First Road Bike – Help Narrowing Down

i have a 54cm Litespeed alloy/carbon frame/fork that cost a grand new, that i’m going to be moving on shortly as i may have purchased an S-works in the not so distant future. but it will be cheap (circa £200)

Sounds nice mate, but definitely want to go new this time. Dont think you’ll have trouble selling that at that price.

Just buy the Giant TCR or Defy, I can guarantee you will not regret it, end of thread…..

tragically1969 – Member
Just buy the Giant TCR, I can guarantee you will not regret it, end of thread…..

which one? TCR, TCR Composite 0,1 2,3, TCR Advanced?

which one? TCR, TCR Composite 0,1 2,3, TCR Advanced?

Whichever one is in your budget !!

I ride a TCR Advanced 1, have had Giant for years now, they all have sorted geometry, good components and ride really nice.

At the end of the day you have to be happy riding what you buy, but the Giant has had more than enough recommendations on this thread now.

From personal experience of many years as a mountain biker, and being anti road riding for a long time (basically cos I could never get on with being really hunched over even when on the drops), I bought a Defy earlier this year.

Absolutely love it. If its a first road bike, I’d probably go for the slightly more relaxed geometry (it’s not just a taller head tube, it’s slightly longer and slacker too) as it is less of a shock and you’ll probably enjoy it more initially as a result.

As for which model, well mine was only a Defy 2, at £700 (inc £125 off) with Tiagra but it’s still more bike than I need. Get a carbon one by all means, if you have the readies, but the alloy version is just brilliant too!

At the end of the day you have to be happy riding what you buy, but the Giant has had more than enough recommendations on this thread now.

is the extra for the ‘Advanced’ frame worth it. If I go for an Advanced in my budget it’d be running Tiagra/105, whereas Im was pretty close to concluding on the Defy Composite 1 with Ultegra.

it’s slightly longer and slacker too) as it is less of a shock and you’ll probably enjoy it more initially as a result.

You thinking of changing to something less relaxed? Humour me 🙂

If i were you i would go Defy with Ultegra for a first bike, the 2012 stuff is really nice, the frame is the most important thing to consider but so are wheels and groupset, tiara is a bit low in the range. The TCR Advanced is a lot stiffer ride but still fairly compliant, its more of a race frame but thats all i have ever ridded so am used to that sort of feel.

tragically1969 – Member
If i were you i would go Defy with Ultegra for a first bike, the 2012 stuff is really nice, the frame is the most important thing to consider but so are wheels and groupset, tiara is a bit low in the range. The TCR Advanced is a lot stiffer ride but still fairly compliant, its more of a race frame but thats all i have ever ridded so am used to that sort of feel.

Thanks for the advice, I have a ride set up for tomorrow on the Defy, so lets hope it fits like a glove 🙂
The 2012 frame does look great in White.

what is the sizing like on the Defy ? say for a 5ft 10 height ?

from Giant Website 5’10 is at the top range of Medium and bottom of Medium/Large.

I am 5’11” at a push and ride a M/L TCR with a 12cm stem and its perfect, the M comes up too short for me.

Not sure if the TCR and Defy sizing is like for like though ?

And to complicate things, I’m a smidge under 5’11” and I ride a Medium Defy with the stock 100mm stem which fits me perfectly, the M/L was too long for sure… But I have got long legs and short torso (like a woman!) for my height, so always errr on the side of a slightly smaller frame rather than slightly large.

thanks Stevo – I didn’t see the sizing on their site

If i were you i would go Defy with Ultegra for a first bike, the 2012 stuff is really nice, the frame is the most important thing to consider but so are wheels and groupset, tiara is a bit low in the range. The TCR Advanced is a lot stiffer ride but still fairly compliant, its more of a race frame but thats all i have ever ridded so am used to that sort of feel.

Don’t worry about Tiagra appearing to be low rent. I’m a bit of a snob on mountain bikes, certainly everything I own gear wise is XT or above, for a while everything was XTR. With road bikes the groupset seems to make much less difference, but even tiagra shifts very sweetly and crisply compared to the equivalent Deore say. Personally unless I was sponsored and got given the kit, I wouldn’t bother with anything above 105 level, not when you can save the money towards something else that’s going to make more difference in the long run (wheels, saddle, food/rent/mortgage payments etc)…

Tiagra v Dura Ace – worlds apart. I have the former on my commuter, the latter on my Planet X. The Tiagra is 2011 spec, the DA is 2009 spec. The shifting, finish and smoothness of DA is markedly better. Don’t get me wrong – the Tiagra works fine, but it’s not really comparable (thankfully) to the much more expensive stuff.

