Haven’t used this for a couple of years, but it was plenty quick enough last time out :)

Rossignol Seone 156 from 1995.

[/url]IMAG0709 by J[/url], on Flickr[/img]

[/url]IMAG0712 by J[/url], on Flickr[/img]

Hmm… might have to revise my choice to the Giant Defy 0, don’t think I can afford a fancier custom build.

Can any of the Defy owners tell me:

Any problems with the press fit Shimano BBs? I really wanted a threaded BB for the winter.

Can you fit 28s? I’ve got some lovely 28c GP4000s sitting doing nothing as they were a tiny bit too neat in my Synapse.

How are the Giant mudguards, decent coverage?

Ta…

My Defy 1 has a Pressfit bottom bracket which lasted just under 12 months, so I ended up replacing it with a Hope BB which helps to address some of the inherent flaws of the Pressfit design. One year later it’s still spot on :-)

The Giant mudguards fit the frame closer than anything else I could find, but they do have some minor issues. They fit very closely to the frame & tyres so they can rub. They’re a bit fiddly to put on, have taken a bit of paint off the frame and fork bosses and they make annoying noises just like a lot of other mudguards do. A necessary evil and it’s such a nice feeling when you can take them off in spring!

I went for a Shimano RS010 from Chain Reaction which are going for £47.99 at the moment. Can’t go wrong for turbo trainer work!

I’ve also been tempted by the Elite Chrono Fluid trainer at £140, but by the time I’ve added in the cost of a turbo trainer tyre (from my limited experience they eat up regular tyres) and a spare rear wheel & cassette (don’t want to have to change tyres every time I use it) & riser block, the cost is about the same as a set of rollers with built in resistance! Rollers like the Elite Arion Mag unit (£230) wouldn’t need special tyres or a spare wheel and you could just get on & ride without any faffing about with wheels and tyres.

Has anyone tried rollers like this with a built in resistance unit? I’m sure they’d be great for developing pedalling technique, but would they be any good for interval sessions to improving power, for example?

I placed an order a couple of weeks ago, expecting it to be delivered in about 2-3 days. When 4 days had passed I thought something had gone wrong, I called them and was told that the order must have fallen down the back of the sofa!
To be fair to them they then sorted it out pretty quickly and put it on a courier service delivery service (that I hadn’t paid for) and it was with me the next day.

I broke mine about 3 years ago and my consultant didn’t recommend plating clavicles unless absolutely necessary. His guideline was whether it was either sticking through the skin, or I needed a straight clavical for sporting or cosmetic reasons. As I’m not a sporting hero or a model, I didn’t meet his criteria!

Anyway, mine had broken into 3 pieces too, so I was very sceptical about it healing properly without surgery, but I took his advice and after about 6 weeks with my arm in slings (figure of 8’s and conventional ones for comfort), sure enough it managed to fuse itself back together and after a few weeks of self administered physio I was back to normal again. Just a nice sized bump on my shoulder to show for it :)

In hindsight I’m really glad that I didn’t go down the surgery route as my consultant also said that the surgical plates put on broken clavicals can sometimes do more damage to the bone if you fall on them again, where as a naturally healed bone will be stronger on the break point than it was before. Gives me some peace of mind each time I take a tumble on the bike now anyway!

I got a Defy 1 last year as my first proper road bike and absolutely love it, but I would definately would have gone for the composite frame if I’d had the option at the time.

As others have said, the wheels & tyres make a massive difference no matter which frame you get and the standard Giant ones certainly aren’t that light at all. I’ve recently swapped the tyres over from the standard Giant ones to Continental GP4000S II ‘s and the difference is amazing!! On my kitchen scales the wire beaded Giant tyres came in at 340g and the Continentals at 220g and you can really feel it on the road! Best upgrade ever!

Another Giant Defy 1 owner here. Got mine last year and its been fantastic. Very confidence inspiring, fits very well and have done loads of 50 milers and one 125 mile recently too. The only thing I’ve replaced so far are the tyres, which made a huge difference. Original Giant tyre weighed in at 360g, new Continental GP4000 II is 220g (note kitchen scales may not have been that accurate). Best value for money upgrade I’ve ever made cause it climbs like a mountain goat now

Regular readers of the Daily Mail.

Anyone that enjoys reading that bigoted sh** deserves my contempt!!

Giant Defy 1 for me. Love it

These days I only use clear glasses on the road bike where they’re pretty much essential, in my opinion.

On the mountain bike though, I just find them to be a distraction. Mud & rain sticks to the lenses and stops me from seeing rocks, ruts & other stuff on the trail.

The best solution I’ve found is to get a Neoguard or Fender Bender fitted to the forks and a Crud Catcher on the downtube and this pretty much takes care of stuff coming from the ground up. Nothing will stop sideways rain from being a problem, but when it’s coming head on, a decent helmet visor helps a bit I guess.

Just bought a pair of the Funkier 17 panel bibs. They fit nicely, leg grippers don’t dig in & the pads excellent. Probably the best compliment I can pay them is that I don’t notice them while riding. Happy punter here :)

Had my 550’s for a couple of months now and they’ve been flawless. I couldn’t justify spending the extra cash either. Good decision IMO.

Been with BT for years and got infinity a couple of years ago. I work from home so reliability is crucial for me and I’ve got absolutely no complaints at all! Performance is really good at 34Mb and their service has been good whenever I’ve needed it too. Can’t see any reason for changing right now, even though there are some tempting offers out there.

Am I the only one to have tried the Bontrager XR4’s then? Fantastic tyre! Really grippy, rolls well and confidence inspiring. Nice large tyre too cause the 2.2 is easily a match for other brands 2.35’s. A bargain to boot. What’s not to like???

