the geometry, the touch points for posture and how the bike should ride based on customer feedback.
Liv's engineers perfect the ergonomics for women.
Choosing the right Rove or Roam for you is easy:
One, choose which model you like (see below).
Then, selecting the correct size.
The Roam & Rove range.
For both bikes the range starts off at the Rove 4 and Roam 4.
7-speed gears. Front suspension. Hydraulic disc brakes.
These are just some of the features.
The 4 is perfect for fair weather recreational riders who just need a basic and reliable hybrid bike.
The Roam 3 and Rove 3 are excellent mid-range options.
8-speed gears. Front suspension with lockout. Hydraulic disc brakes.
8-speed gears will shift smoother than 7-speed. And 8-speed components tend to be a little more robust.
The Rove 2 and Roam 2, are upper mid-range recreation hybrids.
A 9-speed gearing system enhances smooth gear changes and delivers a wider range to climb up steeper gradients.
For MY2025, riders assessing the Rove 1 and Roam 1 will notice that there's 1 single front gear that is paired to 11 rear gears.
This makes maintenance easier (because there's less moving parts) and riders only have to focus on the back gears. Instead of juggling front and back.
New for 2025 is the use of RockShox's Paragon smooth air spring suspension fork.