Giant Anyroad Comax

[Chad Kirby]

Not too long ago, I discovered the Giant Anyroad bike. There are a few Aluminum-frame models, but I was interested in the 'CoMax' composite-frame model, which comes outfitted with an 11-speed 105 drivetrain at a list price of $1900.

Two things about this bike caught my eye. First, although they sell it with 32mm tires, the frame has clearance for 42mm tires with room to spare. Second, the stack/reach ratio is quite high. I care about the stack/reach ratio because I have long legs for my height, my neck doesn't much care for the typical racing posture (I literally broke my neck 15 years ago), and I have developed shoulder problems that seem to be exacerbated by long cockpits. On every single road bike in the world, I have to use a 0 offset seat post, and some ridiculously short mountain-bike-looking stem to get anywhere close to the cockpit that I want. 

But, whaddya know, Giant actually makes a stock size M frame with ~600mm stack and ~360mm reach. (By comparison, the smallest Diverge frame has 526/378 stack/reach; a 56cm Diverge has 590/387 stack/reach; my NFE is 587/386.) But I think Giant is kind of embarrassed about this geometry, as they seem to be marketing it as a sort of beginner's bike. My favorite LBS carries Giant, but they don't stock the Anyroad and suggested some cyclocross model when I asked about it. It seems to be a pretty stealthy model.

So, carbon frame, wide tires, neck/shoulder-friendly geometry, 105 drivetrain, not too expensive (all things considered)--sign me up! I picked up the bike on Friday and have put about 85 miles on it so far. First thing I did was replace the tires with a pair of Barlow Pass extralights that I got a few years ago, but didn't put may miles on because that frame didn't quite have enough clearance. As you can see in the second photo, the Anyroad has a ton of clearance at the narrowest point (the BB). 

Generally, I'm really pleased with this purchase. I think it's going to stick around in my stable for some time. I think the Anyroad Comax is a lot of bike for the buck, and I hope that Giant keeps making it. But of course, it has some problems/nits (most of which are solvable, as you'll see).

First, the BB is pretty high for a road bike. I measure about 60mm BB drop, which makes kind of a long reach to get your toe on the ground at stoplights. (OTOH, I probably won't clip my pedals as often as I do on the NFE.)

Second, there's a fair bit of toe overlap. I measure the front-center at about 589mm. With 172.5mm crank arms, and 700x38mm tires, there's definitely potential for your foot to hit the tire during low speed maneuvers.

Third, the stock wheels are quite heavy.

But in these problems, I saw an opportunity. To make a long story short, I was able to lower the BB, eliminate toe overlap, and take over 1lb of weight off the bike by swapping the boat-anchor 700c wheels with a nice set of svelte 650b wheels (with PD-8 dynamo hub) and 42mm pari-motos. (See, this post is relevant to 650b after all.) 

The only downside to running 650b wheels is that the chain stays look a bit long when there's 40mm of empty space between the seat tube and the rear tire. But when winter comes again, I'm sure the fenders will fill enough of that empty space.

Of course, there are a few nits that the 650b wheels won't solve, such as the weird sloping top tube that you can't sit on no matter what, and the aggressive graphics that I don't care much for.

And it's not a featherweight. As I'm currently riding it, it weighs 22lbs with 650x42 tires, a dynamo hub and headlight, eggbeater pedals, and a small seat pack with patch kit, spare tube, and a couple tools.

Anyway, I know that the Anyroad is a little unusual for this forum, but few people seem to have heard of this bike, and Giant has build a pretty interesting take on a modern disc-brake 650b performance bike (even if Giant doesn't realize it). 

[cyclotourist]

A great review, Chad. Thanks for writing it up. You're right, it's a bike I didn't know was out there, and looks like a well thought out and accessible bike. Hopefully Giant dealers will be carrying it regularly! 

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Cheers,
David

Member, Supreme Council of Cyberspace

"it isn't a contest. Just enjoy the ride." - Seth Vidal

[Ed Braley]

Nice! Seems like an easy and advantageous conversion to 650B for this bike.

 

What 650B wheels are you running? Is the rear hub compatible with 11 speed road cassettes?

 

And I would say that the weight is respectable given the lighting and tool bag.

 

Ed.

[Mark McGrath]

This looks great!  More details on the wheelset  you used to make the conversion - rims, hubs, tires please.

[William Lindsay]

22lbs all-in with Dynamo lighting and your repair kit is plenty respectable. Congrats and bravo for seeing the opportunity and making a much better bike for yourself. How's the TCO with 650x42b ? Is it gone?

[Chad Kirby]

The wheels are my 'cheapskate-weenie' build. Light-bicycle RM650BC09
carbon mountain-bike rims, 32 Sapim D-light spokes, PD-8 dynamo hub,
BHS MTB270 rear hub (10/11 speed). I took these wheels off my NFE (for
now), and I left the 42mm Pari-moto tires on.

