Cube or Giant?

madden2011

I'm in the market for a new bike, currently riding a Cube I got in 2011 but I think its time to relegate it to Winter/Turbo training bike.

My budget is around £3k but financed for 3 years, every penny counts and all that. I still have to get over to the nearest bike shop that deals with Giant In Belfast to get a feel for them. Problem with Belfast theres not many bike shops who sell Giant or Cube bikes, the higher spec models anyway, actually not many bike shops at all. Bikedock has recently closed down who sold Cube.

The main bikes I am looking at are (looking something lighter than my current Cube, good spec, and hoping to get into racing this year)

Cube Litening Super HPC - http://www.cube.eu/uk/bikes/road-race/litening/litening-super-hpc-sl/

Cube Litening Super HPC Pro - http://www.cube.eu/uk/bikes/road-race/litening/litening-super-hpc-pro/

Giant Defy Advanced SL1 http://www.giant-bicycles.com/en-gb/bikes/model/2014.giant.defy.advanced.sl.1/14974/66536/#specifications

Propel Advanced 2 (though not sure about the colour scheme) http://www.giant-bicycles.com/en-gb/bikes/model/2014.giant.propel.advanced.2/14967/66523/

TCR Advanced 0 http://www.giant-bicycles.com/en-gb/bikes/model/2014.giant.tcr.advanced.0/14970/66529/

I would be going for a bike fit once the bike is bought which I done with my current Cube bike (58cm). Any advice would be great or if anyone has any personal experience of the above bikes that would be great.

rc856

I previously had a Giant TCR Composite and now have a TCR Advanced SL.
Both great...the SL being better.

The Defy has a more relaxed geometry than the TCR but I've still spent long rides on it with no issues.

Anonymous

Cube

mulletmaster

Madigan cycles in Carrick stocks Giant pretty heavily. Personally I would prefer giant to cube, all things being equal.

kajjal

For 3k I would first get a very clear idea what wanted from the bike. Then I would test ride as many bikes as possible in the budget. Just be careful you don't just use price as a guide to getting the right bike for you and try quite a few brands as well.

madden2011

Cheers for that guys

Been looking at the TCR Advanced 1 as well and wondering if that would be a better choice than the Advanced 0, is Ultegra Di2 really worth the extra £1000? I know the wheels are different as well but I would swap them with the Dura Ace C24's that I'm currently riding

rc856

Would you be happy with the other groupset?
For the £1000, could you not get the Advanced SL?

madden2011

I would be happy enough with Ultegra. The extra £1000 would get me a TCR Advanced SL but I'm not a fan of the paint job. It would also get my a Defy Advanced SL

defride

I recently went through a similar dilemma. Though I've not had my Agree for long funds became available to upgrade and I wondered whether or not to spend a bit on it or sell it and buy a Litening. Looking long and hard at the Litenings I came to the conclusion that if I were to go that direction the Pro was the one to go for and upgrade the wheels. For me Ultegra's as good as I'd need, good as the SL looks the wheels appear to be rebadged Fulcrum Quattro's possibly with different lacing. For less money I'm sure a Pro with a great set of wheels would be the nicer ride.

In the end I decided I really enjoy what I have and changed the wheels and a few other bits, really happy with it. I'd suspect if you're comfortable with what you've got now another Cube would be an easy and positive transition whichever one you went for





.

kingofthetailwind

I bought a 2014 TCR Composite 1 from McConveys (who I presume you're talking about) just before Christmas. I got mine for £1280 with my Phoenix CC discount. Can't tell you how well the bike rides as it won't see the light of day till the spring. Looks good in my spare room though! As above Madigans do Giant as well.

Chain Reaction do Cube. And I'd guess at as good prices as anyone else.

Dave Kane's do Focus and Cannondale.

Slane Cycles do Bianchi, Colnago and a lot of other expensive brands. If your budget is £3k you'd get a very nice bike there. You can choose your own spec with a lot of the frames they sell too.

