Giant vs. Specialized

[laura*]

I LOVED the Giant Dash 3 but the guy working with me seemed to think more highly of the Specialized Vita is this somehow a better bike? Better components? Better something I should know about?

I'd say that the Giant has better components. I checked the base Vita and Vita Sport and both essentially have bottom end mountain bike components. The Giant at least has lower end road bike components.

On the Giant you'd be able to replace the chainrings if needed. On the Specialized you'd have to replace the whole crankset.

The sales guy might have a higher profit on the Specialized.

On the Giant website it says the Dash pedals are caged w/clips. Does this mean I would need to replace the pedals if I'm not riding clipless?

You'd need to replace the pedals if you were wanting to go clipless. The pedals it comes with are platforms (aka cages) with toeclips (aka clips). Toeclips can be removed if you don't want to use them, though I don't know if the pedals themselves are double sided.