faisal82

Has anybody gotten delivery for the new Defy Advanced or Pro version? The 2014 version Defy Advanced 1 weighed 7.5 kilos. According to Giant. I am wondering what the weight for the new one is since it's disc brakes equipped.

PaulRivers

I'm also curious about the new model. I really loved the handling of the previous Defy Advanced model, but was very underwhelmed by it's vibration absorbing abilities (or lack thereof) when I rode it. I'm not personally obsessed with the weight, and I'm disappointed they haven't added more sizes, but very curious if the new carbon rides better than the previous one.

Bobwgilmour

from what I was told, the frame on the 2015 was redesigned to be lighter specifically so that the overall weight would not be increased by the addition of the disc brakes

totalnewbie

Ê·ÉÏ×îÈ«2015¿î½Ý°²ÌØÕû³µÖØÁ¿ 2015 GIANT³µÖÖÖØÁ¿ - ½Ý°²ÌØ×ÔÐгµµãÆÀ - ν*½Ý°²ÌØרÂôµê - Powered by Discuz!

this site apparently lists all the 2015 giant weights. no idea how legit the numbers are.

defy adv 1 8.8kg
pro 0 7.86
pro 2 8.2
SL 0 7.22
SL 1 7.8 (this last weight seems legit - a cyclist posted his on a taiwanese forum, his weight is 7.8 including dura-ace pedals)

ogggi

According to the bikeradar review (Giant Defy Advanced 2 review - BikeRadar) 2014 defy advanced 2 weight was 7.9 kg. But new 2015 model defy advanced 2 seems 9 kg. (Ê·ÉÏ×îÈ«2015¿î½Ý°²ÌØÕû³µÖØÁ¿ 2015 GIANT³µÖÖÖØÁ¿ - ½Ý°²ÌØ×ÔÐгµµãÆÀ - ν*½Ý°²ÌØרÂôµê - Powered by Discuz!) so there is about 1 kg weight difference

T800CF

I think the frame is lighter than 2014 advanced model, but the stock wheels on 2015 is heavy. I would guess the wheelset is about 2000-2200 grams.

PaulRivers

But is it heavier because the wheels are cheaper, or are they heavier because they need to be in order to use disc brakes...

T800CF

I don't really know. Now the only thing I can think about is the fork. Both 2015 Advanced and Advanced Pro have the same frame, but the forks are different. Advanced has hybrid OD steerer, but Advanced Pro has full-composite OD2 steerer which is the same as 2014 Advanced model.

ogggi

p-r2 wheels are lower grade than p-sl1, so they are heavier. p-sl series wheels are using defy pro models on 2015.

ogggi

yes i agree. The pro2 model is 8.2kg and the wheels are p-sl1 which is also used on 2014 defy. i think 2014 defy advanced 2 replacement is defy advanced pro 2 on 2015.

T800CF

The good thing is the prices of Advanced models are very reasonable while compare with 2013 and 2014 Composite models.

gaffer

the pro / adv choice is an interesting one.

really want to know where the extra weight is, i suspect and hope that much more of the extra weight is in the wheels rather than the fork.

the wheel weight is solvable, and i would hope the hybrid alloy/comp fork of the non-pro advanced only adds 200-300g.

ogggi

p-r2 set weight is 1890 gr and p-sl1 set weight is 1775 gr. without skewers, so there is not so much weight difference on wheels. I think SL components on pro model also affect the overall weight.

gaffer

assuming those numbers are without rotors, even the p-sl1 is quite heavy.

hopefully some frame & forks weights come out soon, as i would tend towards upgrading a non-pro model as the price between the pro/non pro is quite hefty - and a light disk specific wheel set isn't an issue for me.

totalnewbie

I think you are right. Read somewhere in Taiwanese forum that Giant has actually "downgraded" their defy nomenclature, such that 2015 "pro" is comparable to 2014 "advanced" and 2015 "advanced" is comparable to previous "composite." Giant hosted a test ride event today. I got a chance to test ride an advanced 2 and SL 1. My rough impression is advanced 2 is quite similar to the 2013 Composite 3 I have in terms of ride quality. Advanced 2 has 105 while my comp 3 has tiagra. So that 15% price difference probably suggests the frame grade are on the same level. Unfortunately the event does not have any pro for me to test ride.

SL1 feels distinctively livelier and lighter, but certainly not 3x livelier as its price suggests. diminishing returns kicks in real fast here. I have not ridden any other $5000 bike so there is nothing for me to compare but I am mildly surprised - I thought the difference between SL1 and Advanced would be leaps and bounds. To be fair, the test course was short (only 2km) and mostly flat, so maybe if these 2 bikes were ridden in the mountains the difference would be much greater. Maybe it also has to do with the test bike having "prototype" ultegra sets installed (I noticed the brake levers have the words "prototype" printed on them) I like the disc brakes though, very sharp in stopping.

When I asked the sales rep about the weight, he hastily pointed out that Giant is not chasing after weight - smells BS to me. I suspect they are aware that the discs renders an unfavorable picture in terms of weight. I like the disc brakes though, very sharp in stopping. It was a sunny day so I can't test its performance in wet condition or hard descending condition. Would have loved to try those.

T800CF

Don't think 2015 Advanced is comparable to Composite since the Advanced uses Toray T-700 and Composite uses T-600 carbon fiber. In fact, the price is comparable.

ogggi

thanks for your comments.
That's good to hear from you 2015 adv 2 ride quality and handling is the same with 2013 composite, but i am little bit obsessed about the weights, what is your own idea? Is 2015 adv 2 heavier than your 2013 composite with tiagra? did you have to chance to measure it?

totalnewbie

I did not weigh the test bikes. When I lifted the ad2 test bike, it felt similar to my defy comp 3. But that comparison may not be fair since I have upgraded the wheelset/saddle on my comp 3 and always have a saddle bag with tools. But the difference in weight is probably small I would say.

The SL1 definitely felt very different. I was told by multiple sources that SL1 is 7.8kg +/-, my current comp 3 configuration weighs 8.7kg so as insensitive as I am, that 0.9kg makes a significant impression on me. Deducing from this fact and the fact that I could not tell the difference between ad2/comp3 weigh-wise, I would take a wild guess that ad2 is in the same neighborhood (ie. 8.7+/-0.3 maybe) The link I posted a few days ago says ad2 weighs 9kg. So apparently there is an agreement here.

totalnewbie

I am posting some additional info I read on the taiwanese forum:
-for SL1, the wheelset p-slr0 (with rotor and QR) weights 1.22 front/1.62 rear
-another poster says his ad2 is 8.8kg including computer/pedals/rear light. the the front wheel weighs 1.55kg (no rear wheel info)
-someone else on that forum says the difference in the OD2 carbon fork on "pro" is 200g lighter than the OD1 alum fork on regular advanced.

R1lee

For 2015 giant has discontinued their use of composite (t600). They will only use t700 advanced grade composite, but are using an aluminium steerer tube instead. So the 2015 advanced models are not 100% carbon.

2014 giant advanced = 2015 giant advanced pro. There is no difference aside from nomenclature.

2014 giant comp = 2015 giant advanced. Difference mentioned above. Price wise, the advanced model will be priced as the 2014 comp models.

T800CF

That's what I mentioned above. The price of Advanced is reasonable....you paid Composite price but have better frame.

gaffer

this talk of wheel weight is assuming that the disc specific hubs are the same weight as the non disks last year.

will be interested in how much the alum steerer adds to the weight of the base model frame over the 'pro'.

having recently picked up a sub 7kg bike for the first time irl i have become something of a weeny (ignoring the lbs i could lose from the engine!!).