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8 comments
It would be no lie to say that Giant is the leading composite manufacturer in the bike industry, considering they manufacture their own cloth from toray filament using their own resins (Giant's carbon division is called C-tech) in their own factories whilst the majority of 'brands' are simply 'design/marketing' companies the majority of who actually use Giant for much of their production including Trek, cannondale, colnago, etc.;)
thanks for that so which is the better deal I would of thought the cube as seems to have better groupset and wheels on but is the giant a better frame?
If you can afford the extra for the composite, its worth paying as a base to build a great bike over time - upgrading bits as original bits wear out, or you fancy it!
The aluminium defy frame is very good, but the carbon frame is another step up in terms of ride quality.
I've ridden both 2014 frame types and also the 2015 models, its quite noticeable. I preferred the 2014 composite with caliper brakes to the 2015 composite with disc brakes, but that's more my personal choice.
I bought a defy 1 last year and loved it! I then crashed it (
), cracked the frame and bought the composite 3. I took the 105 off the old bike and put it on the new one so I've basically got a composite 2. With the sale of the tiagra group set on fleabay i upgraded the wheels, fulcrum racing 3 and put on ultegra brakes (the tektro ones weren't that great). Since then I have added ultegra rear mech, cassette and chain and changed the tyres to conti gp4's. The total bike weight is now around 8.1 Kg.
As for the ride it's hard to tell what makes the biggest difference and there is a big difference -be it the lower weight, the new wheels or the carbon - it's much stiffer and I feel more directness when putting down the power and it climbs really well.
I guess it all comes down to money in the end. If you can afford it go for the more expensive one. 1k for the comp2 looks a steal.
Incidentally the crash that brought about the demise of the frame was a head on collision at around 20mph. The front wheel, which would have been the first point of contact, was still completely true so I guess I can big up giant's wheel set by saying that they are truly bomb proof.
cheers so you think the giant composite 2 is worth paying the extra £300 for over giant defy1.i wasn't sure as I have heard the giant defy 1 is top alloy frame and the composite would be at lower end for that price so there wouldn't be difference and the carbon wouldn't be much better if any than the alloy is that true?
thanks i went to cycle surgery and lbs and checked them all out they all fitted well in there own different way so know comes down to which is the best deal really? is the defy worth extra money over the felt. also noticed three carbon bikes whilst there and cycle surgery said they price match which were
giant defy composite 3 £849.99
giant defy composite 2 £998.93
cube agree gtc race £1099.00
the links are below
http://www.westbrookcycles.co.uk/giant-defy-composite-3-compact-road-bik...
https://www.cyclestore.co.uk/giant_...014-ID_61601?gclid=COiPo9at9MACFRH...
http://www.jejamescycles.co.uk/cube-agree-gtc-race-compact-road-bike-whi...
seems giant defy composite 3 has tiagra instead of 105 and giant composite 2 has same spec as defy 1 and cube has slighty better spec is it worth paying extra money for carbon frame? and if so is it worth paying extra for cube over for the defy 1 or for defy 1 over defy 3 .thanks
I have a Felt F85 as my commuter / winter hack. It's a brilliant bike but it does have very aggressive geometry compared to the others. That suits me fine as it's what I like but it's a question you need to ask yourself as you have a Defy in there which is far more relaxed.
I did a review of the Felt here, it's a cracker: http://road.cc/content/forum/114989-budget-bike-revelation
Perhaps is there better value in a 2013 model?
Among the bigger brands, I'm not sure there is a best, but they are all different.