Giant defy 2 size

stemacca
stemacca Posts: 75
edited June 2011 in Road buying advice
Hi, quick question. I think I have settled on the giant defy 2 for my very first road bike. I need to order from the internet though and I'm struggling on size. I'm 5'4 and my inside leg is 28". What size would you recommend?
On various websites I am down for a 49-50 frame but giant seem different and their small are 46.5 and the medium is 50.

What you recon about the defy? Hearing good things about it and I like the relaxed head angle.

Any help would be appreciated

Cheers

Steven

Comments

  • TommyEss
    TommyEss Posts: 1,855
    Giant road bikes all have a compact geometry - so the frame sizes are smaller than you'd think. The 50cm medium has a 54.5cm top tube - i.e. similar to most other manufacturer's 53/54cm frame sizes.

    I am 5'8" with a 29" inside leg, and am perfect on a medium 50cm - I would expect that to be too big for you, and would be looking at the 46.5cm small size.

    Above all - get to a shop and sit on one, even if you don't buy from them. (

    ASIDE---> Why do you have to buy online by the way?> For a first bike, the benefits of buying from a local bike shop and building up a relationship with them could far outweigh any cost savings from buying online. They'll also be able to fit you to the bike - if you have slightly long arms for your height as I do, you may benefit from a longer stem etc. - your shop should be able to do this free of charge, rather than you having to a) find out for yourself that you need a longer stem and b) buying yourself a longer stem and c) fitting a longer stem.

    As for the bike itself - it's a very nice frame, depending on what level you go for the equipment ranges from budget/functional up to pretty nice. Wheels are normally so-so. Be aware that although the frame has mudguard mounts, it will not fit full mudguards as the brake clearance is too tight. This may/may not be an issue to you. It will fit crud catcher road guards however, and I'm getting on ok with these, but they don't offer such good protection as full guards.

    Hope that helps.

    Tom
    Cannondale Synapse 105, Giant Defy 3, Giant Omnium, Giant Trance X2, EMC R1.0, Ridgeback Platinum, On One Il Pompino...
  • stemacca
    stemacca Posts: 75
    Cheers for the reply. Yeah I was leaning to that 46.5 size purely for the stand over clearance. Seems like it's getting rave reviews for a first bike though.
    I am a mountain biker at present and upgrade, tinker and build my bikes up so buying online is no problem if things need tweaking.
    I learnt all this due to buying my mountain bike from a lbs and them not listening to me and fixing the issues I had with the bike. Unfortunately this is the same lbs and is the only shop near me that sells the giant.
    I also can't get down there yet due to having a knee operation yesterday so I was going to order it and get it delivered whilst I was off.
    Competly agree though that it's best to try first. Might hold off and go and sit on it first if they have my size in of course. Then buy from the net.

    Thank you.
  • stemacca
    stemacca Posts: 75
    Also on a side note I and also tempted for yellow defy 3 2010 model and upgrade it a bit. Love the colour scheme on that and I know the components will be better on the defy 2 2011 but I'm not sure how much has changed between frames and forks.

    I looked on a video though on YouTube and I saw full mudguards front and back on the defy so I don't know if they are defy specific.
  • TommyEss
    TommyEss Posts: 1,855
    As far as I'm aware, there's no difference in frame and forks across the defy range. The defy advanced range is a different frame of course. There are specific guards for the defy made by giant - I had them on mine initially. Unfortunately what they don't tell you is that in order to get underneath the brake calipers they have a little metal bridge, leaving a gaping hole in the one place where you really want there to be a mudguard. Suffice it to say, at the first service, my LBS said they'd cleaned up the brakes but they wouldn't last much longer. Depends on what you're after from the bike really. It just didn't turn out to be as good a winter bike as I'd have liked, which is what I got mine for. The frame is awesome, she's a great ride - I'd go for the 2 over the 3 if your budget will allow. Good luck with the op.
    Cannondale Synapse 105, Giant Defy 3, Giant Omnium, Giant Trance X2, EMC R1.0, Ridgeback Platinum, On One Il Pompino...

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