Giant Defy

alanalanalan
alanalanalan Posts: 9
edited February 2012 in Road buying advice
Looking to buy a 2011 Giant Defy,which to choose Defy1 or 2 £150 between them is it worth the outlay. Looking to buy to improve fitness mainly ride mountain bike. Thanks. :D

Comments

  • alihisgreat
    alihisgreat Posts: 3,872
    What you're getting with the Defy 1 over the Defy 2:

    -smoothed welds on the frame
    -shimano press fit BB (increased stiffness)
    -better wheelset
    -carbon seatpost
    -105 shifters and deraillers


    I chose the 1 over the 2 mainly because i preferred the cable routing of the 105 shifters (under the bar tape) and the colour... everything else was irrelevant.. although the wheelset is worth considering.
  • alanalanalan
    alanalanalan Posts: 9
    The Defy 1 I'm looking at has Tiagra shifters against sora for Defy 2. Sora brakes v tektro, tiagra hubs v formula front shimano 2200 on rear.Deraillers are Tiagra v Sora. Sounds worth it just looking for second opinion.
  • alihisgreat
    alihisgreat Posts: 3,872
    alanalanalan wrote:
    The Defy 1 I'm looking at has Tiagra shifters against sora for Defy 2. Sora brakes v tektro, tiagra hubs v formula front shimano 2200 on rear.Deraillers are Tiagra v Sora. Sounds worth it just looking for second opinion.

    my bad didn't read your post properly! thought you were talking about 2012 bikes!


    I think tiagra is worth it over Sora because you get the proper STI levers rather than the thumb shifters on sora which can't be operated on the drops.

    apart from that i have no experience with the other differences.
  • alanalanalan
    alanalanalan Posts: 9
    Thanks for reply.
  • alidaf
    alidaf Posts: 147
    I have a 2011 Defy 2 after riding mountain bike (Giant Boulder) for a couple of years. I'm upgrading in April after a year's use but can say that I have enjoyed riding it. I think my missus is wanting to pinch it. My only dislikes about it are the clunky gear changes, especially under load, and the saddle. The thumb levers aren't so bad since I tend not to use the drops anyway and I have been looking at Campy groupsets as they have thumb levers too. I changed the tyres to 23mm Conti GP4000s but apart from that it is all stock. I've tried a number of other saddles but can't get any better comfort. I think the Defy 1 has a carbon seat post that may improve things but for rides up to around 20 miles, the stock saddle is ok.

    I was also seriously miffed that the 2010 and 2012 versions have at least partial Tiagra groupsets but the Sora does its job and the 2012 has gone up in price I think. Its a decent first bike so go for it.

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