Giant Defy Advanced 2 v Rose Xeon DX-2000 v Norco Search S!

seven7faces

New year, new bike so i've boiled things down to the following;

http://www.norco.com/bikes/road/road-ad ... rch-steel/

http://www.rosebikes.co.uk/bike/rose-xe ... aid:761505

http://www.giant-bicycles.com/en-gb/bik ... /#geometry

I'm looking for something that can handle some road miles, commuting to work (5 minutes away) and something that won't flinch at a little loose terrain eg. dirt roads, loose gravel lanes etc. If anyone has any experience with the bikes above or can suggest any alternatives it would be appreciated. I could probably stretch to about £1500ish.

JMcP92

I ordered a Giant Defy Advanced 2 last night, should get it later in the week, can give you a wee review when I've a few miles on it

jok5

will be good to see your review, Im looking at the Giant Defy Advanced 1, Giant Defy Advanced Pro 2 or the Cannondale Synapse, I really cant decide what one to buy. :-(

gimpl

I'm a huge Defy fan, I've got two, but after a visit to the Giant concept store near St. Pauls I'm not so taken with the 2015 range. I'm no expert but mechanical discs are supposed to be a nightmare to keep set up correctly and on the (slightly) cheaper Defy models it looks like they have skimped a bit on spec compared to my 2013 Composite 1. If I had the money I would certainly buy one of the more expensive ones with hydraulic discs but even these have no room/it'll be a squeeze for mudguards if you're thinking about using it during the winter.

wrayste

JMcP92 wrote:

I ordered a Giant Defy Advanced 2 last night, should get it later in the week, can give you a wee review when I've a few miles on it

In the UK? I ordered mine before Christmas and will hopefully have it only by the end of the month (and that was after an initial estimate of a 20 week wait!).

As for mechanic discs, the Spyres have a good reputation, HyRD might be a bit better but not enough for me to require it. I choose the Def Advanced 2 because it had the compromises in the right place (I didn't want to spend more) and the service that I have got from the Giant St. Pauls store has been faultless.

JMcP92

wrayste wrote:

JMcP92 wrote:

I ordered a Giant Defy Advanced 2 last night, should get it later in the week, can give you a wee review when I've a few miles on it

In the UK? I ordered mine before Christmas and will hopefully have it only by the end of the month (and that was after an initial estimate of a 20 week wait!).

As for mechanic discs, the Spyres have a good reputation, HyRD might be a bit better but not enough for me to require it. I choose the Def Advanced 2 because it had the compromises in the right place (I didn't want to spend more) and the service that I have got from the Giant St. Pauls store has been faultless.

I'm from Scotland, but in New Zealand currently, here you can get them off the shelf, mine has been ordered and should be ready hopefully by the weekend but have to see what happens
Additionally, it's the middle of summer here so will be no holds bared for riding it daily

Van Goghs Ear

this december, I landed a clearance sale on the 2014 Defy Advanced 0 for 3359 canadian...couldn't resist, am loving it. Now my second Giant bike (also have an Anthem). I definitely feel like I got way more value out of this bike than when I bought my Roubaix Pro a while back. I've not tried the Synapse but that was very much on my radar till this deal came up...

I also wanted to avoid the disc brake models...not because I'm against disc brakes, but rather I'd like to wait a few years till they are more established in road bikes as I'm sure geometry and other considerations will no doubt change quite a bit once there has been more experience with them. Also I experienced mechanical discs on my 2013 Kona Jake CX bike that were not so great, definitely prefer hydraulic ones.

wrayste

JMcP92 wrote:

wrayste wrote:

...

I'm from Scotland, but in New Zealand currently, here you can get them off the shelf, mine has been ordered and should be ready hopefully by the weekend but have to see what happens
Additionally, it's the middle of summer here so will be no holds bared for riding it daily

That is good to know, maybe if they have so many over there they can ship some in this direction so I can get mine a little bit quicker.

I wanted disc brakes specifically because I can't stand rim brakes. I can't see how the geometry of the bikes will change based on their brakes. I'm sure that the implementations will get better and things like thru-axles will get sorted. I'll consider upgrading to Di2 and hydraulic disc brakes in a couple of years when prices come down.

JMcP92

wrayste wrote:

JMcP92 wrote:

wrayste wrote:

...

...

That is good to know, maybe if they have so many over there they can ship some in this direction so I can get mine a little bit quicker.

I wanted disc brakes specifically because I can't stand rim brakes. I can't see how the geometry of the bikes will change based on their brakes. I'm sure that the implementations will get better and things like thru-axles will get sorted. I'll consider upgrading to Di2 and hydraulic disc brakes in a couple of years when prices come down.

