Bought a 2012 giant defy 5, worth upgrading to 105?

lee170

Just recently bought a 2012 giant defy 5, it's my first ever road bike, I've been a mountain biker for the last 20 years or so. Having ridden a road bike I'm now hooked.
Looking to upgrade my defy 5 spec to 105
Is the frame worth the upgrade?
It looks like a really nice frame but I'm hopeless when it comes to road bikes
Also wheels to? Nothing stupidly expensive but a worry upgrade, I'm using the bike for 26 mile daily commute and also weekend blasts

Thanks

SCR Pedro

I have to say, I wouldn't bother. The Defy 5 has the aluminium fork, rather than the carbon of the rest of the Defy range. So upgrading the fork would give better returns than a new groupset, I would say. But that doesn't seem worth it to me.
If I were you, I would keep it standard and use it for commuting and as a winter bike, and save up money for something a little higher in the range that you wouldn't be spending money on after buying it.

But if you must spend your money now, I would go for some decent tyres and tubes. Almost any wheel-set is an upgrade from the standard Defy wheels.

PerformingMonkey

I found upgrading to 105 made a big difference on my entry level bike. I managed to get the whole groupset for £299 and picked up a Jobsworth toolkit to do the work (*cough* my neighbour did most it) for about £30.

viewtopic.php?f=40044&t=12961464

simon_e

10 speed isn't any faster, it just costs you more in chains and cassettes.

Wheels and tyres will make a bigger difference. I'd use the Giant wheels for commuting etc and the better ones (with nice tyres) for fun. £200-300 will get you something worthwhile e.g. Fulcrum 5, Pro Lite Bracciano, Shimano Ultegra. There will be gazillions of threads on here about wheel upgrades so try the search.

Decent pads such as Kool-Stop salmon or salmon+black will improve the brakes, while fitting fresh gear and brake cables sharpen up the action.