Are you completely not considering the Planet X RT-57? Top of the range SRAM Red, a really nicely finished carbon frame, decent spec hoops and good finishing kit. For £1600. It would be a shame to just run with a Spesh / Giant / Trek and not even look at it. I much prefer the Planet X Nanolight to the S-Works Roubaix it replaced.

Are you completely not considering the Planet X RT-57?

Dont panic calling in to On-One/Planet-X tomorrow also 🙂

Stevo – we should have a ‘well which one did you pick’ thread in a few days time… 😆

I am sliding towards the Spesh..

Dont panic calling in to On-One/Planet-X tomorrow also

LOL stevo! I’ll be over there in the morning too – need more bits for the fixie / singlespeed build (and a letch at some of the new stuff too…)

Have fun! 🙂

the TCR is racier geometry than the Defy – this means lower centre of gravity, longer top tube.

A defy will be good if you’ve never had a road bike before and need to get a bit fitter to get more flexible. A lot of people start on “sportif” geo bikes, like Defys and move on to TCRs which are more agressive afterwards.

I’m 5ft 11 at a push, with quite long arms, and would ride a medium TCR with a 120mm stem, or an M/L with a 100mm stem. i prefer the feel of a medium with the longer stem personally.

I am sliding towards the Spesh..

based on looks?

the TCR is racier geometry than the Defy – this means lower centre of gravity, longer top tube.

looking forward to trying them both 🙂

” Of all the bikes you’ve chosen for your shortlist, the Giant will have the best frame for definite. Giant, as has been stated already, makes half the frames in the world for other manufacturers anyway, but they always reserve the latest and best technologies for their own frames.”

That really is just bullshit of the highest order . Sure Giant make frames for other manufacturers but they have no input into the design or specification of anybody elses frame . So their frames may or may not be better than the Specialized frames that are being built in the same factory but it won’t be because of where they are being built .

Stevo – no, i am thinking that being a bit older and used to comfort the Spesh is going to feel best. off to try a few on wed though.

Also going to have a test on Boardman carbon pro as an outsider….

Well, feedback your findings. Wont be buying till after the weekend unless somebody gets carried away 🙂

I got my bike fit done as part of a Planet X deal. As it was my first road bike and I had no clue, it really made all the difference.

My PX SL Pro Carbon is just so much fun to ride, and really comfortable. And I put a lot of that down to getting the fit right.

One thing about groupsets – I have Tiagra on my commuter, and SRAM Rival on my PX. I really like the double tap system of SRAM. Also Tiagra cables come out of the side of the lever, whereas the SRAM and the higher Shimano are routed along the bars under the handlebar tape. Much neater.

Have a nice morning Rotherham 😀

Have a nice morning Rotherham

Hey are you warning Rotherham or wishing me a nice time in Rotherham?? 🙂

That really is just bullshit of the highest order . Sure Giant make frames for other manufacturers but they have no input into the design or specification of anybody elses frame .

Except that they do… It’s not like a designer miles away just sends a drawing, and says to Giant to make a hundred of them, as it would be with the likes of small UK based manufacturers. The likes of the big boys getting frames made by Giant are going to have to work with them very closely, and all the machinery and tooling will be bespoke.

It’s like in Formula 1 where Ferrari and Mercedes make engines for other teams too, but there is always a 2-3% advantage having a Factory unit rather than a customer unit power wise. Same with Giant frames, the difference might only be very marginal either in weight or stifness terms, but if they’re making frames for the competition then they know what the standard is they have to beat themselves. You seen the frame weights and stifness claims on the 2012 Giant road bikes? They’re topping the mainstream Carbon pile once again anyway… Now unless someone who actually works in the Giant Factory and has empirical evidence to the contrary would care to chip in, you willing to accept you have little knowledge of how engineering and manufacturing works in relation with continuous improvement, and how competition drives this?

Or are my comments falling on deaf ears?