Toe overlap is not a problem with these wheels/tires, although there's
probably less than a mm of clearance between my toe and the tire at
the closest point. If/when fenders go on, toe overlap will be a thing
again.

I forgot to mention one really strange choice Giant made: although the
bike has fender-mount eyelets, there is no threaded insert at the
bottom bracket, so there is no way to secure the end of the rear
fender. Really!!!??? I have some ideas about how to engineer my way
around this limitation, but it's pretty inexplicable.

And the other thing I want to change is the crank. The bike comes with
a standard 105 compact crank: 50/34. I'd like to replace it with
something closer to 44/30, but I don't know if there are solutions
that'll be compatible with the 105 11-speed brifter.

On Tue, Jul 5, 2016 at 7:31 AM, William Lindsay <tape...@gmail.com> wrote:
> 22lbs all-in with Dynamo lighting and your repair kit is plenty respectable. Congrats and bravo for seeing the opportunity and making a much better bike for yourself. How's the TCO with 650x42b ? Is it gone?
>

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[William Lindsay]

That is a bummer that they didn't spec a rear fender attachment point at the BB. I believe that both White VBC and Compass cranks might work with your brifters. Also ChainReaction has 44/30 XTR mountain cranks in 172.5 for under $330 with a BB included.

[Mick]

I have the White Industries with 46/30 rings and it works very well with my Shimano 11.

Mick

[Chad Kirby]

Thanks for the input. I can think of a couple crank options.

In any event, I'll stick with a 46t big ring because any smaller, and
I probably can't lower the front derailleur far enough because carbon
frame!

Option #1: White Ind. VBC crank (~$400) + bottom bracket???
This bike has a Shimano Press-fit something or other bottom bracket
(that has started creaking like mad after 100 miles, effing press
fit), so I'm pretty sure I'd need a new BB to use the VBC crank. But I
don't know exactly what BB I'd need. With the existing 11-32 cassette,
that'd give me something like 25-110 gear inches, which I'd probably
rarely use the biggest combination.

Option #2: Ultegra 46/36 crank (<$200) with 36 chainring replaced with
my current 105 34 chainring. I can use the existing BB (assuming the
creak can be dealt with, hah hah hah). Then an IRC 12-36 cassette
(~$175) + Wolf Roadlink (~$20). That'd give me something like 25-100
gear inches, which is pretty close to the right range.

Of these options, #2 seems like a little more bang/buck.

[E Fong]

https://wickwerks.com/products/fit-link-adapter/

This product might allow you to lower the front derailleur enough for a smaller chainring depending upon the height of your attachment plate.  I was able to fit a 44T ring with a wee bit of grinding the derailleur.  A 46T ring wouldn't work on my bike with the Fit Link.  The braze on tab on my bike was originally set for 50-53T.   Good Luck!

[satanas]

Re gearing:
1. Middleburn make a set of 46x30 dedicated 11v rings in 94bcd, as well as a range of cranks, spiders and rings in various bcd combos.
2. Miche have 11v cassettes in 12-32 etc, and bike24.com carry a range. Custom ratios are also theoretically possible if you can find a stockist for the bits. (If anyone knows a source - anywhere! - for Miche 11v cogs, please post it here.)
3. Other smallish ring combos are out there for 104/64bcd cranks, 110/74 double (Sugino's OX series), and maybe others.

Later,
Stephen

[Chad Kirby]

I'm dealing with a BB86 BB, and as far as I can tell, that means I can't use a square-taper crankset. Rather, I think I'm limited to 24mm spindle Hollowtech II-type cranks. So, I think the Sugino OX901d is the only game in town. But it's kind of strange that the only source for that crankset I can find is an eBay seller.

[Stephen Poole]

alexscycle.com in Japan stock the OX901D too; try google's Japanese site for other sources. Note that many have used "10 speed" cranksets successfully with 11 speed; Lennard Zinn seems to think doing this is fine

Later,
Stephen

--

[Stephen Poole]

NB: Middleburn do 24mm spindle versions of their cranks, and there are removable spiders in various bcd sizes. Middleburn don't answer emails IME, so better to ask any questions of SJSC in the UK, who can supply too.

Later,
Stephen

[Kevin M]

Rotor mtb cranks are another (pricey) BB86 option. They currently have a 110/60bcd double crank, and their older cranks have removable sub-compact spiders in 110/74bcd.

You can also get 94bcd double spiders for Hollowtech cranks, but I don't think those are BB86 compatible. Frankly, I'm pretty confused by all the BB options these days. 

Kevin 

Been doing my research, in Madison, WI

[Stephen Poole]

Also, a few companies, including Rotor, Praxis Works, Wheels Manufacturing, etc, offer bottom brackets which allow some 30mm spindle cranks to fit BB86 shells. Square taper cranks won't work but many others will.

