Giant Defy 0 vs Giant Defy Advanced 1

[raggydoll]

Been looking at both these bikes.
giant defy 0:
£999
aluminium
normal brakes
105
cassette is 11-32

giant advanced 1
£1649
carbon
disc brakes
ultegra
cassette is 11-28

Couple of questions:
Any opinions on either?
Is the extra £649 worth it for the upgrades (in your opinion of course).

One of my main concerns is going from a giant rapid 3 with a triple and still use the granny gear on hills. I have no shame.

So my easiest gear would be a 30 on the crank and a 28 on the cassette.
The defy 0 would be 34 on the crank and 32 on the cassette.
The defy advanced 1 would be 34 on the crank and 28 on the cassette.

I'm vearing towards thte defy 0 at the moment (probably cos of the slightly larger range in the cassette) but would there be a lot of difference in the easiest gears between My current rapid and this (for the purposes of hills).

Cheers.

 

[Rooster1]

There are some more pricepoints between the Defy 0 and the Advanced 1

You have the Advanced 3 - RRP £1,199.00 (on my wishlist)
http://www.tredz.co.uk/.Giant-Defy-Advanced-3-2015-Road-Bike_73915.htm

Or the Advanced 2 RRP £1,399.00
http://www.tredz.co.uk/.Giant-Defy-Advanced-2-2015-Road-Bike_73914.htm

The whole Defy range is, and has been for some years, simply brilliant

 

[Rooster1]

And theres also the TCR range, e.g.

http://www.tredz.co.uk/.Giant-TCR-Advanced-3-2015-Road-Bike_73936.htm

 

[raggydoll]

i need to decide on the main differences.
alu vs carbon
normal brakes vs disc
different cassette size

i think the main things i'm not clear about are the pros and cons of disc brakes against 'normal' brakes.

do disc brakes save the rims?

I know I could always get the advanced and change components but wouldn't want to after paying that amount.

 

[raggydoll]

i'm looking at the defy for the relaxed geometry aspect.

lower back problems so went with flat bar rapid but starting to look at the defy range as an upgrade.

what do you ride just now rooster?
cheers.

 

[vickster]

Ash cycles have deals on older giant models, worth a look. Paul's cycles may do too

Assuming you are not only wanting to buy locally. Ash are in Chingford

 

[raggydoll]

i noticed that, cheers vickster.
i'd prolly prefer to buy local, less hassle when there's problems or it arrives damaged etc.
had too many times when things bought online arrive damaged and had the hassle and cost of returning.

they also sell current models with 15% of free goodies which again is a great deal.

 

[vickster]

Good strategy you can always negotiate with your local retailer

 

[SteCenturion]

Get the Advanced 1 is the best option IMHO.

My Cube came with a 105 11-32 cassette & I swapped the wheels & the cassette out for a 11-28 Ultegra which cost approx £30 but could have got a 105 11-28 for less.

To be blunt, the Advanced will be a lot lighter, stiffer & more responsive to pedal input than your current bike & you probably won't need 11-32 unless you live in Brecon Beacons or similar.

No doubt that the aluminium Defy 0 is a great bike too, but they won't compare.

 

[Dogtrousers]

The cassette size probably isn't that big a deal. You can quite cheaply swap in a 32T to replace the 28T one. Worst case would require a change of rear mech, best case a simple swap of cassette and a new chain, but all in all it wouldn't cost much, so I wouldn't make that your main criterion.

30/28 ~ 28" approx
34/32 ~ 28"
34/28 ~ 32"

A 32" bottom gear is significantly higher than a 28" bottom gear. It's a matter of personal choice (and leg strength) whether you're happy with the 32".

But the frame material and brake type aren't flexible like gears. Once you've bought them you're stuck with them, so worry about those first.

 

[User16625]

The cassette size probably isn't that big a deal. You can quite cheaply swap in a 32T to replace the 28T one. Worst case would require a change of rear mech, best case a simple swap of cassette and a new chain, but all in all it wouldn't cost much, so I wouldn't make that your main criterion.

30/28 ~ 28" approx
34/32 ~ 28"
34/28 ~ 32"

A 32" bottom gear is significantly higher than a 28" bottom gear. It's a matter of personal choice (and leg strength) whether you're happy with the 32".

But the frame material and brake type aren't flexible like gears. Once you've bought them you're stuck with them, so worry about those first.

Why would swapping cassettes on a brand new unused bike require a new chain? Surely you only need to do that if changing to a different number of cogs, but that would require changing other stuff too.

OP in my experience disc brakes are more powerful than standard brakes. However this is only an issue if you regularly ride in wet conditions coz calipers are quite crap when wet. There is also the issue of rim wear, disc brakes dont have this issue. I once went over the handlebars braking for a car that pulled out on me, thats the stopping power of standard caliper on my old commuter bike.

 

[raggydoll]

so the general consensus is..carbon will be a lot lighter and stiffer and the disc brakes wil be stronger and won't wear out the rim.
you guys are gonna cost me an extra £650 with talk like that!

dogtrousers....can you explain a little buit about what this means:
34/32 ~ 28"
34/28 ~ 32"

cheers for all input guys!

 

[Dogtrousers]

Why would swapping cassettes on a brand new unused bike require a new chain? Surely you only need to do that if changing to a different number of cogs, but that would require changing other stuff too..

If you were swapping a cassette with max 28T for one with max 32T you'd need a longer chain no? Otherwise you might bust the RD if you changed into big-big cos the chain would be too tight. (THis is assuming that the rear mech has sufficient capacity) I could be wrong there, but my general point was that it's not much fuss to change the gearing on a bike, but you can't easily convert a carbon frame into an alu one, or put disks on a frame not designed for them. So I'd look at those things as higher priority to get what you want first time.

dogtrousers....can you explain a little buit about what this means:
34/32 ~ 28"
34/28 ~ 32"

You were quoting the different easiest gear on the different models above. I've converted these combinations into "gear inches" which is the way (or one of several ways) in which gears can be measured (see http://www.sheldonbrown.com/gain.html for a bit more info). My point was that the 30T chainset with 28T sprocket is (nearly) the same as the 34 chainset/32 sprocket, whereas the 34/28 is a bit of a higher gear. Whether you find that higher gear OK is a question only you can answer.

But as I said above you can fine tune the gearing on a bike but you can't fine tune the other criteria that you mentioned (frame material, brake type).

 

[vickster]

No carbon isn't necessarily a lot lighter than alu, there are some very light cannondales and rose models for example. Not all carbon is created equal

You're paying quite a lot of money to save perhaps 1500g with your choices

 

[surfdude]

if you got it spend the extra £650 and worry about things when it happens or if it happens or try and test ride them both to see if there is a problem . if you get the defy advanced 1 please put an , how good or bad you think it is as i am thinking of getting one