Giant Defy Mudguards

wotnoshoeseh

Hi all,
Hope I'm posting in the right section.

A year ago I bought a 2014 Defy 1 - 105 5700 and had the Giant guards fitted.

These suffered a catastrophic failure - on the rear, the guards broke at the brake bridge mount, then the nut holding the guards to the seat tube fell out complete with the insert that should have been fixed into the tube. Over the summer the bike had not been ridden - April to September.

So back to the Giant dealer - they replaced the guards (newer matt version), re-fitted an insert and a plug bolt on the seat tube, and used a different fitting at the front of the rear guard (with elastic bungee type cord around the seat stay). That was in early December.

So yesterday I had the new guards fail again - same spot, only a different failure this time - one of the metal legs going back from the bridge support to the guard itself has broken. The front section of the rear guard (from brake bridge to seat tube) is fine.

Has anyone had this happen with these Giant guards?

I guess I still have the option of going back to the Giant dealer too.
I'm thinking of maybe just going back to RaceBlades, and keeping the front section of the rear guard. The idea behind buying this though was that I would have proper guards fitted as per a proper winter bike.
Or is there anything else that can be used on the Defy other than the Giant guards?

Any comments, thoughts or insights gratefully received.

dowtcha

Do you know the name of the mudguards? I know the old version suffered from this fault. I have the newer version called speed shields and they have been good, they also have larger clearance, I have 28mm 4 seasons on mine.
http://www.giant-cork.ie/en-ie/gear/product/giant.speedshield.defy.avail.aluxx.fender/2967/73671/

wotnoshoeseh

Dowtcha wrote:

Do you know the name of the mudguards? I know the old version suffered from this fault. I have the newer version called speed shields and they have been good, they also have larger clearance, I have 28mm 4 seasons on mine.
http://www.giant-cork.ie/en-ie/gear/product/giant.speedshield.defy.avail.aluxx.fender/2967/73671/

Yep, those are the ones that are fitted


And if you look at the bridge piece in the middle it has broken where the thin metal piece goes back from the bridge support to the mudguard.

dj58

Were these the type you had fitted originally?
http://www.giant-cork.ie/en-ie/gear/pro ... 967/62617/
If so there is a thread on here somewhere highlighting the problems people have had with the rear brake bridge mounting shearing.

If you are having a problem with the metal bracket on the new model mudguards, can't you ask for a replacement under warranty?

ayjaycee

I've got a set of Giant Defy mudguards on my Specialized Allez Elite and they have been great thus far this winter. They are also only 'permanent' mudguards that I have ever found to fit the bike with Conti GP 4 Seasons 25mm tyres under Tiagra 4600 breakes. At first, I thought that they were the same ones talked about by the OP and got a bit concerned that I might have a failure on the horizon but, having now checked, they differ in that the 'bridge mount' is a one piece affair with the plastic / nylon mudguard sections rivetted to either side - I suspect (and hope) that because of that, mine might be less prone to failure. I actually documented the fit in another thread but now realise that I did not link to the same model mudguard but cannot now find mine on line! FWIW, here is the thread: viewtopic.php?f=40042&t=13040738

One other thing that I would add is that although they fit under the Tiagra calipers reasonably comfortably, I also tried a pair of Ultegra 6800 brakes on the same bike and tyres and they did not work because the Ultegra brakes have a bit more bulk to them.

dj58

Ayjaycee, Those are the first iteration Defy mudguards that you are using designed for use with 23/25c tyres, I have them on my Defy. Interesting what you said about them not fitting under the Ultegra 6800 brake calipers, I have 6700 calipers on my bike and they fit with enough clearance for 25c tyres, 28c will not work though. I think there may be more room under the 5800 105 calipers as they have been designed for up to 28c tyres.

wotnoshoeseh

DJ58 wrote:

Were these the type you had fitted originally?
http://www.giant-cork.ie/en-ie/gear/pro ... 967/62617/
If so there is a thread on here somewhere highlighting the problems people have had with the rear brake bridge mounting shearing.

If you are having a problem with the metal bracket on the new model mudguards, can't you ask for a replacement under warranty?

Yes, those were the ones originally fitted.

I called my Giant dealer today and am bringing the bike back in tomorrow. We'll see where we go from here.

ayjaycee

DJ58, Thanks for that - I only bought them last autumn (from Giant Bristol) so I guess they might have been old stock (luckily for me!). I think you are right about clearances as I have since looked at the Shimano specs which clearly state limits of 25mm for Ulegra 6800 and 28mm for 105 5800 (the specs for Tiagra 4600 that I found did not mention tyres at all!). I didn't actually buy the Ultegra brake set but took them off my Synapse to try on the Allez which is when I found the problem. My original aim was to see if the Ultegra brakes were as good on the Allez (with Tiagra 4600 STIs) as on the Synapse (all Ultegra 6800). I might decide to buy a pair of the latest 105 brakes and see how they are - they can always go back if they don't fit or seem not worth it. My aim is just to see how far the Tiagra brakes on my Allez can be improved - When I changed the stock 'Axis' brakes to Tiagra with Swissstop pads things improved no end but, wet or dry, braking on the Synapse is still better and that's with the stock pads.

Wotnoshoessh - sorry to hijack the thread!

dj58

@ wotnoshoeseh
If the mudguards are under two years old they will be covered under warranty. Insist on a replacement as there may be a manufacturing/materials fault. If you go back to using cruds, you will also need to use 23c tyres.

@Ayjaycee
If I remember the Shimano press release correctly, they claimed that the 5800 105 calipers had been redesigned to give 30% increase in stopping power and have clearance for 28c tyres. As regard the 4600 calipers you have, which SwissStop pads did you fit green GHP II or blue BXP? If green I think you could make a slight improvement with the blue, if you already fitted the blue pads, I think that's as good as you can make them.

ayjaycee

DJ, I fitted the blue BXPs to the Tiagras. I have just ordered a pair of 105 calipers and will see how they work. As I said above, they can always go back.

wotnoshoeseh

DJ58 wrote:

@ wotnoshoeseh
If the mudguards are under two years old they will be covered under warranty. Insist on a replacement as there may be a manufacturing/materials fault. If you go back to using cruds, you will also need to use 23c tyres.

I am having them replaced with Giant ones again....

The guys in the store were proposing to fit SKS RaceBlade XL's but I told them that the reason I bought the Defy was to have a proper winter bike with proper guards. So they are going to fit the SpeedShield guards again.

Incidentally they said they had quite a few failures of the older guards, and that the Speed Shields were significantly better - it was unclear whether they had had any failures though.
So I'll give them another lash and then we will see how it all pans out.

Thanks to all who contributed.

ayjaycee

wotnoshoeseh . Just tried a pair of 105 5800 calipers and there is defintely a bit more room under them than the Tiagra ones and they are a keeper. Braking performance is better and the extra 1mm (or whatever) might mean less chance of debris getting stuck between them and the fenders.

For anybody else looking for fenders on a bike not meant to take them, I got a mail shot from Merlin yesterday which included details of BBB Slimguard BFD 22 fenders which also look quite promising. Don't know whether they are new to the market but I had never heard of them before and apparently they need a 5mm clearance.