Defy, Roubaix or something else? Help please!

I am toying with the idea of may be thinking about the possibility of buying a road bike; something comfortable for all days rides. I imagine 85% will be on roads of varying quality and 15% on fire roads. I’m 5’7″ with a 30” inside leg.

The main contenders are the Giant Defy Advanced Pro 2 (32mm tubeless tyres, good wheels, Carbon D-fuse seatpost & handlebars, boring colour), Giant Defy Advanced Pro 3 (al handlebars, 105 oppose to Ultegra) or the Specialized Roubaix Comp (future shock & Pave seat post, flared bars, entry level wheels & tyres).

Has anyone experience of the newer Defys and Roubaix to offer in any sights?

I had an old Al Defy in size small that I never felt particularly confident on and also an old 54cm Trek Domane which felt better but still didn’t fill me full of confidence going downhill. I am used to riding mountain bikes so would prefer something with slightly wider tyres, wider or flared bars and a fast, compliant ride.

No direct experience but I have a Diverge with a Future shock and its very good for comfort and doesnt seem to effect road speed or handling in a negative way, can bob if you provoke it but it doesnt seem to translate into lost speed. The Giant will be better specced I expect though.

I’ve got a 2018 Roubaix with the second version of future shock, have to say it’s a great bike really is! Mines the carbon version when the sun hits it in the right way it’s a sparkle purple, it’s a stunning bike.

Prior to this I had a canyon roadlite the proper road bike not the current hybrid, I rode that for 10 years before hurting my back last year and found the roubaix in the sale.

Link:
https://www.specializedconceptstore.co.uk/product/12184/2018-roubaix-comp/

I hurt my back and the canyon was just too much hence the change to something smoother.

I bought a 2020 Roubaix Comp in January so here’s the Bobby:

My previous endurance bike was a 2014 Roubaix SL4 and for a while I had been thinking of joining the fat tyres/ disc brakes movement and I am defintely not disappointed. The new Roubaix is a staggeringly good bike, I am amazed at the improvement in carbon bike technology in just six years. They have made the frame stiffer and they say, more aero, and I wouldn’t dispute either claim. It handles superbly, quite a lot of that stiffness will be due to the thru-axles, which I really like. It just feels less noodly than the SL4 and more planted and secure. On the aero claim, In January I went out with a local shop group and it was noticeable that while I was dropping behind on climbs I was catching up on flats and passing the group on downhills with seemingly no big effort; even the ride leader commented that it looked fast downhill. It just seems to gather pace and hold it.

The kit is Ultegra, which works as well as ever and it has 50/34 and an 11-34 cassette so combined with the stiffness of the frame hills are a breeze, I took it up the much-feared Rawson’s Raike in Ramsbottom and went up seated the whole way without too much trouble, just like in the old mountain-biking days when that was my local ride.

The only criticism is the DT Swiss wheels, which are garbage. The rear wheel went out of true after the first big climb and the bearings went rough soon after that. I complained to the dealer (Spesh store in Chester) and they sent me a new back wheel but quite soon after that I sold the old SL4 for £750 (good price) so spent £400 of that on some Aero Light disc wheels from Hunt, which are an excellent compliment to the bike despite the loud freehub!

It weighs 8.8 kgs and the seatpost and future shock thingy are pretty good, the ride is buttery-smooth. I’ve tried it on some gravel and it was good until the surface got steeper and rooty, when I didn’t feel so secure. Headset adjustment is interesting but once you’ve taken it apart and understood it, it’s quite a clever system.

Any Specialized dealer will give you 12.5% discount so if you can stretch to a model with better wheels, go for it, or see if you can get the dealer to upgrade the weels because they are the only thing that lets down an otherwise outstanding bike. I have really been enjoying the Roubaix and it has given me a new boost of enthusiasm at the start of the summer so following the collar-bone break and frozen shoulder op I’m increasing my mileage and getting stronger.

I’ve got a Roubaix Comp (2018) chameleon purple… love Futureshock and seatpost arrangment – perfect for crap UK roads. Great handling, feels very planted. I’ve got the Roval wheels, they seem decent. I’m running it on Roubaix Pro 28 tyres which I really rate.

I am actually thinking that if the Roubaix was 2 kgs lighter it would be an outstanding endurance and climbing bike thanks to the stiff frame; I reckon the S-Works Roubaix must be an amazing ride. But then you could get an S-Works Tarmac… and then…. oh dear!

; I reckon the S-Works Roubaix must be an amazing ride.

and how much does that cost?

About ten grand!

I bought a defy advanced 2 as a winter bike earlier in year and its so good it gets more use than my tcr that cost close to 3 times as much. The wheels let it down badly, they were boat anchors, however i swapped them out and now it’s brilliant.

Thanks for the feedback guys! I really appreciate it.
Yeah – the S-Works is a little outside my budget!
In fact the comp is more than I wanted to spend on a road bike (don’t mind spending that on mountain bikes!)

Any advice on sizing as I’m 5’7” with a 30” inside leg.

Globalti – great detailed write up – what colour did you go for?

I’m your size and I have a small Defy Advanced Pro 0 – a couple of years old but new enough to have bolt-thru axles at both ends. It’s a great bike, I find it fast, comfortable, and feels secure on descents with 28mm GP5000s. Although the Defy is allegedly the comfortable one, I’ve hired a TCR in Mallorca and set up similarly I don’t think there’s much difference – the Defy is definitely not flexy. I waited for the end of year sales and got the 0 with Di2 for less than the list price of the 1.

