New bike advice

andyd12

Considering buying a new bike. I currently have a 2018 Giant TCR and am starting to feel a bit beaten up on it. Very quick, light and agile but gives you a good rattling on country roads

Looking to enjoy longer rides more and venture off road a little more also ie canals, blueways, bog roads etc

Options I am considering are:

Giant Defy. Seem very well reviewed and ticks alot of boxes.

https://www.giant-bicycles.com/ie/defy-advanced-1

Canyon Endurace. Also well reviewed. Would prefer to view and test ride the bike before commiting to anything online.

https://www.canyon.com/en-ie/road-bikes/endurance-bikes/endurace/cf/endurace-cf-7-di2/4017.html?dwvar_4017_pv_rahmenfarbe=R076_P08

Canyon Grail. More in the gravel genre. Could it double as gravel and road bike? Or is a do it all bike dreaming a little?

https://www.canyon.com/en-ie/gravel-bikes/performance/grail/cf-sl/grail-cf-sl-7/3575.html?dwvar_3575_pv_rahmenfarbe=R119_P02

Open to advice or any other suggestions.

Thanks

magicbastarder

What tyres are you running on the current bike Vs what can it take?

andyd12

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123473293#Comment_123473293

28mm and it's very tight on the frame. Maxed out at 28mm

nilhg

I have a Defy, it's a really comfortable bike on Irish back roads and 32mm tyres running at 60psi are a big part of that, compared to my Felt F1 (on 25mm tyres) the handling isn't as precise or as quick but than that wasn't what I was looking for when I got the Defy. The Defy works great on the Barrow Blueway with it's grit surface but I'm not sure I'd be bringing it down the rougher unsealed bog roads around here, mainly because the road tyres wouldn't handle it and there isn't clearance to go up in size.

If I was to try and go down the one bike for all surfaces route I think I'd be looking at a Giant Revolt or TCX with 2 sets of wheels, one with slick 32/35mm for the road/blueway and another with 40/45mm gravel tyres for much more lumpy stuff. The choice between Revolt and TCX would come down to the balance between compliance and handling really.

I did a sportive last Saturday and there was a lady in our group for the full 80kms, she looked very comfortable all day on her gravel bike with 1X gearing and small knob tyres (maybe 40mm) on a mix of midland roads, we averaged 31.8km/hr for the 80KM. I think the bike was a Specialised Diverge, it definitely wasn't slowing her up.

MojoMaker

In case any of the wives/husbands are reading this….there is no such thing as "one bike for all" 😎

andyd12

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123473613#Comment_123473613

Thanks Nilhg.

The Defy ticks a lot of boxes. Trying to keep as close to the speed as the TCR with a little more comfort would be nice.

Which model have you got?

I have looked at the TCX's. Would the 1x setup leave it a bit slow on the road?

nilhg

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123478119#Comment_123478119

https://www.giant-bicycles.com/ie/defy-advanced-1-2021

That's mine, a lovely comfortable bike to ride with one big proviso, the stock wheels are poxy, they didn't last 4 months with me before I had bearing issues, I binned them and replaced them with some reasonably priced Chinese carbon from Ican cycling.

1x on the TCX will be fine on the road if you're a spinner rather than a grinder and also get the correctly sized front chainring.

Once you start to look for a bike to do multiple jobs then there will be trade offs, you need to have a clear idea of your requirements before you buy.

andyd12

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123478746#Comment_123478746

Lovely looking bike, nice colour. I had the same PR2's on my bike when I bought it. Quickly changed them to a set of Hunts, 500 euro well spent.

If I went down the Defy route, contemplating buying a cheaper model with the PR2s and buy a better set. Or spend a bit more and get a model with SLR carbon wheels.

Agreed. Spoiled for choice within the bike market

MojoMaker

Modern Defy with 32mm tyres would be a lovely ride indeed.

Canyon Endurace also very nice, but their proprietary parts policy can make ownership tricky a few short years down the line.

dinneenp

"Canyon Endurace. Also well reviewed. Would prefer to view and test ride the bike before commiting to anything online."

There's a few Canyon owners here (I'm AL 7.0), could create a thread and see if any generous and trusting soul would let you have a quick spin. (I've found the kindness of boardies in the past to be very good).

ninoon

I suggest you might also look at and test ride a Specialized Roubaix. I have 2024 Roubaix with two sets of wheels , Terra CL Carbon with 32mm tyres and Alloy with 38 mm tyres, Ticks a lot of boxes for me , road, canal path and light gravel.

Limerick_dude

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058410950/new-bike-advice

If you are going for the canyon endurance you could maybe hang on for the newer model - €300 cheaper and better groupset

https://www.canyon.com/en-ie/road-bikes/endurance-bikes/endurace/cf/endurace-cf-8-di2/4352.html?dwvar_4352_pv_rahmenfarbe=R076_P06

andyd12

Picking this one back up… I still haven't bought a new bike but plenty of looking.

Seen this bike come on adverts. Is this an option for a bit of a do it all? Or would it be too twitchy?

http://www.adverts.ie/38552851

CantGetNoSleep

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123990827#Comment_123990827

Can't comment on twitchiness as I've never ridden one, but I think tire clearance is quite small on those, maybe even only 35mm. If you are doing any real off road you might want bigger (I run 50mm on gravel but any modern gravel bike should take at least 45mm)

fat bloke

Cyclocross bikes make fabulous do it all bikes. I've put loads of miles on cx bikes with road wheels and tyres and a change of crank for higher gearing - they're tremendous road bikes

cunavalos

The arse has fallen out of the new bike market in Europe at the moment and across the various sites you will see bikes with a genuine 40-50% off which often provokes is this too good to be true.

There were cervelo aspero's going for 1800 last but only size 54 left now.

https://www.staterabikes.de/p/cervelo-aspero-apex-1-carbon-gravel-673070222

They were mentioned on the bargain thread recently but hibike have decent offers on the felt breed carbon gravel bike with good range of sizes.

https://www.hibike.co.uk/bicycles-e-bikes/gravel-bikes/felt-breed-advanced-grx610-p7fbfb7d03e298ab8c4a6fceccafdc3fb#var_17585934

BMC gravel bikes seem to be heavily discounted across the board recently but some of their carbon models were starting from a much higher price point so perhaps the value isn't there on those even with the discount.

Even in Europe it is causing a bit of annoyance as the reductions seem to be limited to online retailers and lbs can't get access to the deals within the dealer network.

My LBS is an approved dealer for Cannondale and Ridley and said he has customers waiting >6months for delivery of Super sixes at full RRP and last month an online retailer just over the border in the Netherlands was offering the same models with €2-3k off.

fat bloke

What size are you? Mate of mine is selling a lovely defy advanced with 105 di2. One winter's use. 1600 ish -bargain. But it's M/L. Which is sort of size 56.

andyd12

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123990852#Comment_123990852

True, I had thought it they had greater tyre clearnace