I’ll take som pics, however I’ve no idea how to post them.

The whole bike is stiff, in a positive way it’s also slightly longer in the top tube so that gets me laid out a bit more, plus the stem is flat where the Thomson stem I have on my other bike is raised so it’s a lot more comfier than the Propel over longer distances, did 50 odd miles yesterday and my ass was numb on that saddle afterwards. and it does encourage a bit more gusto, with the open paves it humms along nicely on the file tread pattern.

And no not on latex tubes, does it make that much difference ?
To a full carbon bike I’m guessing it does

and my ass was numb on that saddle afterward

Not a surprise, not a fan of the Giant saddle they come with.

Should’ve got Corsa Speeds for moar speeds coz of teh graphene! (bargain at £60 each)

And no not on latex tubes, does it make that much difference ?

I think so.

did 50 odd miles yesterday and my ass was numb on that saddle afterwards.

Does it still come with the Fizik Arione? Never got on with an Arione myself. TBH much like with pedals, I don’t know why they sell bikes with a standard saddle, though they usually fit a cheap heavy one expecting you to bin it.

It comes with one of Giants own saddles, because colour coordinated

Yes colour coordinated giants own branded one. looks nice but has square edges off the main seating face down the centre channel making it really unfriendly,

Legend, have you seen how little mileage can be had from a pair of the speeds, it’s scary, I’d need sponsoring to warrant that kind of shy mileage. I stumbled upon several pairs recently whilst away with work and bought enough 25mm Paves to last a while.

Have you got the new graphene jobbies?

Corsas worked out at £15 each tyre.

god no, I’m still wearing out the stock tyres. Just wanted someone else to try them 😉

My thigh muscles are aching as a result of the increased effort i’ve noticed whilst climbing

Why is that, is it a slightly different position, heavier weight compared to a road bike, or just that you are attacking stuff more?

I looked at TCR v Propel and decided on TCR as the Propel wouldn’t really suit the hilly riding that I do.

I’d have to run 25’s, and I saw that All but 1 pro rider in this years peloton were running 25’s except for Adam Yates who was on 23’s.

Interesting, have you got a link?

I’m certainly attacking more, I was worried about the Propel Climbing myself but coming from metal to carbon I kinda figured there must be some gain in materials alone.

There’s no flex, in the past I’ve had the blocks rubbing on ally rims on a few good steep climbs as I’ve gotten out of the saddle, this thing without sounding cheesy just Propels you forwards, you can hear it in the tyres and the wheels as the powers transferred through. It definately lays down the effort you put in.

Maybe my previous bike was too flexy? This thing isn’t, make no bones about it with its shorter wheelbase you know your on a race bike. It suits me well. I do a fair bit of climbing as well and it rewards you.

I’ll try and find it, it was on CW’s site.

The lone rider was Adam Yates.

It did have the exception of TT bikes where it said all were on 23’s

Edited, I think it might have been road cc but I’ll have a sniff at CW as well.

http://road.cc/content/feature/197000-10-top-tech-trends-2016-tour-de-france

Dimension Data are apparently running 28s! GCN were talking about it in the recent Enve video, where the wheel were basically designed to run with the tyres they were using

Still loving mine. Coming form a Defy I don’t find the position too extreme at all so no grumbles there. It’s a stiff bike, but so was the Defy, and it’s lighter than the Defy so climbs better despite the higher gearing. I’m struggling to identify any downsides to be honest. There does appear to be some ‘free speed’ on the flats but not sure if this is just new bike syndrome.

So this 23c v 25c thing hurts my brain, but it does appear that 25c is happening. Any tips on what to do with pressures when going up? Currently running 90(f) and 95(r) on 23s, I weigh naff all, so start with something like 85(f) and 90(r) for 28?

So this 23c v 25c thing hurts my brain,

At the same pressure a 25mm will have less rolling resistance than a 23mm. So you can run a 25mm at lower pressure than a 23mm and have the same rolling resistance and a smoother ride (which will also make it quicker.)

Pretty much the entire pro-peloton have moved over to 25mm now, other than for TT where better aero from being narrow still mostly trumps better rolling resistance.

Re pressures, it depends what you want. More pressure = less rolling resistance but less comfort, less pressure = more rolling resistance but more comfort. Good smooth roads you’d probably go for the former. Poor country lanes, you might go for the latter. Racing you’d probably go for the former. Pootling and you’d probably go for the latter.

25c, 78 kg all in weight including me, bike and bottles. I run at 100F/110R or thereabouts on Vittoria Corsa G+. This is on Surrey lanes. I run 110F/115R on closed circuits.

I’d say my Defy SL is stiffer than my Propel. Position is the same but the stem is 5 mm longer on the Defy because the head angle is half a degree slacker. It is also lighter. The Propel is, however light enough. I’ve raced both on flat and hilly courses. In circuit races aero definitely buys “free speed”, but in reality this is “less energy for the same speed as everyone else”, leading to less fatigue near the end of the race. In road races, I’m faster coasting downhill than many riders, despite being smaller. Some of this is Propel aero, but a lot is skinsuit and helmet.

I’m happy with mine and will be racing it again tomorrow morning 🙂

In circuit races aero definitely buys “free speed”, but in reality this is “less energy for the same speed as everyone else”, leading to less fatigue near the end of the race.

But a potential trade off for having to accelerate more mass (all marginal of course)?

I’m about 10kg lighter than you, so the pressures probably aren’t far off

But a potential trade off for having to accelerate more mass (all marginal of course)?

It’s about half a water bottle. My Propel is 7.4 kilos and the Defy is 7.0. Really not an issue, specially on the flat.

I like to try and minimise rolling resistance at the expense of comfort (it’s only a couple of hours of pain) so am a little on the high side for road. The G+ tyres are very supple and that makes them comfortable. I sue the same pressures on the Defy running narrow rims.