Giant help

[Cletus Van Damme]

I recently got a 2010 Secteur Sport for the same reason I wanted a triple, and also it was a bargain For £519.99 compared to the more or less identical 2011 bike for £770. My bike has a Sora/Tiagra mix, the rear mech is Tiagra, front mech Sora and the shifters Sora. So far I have little issues with the shifters as I mainly ride on the hoods most of the time, and compared to the last racer I had as a kid with downtube shifters it is superb. The Sora front mech also works very well, seems to be better than the Tiagra on my hybrid (although that is older). Then again when I bought the bike the only other bike I fancied was a Cannondale Synapse Tiagra but it was £850 and also is a compact only as far as I am aware. If my shifters do start to become a problem I will upgrade them to Tiagra. My bike is a 9 speed so it will be cheaper to upgrade than the Defy 3 as I think it as an 8. Still it's not a massive job if you do want to go down that route in the future. I guess it depends how much money you have at the moment, I am feeling the pinch in this current climate and would rather upgrade later if I feel the need when I hopefully have more cash. Good luck whatever you buy though.

 

[festival]

All giant road bikes have compact frames, not to be confused with compact gear ratios.
The defy's have shorter top tubes, higher head tubes, longer chain stays & wheel base than the TCR range therefore making them a more comfortable endurance ride. Having said that, the quality of all giant frames give a superior ride.

 

[ChristinaJL]

Thanks for that Christina! That helps alot!

Bit more confidence in not spending too much!

Just think, you can always upgrade to a more expensive bike in a few years and will feel less guilty about spending!!!

 

[chewy]

Ha ha! I wont feel guilty either way, but the saved money could be used elsewhere!

Deliberately found some hills today......think i'll be buying that triple! ;-)

 

[peelywally]

all this stuff about gears is kinda obsolete once your out on the bike , i rarely use more than 3 settings on any ride , my 1 - 2 clicks up /down

take me to mid range range gear ratio that allows me to get up any hill , ive sat behind a few bikes also and ive rarely seen the full range of gears used by anyone , im a fixie rider without the confidence to commit i guess

who are these people who go through the full range of gears on the hoods anyway ?

 

[chewy]

Ha! I was talking to my bike loving mate Dave about compacts. He said that he's always had doubles and that he thought I'd be fine with a compact.

He proceeded to tell me about his many many hernias!!!

I then changed my mind back again

 

[2Loose]

all this stuff about gears is kinda obsolete once your out on the bike , i rarely use more than 3 settings on any ride , my 1 - 2 clicks up /down

take me to mid range range gear ratio that allows me to get up any hill , ive sat behind a few bikes also and ive rarely seen the full range of gears used by anyone , im a fixie rider without the confidence to commit i guess

who are these people who go through the full range of gears on the hoods anyway ?

Must be nice to live somewhere fairly flat

 

[ChristinaJL]

I too am one of those feeble cyclists that have to use every gear on my triple's granny ring to get up the over 16% gradient hills round here, how rubbish am I??!!!

I guess it's down to peddling style - I have bad knees so the smaller gears and a slightly faster cadence work better for me cycling uphill than pushing a bigger gear slowly which hurts my knees. Test ride them both out and try a hill if you can.

 

[chewy]

I think I will set aside a day to in up to LBS and try both, as I am still set on a triple, but a compact has to be worth a try at least from what lots of people say!

 

[fungus]

I'd deffo go for the triple myself, a 30/26 bottom gear should get you up pretty much anything. As I said before you'd be better off buying the cheaper Defy model & upgrading later on which is exactly what I have done as the defy range uses the same frame & fork throughout, except the defy 4 which now has a cromoly fork.

Anyway whatever you choose keep us informed & good luck

 

[chewy]

Cheers! Hopefully wont be tooo long!


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