New Bike - Canyon vs Trek vs Specialized vs Giant
 

I need help to find my first road bike.

I am riding a Hybrid at the moment and I am doing about 120km/wk.

Now I am looking for my first road bike. I dont want to spend over $2500.

Riding type: casual, some speed, maybe triathlon/duathlon in the future. Road, Sidewalks, no gravel. Road quality is decent. Losing weight would be nice, but when I run/ride more I eat more :)


I tested some bikes and I narrowed my search to these:

- Canyon Endurace CF SL 7.0 (105) // no test ride possible.

- Trek Domane SL4 (Tiagra) // going 105 is not working on the budget

- Giant Adv Defy 3 (Tiagra) // going 105 is not working on the budget

- Specialized Roubaix (Tiagra) // going 105 is not working on the budget


Lets say all the bikes are the same price. I have local bike shops that carry the Specialized, Giant and Trek. So service for the Specialized, Giant and Trek is not a problem.

-What bike would you buy from that list? And why...

-Because I never had clipless pedals before, I want to stay with flats for the first months. What are good flat pedals for these bikes? Would shimano PD-EH500 be a good option?

-Is the difference between 105 and Tiagra really that big that I have to go with the direct seller vs the shops?


Thanks for your help!!!

The thing with 105 vs Tiagra right now is that 105 is 11-speed and compatible with other 11-speed parts from 105, Ultegra, and Dura-Ace. Current Tiagra is 10-speed, so it's not compatible, and is also a different 10-speed from older 10-speed, so even older 10-speed parts are not compatible. That sort of situation makes me uneasy.

They're all nice bikes - it would be hard to go wrong if you were appropriately sized and fit to any of them. Honestly, I would test ride each (except for the Canyon, of course) but more than anything, I'd be shopping the shops. If you're not going to do all of your own set-up and maintenance, it'll be important to have a good shop behind you, and not all shops are created equal.

I would caution against going with a Canyon unless you know what you want is exactly what they offer, know how to modify it to make it what you want, or have a good LBS who will have no issues tweaking it.

105 would be better than Tiagra, but Tiagra runs fine and 10 speed components are cheaper, which is nice when it comes time to replace wear items. Other than weight, the only thing I dislike about Tiagra are the hoods being less comfortable than higher tier ones.

Other considerations that you can use to differentiate between bikes would be their max tire clearance, whether they have fender mounts if you'll ride in the rain, and if the gearing is good for your typical elevation profile. If you want to do tri, are the bars a standard shape and support clip-on aerobars, or are they easy to swap out?

Canyon have a great return policy, if you are not happy with the bike
but they are great bikes
105 over Tiagra, not even a choice if even money

Having never ridden a road bike, going the mail order route is not a good idea, you really need to test ride and get a shops input as to what fits. Thus you are looking at what the shops have.

Any particular reason you want a Domane ?, it’s an endurance oriented bike using the front and rear IsoSpeed shock system. I hear good things about that system, but it does add weight and maintenance complexity.

My local shop shows a Trek Emonda SL5 Disc at $2500, it’s a carbon 105 equipped bike. The Emonda is Treks next model towards all out racing (Madone). One of the locals who posts in the NE section has one, loves it.

Jeez I guess while many were fussing about disk brakes adding 0.5 kg to bikes, I didn't notice that disks also added $500+ to the cost
i was surprised to see 105 not widely available at that price point

Chop the domane off your list. "Sluggish" is not an adjective I'd want to spend my hard money on.

Maybe look at race type bikes with rim brakes too, you may get more bike for your money and current race bikes are pretty comfortable generally

And if you’re going to go the rim route, for an extra 500 you can get a Cervelo R3 with Ultegra Di2.

Get an Endurace M and exchange it if you need to size down.

If you’re not handy with bikes, you may regret getting a Canyon. If your local shops are happy to work on them, though, that may be moot. It’s hard to argue against the value of a Canyon.

I have a Canyon Ultimate and a Roubaix. I think Canyon’s sizing is pretty much spot on. If I were in your shoes, I would get the best bike I could afford. For $2,500 you’re almost in Ultegra territory with the Canyon.

Having a shop back you up is a big plus, but that really depends quite heavily on the shop. If the shop isn’t great, their support is of little consequence.

Get the Canyon and try it. If you don’t like it, return it. I think they even pay return shipping. If you don’t like it, nothing lost. If you do like it, you’ll have more bike for your money. My LBS has no issue working on my Canyon, but I’ve been a good customer for them for many years.

Giant website shows the Defy 2 at $2450.00. I guess it would be more than your budget after tax but I think it would be worth a few extra bucks to get the 11sp. 105 group.

Another thing to consider would be to wait a bit till the lock down is over and you can go and actually ride the bikes. I know that waiting may be hard but comparing how the different frames fit you is important and working with the different shops, you will get an idea of what you can expect for servicing down the road. They may also offer some discounts to get your business or know of factory incentives that will put something in your budget that you may not have considered.