[Fred Blasdel]

On Sat, Jul 9, 2016 at 6:57 PM, Chad Kirby <chad....@gmail.com> wrote:

So, I think the Sugino OX901d is the only game in town. But it's kind of strange that the only source for that crankset I can find is an eBay seller.

The OX801d and OX601d are almost identical but with simpler finishes for cheaper 

[Chad Kirby]

I eventually decided to get a FSA SL-K 46/36 Megaexo (24mm) 110BCD crankset and replace the small ring with a 34. I also got an IRD 12-36 cassette and a Wolff tooth road link. Total cost was around $400 (and I have an almost-new 105 compact crank, which I'll probably sell, and 11-32 cassette, which I'll probably keep). 

So, I've got my ~25-100 gear inches, and the setup seems to be working ok over the past 60 miles or so.

The braze-on mount gives me just enough range to lower the FD to pretty close to where it wants to be for a 46 tooth big ring. The 11-spd 105 FD mech is doing ok with the 46-34 chainrings. The chain dropped off on a downshift once in the past 60 miles, but I'm hoping that it's not quite dialed in yet. I have a 10-speed CX-70 FD that is designed for the smaller chainring combination, but I think I'd have to come up with a 10-speed left brifter to make that work. I'm hoping I don't need to take that step.

On the back, the road link was easy to install and seems to work as advertised without too much fuss. I backed the b-screw all the way out, which seems to be the best position. I can't back-pedal from the smallest gear without the chain moving down a couple cogs, but that hasn't been a problem on the road (just on the work stand). 

It's pretty disconcerting that I now actually use my biggest gear (46-12) fairly regularly (whereas I've almost never used a 50-11 on any bike ever). But I think I'll get used to it. The only time I've tried to shift to a bigger gear was when I was lazily pedaling down a long hill, not trying to output any real power. I think I'll spin out around 35mph, which is fine.

At the bottom end, the 34-36 combination seems a pretty good compromise. I use that combination every day, if only when leaving/arriving home halfway up my 16% hill.

Short term, I don't have too many more big plans to change things (although I need a less squishy saddle). Someday, maybe I'll try to find someone to make a low-trail fork, which would let me run fenders without toe overlap and would be an improvement over the stock mid-trail handling.

[Scott Turnbull]

I have the same inseam issue (I loose nearly two inches of stack), but I have relatively long arms so I can ride a size up with regular stems, but the "size appropriate" bikes with long stems (e.g, 120mm) feel better.  Anyway I have been considering the CoMax model (new old stock) and do the 650b thing. I was curious how well did you find the frame pedalled.  I definitely prefer a lively frame.

[earlethomas]

I'm surprised no one's considering this low cost but groovy crankset: http://www.bikemania.biz/sugino-xd2-wide-low-double-crankset-40-32t.html and as to the aggressive graphics, why not just get a powdercoat in your choice of color? 

[Nikos Karanikas]

Perhaps you could check with “thecycleclinic.co.uk”.

Kind regards,
Nikos

[Nikos Karanikas]

Sorry if it is not clear, my message was for Stephen, regarding the Miche 11v cogs.

Kind regards,
Nikos

[Chad Kirby]

After 3500 miles, I’m still quite pleased with the Anyroad. Replace the stock wheels, and it rides real nice as far as I’m concerned. It seems eager to go when I ask it to. It’s not my #1 bike anymore, but it’s a real close second, and it’s still the bike I ride the most. I’d say go for it!

[Stevef]

It doesn't look in your pics as though you could fit a much bigger 650b tire in there-I'm hoping to buy a bike that will take a 48-51mm 650b tire at some point in the near future.  What do you think, Chad? 

Thanks, Steve

[Mark in Beacon]

That crank comes stock with wide low gearing, I don't think it gives the gearing the OP is looking for, and those rings won't work with the braze on derailleur. And I'm pretty sure powder coating a composite frame is...not a great idea.  

[Chad Kirby]

The Anyroad will comfortably fit 650x38 in back and 650x48 in front. If you want larger tires than that, this isn't the frame you're looking for.

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[Scott Turnbull]

I ended up purchasing a M Comax frame and building it up. Super happy with the position and how it pedals. It has turned out to be a really good commuter (1200 km in so far). Soon, it will be used on some long gravel rides.  I appreciated your feedback, as I was going to pass the frame because lack of eyelets and mounting points.   Looks like it will sit in the same place in the arsenal:  #2, but with the most miles.  Great value, once hair pulling oversights are worked through.

For fenders I ended up with a creative solution to mount the rear VO 45mm black aluminum fenders, that involved frame sticker, wine cork and velcro tape, to mount the fender in the chainstay yoke. Careful re-radius ensured that there was some compressive force velcro,  now the fender is quite firmly in place, no rattles.