Glenn Kinning does Trek.

And Decathlon of course. The new B'Twin bikes are being released soon. The Ultra looks amazing.

Personally I think we have great bike shops!

madden2011

We do have a decent selection of bike shops just that none offer finance which I am hoping to go with as I don't have 3k to spend in one go. CRC do offer finance on some bikes for 12months. I have narrowed it down to Cube or Giant as it does heads in figuring out which bike to choose. Going to take a trip to McConveys or Madigans at the weekend for a look at the Giants. With the Cubes I know what I am getting mainly probably just a size up as there sizing is a bit small and I went with a 58cm last time.

kingofthetailwind

Ah right with you now, yes no one apart from CRC do finance. Real Cycles in Temple do, but no Cube or Giant. Looks like they''ll be getting Felt sometime in 2014.

Agreed about it doing your head in narrowing your search down. Spent months choosing before getting my Giant!

You could always get sized for a Giant in McConveys, and then buy online. Not really honest, but you could buy some tyres or something to make up for it!

madden2011

KingOfTheTailwind wrote:

Ah right with you now, yes no one apart from CRC do finance. Real Cycles in Temple do, but no Cube or Giant. Looks like they''ll be getting Felt sometime in 2014.

Agreed about it doing your head in narrowing your search down. Spent months choosing before getting my Giant!

You could always get sized for a Giant in McConveys, and then buy online. Not really honest, but you could buy some tyres or something to make up for it!

I went over to McConveys last Saturday and very impressed by the Giant TCR Advanced 1 looks wise. Got an idea of the sizing (bought a tube for their time)

I know Giant don't publish weight but anyone have an idea of the weight of the TCR range? The Cube is weighing in at 7.3kg according to their website. Weight isn't the be all and end all bit would be nice to know.

amack

madden2011 wrote:

I went over to McConveys last Saturday and very impressed by the Giant TCR Advanced 1 looks wise. Got an idea of the sizing (bought a tube for their time)

I know Giant don't publish weight but anyone have an idea of the weight of the TCR range? The Cube is weighing in at 7.3kg according to their website. Weight isn't the be all and end all bit would be nice to know.

Bikeradar says the TCR Composite is 8.56kg, in their recent review here http://www.bikeradar.com/road/gear/category/bikes/road/product/review-giant-tcr-composite-2-14-48022/ so that Cube is quite light.
Can you not get a Tesco credit card and use the 18 month 0% on purchases or similar credit card? McConveys will give you 10% discount or same percent towards the purchase of cycling gear if you buy from them. Also purchase online on the Giant store and use their 4.9% online finance over 12months. They will then arrange for your Giant bike to be delivered to McConvey's for you to collect. I haven't done this but thought you might find it useful - but you would lose out on the 10% McConvey discount. Some of the guys in McConveys are really helpful and know their stuff, some not so.

kingofthetailwind

When I was choosing my TCR Composite 1 McConveys weighed a M/L size at 8.3kg without pedals, and with the dork disc and reflectors still on. So my medium frame with lighter tyres (Gatorskins vs the wire bead Giant tyres) and a lighter saddle (Toupe Pro vs Giant - over 150g difference) would probably be just below 8kg probably, without pedals.

The Advanced 1 has a slightly lighter frame/fork, lighter wheels, lighter brakes, lighter Fizik saddle, lighter tyres. I'd guess close to 7.5kg.

Tiesetrotter

Two of the local bike shops are Giant stockists. All look amazing value ........... problem is at 5'6" I couldn't live with the permanent irony of riding around on a bike with Giant written all over it.

madden2011

I've decided to stick with Cube and go with the LItening Super HPC Pro. The sizing is annoying me though, my current Cube is a 58cm and my saddle is currently pretty much at its furthest back as per my bike fit. Plus I would like a bit more of a lower riding position. I feel quite upright on my current Cube Would I be better going with the 60cm this time round?