Or have I just ignored the fact that “best” is totally subjective when it comes to bikes anyway, and as a result engineering and design doesn’t matter a jot and we really should all ride whatever the latest offering from Yorkshire is…? 😉

IGMC

aaargghhhh 8)

just so much info, I have been piggybacking this thread (sorry Stevo) along with my own one and I am left with a choice of Giant Defy Composite 1, Spesh Roubaix Elite and Trek Madone 3.5.

I guess the main thing is that they are probably all so close and similarly priced that it comes down to a personal choice. Not helped by the fact that most bikes shops only let you ride for 10 mins round the car park….

personally I suspect that the big upbent toptube on the Spesh might scupper my short legged undercarriage which hangs low after 3 kids 😆 then the Trek is too racy for my fecked old back, and I end up buying the one that wasn’t on my list – the Giant…..

“It’s like in Formula 1 where Ferrari and Mercedes make engines for other teams too, but there is always a 2-3% advantage having a Factory unit rather than a customer unit power wise. Same with Giant frames, the difference might only be very marginal either in weight or stifness terms, but if they’re making frames for the competition then they know what the standard is they have to beat themselves.”

That comparison does not work , it would only work if Giant built a giant frame and rebadged it as a Spesh or Trek or whatever .
Also don’t you think the big manufacturers will buy some bikes from other manufacturers to see if they are doing anything better or new and innovative that they could copy.

Ramsey Neil +1

Mboy your analogies don’t work – as stated manufacturers don’t send over a pencil drawing and say they want Giant to build them a frame. Giant provide premises and people and not a vast amount else. People really do get far too hung up on the ‘made in the same factory’ thing. For a start they are not the sole manufacturer. Trek do all OCLV stuff in house in the US. Their TCT carbon comes from Taiwan, but do you honestly think they’d use a facility who wouldn’t do things to their exact specification!?

By what measure are Giants the best?

They’re not the best selling. They don’t have the most pro victories.

They don’t really have a new aero road bike, which is where the focus is going. The Foil, Venge, etc are faster bikes. Surely Giant wouldn’t have let a more aero bike be built?! What about TT frames? They do cheap, but they’re a way off the top end stuff. They’ve just started doing wheels, why are they not lighter than anything else out there?

They make good bikes for sure, but to state they are unequivocally the best and they don’t release any of their best technologies to other manufacturers is showing a total lack of knowledge about bikes and how the industry works!

I’ve picked up a Boardman Team Carbon for £1k yesterday, think its the best bang for buck deal out there at the moment

njee20. I was told by someone who had it direct from Giant, that they aren’t persuing the aero bikes just yet, as they believe that rider comfort is the way to go and that aero doesn’t deliver any real advantage on road bikes as opposed to TT bikes ect. Or something like that.

I wasn’t disputing the reasons behind it – my point was that mboy is saying that Giant are unequivocally the best, because they don’t offer any of their better technologies to other brands – which is just bollocks, and a good example of that is the entire branch of frame building they don’t even get involved in!

had a first look at Spesh, Trek and Giant and testing them tomorrow – at the moment the Giant is edging it 😆

Isn’t all this like saying that a Merida is definitely a better bike than than a Specialized, coz they own the factory 😉

I had a bike fit done at Dales cycles and based on that now looking at a sectuer

thegman67 – do you mind me asking how much the fit cost, as I am trying both the Spesh and Giant there ?

I would demo different bikes, fit and comfort equals function.

I have a coast 105 / sram mixed bike.999 pounds. Use it up tak me doon, glen lyon, col de forclaz and col de colombier.

Have fun – strong core makes drops riding more enjoyable.

Picking up my first road bike for 20 years on Friday.
My selection process was pop into LBS, have a look at a few bikes, ask the shop guys “what do you ride round here” answer TCR – got last years (ie 2011) for £450 off RRP.

No idea if it’s going to be “the best bike for me” or even if it’s “the best buy” but it looks and feels better than I ever remember road bikes and it’s going to be fun finding out.

At 178cm tall a M with 100mm stem was spot on, M/L was noticeably too big, wheels are indeed DT/Giant hubs, rest of gear 10speed Ultegra with Giant post/stem/bars/saddle. Road pedals seemed significantly harder to clip in/out than spds so first few rides will be with spds & mtb shoes, might even keep the peak on the helmet, oh the shame 😳

…pics and first impressions later this week 🙂