My gorgeous new Giant Defy 1!

trevtherev

The new defy1 has arrived and here are some pics..



isn't it lovely



even the saddle is lovely


Would you believe it i have not actually been out for a ride on it yet having been sick the last few days....but i'm hoping to test drive soon....and of course will let you know my impressions.....but it looks lovely

roger_merriman

looks nice, soon be wooshing up those bristol hills!

Barkiesnake

I picked up my new defy 2.5 on Friday and am loving it!!!

It is beautiful to look at and a real pleasure to ride, the only problem is fitting in my rest days as i don't want to miss an opportunity to ride it. 8)

Lagavulin

Fine looking bike. 8)

Iansuz

I will be getting this bike soon as part of the cycle scheme and am pleased to see you are able to fit mudguards. My bike shop said it couldn't be done!

What make/model are they and did you do any custom fitting or adjustments in the brake area?

Cheers
Ian (newbie to road bikes)

STEFANOS4784

8) Nice, surely you've been out by now? How's the ride

will3

Looks like they didn't quite get the decals on straight

SimonLyons

I too have a Giant Defy 1 as my first roadbike - my old bike is a hybdrid. The Defy has had its teething problems.

1.Delivery took forever ~1 month for some unknown reason.
2.Stem was way too long - swapped a 12cm for a 9cm.
3.Back wheel developed rhythmic pinging after ~50miles total distance. This noise would disappear after about 3miles riding - the spokes needed retensioning.
4.cable stretch + gearing minor problems causing grinding noises, sorted out myself.
3.Giant Defy specific mudguards arrived 2 weeks after the bike. When fitted the rivets near the back brake rubbed on the back tyre which are Kenda 25mm (+ I think these tyres have slight bulges -low quality?) The clearances on front and back are almost non-existent so any slight buckle, muddy roads where your wheels get cacked up will cause (big?) problems.
The shop are trying 23 mm tyres + contacting Giant as in Winter I would like to use 25mm tyres and I haven't seen any "official" documentation saying what size tyres the mudguards should be used with - I would say not the ones the bike comes with when you buy it.

My old bike makes next to no noise as I ride it, but does weigh alot more in comparison.
The Defy has been a right rattle bucket with all the minor problems, + back and forth to the shop.
So at the moment its a love-hate relationship after ~100miles riding. In that time I have done ~50miles on my old bike which I should have been doing on the new one.

keef66

I'm not knocking the Giant, but anticipating problems like that persuaded me to go for something with adequate clearance.

I have a racelight TK with standard SKS mudguards and 25mm Conti 4 seasons, 105 throughout, (apart from the longer drop Shimano brakes) and RS10 wheels. Collected from Epic in September, ridden through the winter, and apart from tuning out the initial cable stretch it is still perfectly set up. My son came home from Uni last week and took it out for a spin and remarked on how silent it is

SimonLyons

I had a choice between a Giant, Specialized,Trek its on a bike to work scheme and I wanted to use a shop near to my work.

My reasons for buying the Giant were (not in any order)

Reviews in the cycing press/internet.
I like the shop I bought from - they are always helpful and don't talk to me as though I am a muppet. They give advice, have lent me tools, untightened bolts on old bikes for no charge.
I believe rightly or wrongly that Giant have full control over their own frame making and like the Giant frame better than the alternatives.
I blindly thought you could have mudguards (Doh!). I don't have any on my old bike and its forever needing cleaning and have often arrived home with the 'wet bum and soaking feet' feeling.

simon_e

Love the paintjob Trev. I'd not noticed how different the Defy range look compared to the SCRs. As they were a direct replacement I had expected them to be just a rebadged version.

I have a Tortec 'guard on the back of my SCR 2 which just fit without rubbing my 28mm Hardcase rear tyre, even though they're the narrowest ones for 20-26mm tyres. I found the Kenda OE tyres ran OK for a few summer months I don't think they are anything to write home about.

Not had any problems with the stock Alex wheels/spokes. The only things I've had to do after nearly 12 months of daily use are: adjust front mech as cable stretches, lube rear cable housing on chainstay (commuting all winter changes made it quite stiff). The one thing that has p*ssed me off is having to clean between the top of the fork and the bottom of the headtube. Crud off the front tyre gets in then it clicks and ticks all the time until I take it all apart. I suppose I should fit the front mudguard but haven't bothered to date.

Marcosplace

Is this bike a aluminium frame? Looking to get one myself

SimonLyons

Aluminium it is.
Take a look on the Giant website for more details.

SimonLyons

Swapped 25mm Kenda for Schwalbe 23mm tyres.

At the shop they thought the 25mm was more like a 27-28 mm tyre even though it was marked as 25. The clearances are now ample.
Also, apparently the clearances on 105 brakes are smaller than on the lower spec. brakes. So combined tyres+brakes made a duff clearance.

Iansuz

good to hear its not a design fault and simply inappropriate tyres

what are the best puncture resistant 23mm tyres? not too bothered about the speed/weight as this is for commuting.