Agreed, though from what I hear the wheels on the disc defy are stupidly heavy, moreso than the rim brake version of the same wheel infact due to the hubs, so reckon that'll be my first change at some point down the line, though I'm quite sure it'll still knock some weight off my current bike, 2013 Defy 1. Today is my only day off for the next 8 days, so I'm hoping to get a call saying it's ready for pickup at some point today, we'll have to wait and see.

EDIT: I got that wonderful call and went to pick it up, though I'm stupidly busy today so sadly no time to ride, though I'll be doing 40km tomorrow, and will give you my first impressions then

DOUBLE EDIT: I'm supposed to be working, I'm seriously busy and do not have time to mess around today... but maybe just a little playing with the bike, just a little setup.... *spends over an hour settling, playing and ultimately changing nothing but the seatpost height*

Nothing spectacular to report, expect this, the rough weight (super accurate, man w/ bike on scales - man wo/ bike on scales) is around 8.4kg with 105 pedals, which ain't bad and is a fair chunk from my previous bike (2013 Giant Defy 1 large)



(I apologise for the tragic photography)



This little rubber seal on the D-fuse post, great little idea, but be warned it's a real bitch to get back in place once you've adjusted the post.

More news tomorrow when I've had my round trip to work

jok5

Your bike looks nicer than the stock photo on the Giant WS. Im looking at the Deft Advanced 1. You think its worth the extra £250 for the Ultegra Group Set.
Whats the ride like is it relaxed. Im 5ft 11" with 31" inside leg and looking at the sizing its saying M Id have thought M/L as im fitted for a Synapse 56.

dj58

Jok5,
You need to go on sit on both the M and M/L to see which fits you better, don't rely only on the Giant fitting chart, that is for guidance. You may find this interesting. viewtopic.php?f=40020&t=12882623

yaya

Jok5 wrote:

Your bike looks nicer than the stock photo on the Giant WS. Im looking at the Deft Advanced 1. You think its worth the extra £250 for the Ultegra Group Set.
Whats the ride like is it relaxed. Im 5ft 11" with 31" inside leg and looking at the sizing its saying M Id have thought M/L as im fitted for a Synapse 56.

I'm 5'10"/ 31" leg and ride a 2010 advanced with a 100mm stem and a bunch of spacers...always been M on Giants (also on MTBs). Only point worth mentioning is in winter with Cruds fitted and wearing overshoes I get a bit of toe overlap (size 44 shoes)...hope this helps...

wrayste

Jok5 wrote:

Your bike looks nicer than the stock photo on the Giant WS. Im looking at the Deft Advanced 1. You think its worth the extra £250 for the Ultegra Group Set.
Whats the ride like is it relaxed. Im 5ft 11" with 31" inside leg and looking at the sizing its saying M Id have thought M/L as im fitted for a Synapse 56.

I'm 5ft 9" and I have gone for the small although the sizing chart said I should go for the medium. If you study the geometry you'll notice that the reach basically doesn't change, if I remember correctly it is about 5mm between sizes, however the stack grows by 20mm per size. I wanted a bigger saddle to bars drop which is why I went for the small, if you want something more relaxed then size up.

I choose not to bother with the Ultegra Group Set as from what I understand 105 is almost identical with minimal weight saving. I'll be putting the £250 into some nice hand-built wheels which should have considerably more benefit (hopefully!).

JMcP92: Did you say what size you went for? ~8.4 kg is better than what I was expecting, I had been told it was nearer 9 kg. It looks great, looking forward to hearing your thoughts after a ride.

JMcP92

So, had my 40km's and it's great, though I feel I should stop stealing someone else's thread, so I'll leave you with this:
viewtopic.php?f=40044&t=13010197

As for Ultegra vs. 105, I'm sure some would say I'm wrong, but to me it's not worth the money. Ultegra is good stuff, inarguably, but to me it's not worth an extra £250 over the 105 to save 200-ish grams. Could save a lot more on some nicer wheels for the same money and 105 is bombproof.

Size wise, mine is an M/L, my previous Defy was an L, and I'm 6ft with a 32" inseam. The old bike was too big for me, but it was my first roadie, and £400 second hand, so compromises were made, but still did me well.
The weight I got was 8.4kg with pedals, however this wasn't incredibly accurate measurement so I'd take it with a pinch of salt.

As for the OP, I can't give a balanced opinion of the other two, but as for this, it is absolutely wonderful, and whatever you do go with make damn sure you have disc brakes, make a massive difference. For £999 (not sure if it's more/less back in the UK, my LBS did me a deal) it's a great bike

seven7faces

So leaning towards the Giant then, discounting the Rose but still have a thing for the steel feel of the Norco. Don't think I'd be disappointed with the giant if I went with it going by posts on here, thanks guys.