As far as pedals go, I'd just get some cheap flats and wait till you decide you're ready for clipless and what type you want. The dealer may have some they will toss in with the bike.

Assuming the OP has no major health issues, I'd suggest test riding them now. Bike shops are selling out faster than ever before; well, at least since the end of the last boom, circa 1975.

+! to Giant. It is typically fairly easy to get a reasonable discount on Giant bikes, and you should be able to get a 105-equipped bike at or close enough to your $2500 budget. As Bah Humbug said, it's worth getting 11 speed for compatibility, especially when you are so close to it, budget wise.

I was in the market for a new road bike this year. I had it narrowed down to a Canyon and a Giant. While on the Giant website I found a 2019 leftover Defy Advanced 2 at a shop a little over an hour away from where I live. I'm really happy with the bike and I got a really good deal on it. I wonder if that's also a possibility for you.

You can get a Defy Adv 2 (105) for 2000$ if you are lucky. They often go on sale for 20% off. Giant offers the best bang for the buck on the market. Plus, the company makes its CF material in-house from scratch. It offers a high stiffness to weight ratio at a great price.

I had a 2017 Defy 3 before my TCR and it is a great bike.

I couldnt get any rebate at my local Giant dealer since corona.
The problem with the 2019 model is the cable hydraulic brake when I remember correctly.
Just saw that the have the 2021 TCR Advanced 2 Pro Compact - Carbon - 105 - Rim Brakes - is available for $2000 ($2350 Disc Version) on the Giant website.
Not avilable in store atm.
The price for the 2020 Domane SL4 at my dealer is $2210+tax. But it's Tiagra.

Canyon is still offering free returns on their bikes. No need to wait for a response from them.

List on the Domane SL4 is 2,399
List on the Defy Advanced 2 is 2,450
List on the Defy Advanced 3 is 2,050

not to count someone elses $ but I might stretch to the Defy Advanced 2 if I could, I have a bit of buyers remorse going with a Sora equipped bike so just offering an opinion of someone who wishes they spent a little more..

if you're cool with rim brakes, that's a great deal, and it comes with a 105 crank where their disc bikes come with a non-series crank. R7000 is a great groupset, shifting performance is just as good as Ultegra, which is to say, fantastic. :thumb:

Since I am pretty good with geometry charts and am willing to spend $20-$30 for a new stem if needed (and have a bunch in boxes already) I'd jump all over that Canyon. Hydro discs and 105 for under $2 grand?

But if I had the cash, I might opt for the Cervelo that @phrantic09 mentioned .... (sorry, just stirring things up, but I love my Cervelo clone ... )

If you go to a shop, sit on a couple bikes, and not the frame size, look at the stems and spacer stacks, to get an idea of adjustability ... and if they shops won't match or come close to the Canyon's price, buy the Canyon.

At the 2k price tag, it is certainly not the Pro lineup. You'll need to double that amount :)

It's not a typo. I dont do the Giant names, but the $2k bikes name from Giant is: 2021 TCR ADVANCED 2 PRO COMPACT. Probably not the Pro lineup...but it has pro in the name :)

Update:
I went to a Giant/Specialized Shop today and tested 5 bikes... all over the place from Roubaix Pro, Roubaix Basic, TCR Pro, Defy Pro... Tigara, 105, Ultrega, Dura Ace Di2. Basicly all they had at my size.
It was awesome to feel the differences between all those bikes. The Roubaix Pro was soooooooo nice to ride. The TCR was the fastest one...but only a bit faster than the Roubaix Pro.
2 big cons on the Roubaix Pro...a.) way over my budget; b.) the shock was tooooo much for me. it catapulted me out of the bike when i drove on bumpy roads (but the rep said, I can adjust the "shock"/"spring").

They had no basic defy in store. So I still cant testdrive that one.
No rebates on bikes they order. On the Roubaix Baisc it was 10%.

So my list so far with prices incl tax (and shipping):
Spec. Roubaix (Base) - 56 - Tiagra - about $2200
Trek Domane SL4 - 56 - Tiagra - about $2300
Giant Defy Adv 2 - M/L - 105 - about $2600 (no rebate)
Giant Defy Adv 3 - M/L - 105 - about $2200 (no rebate)
Giant TCR Adv 2 Pro Compact - M/L - 105 - about $2140 (no rebate)
Canyon CF SL 7.0 - S - 105 - $2290 (no rebate) - no CF 7.0 with rebate in my size
...

The fastest one is also the cheapest?


Sounds pretty good to me.

That being said though, which one looked the best

I normally ride a Defy but I've had a Roubaix Expert on demo for a week. Quite an interesting bike all in all. I might weigh more than you as I didn't really have too much problem with the future shock and I have played with the damper dial quite a bit. Tightened right up, definitely felt bumps a bit more, loosened right up was great except on steep SEATED climbs where I was bobbing the front end on pedal strokes. Oddly, on out of the saddle climbs, it wasn't as big an issue as I would have thought but that might more that I'm already swaying the frame under me on the pedal strokes so the squish is getting lost.