Giant Defy 2 v Trek 1.5

Narrowed it down to these 2...the Giant is €990 and the Trek is €1089. Both have Tiagra 10 speed. Leaning towards the Trek at the moment, purely on a colour basis...the Giant is plain grey...rotten I think! Anyone out there have either of these...would you recommend them? Thanks

slow pedelar

I bought a trek 1.5 a few weeks ago. Had it narrowed down to the same two bikes as you. I'm very happy with it so far but as its my first road bike I probably wouldn't be the best judge. The Trek is a much nicer looking bike in the flesh, the guy in my LBS had both in stock and said the Trek has a slightly higher spec.
If you go for the Trek you should get it for about €985.

Wow, would I get that much off. Is yours the 2013 model? Mind me asking where you bought it?

TonyStark

slookie wrote: »

Wow, would I get that much off. Is yours the 2013 model? Mind me asking where you bought it?

Bought the Giant Defy 2 (2013) myself a few weeks back. I had reservations about the color as well. But not as bad as you might think in the 'flesh'. Absolutely love it. Picked it up for €810 in the end from a Giant stockist.

TonyStark

TonyStark wrote: »

Bought the Giant Defy 2 (2013) myself a few weeks back. I had reservations about the color as well. But not as bad as you might think in the 'flesh'. Absolutely love it. Picked it up for €810 in the end from a Giant stockist.

Is there really that much of a discount to be had? Could I expect that price if buying through the btw scheme?

TonyStark

slookie wrote: »

Is there really that much of a discount to be had? Could I expect that price if buying through the btw scheme?

Probably not through BTW as the intermediary that provide the BTW vouchers take ~10% so out becomes harder for them to offer discounts.

Dermot Illogical

TonyStark wrote: »

Probably not through BTW as the intermediary that provide the BTW vouchers take ~10% so out becomes harder for them to offer discounts.

Easy on there. There's no requirement to go through an intermediary.

Dermot Illogical

Dermot Illogical wrote: »

Easy on there. There's no requirement to go through an intermediary.

My thinking exactly. My company will be issuing a cheque straight to them for €1000. So might just load up on loads of accessories to balance it.

TonyStark

Dermot Illogical wrote: »

Easy on there. There's no requirement to go through an intermediary.

For BTW there is a company that administers the scheme and provide the vouchers. When I used it with my employer there was only the option of using one company to get the voucher.

The LBS at the time said that if I came with cash then they would be better equipped to give me a better discount/more accessories rather than using a BTW voucher.

Dermot Illogical

slookie wrote: »

My thinking exactly. My company will be issuing a cheque straight to them for €1000. So might just load up on loads of accessories to balance it.

I wouldn't bother. Throw the lot at getting the best bike you can. Haggle, and be prepared to walk if you're not getting a good deal. There are plenty dealers to choose from.

Accessories are available online at better prices, and aldi/lidl stuff is fine too. Allowing a bike shop to fluff up your purchase with accessories to look like a good deal is not good value imho.

Guill

TonyStark wrote: »

Probably not through BTW as the intermediary that provide the BTW vouchers take ~10% so out becomes harder for them to offer discounts.

If you can go through cycletowork.ie they are a non profit intermediary so the shop can over you the 10% discount.

Dermot Illogical

TonyStark wrote: »

For BTW there is a company that administers the scheme and provide the vouchers. When I used it with my employer there was only the option of using one company to get the voucher.

The LBS at the time said that if I came with cash then they would be better equipped to give me a better discount/more accessories rather than using a BTW voucher.

That's a requirement of your employer, not the BTW scheme.
Not every employer has so little regard for their employees that they force them to take a 10% loss by insisting on that.

Anyway can we get back to the original topic. Which bike is best?

Dermot Illogical

slookie wrote: »

Anyway can we get back to the original topic. Which bike is best?

The Bianchi of course.

Dermot Illogical

If I was limited to these two I'd go with the Trek.

slow pedelar

I got in Kilgrew Cycles in Cork. Ya its the 2013 model.

shaka

Have 2012 1.5 and have like it , have had bb problem but LBS took care of that. Brother bought equivalent Giant at same time and to be honest find his bike more comfortable and don't know why.. LBS tried to tell me of that before purchase but I knew best Either bike would be fine , I'd go for best deal available .

TonyStark

The Defy 2 was reckoned as best entry level bike 2013 by Bicycling Magazine.

http://m.bicycling.com/bikes-gear/bikes-and-gear-features/best-entry-level-road-bike-giant-defy-2

thinks too much

Have a Defy 2 and it is so comfortable to cycle on..could not recomend it enough...as was already said colour is not as bad when you have it..

Cyclewizard

2012 defy 1 if you can find one

route66

slookie wrote: »

Narrowed it down to these 2...the Giant is €990 and the Trek is €1089. Both have Tiagra 10 speed. Leaning towards the Trek at the moment, purely on a colour basis...the Giant is plain grey...rotten I think! Anyone out there have either of these...would you recommend them? Thanks

You still looking?

Yes, still looking. Open to suggestions!

So spoke with the local dealer today. He priced the Trek 1.5 at €950, and the Defy 2 at €990, both pre-haggle, shall we say. Then the Defy 1 was €1250 and I haggled him down to €1150. So told him I would be in to him in the morning to get the invoice for whichever one I choose. Leaning towards the Defy 1.
I don't understand the gears....can someone tell me how many gears are on each one? This is the Defy 1 link.

http://www.giant-bicycles.com/en-gb/bikes/model/2013.giant.defy.1.white.black.red/11833/56802/#features

Cyclewizard

Defy 1 has 20 and if you can stretch to the money for one would be my recommendation without a doubt. You won't find a single review that doesn't recommend it. Although having said that make sure you try it out for fit and feel first of course

Is 20 gears enough now...is it the standard? Was just always used to 27-30 on a mtb!

Ok scrap the Defy 2 or the Trek 1.5. Don't know how to edit the title of the thread, but have decided to stretch my budget for either the Defy 1 or the Trek madone 2.1....both have 105. Trek is slightly cheaper I'd imagine. Trek looks nice with the inner cabling.

Cyclewizard

Try them both and see what fits you best. If you want general reviews plenty on google, lot of magazines and sites have best sub 1000 sterling bikes etc so that might be a good starting point

Went with the Defy 1...hope I made the right decision!