Giant / Cannondale

frazfraz
frazfraz Posts: 7
edited July 2010 in Road buying advice
Hi there,

I've got brochures for Giant and Cannondale with many good bikes in. For now I'd like to ask opinions here for the following.

Giant Defy Advanced 2 around £2,000

Cannondale Synapse Carbon around £2,000

Both are carbon frames and both look like good bikes. I'm not buying one yet as I have a bike I can ride but are each of these bikes as good as each other? - Obviously Ultegra is better than 105 but how about the frames?????????????

Thanks in advance :)

Comments

  • keef66
    keef66 Posts: 13,123
    Both are splendid bikes. For that kind of money you'll struggle to find a bad one. What kind of riding do you want it for?

    My preference would be for the Cannondale, but you can't buy a £2k bike from a brochure.

    Go and have a look at them both in the flesh, and have a proper test ride on each. Only then will you know.
  • climbingpixie
    climbingpixie Posts: 42
    Ha, I have the same dilemma as you but at a lower price point. Trying to decide between a Giant Avail 2 WSD and a Cannondale Synapse - feel happy on either frame, components are virtually the same, one has a nicer paint job than the other but is more expensive. Decisions, decisions...
    Small fat weak punter
  • frazfraz
    frazfraz Posts: 7
    keef66 wrote:
    Both are splendid bikes. For that kind of money you'll struggle to find a bad one. What kind of riding do you want it for?

    My preference would be for the Cannondale, but you can't buy a £2k bike from a brochure.

    Go and have a look at them both in the flesh, and have a proper test ride on each. Only then will you know.

    Hi there,

    Currently I have a Giant Escape 'City Bike' which people use for commute-or-pleasure and I bought it in 2008. As it was £400 it is a reasonable bike but nothing compared to serious road bikes for club runs/road race.

    My current riding is just getting back into cycling so that is why I have the Giant Escape. After a lot more riding I'll get another bike or two if I need them which is why I'm asking about the Giant and Cannondale.

    I can go to a local shop to look at these bikes and is where I got the brochure from. There are other bikes of interest and I will be asking about them... :)

    It would be nice to to choose your own groupsets etc...the bikes in the brochures mix alot of the parts and there seems to be no flexibility to configure...
  • frazfraz
    frazfraz Posts: 7
    climbingpixie wrote:
    Ha, I have the same dilemma as you but at a lower price point. Trying to decide between a Giant Avail 2 WSD and a Cannondale Synapse - feel happy on either frame, components are virtually the same, one has a nicer paint job than the other but is more expensive. Decisions, decisions...

    The Cannondale is a better bike (I think)....which is carbon isn't it? and the Giant you are looking at is aluminium.....
  • climbingpixie
    climbingpixie Posts: 42
    edited July 2010
    frazfraz wrote:
    The Cannondale is a better bike (I think)....which is carbon isn't it? and the Giant you are looking at is aluminium.....

    Cheers for that, I'm such a total muppet that I'd not noticed that the Cannondale was alloy (the full carbon is way out of my price range) whereas the Giant was aluminium - d'oh :oops: Is that worth the extra £175 do you reckon?

    ETA - I must be tired and forgetting basic science - alloy is the same as aluminium! P.S. it's the Synapse Feminine 5 I was looking at, not one of the more expensive models. Will stop hijacking your thread with my clueless ramblings now...
    Small fat weak punter
  • frazfraz
    frazfraz Posts: 7
    climbingpixie wrote:
    frazfraz wrote:
    The Cannondale is a better bike (I think)....which is carbon isn't it? and the Giant you are looking at is aluminium.....

    Cheers for that, I'm such a total muppet that I'd not noticed that the Cannondale was alloy (the full carbon is way out of my price range) whereas the Giant w
    as aluminium - d'oh :oops: Is that worth the extra £175 do you reckon?

    The Giant Avail 2 is £825 and the Giant Avail 3 is £625 - These are alloy

    Cannondale Synapse Feminine Tiagra is £999 or with 105 is £1,899 - It is a ladies bike you want isn't it. I've got the brochures from local shop with prices for Giant but not Cannondale. I suppose it depends on how serious you are and how far you travel on your bike. If you travel far then the carbon would be good especially in summer.

Categories