Giant help

[chewy]

Hi y'all.

Been looking for my ideal roadie for a bit (whilst building up my funds ) and have more or less settled upon a Giant (feel nice, LBS are good, prices are ok etc etc etc).

I had settled on a Defy 3, £595 with a triple crank (that I want!) but Sora shifters. Now Im happy to use the Sora's having had a play with them, but obviously The Defy 1 with Tiagra caught my eye....but this only comes as a compact (which i don't want!!!).


Now I could move up yet again to a Giant TCR 1 (triple 105!) but I don't think this is a compact frame like the Defy...the catalogue paints the TCR as more of a race machine, which Im not really looking for but could i put up with this type of frame as more of a leisure road bike????

I know that really and truly it boils down to visiing the shop and seeing what really suits ME, but any thoughts (o more questions for me to think about) and advice would be appriciated!


Cheers, once again!

 

[Glover Fan]

Why don't you fancy a compact?

Tiagra over Sora anyday.

 

[chewy]

Cos there's some bloody steep hills in devon!

 

[2Loose]

The TCR's are very slightly lower than the Defys' - to gain a slight aerodynamic advantage, but are very much in the same mold. Both are designed to be ridden all day... but I must point out that there must be something in between price wise? £600 compared to £1200...seems a big price gap to me.

If you are desperate for a triple then there are other similiar options out there that would fit in the middle price wise such as one of the the Specialized Secteurs' or the Boardman Road Comp £800 (Which although a 10spd Compact has a very wide spread of gearing at the lower end due to its Sram Apex groupset).

All would be worth checking out if I was shopping for a road bike with triple range gearing for between 6 and £1200.

 

[chewy]

Yes have considered the above bikes but I really like the feel of the defy.

Sorry for the confusion over the money, LBS has a very good finance offer so whilst i'm looking to spend as little as possible I don't want to get the wrong bike for the sake of £15 a month!

 

[OldnSlow]

I just love Giants - perhaps being a little guy, they just fit me perfectly. I'v had 5 of them now.
I've had them with triple Sora, triple 105 & now double Dura Ace.

The present full carbon TCR is so comfortable that i can ride it all day every day doing 100+ miles.
Apart from the frame, there is not a single part, screw or wire that i have not changed or upgraded.

I run carbon chainwheels 51 / 38 with a Tune Rasselbande 11 / 28 cassette, so note the lower than standard bottom gear for an old bugger.
I've worn out / broken 3 Dura Ace r.h. shifters - to me they are useless.
I tried taking one apart - big mistake.
I undid a little grub screw & there were springs & palls flying everywhere - bin.

I now run Super Record 10 speed changers on the front with Dura Ace on the back. It's like a knife thru butter.
Everyone one on the forums poo - hoo'd the idea - said it wouldn't work.
To be honest it was a lot of money spent & wasted if it hadn't have worked - but its been perfect so far.

Over the years i'v spent so much money on bikes & bits & the present one, the wife has no idea (thank goodness) how much it's worth.
But i've learnt that it's not about the bike - it's all about the legs.
Just get some miles in & it doesn't matter what bike you ride

 

[chewy]

To be honest, whatever I get will be a big step up from my work hack! B-) but just want to get it right!

I am leaning towards the TCR as long as its comfortable! But then sense kicks in and I remember how pleased I was that I found the sora to be perfectly adequate and think about the money I could save!

Just another fool with idea's above his station I'm afraid! :$

 

[the snail]

My bike has sora kit, works just fine. If you want to get up Devon hills without coughing your lungs up, then a triple is the way to go I'd say, better to have the ratios you want than to spend money you haven't got for a fairly marginal difference in performance. If you need to, I'd think about spending money on good clothing, lighting etc. which would be of more benefit?

 

[chewy]

Yes, I know Snail. Have said exactly the same to myself :-D.

Think having the bike I can actually afford comfortablely will be the way to go. After all I was more than happy to have sora before I started dreaming!

Thanks for keeping my feet on the ground/pedals!

Alot less explaining to Mrs Chewy too ;-)

 

[ChristinaJL]

My husband got a giant defy 3 with the sora on the CTW scheme last year and he really likes it. He's had no problems with the groupset on so far.

ETA - he's really glad he got a triple for the hills round here!!

 

[chewy]

Thanks for that Christina! That helps alot!

Bit more confidence in not spending too much!

 

[fungus]

I have a TCR2 carbon with ultegra triple & an old Defy4 carbon forks with sora compact (the shifters are still fine after 2 winters of riding, approx 5000miles). The TCR is the most comfortable (I did the end2end on it averaging 196miles a day) it's still a compact frame but as said before the front end is a little lower than the Defy. I've found that the Defy handles better on corners possibly due to the front end being a little higher.

I personally would go for the Defy3 & maybe look to upgrade the levers/wheels at a later date, lighter wheels will make the biggest difference especially where hills are concerned: http://www.ribblecyc...les/SHIMGRSS320 Look around the for sale section on here & yacf for cheap upgrades, I've changed the stem/bars, seatpost, saddle & wheels on mine as the stock kit was pretty cheap & heavy stuff. Just noticed the TCR1 is the same frame/fork as the Defy

Perhaps we could organise a Giant owners ride one day

 

[chris-s]

Just to try and sway you towards the Tiagra, when I got my roadbike last summer I swapped out the rear cassette for an 11/28 rather than the stock 11/25 for the same reason you want a tripple, because of the hills in Cornwall. It hasn't failed me yet, well, except for Millook which is 33%->35%.

Having ridden both Tiagra and Sora, the former wins hands down in my experience.

Chris

 

[chewy]

Having read your advice on compacts, I found out the figures for the triple versus the compact and is as follows:



COMPACT = 34/50 chainset with a 12-25 cassette, which bottom gear ratio works out to 1.36.


TRIPLE = 30/42/52 chainset with a 12-26 cassette, which bottom gear ratio works out to 1.15



Can anyone let me know how this will actually translate/feel in actual real terms?

I know this is a big ask

 

[chris-s]

Before I got my road bike I was riding an old mtb for a few weeks. I found a hill that was 'tough' at the time but doable, worked out the gear inches then that gave me something to go by.

Swapping the rear cassette to an 11/28 will give you a ratio of 1.18, that's going to feel little different to the triple after a few weeks at the most.

Chris