I’ve got a 2020 Roubaix Comp traded a Diverge in for it. Love the future shock no longer get neck shoulder ache and you don’t even notice it riding. It s got the basic future shock and I haven’t seen any need to alter the spring that came as stock. Don’t know if its the smoothest rear end. Its good specialized did away with silly standards.

I’m 5’7″ and ride a 52cm. I wish I spent the extra and got the Ultegra model but it seems a good frame to build upon.

I think the Sworks 11r is 115 grams lighter than the 10r frame but you have to spend £9500 for a bike or £3400 for an Sworks frame.

My only gripe is I hate the looks of the praxis chainset and I had to dump the awful saddle that came with mine.

Defy every time. Owned many tcr’s defy etc also tried felt/cannondale/vitus. Always come back to giant they build a great handling bike 👌🏻

I went for the Sagan Collection just because the paintwork is more subtle than the dark metallic blue that was also available. It’s a green/blue directional paint. They don’t seem to offer those for the Comp now. Yes the short saddle is a bit ugly compared with the elegance of, say, a Charge Knife but it’s comfortable. The extra width does give me a slightly sore area at the crease between thigh and groin but not enough to be bothered to change it.

On the S-Works theme a build with Dura-Ace cable gears and some carbon wheels would probably come in at around 6.5 kgs and would be the ultimate go-anywhere bike.

There’s a sizing guide on the Specialized website.

Can I post a photo without a hosting site? If you want a pic, PM me with your email address.

The reason I dumped the saddle was nothing to do with looks it just the most uncomfortable thing I’ve ever sat on the killed my arse.

Ref the DT Swiss wheel comments – R470 is a rim that a lot of firms seem to use to build up with cheap spokes and hubs to supply on low to mid end bikes

I have found DT factory wheels to be strong and very reliable (had 4 sets).

On the other hand the wheels on a Focus Mares I had (R470 rims on Formula hubs and random spokes) were total turd. Freehub failed within 3 rides, they were super heavy and spoke tension was all over the place.

Don’t confuse DT rims with DT wheels

Focus Paralane or Defy, depending on which your local, good LBS sells.

Yes the short saddle is a bit ugly compared with the elegance of, say, a Charge Knife but it’s comfortable. The extra width does give me a slightly sore area at the crease between thigh and groin

Power arc? They come in different widths, might be worth trying, but then again given the price, might not!!

Thanks for all the replies!

It looks likes the Defy & Roubaix are both good choices.

I’m slightly leaning towards the Roubaix even though the Defy is better value (better wheels & tyres).

Any chance you can test-ride them both?

Any chance you can test-ride them both?

This is obviously the right thing to do, but may be challenging at the moment. Although on paper they both look like good options, a test ride is the only way to really find out. Over the years I’ve tested a lot of Specialized bikes, road and mtb, and never found one that tempted me to buy it. Always just felt a bit ‘meh’. But I have 3 Giants in the garage, and I absolutely love my Defy.

I love my Defy but the standard PR-2 wheels are very heavy (2Kg). I upgraded to DT Spline R23s (£300) and it made a huge difference

Might be something worth considering OP ie buy a lower spec Defy and use the money saved to get some better wheels.

but the standard PR-2 wheels are very heavy

The OP said he was interested in an Advanced Pro 2 – this comes with SLR-1 carbon wheels, which are really very nice indeed.

I went for the Defy when I was looking for a first road bike in 25 years. Felt perfect from the off, no getting used to it or the way it handled just felt great. Still does, one of the best things I can say is you barely noticed it’s there. I’ve still got the boat anchor wheels and I keep thinking I should upgrade them but they work and I’m reluctant to replace something that works for the sake of a few seconds. I also had very good warranty support when I needed it.

The OP said he was interested in an Advanced Pro 2 – this comes with SLR-1 carbon wheels, which are really very nice indeed.

Ah- I missed the ‘pro’ bit. My bad!

I’m reluctant to replace something that works for the sake of a few seconds.

I thought the same but as I was doing the Fred I thought new wheels would be a sensible upgrade over the stock PR-2s

As expected they made accelerating and climbing a bit easier but the big unexpected benefit was cornering. The Spline R23s were much stiffer laterally so the bike held a line in the corners better and I felt safer on the bike at speed

Trek Shrewsbury have got some decent discounts on last year’s road bikes at the moment. I think they had a couple of smaller domanes in. It’s on their Facebook page.

I was in a similar boat until a week ago. Narrowed it down to a Defy Advanced or a Roubaix….

Then the Lockdown in the Soth West kind of stopped being an actual Lockdown and turned into a kind of slow, well spaced out summer garden party. The roads started to fill back up and I realised my renewed love of road cycling, might be a short lived thing. At peak pandemic, I was wandering around Somerset and Gloucestershire on my old Planet X RT80, with free anbandon. Breathing deeply and concentrating on cadence and cornering, rather than who was trying to overtake me ona blind corner at twice the speed limit!!

My eye has since moved toward the Giant Revolt Advanced. Realised that with a wheel upgrade (which I now realise is almost essential on any new bike other than very high end), the Revolt might release a lot more options than either the Roubaix or the Defy. With good wheels and set of road tyres, possibly have very little compromise over a real “Road Bike”. But then accept a lot more rubber than either of the others, allowing long distance rides that can divert from nicest tarmac.