Best value bike with discs and ultegra...?

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Chap sur le velo

Über Member
Location
@acknee
Hard to define "best value"...but I recently splashed out on one of these - it fits your specs.

https://www.bikeradar.com/reviews/bikes/road-bikes/2021giant-defy-advanced-pro-2-review/



Stocks for all brands are low or OOS, but found the right size and had a fitting at their city branch.
My priorities were ride quality, ride quality, ride quality.
Wasn't even sure I wanted discs, but every bike is some kind of compromise.
None of the short list bikes were available to test ride, so I cant compare.
So far I'm really impressed and really enjoying each ride more than the last.
(Sadly due to 'life', my rides are only about once a week at present but...)



One note that disappointed me. Bearing in mind that Giant manufacture every part of the frame set up, I would have appreciated being able to 'custom finish' the bike. The saddle is very comfy but about 1.5cm wider than my previous one and I'd have gone for a narrower one. IN practice I does feel a bit 'tight' at the top of the legs. Also I'm tall but with "very long legs" so the XL was the correct size. But I'm not built like Arnie across the shoulders and the 44cm wide handle bars feel huge after my previous bike - about 2.5cm wider really feels a lot. But to change these bits I would have had to buy the new parts at full price and pay the labour. I have therefore decided to see if I get used to them before splashing out. However at the time of sale the parts supplied were "NEW" and unused so some kind of deal where I paid for the labour and a restocking charge for items switched, would have given me much greater feeling of contentment that my bike was personalised for me. After all I paid extra to be fitted for the bike and it shouldn't stop at saddle, bar, cleat position. (To be fair I was pleased with the rest of the fitting.)
This is not a major problem. After all I bought from the biggest bike co in the world and not a LBS, so what did I expect? I believe I got a lot for my money but it didn't warm me to the brand GIANT.
 

monkers

Veteran
I've been considering a new bike and the key things I'm after are disc brakes and minimum ultegra spec. What are the best options out there?

I've been through just the same thing this very week. Choices were limited especially in my size, but after reading this review of the Orro Gold STC, I found one, took the plunge and bought one. It's too soon to deliver the same verdict as the testers, but it rides just so smoothly. It certainly rides more plushly than any bike I've ever ridden, so I'm looking forward to a long day in the saddle.

Initial thoughts; the wired tyres (Continental Sport Race) are rather heavy at 410g each and need a bit of winding up. The stickers on the Fulcrum Racing R500 wheels (1610g per pair) are a bit much - so I've peeled them all off. The standard kit is full Ultegra with no corners cut. The brake rotors are 140mm front and rear rather than the more usual 160s. The quality of the frame and the paint are just superb, real depth of shine. I'll definitely be changing the saddle for an SQ Labs 612.

It's available in a rather delicious crystaline red, but I couldn't match my size to that colour, so I have a black with gold.

RRP is £2599 which is rather good these days for that spec.

https://www.sportive.com/cycling-re...-stc-disc-review-a-superlative-endurance-bike

https://www.orrobikes.com/shop/endurance-bikes/gold/50

Gold-STC-Ultegra-Mechanical-Black-&-Gold-medium.png
 
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Chap sur le velo

Über Member
Location
@acknee
The stickers on the Fulcrum Racing R500 wheels (1610g per pair) are a bit much - so I've peeled them all off.

Good looking bike,

^_^ Yep I took 10 stickers off the Giant's wheels. Looks much cleaner and I will remember not to put more than 125psi in the tyres.

Will be much faster next time out...
 

Vette427

New Member
Hi Brodie, I was looking for exactly the same and found the Ghost Speedline Lector 9000 back in 2015. It has Ultegra 11-28 cassette and 50/34 compact chainset. XT hubs, XT 180 m/m discs and levers, Ritchey integrated headset and carbon frame and fork. The weight is 9.7 kgs.
I bought it for the wife - she didn’t want it as it was all Matt black !!! - so it’s never been used. I did ride it around the “ block “ about 1.5 miles and thought it was amazing. It’s on Schwalbe Kojak 700x35 tyres and a really smooth ride compared to my Merlin on 23’s.
Maybe you could find a SH one of these. They were about £1875 new back then.
I’m thinking of selling this one actually as I’ll never use it and the wife has E bike now.
anyway, good luck in your search.
 
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