Canyon Ultimate CF SL 8.0 or Giant TCR Advanced 1

j_w_h

Hello everybody,
I am in the process of buying my very first road bike.

I will be using the bike for shorter, hilly outings (around 50 km most of the time). The bike should therefor perform well uphill. I want a carbon frame, Ultegra and as little weight as I can afford for around € 2.000.

The decision, as of right now, comes down to the Canyon Ultimate CF SL 8.0 (€ 2.200) or the Giant TCR Advanced 1 (€ 1.800). Other suggestions are appreciated of course.

https://www.canyon.com/en-gb/road-bikes ... quantity=1

https://www.giant-bicycles.com/de/bikes-tcr-advanced

Do you guys think that the € 400 extra for the Canyon - buying better wheels, a carbon steerer and therefor around 800 g of weight gain, are worth it in terms of bang for the buck? I assume the difference will not be night and day, but I simply want a good, solid bike that I will still enjoy in 5 years time and not have any regrets or second thoughts.

I should mention that I already tested the Giant bike and although they didn't have my frame size (only bigger ones) I liked how it felt.

Thank you!

bradsbeard

Had a of Giant Defy Advanced Pro and went to Canyon Ultimate CF SL.

Canyon was a better ride with the same build as the GIant Defy.

Also inside the fame the canyon is far better finish!

Canyon for me.

bendertherobot

The wheels on the Canyon are arguably better if all things are equal.

I do wonder if the better comparison though is with the TCR Advanced Pro, which, of course, is much more money (but has carbon wheels).

bendertherobot

And that's reduced so, it becomes a more interesting choice (PRO Model)
https://www.google.com/search?q=tcr+adv ... e&ie=UTF-8

j_w_h

bradsbeard wrote:

Had a of Giant Defy Advanced Pro and went to Canyon Ultimate CF SL.

Canyon was a better ride with the same build as the GIant Defy.

Also inside the fame the canyon is far better finish!

Canyon for me.

Thank you, very interesting.

Can you also point to what exactly was better about the Canyon than the Giant?

I know that Canyon builds good bikes, without a question.

But this review paints a pretty rosy picture of the Giant TCR Advanced 1 and actually drew me in quite a bit:

https://www.cyclingweekly.com/reviews/r ... advanced-1

bradsbeard

I swapped the builds between my Defy and the Canyon so I was using the exact same components on each.

The Canyon it a smoother bike. Soaked up the road surface far better. I think this culmination of frame and seatpost.

It was also difference due to going from QR to Thru Axel.

The Canyon gets up to speed better as well. More Aero than the Defy.