Drago
Legendary Member
- Location
- Suburban Poshshire
^^^ That's the bike, eh? They cleaned it up pretty good.
Can anything beat this giant to buy
- Thread starter Chris Swift
- Start date
-
- Tags
- giant
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vickster
Legendary Member
2016 0 Defy (same bike renamed afaik) with Ultegra parts, £250 less and Shimano brakes (not the Tektros on the Contend)
https://www.paulscycles.co.uk/m7b0s6p6992/GIANT-DEFY-0-2016
Or the 1 for nearly £400 less
https://www.paulscycles.co.uk/m7b4s6p6990/GIANT-DEFY-1-2016
Looks like can do on C2W, albeit with a surcharge to cover the retailer fees
https://www.paulscycles.co.uk/info/sale_bikes_on_cyclescheme.php
@roadrash bought the Defy 1 from Paul's iirc, after looking at the Contend
https://www.paulscycles.co.uk/m7b0s6p6992/GIANT-DEFY-0-2016
Or the 1 for nearly £400 less
https://www.paulscycles.co.uk/m7b4s6p6990/GIANT-DEFY-1-2016
Looks like can do on C2W, albeit with a surcharge to cover the retailer fees
https://www.paulscycles.co.uk/info/sale_bikes_on_cyclescheme.php
@roadrash bought the Defy 1 from Paul's iirc, after looking at the Contend
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The Brewer
Shed Dweller
- Location
- Wrexham
Love my 2014 Giant defy, best bike I've had, it just suits me so well.
Drago
Legendary Member
- Location
- Suburban Poshshire
People do seem to love their Defy's. The one I tried was lovely, and I only went for the Felt as it fitted me like a glove.
The Brewer
Shed Dweller
- Location
- Wrexham
Gotta try them, best part about shopping for a new bike 
froze
Über Member
- Location
- Fort Wayne, Indiana
This isn't entirely true. 105 levers have a shift action that is the same as Dura Ace and Ultegra with a short throw. whereas the Tiagra has an older system that shifts heavier and has a longer throw. The same comparison can be made with the brakes, 105 has the same symmetrical twin pivot design found on the upper two models, not so with Tiagra that uses an older design that gives the brakes have a lack of feel and feedback through the levers, Tiagra also uses a one piece brake block so you cannot try higher end blocks and are stuck with getting Tiagra, and these blocks flex, plus it's more difficult to swap out the blocks. 105 Chainrings are reinforced for added stiffness over the Tiagra. The front derailleur...well not front mechanical derailleur shifts well, they never have. Rear derailleur wise 105 has a lighter spring balance and the shift is faster and smoother than Tiagra. 105 cassette is considerably lighter than Tiagra at almost 100 grams. the total weight difference between the two is about 350 grams which equates to about 12 ounces, or 3/4ths of a pound. Internally the mechanical bits and pieces of 105 has more in common with Ultegra then with Tiagra.
Now having said all of that, for the casual user Tiagra would be just fine. I have 105 components but I went with Ultegra rear derailleur, but I also went with Dura Ace 9000 cables which really made the 105 act and feel like Dura Ace, thus for a small amount of money it's possible you could improve the response of Tiagra by using DA9000 cables and make them feel like maybe 105.
Here is another option, it does come with disk brakes which I don't really care for, but if you ride in wet climate they are better than rim brakes under those conditions. http://www.wiggle.com/vitus-zenium-vr-disc-105-2017-road-bike/
Drago
Legendary Member
- Location
- Suburban Poshshire
At risk of raking up that old chestnut, I've got one of each and aside from the number of gears the Tiagra and 105 look almost identical, and perform almost identically. The Tiagra does indeed have a longer throw at the lever, but with my big hands I actually prefer that.
Utterly pointless getting hung up on mere dozens of grams of weight when the rider is unlikely to be at 5% body fat. I'm a 265lb man and even if I were a racer, which I isn't, even Dura Ace won't make so much as a seconds time improvement over Tiagra.
And even when a group set made from depleted uranium its for nowt if it's hung from a mediocre frame. Frame and wheels are far, far more important with the limited budget the OP has, and getting hung up on irrelevant spec as a measure to choose candidates is disingenuous.
What feels best under the riders arriss out on the highway is what matters, not the label on the bling, especially when the budget is limited.
Utterly pointless getting hung up on mere dozens of grams of weight when the rider is unlikely to be at 5% body fat. I'm a 265lb man and even if I were a racer, which I isn't, even Dura Ace won't make so much as a seconds time improvement over Tiagra.
And even when a group set made from depleted uranium its for nowt if it's hung from a mediocre frame. Frame and wheels are far, far more important with the limited budget the OP has, and getting hung up on irrelevant spec as a measure to choose candidates is disingenuous.
What feels best under the riders arriss out on the highway is what matters, not the label on the bling, especially when the budget is limited.
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Racing roadkill
Guru
Try actually riding them back to back, then comment. Technically what you said is true, practically speaking, not so much so.
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OP
OP
Chris Swift
Senior Member
- Location
- Coventry
OP
OP
Chris Swift
Senior Member
- Location
- Coventry
Thanks everyone for your comments and input, some interesting bikes and views, Deffo looking at 105 tho and non disc breaks... I already have a defy 1 disc: https://www.giant-bicycles.com/gb/defy-1-disc-2016 and that's 105, I went from a sora to 105 difference is amazing, and my direct drive turbo trainer has a 105 cassette so, 105 for me.
nickyboy
Norven Mankey
- Location
- You want hills? We got hills
The Decathlon linked wasn't the most suitable for the OP's spec
Aluminium frame, carbon fork, 105 ...£799
https://www.decathlon.co.uk/ultra-900-af-road-bike-105-id_8377261.html
Aluminium frame, carbon fork, Ultegra....£1050
https://www.decathlon.co.uk/ultra-720-af-road-bike-ultegra-id_8331274.html
I ride a slightly higher spec version of these and it's a great bike
Aluminium frame, carbon fork, 105 ...£799
https://www.decathlon.co.uk/ultra-900-af-road-bike-105-id_8377261.html
Aluminium frame, carbon fork, Ultegra....£1050
https://www.decathlon.co.uk/ultra-720-af-road-bike-ultegra-id_8331274.html
I ride a slightly higher spec version of these and it's a great bike
My LBS ( Giant dealer amongst others) isn't impressed with the contend, it has different geometry to the defy and is not as good in their opinion. Why Giant would mess with a winning formula I do not know. Try before you buy but they think the Specialized Allez is the better bike at the moment.
kingrollo
Guru
Personally I would go with the carbon decath and take the hit on tiagra v 105.
I have a 2013 defy with tiagra, as my winter bike nothing wrong with tiagra. I would always go frame over groupset.
The reason I went for the defy was it was one of the few bikes in its class that took dedicated mudguards - does the contend take guards ?
FWIW - my defy came with tektro brakes (as does the contend) - these aren't great and I quickly put 105 calipers on (only around £50) - The decath already has decent tiagra callipers
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