Already purchased a new wheels and a saddle to go with it.

defride

Congrats, would look forward to hearing what you think of the Litening when it arrives.

What sort of layback have you got on the current seatpost? I was right back with my saddle on a 56cm with the standard Cube post and replaced it with a 3T Palladio with 2.5cm layback which made quite a difference, if anything after adding 3T Ergonova bars it's feeling long and I may try a 90mm stem rather than the 100mm on it now.

Not sure what you mean by quiet upright and looking to go to a lower riding position? If you're feeling too upright it would seem to me you'd want a smaller rather than larger frame, the later would presumably lower the saddle distance to the top tube and raise the bar height relative to what you've got giving you an even more upright position?

It'd be worth looking at the Cube geometries, the reach is near identical between a 56 and 58, the stack is the main difference so the 56 might give you the lower front end if thats what you're looking for. I'm '6"1 and 56 works for me though most my height seem to go bigger.

Best of luck with it

madden2011

defride wrote:

Congrats, would look forward to hearing what you think of the Litening when it arrives.

What sort of layback have you got on the current seatpost? I was right back with my saddle on a 56cm with the standard Cube post and replaced it with a 3T Palladio with 2.5cm layback which made quite a difference, if anything after adding 3T Ergonova bars it's feeling long and I may try a 90mm stem rather than the 100mm on it now.

Not sure what you mean by quiet upright and looking to go to a lower riding position? If you're feeling too upright it would seem to me you'd want a smaller rather than larger frame, the later would presumably lower the saddle distance to the top tube and raise the bar height relative to what you've got giving you an even more upright position?

It'd be worth looking at the Cube geometries, the reach is near identical between a 56 and 58, the stack is the main difference so the 56 might give you the lower front end if thats what you're looking for. I'm '6"1 and 56 works for me though most my height seem to go bigger.

Best of luck with it

Its the stock seatpost says 20mm seatback on it if that sounds correct. I'm 6ft but you don't get many riding a 56 at 6'1. I've been looking at the geometries for a while trying to figure it out. A rough measurement of my current Cube the reach is 38cm which corresponds to a 58cm, whereas the 60 reach is 39.2cm

I will be getting a retul bike fit once I get the bike to help sort things out. I had one for my current set up.

defride

I guess the posts change from year to year. The 2013 Agree came with an Easton post with only 10mm offset, hence the 3T made a fair bit of difference. The difference between what you have and the current post on the SL with its 20mm offset is going to be the important bit.

I guess we're all different, for me I don't like messing with the reach much, if it's to long the bike feels uncomfortable/wrong however I've no issues with a relatively large drop from the post to the bars. Horses for courses.

Might be worth having a chat with your bikefit guys before buying the bike, see if they'd offer any advice.

madden2011

Its a FSA seatpost. Emailed my bikefit guy a few mins ago to see what he says. Thanks man for your help

taimur

I got my Cube Agree SL full Ultegra Alloy bike in 2011. It was brand new with syntace kit and Easton wheels. Loved it for the year I rode it and then found a litening HPC frame on ebay which was just too good to say no too. I bought it and realized that it was a bad move since in my excitement I didn't realize it was Di2 only. I still didn't want to let go off the frame so ended up buying a Di2 Ultegra upgrade kit from ebay as well.

I have been riding this bike since 2012 august and its a dream even till this day!!

i have been researching for several months because me and my partners are planning to upgrade. some how there is a new entry on the list which is sitting higher than the cube, which is canyon. Checks every box:

weight sub-7kg
components hi-end considering price! in your budget you can get CF SLX 7.0 (2799) with ultegra 6800 and mavic ksyrium SLS or 7.0 with Ultegra di2 and ksyrium Elite wheels for 2999, pretty good for the price point!!
Bike radar reviews it at 5 stars
ridden by team katusha on previous tours and this year team movistar as well

Hard to beat IMO