I’ve been drooling over Giant Propels for too long so now i’m hatching a plan to get one and replace my entry level Defy carbon. To be fair my Defy is a size too big for me which i’ve lived with over the past couple of years, but it would be nice to have a bike that I wasn’t compromising on in terms of fit. It felt great on the initial test ride, but that’s the problem with test rides, it can take months to get used to a bike. And at £1600 the Propel Advanced 1 with Advanced frame and full mechanical Ultegra groupset seems like a steal to me – certainly the other big manufacturers have nothing that comes close even at higher price points.

So i’ve been reading some reviews of the Propel Advanced 1 and they all seem pretty good (pretty excellent in fact) except a few say things like “there are better climbers out there” suggesting it’s not good at climbing. I know aero bikes are slightly heavier than non-aero bikes, but I figure the Propel Advanced is probably lighter than my entry level carbon non-Advanced Defy, certainly no heavier. I know that they’re stiffer and less forgiving, but so was my Defy compared to my previous metal bikes so I can probably live with that. And the geometry, though a bit racier than the Defy, doesn’t seem drastically different. So i’m struggling to understand or imagine what they might mean by it might not be a good climber?

I do enjoy a good climb, but i’m no KOM, and the hills around me tend to be steep but short, so tend to see them as a challenge to overcome rather than something to race up, so I tend to sit in the saddle, pick the biggest gear I can push and grind up them rather than spring up out of the saddle and race up them. So the bikes climbing ability is not top of the list for me, but at the same time I don’t want a bike that is particularly bad at climbing or might make climbing any harder for me, especially with a few days in the Alps planned for next year with some mates taking on some of the big TDF climbs.

So in biker review speak what does “there are better climbers out there” actually mean”? Any Propel owners out there than can comment?

Cheers all.

biggest gear I can push and grind up

use lower gear higher cadence, no requirement for out of the saddle unless you want to sprint over the top

Climbing is technique and power to weight ratio. The bikes gear ratio can provide a wider range of useable gears for climbing. I don’t think the bikes geometry will have much real affect on climbing.

Fit a shorter stem to your current bike?

I think bike reviewers struggle to hit the word count and “there are better climbers out there” just refers to the weight. BTW – on the 2nd hand forums there are a disproportionate number of Propels up for sale compared to say Defy’s. A friend of mine had one but only kept it for a few months as he said it was very stiff but lacking in character.

I am a spinner on the flats and more gentle hills/slopes (where an aero bike would benefit me), but there are alot of hills around me that are pretty steep so run out of gears and end up grinding in first. I accept that i’m not a natural born climber – of stocky build and always been heavy for my height, so will never be a fast climber hence I hit the hills for the sheer fun and challenge of it. I could probably do with a 32 block on the back for some of the steeper hills. But you confirm/agree with what I’ve thought that climbing is more about weight and technique rather than the bike (within sensible reason), hence why I’m confused/interested as to the reviewers comments suggesting that there is something about the bike that makes it not a great climber.

Fit a shorter stem? You are of course correct, but I have a new bike itch! Not necessarily trying to justify the new bike purchase and under no illusions that a new bike will make me a better rider, but curious as to how one bike might not be as good at climbing as another assuming weights are similar. With the bike weight being less than 10% of my total riding weight I doubt a few hundred grams of weight saving will make a jot of difference to anything.

JB – interesting. Not sure I could detect ‘character’ especially in a modern carbon bike. They’re a bit like CD’s vs. vinyl, so maybe between a steel lugged bike vs. a modern carbon bike, but interesting comment. I find my Defy super stiff compared to my Roadrat, but not in an uncomfortable way (I think they call it vertical compliance). I guess the RR has more character than my Defy, but not sure i’d want to tackle a big 50+ mile ride on it, the Defy is faster and more efficient for sure.

“there are better climbers out there”

it’s bollocks to say that about pretty much any frame IMO – surely must come down almost entirely to position once you have stiff & light sorted out

I don’t own a propel though

“It’s a road bike, the geometry hasn’t changed in 70 years, they’re all the same.

No, really, they are.

Get one you like the look of, fit some nice tyres, some decent brake blocks, and ride it a lot.”

^ that’s pretty much all there is to say about a new road bike, but journos are paid by the column inch, so they’ll type any old rubbish to get the word count up.

So, get one you like the look of, etc. Ride it a lot, stop reading bike magazines till you want a new bike.

i have a propel, im no roadie I just thought it looked the bollocks so got rid of the cervelo

as for climbing I live at langsett over the back of langsett theres the strines it has some pretty long climbs and some awful steep short climbs

over the hill theres the holme moss hillock thing both were on the tour route

i will tell you the **** propel goes up hills fine under my fat arse the funny thing is it came with these narrow bars so i swapped them for 720 risers and now, no seriously it did come with some narrow handlebars i think they measured 42cm so they got swapped for some wider ones which i dont think is fashionable on road bikes of the aero nature but it did make it more comfortable and easier for me to go uphill on

downside for me is it has its own proprietary aero brakes that look a bit like vee brakes, this fools you into thinking you may have effective carbon brakes and hence stopping power, it came with zipp carbon wheels which honestly arent the best brake tracks in the world and that would be would be my only complaint, in the wet stopping is more lottery than an actual given that the pads will somehow interact and slow you down

if it were me buy the bikethat makes you smile i read lots of reviews and ended up with a cervelo ,which i knew i kind of didnt want but it was the right price and had a good write up

TBH it’s far more about the position you can achieve on a bike than the actual bike itself. If you can’t get comfortable, it’ll climb like shit. But that goes for any bike. Even a 5 kilo hill climb bike will climb like shit if it’s the wrong size for you.

Same goes for any power/speed/weight discipline. An effective, comfortable position will always trump advertising bollocks.