Giant Defy or Btwin triban

DasBike

I'm looking for a road bike to use both for commuting in London (about 8 miles each way) and for weekend riding over longer distance.
I've read good things about the btwin triban 500 se. My only concern lies with some of the components, i.e. Microshift gears, and their longevity/quality.
I was also looking at the Giant Defy models from 2015 which are now on sale. The Defy 3 comes with shimano sora groupset and is available for £399.
Is it worth the extra £100 to get shimano sora and a giant frame?
Are there other models I should consider?
Budget is around £4-500.
Thanks in advance

Elfed

[url=http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=19747193#p19747193]DasBike[/url] wrote:

I'm looking for a road bike to use both for commuting in London (about 8 miles each way) and for weekend riding over longer distance.
I've read good things about the btwin triban 500 se. My only concern lies with some of the components, i.e. Microshift gears, and their longevity/quality.
I was also looking at the Giant Defy models from 2015 which are now on sale. The Defy 3 comes with shimano sora groupset and is available for £399.
Is it worth the extra £100 to get shimano sora and a giant frame?
Are there other models I should consider?
Budget is around £4-500.
Thanks in advance

I've no doubt that both bikes are excellent value but definitely spend the extra on the Shimano and Giant frameset, you definitely won't regret it, and if you don't like it they're so much more sellable.

t4tomo

I bought the triban 500SE for my son. The micro shift gears work very well, they are at least the equal of Sora so don't worry about it on that front. You pay less for the triban because it's not a "brand" but it's a cracking bike for the money, nicely finished frame, decent enough carbon forks and they do have decent following to sell on.

nuclearred955

I bought a Triban T3 (the old red one, pretty much the same bike as the current 500SE) in September 2012. They are great bikes for the money and I still have mine now. The caveat is that within a year (& about 2500 miles) I'd replaced every component apart from frame, bars/stem and brakes, because the originals simply wore out.

I think in the same position as the OP I might feel it was worth paying for a bit more longevity of components.

Also consider looking at secondhand. You'll get a lot more bike for your £500.

DasBike

Thanks for replies. I think I'll spend the extra and get the giant. Need to get some pedals too and the shimano a530 sound ideal as well as some puncture resistant tyres for the commute.
As it's my 1st bike I feel more comfortable buying new over 2nd hand.