I have used armadillo for my MTB in the past and have not had a puncture. Not looked yet but I assume there is an equivalent for road bikes?

SimonLyons

At the moment I use Continental Ultra gatorskin 26x1.15 on my hybrid. I have some big puncture marks in these, but they are still serviceable at 2000 miles (no sign of the holes collapsing). The last set I used were Pasella 26x1.25 touring tyres which had quite thin sidewalls. The sidewalls got shredded by stones so I couldn't use them after about 1200 miles.

When I am at my most paranoid - hedge cutting time - I have even resorted to carrying my bike a couple of hundred yards until rain has cleared away the clippings. Once got a flat just wheeling my bike along a really bad stretch with clipped hedges.
Also when there is a car smash all the glass on the road gets swept up and cycle tracks get ignored which has caused me to swear a few times as I ride through it.

In towns/cities I find the best way to avoid punctures is to be where the cars go - a good reason for geting a road bike as its easier to ride along with the traffic without annoying car drivers.
Summer / warm weather leads to more smashed bottles on bike paths.

I have no experience with road tyres so can't comment on these. Its worth searching for tyre reviews on the Internet/forums.

Marcosplace

This im going for the Defy Advanced 4 - Is £1500 a good price for this?

I am 5'6 - what size will I need? I have a 53" Claude butler at the moment.

Thanks

SimonLyons

In the Giant bike catalog there is a fairly simple sizing chart .
As long as you are of average build - not long arms, short legs long trunk etc... I would go with their measurents as a starter.
Ask the shops advice - don't make any hasty decisions however excited you get.

The vendor should be able to swap the stem if need be.

Sit on one would be the ideal.

STEFANOS4784

Marcosplace wrote:

I am 5'6 - what size will I need? I have a 53" Claude butler at the moment.

Thanks

Crikey i think your current bike maybe a wee bit big

trevtherev

There are Kenda 700x25mm tyres on the bike and i am hoping the mudguards don't rub will have to work out all teething problems when out on first ride....ah first ride you say...this is ridiculous i've had the bike for a week and not been out yet. I want a long slow run when it's set up with shimano a520's and ready to roll!! Strangely enough my first bike of choice was the racelight tk but when our CTW came in they had sold out!! (as i am sure you remember they reduced the price) so giant was a good second espec the defy 1 as wanted 105 gset.

I've been riding my other bike today the genesis day 01 (mad you say) perhaps i'm afraid to get the defy 1 dirty!! it looks lovely clean...seriously though will get a good testing around the bristol hill towards the end of the week before being brought into permanent commuting duties...incidently for those interested the march edition of the american publication "cycling magazine" had a great article on the defy 1 and you can find it on the web...watch this space...review to follow

pud77

Marcosplace wrote:

This im going for the Defy Advanced 4 - Is £1500 a good price for this?

I am 5'6 - what size will I need? I have a 53" Claude butler at the moment.

Thanks

You can buy it for £1322 from luvbikes.com
http://www.luvbikes.com/products.php?plid=m1b0s6p3692

No experience myself but they seem pretty competitive for Giant pricing

SimonLyons

...Problem with the big chain ring on my Defy 1.

Without loads of lubrication on the front chainring my Defy 1 starts to make crunchy noises under load (even to the point of being embarrassed about riding the bike). When you just spin the cranks with no load there is no noise.
The chain ring has lots of rivets fairly close to the teeth. The near side heads are small but the back are large. I think under load the chain pulls onto the teeth and if you are unlucky could rub on these rivet heads.

Does anybody know what these rivets are there for?
Best solution to me seems to be to file the rivet heads down carefully - low and behold the noises subsided.

guilliano

Trev..... good choice! Not seen a bad review of the bike yet and it's got that understated but gorgeous thing going on.

SimonLyons..... sounds to me like you had a dodgy one. Should have gone back to the shop with the issue, may have got a shiny new chainset out of it.

As for sizing on the Defy Advanced 4...... more than likely a small frame, although you do need to try. The Advanced come up slightly bigger than the alloy frames

SimonLyons

Done ~450 miles on my Defy and it doesn't look "new" any more.

I have already had to buy a black touch up pen from Halfords. (at least the black is an easy match).
One sharp stone cut through to the Aluminium + lots of superficial scratches.

I have silver mudguards and got a stone caught in them - the "silver" is on the underside of the mudguard and some of this has been stripped off to make a small see through patch.

-- I was tempted to take the bike back to the shop for the crunching noise but it was a Sunday, I had a file, the sun was shining, I was pretty sure what the problem was and I had too much time on my hands.

Essex Man

Marcosplace wrote:

This im going for the Defy Advanced 4 - Is £1500 a good price for this?

I am 5'6 - what size will I need? I have a 53" Claude butler at the moment.

Thanks

This is a lot of money to spend so surely you will get fitted at a shop and they will tell you the appropriate size and adjust the bike for you???

Marcosplace

I got a GIANT Medium TCR Advanced instead - perfect fit. It really shifts...