Giant Defy 2 - rear derailleur and hanger

[Glasgow44]

Hi there

I've got a Giant Defy 2 road bike which I love. The other day I was cycling and moving up and down the gears (which I do from time to time so that all the cogs are being utilised). I moved up to the top cog on the rear derailleur and the chain went right over into the back wheel, jammed and took out some of the spokes. I went to the bike shop where I bought the bike and the said that the hanger was bent and damaged and must have taken a knock at some point. They replaced the rear wheel, rear derailleur and hanger (as goodwill). I previously had the hanger replaced (at my own expense) when I took a tumble on the bike (I've got a posting about this on here somewhere). The bike shop replaced the rear wheel with a slightly different one (front wheel is a Giant SR2 and the rear wheel is now a Shimano RS) - see pics on my posting below. They have told me that this will not affect the performance of the bike and that the inner tube, valve and size are all the same. They also said that the Shimano wheel is a better wheel (an upgraded wheel from the one on the front is what they said).

J

 

[Glasgow44]

Here are the pics of the front and back wheel. The front wheel is Giant SR-2 and the rear wheel is Shimano RS - is this ok and is the rear wheel an upgrade on the front one as the bike shop have said?

 

[Garry A]

The SR2 wheels seem to have a reputation for breaking spokes fairly quickly. I have just replaced the SR2's on my Defy 3 because of this. When I asked my local wheel merchant about the entry level Shimano wheels (R010 I think) he said they were a bit better than the Giants which are fitted with cheap Taiwanese steel spokes.

 

[the_mikey]

I am always impressed with the Shimano R500 wheelset, cheap and super reliable, not the lightest but that isn't necessarily a disadvantage, certainly much more satisfying than riding on Giant wheels.