Picolax should help to get it all out of your system!! :twisted:

Picolax[/url]

Try practicing them in two parts.

1. Learn to get the front wheel off the ground without pedaling. (No wheelies)
2. Learn to pick the back wheel off the ground by scooping the pedals backwards.

Once you can do both of these things separately, try putting them together lifting front then rear. You’ve got more time than you think, so don’t rush and feel you’ve got to do everything at once.

Have fun. Feels great when you get them right :-)

I got a Giant Defy 1 back in October and have been shocked about how much I’ve used it since. The mountain bike has hardly been out of the garage!

For me paying the extra money for the 1 is worth it. The 105 groupset works so well and is very crisp, the brakes are excellent and it just rides so well. Comfy, confidence inspiring handling and plenty quick enough for me. Sure, the wheels could be lighter, but its a great first road bike for me & that’s the only upgrade I can think of that could be worthwhile.

11 1/2 stone. 105 psi both chambers works for me.

Yup. I’ve got a pair of the Contours. Work really well and an absolute bargain too.

Highly recommend Bontrager XR4 2.2’s. I’m running them on my Genesis Altitude at the moment and they have just enough clearance in my Reba. Great, grippy all-rounders. What’s not to like :)

Some great films listed here but two films have been on this Christmas that had me really excited to watch them & made me genuinely happy…

Anchorman
Dirty Rotten Scoundrels

Brilliant! :):)

Love the fit of Fox gloves, but the rubberised section on the heal of the hand doesn’t half wear out your grips quickly!!

Easy. Giant Defy 1 :) The online reviews are spot on. It’s a fantastic bike.

[/url]
IMAG0809[/url] by J[/url], on Flickr[/img]

Took me ages to work out why they made them with a zip that went right to the top. Makes perfect sense now though… :wink:

I got a Giant Defy 1 on cycle to work scheme about a month ago & am absolutely loving it. I’ve got absolutely no prior experience of road bikes until now, but it handles & climbs well goes as fast as my legs will take it & is comfy too. For a first road bike I can’t ask for more.

My old man was one of the engineers involved in the commissioning and running of Heysham 1 and 2 nuclear power stations and he took me round the station when I was a teenager. The sheer size and complexity of the station was so impressive and well worth seeing.

If you have a look on the EDF website there are contact details if you’d like to arrange a tour round.

Heysham Power Station tours

I got two last Christmas and they’ve been great. Excellent value for money.

I also put a diffuser lense on the bar mounted light together with a Hope universal mount which has worked a treat.

If I was going to be critical I’d say that the battery cases aren’t great (velcro’s nearly come off one of mine) and the helmet mounted light moves around quite a bit on the rougher routes.

You’ll not go wrong with the Defy. Great frame & 10 speed compact. Sound as a pound :)

I’ve just got a Giant Defy and would highly recommend it. There are some cracking deals on the 2013 bikes too so you can get a Defy 1, Shimano105 equipped bike for around £800.

Giant Defy 1

Just check out the reviews. For once they’re spot on.

I snapped a bar a few years ago and it was one of the scariest experiences I’ve had on a bike! I think I may have over-tightened it at some point, but the thing is, how do you know whether the previous owner had done this too? It could have had stress points put into the material that could at some point contribute to its failure! Sorry, but I’d only buy new bars, simply for piece of mind.

Just picked up a Defy 1 at the weekend. Only one ride on it so far but I’m well chuffed. I’m still a newbie to road bikes but I got back home thinking how comfy, fast, stable & responsive it is. Basically everything you read in the reviews is true for once. Might invest in some mudguards next month & the tyres could possibly be upgrades, but apart from that, bang on :)

Bonty’s size up large! I got 2.35’s initially and they’d hardly fit in my Reba’s despite running 2.35’s from other manufacturers before.

Ended up getting 2.2’s and they’s been lovely :-)

I’ve got a job that’s hard to describe even to people that I work with and tends to send them to sleep when I even try :wink: . The job title’s even worse so I won’t even go into that!

Basically I’m an SAP process specialist, which consists of IT systems support, project work, training, business analysis and development.

Been with the same company for long time mainly cause the company’s been good to me and I’ve genuinely liked working with my colleagues. Unfortunately the organisation has shrunk so much in the last few years that I’m now working remotely from home with occasional trips to meet colleagues in London and overseas.

Love working from home because of the work/life balance and the time it gives me with my family, but hate the isolation. Love the challenge of making a difference to the business but my god it can also be tedious at times too.

The pay’s alright but I’d never say no to a rise either!

Anyone at all on the X Factor, anyone connected to the Daily Mail and any TV celebrity. Makes my p*ss boil just thinking about them…

Seems to me like a lot of people get drawn into thinking the only decent options come from Maxxis, Schwalbe or Continental. Bontrager are overlooked and under rated in my opinion.

I’ve been well chuffed with the Bontrager XR4’s I put on mine earlier in the year as they’ve given me back a huge amount of confidence in all kinds of conditions. Genuinely can’t fault them!

Really looking forward to the Arctic Monkeys in Manchester later this month

Stereophonics, Leeds in November.

Reckon you’re right. We went on Ilkley Moor last night and it was just right in shorts & a softshell/ fleece top. Any colder & it’ll be tights & winter shoes again for me.

Big thing was that the ground was starting to get waterlogged again on the moor. Doubt I’ll be up there again until it either freezes hard or drys out next year I think. It’ll just be too boggy to be any fun unfortunately.

I’d strip the hub down to diagnose the problem first if I were you. You may find you can replace the cones, bearings or freehubs without having to have a whole wheel rebuilt.