Initial Product Review: Giant Defy Advanced Frameset

Last week I made a quantum leap in cycling - a move from my trust aluminum Giant OCR frameset to a trick Giant Defy Advanced carbon frame.

With my Shimano Ultegra grupo, this makes my ride roughly the equivalent of a Defy Advanced 1. My wheelset is a bit heavier, but far more bombproof for a 200# guy.

Though it would be easy to assume that I made the move to carbon purely for weight reduction, that really wasn't the primary driver. Michigan roads suck. Our brutal freeze-thaw cycles during Winter wreak havoc on our roads. And flat-broke municipalities simply can't keep up with all the maintenance that needs to be done. Aluminum's greatest strength is it's key downfall - it's rigid. This rigidity translates into effective power transfer and solid handling. Unfortunately, it's relentless on the cyclist - transmitting every imperfection straight to your body.

In an unexpected turn of events, I scored a gently used frameset on eBay, which was quickly shipped. Then the guys at Aberdeen Bike & Fitness offered to do a 24-hour turnaround build-up. The net result was that I had my new ride the week before my first Metric Century. Sweet!

A defective front tire blew my first attempted ride, but my second was a rousing success. I have a regular weeknight training ride that I like that's just under 30 miles. Right away, I notice two key things:

1. Moving up a half-size from the Medium to the Medium/Large was the right thing to do. I can just get a lot more comfortable with just a little bit of extra room.
2. This thing is FAST and SMOOTH!

I picked up over 2mph in my average on my first outing. A steady 17mph was easy peasy. I think this was due both to improved power transfer, and the ability to handle rough pavement.

I'd been warned, "Carbon feels different..." by a number of people. And, it definitely does. Carbon frames can be tuned by altering the layup, material, and reinforcements to have certain area perform differently. On the Defy Advanced, the rear triangle was clearly design to be rigid laterally -- for excellent cornering, while compliant vertically -- to soak up road vibration. Initially, this was an adjustment. At times the rear almost feels like I'm starting toward a flat tire. But it's just the carbon doing what it does best. Yet you can lay it down in the curves and at tracks like it's on rails.

The oversized bottom bracket is a very noticeable change. The lateral stiffness is incredible. This is noticeable in cornering stability, as well as acceleration responsiveness. I'm sure the oversize head tube is part of this as well.

A side benefit of this upgrade is that I can now use standard reach brakes! This means my sweet Ultregra brakes could finally be installed. This upgrade is SWEET! After years of crappy proprietary Giant long-reach brakes, the Ultegras are amazing. Considerably stronger, better modulation, and a generally more high-end feel.

All of this was put to the test on Saturday - with my first ever Metric Century (100km) in the Komen Ride for the Cure event. There's no way of knowing how the OCR would have fared, but on the Defy I felt GREAT! Even the notoriously hilly Unadilla-Hell-Pinckney region really wasn't an issue. And the ability to stretch out a bit made a long day in the saddle no problem. I finished 60 miles in well under 4 hours at a nearly 16mph pace. I've got another 60 on the calendar for this Sunday, so I'm eager to see if the results are consistent.

Bottom line -- comfortable, responsive, and surprisingly high-performance. We'll see how it feels as I get a few hundred miles on it, but early impressions are rock-solid!

-Sean-