Road Cycling
- Thread starter FrenchTart
- Start date
Soldato
- Joined
- 17 Sep 2006
- Posts
- 4,272
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- Gloucestershire
I run the tubeless versions on my winter bike. No complaints so far, seem grippy in the wet and slushy conditions.
Couldn't comment on Summer conditions for obvious reasons, but I've read they have a good reputation.
Couldn't comment on Summer conditions for obvious reasons, but I've read they have a good reputation.
Cheers for the advice all about the Giant TCR / Propel
I'm inclined to go for the TCR but have come across the issue that I can only find the TCR Advanced 2 in stock in a M/L. Currently ride a Giant Defy 2 (2015) in M and find it a comfortable bike to ride. I'm 5'11 so inbetween M and M/L on the Giant size chart. Inside leg is 32"
Would riding a M/L TCR cause me many issues if I'm use to riding a M Defy?
The measurements for each bike are below.
TCR (M/L
Head Angle / Seat Angle / Top Tube / Reach / Head Tube / Stack / Chain Stay / Wheel Base / Standover Height
73.0 73.0 57.0 39.8 16.8 56.7 40.5 99.7 78.7
Defy (M)
72.5 73.5 54.5 37.7 16.5 56.6 42.0 99.5 77.7
Cheers, unless anyone can find the bike in M for £1K I did find one place who had stock but it's an extra £200!!
I'm inclined to go for the TCR but have come across the issue that I can only find the TCR Advanced 2 in stock in a M/L. Currently ride a Giant Defy 2 (2015) in M and find it a comfortable bike to ride. I'm 5'11 so inbetween M and M/L on the Giant size chart. Inside leg is 32"
Would riding a M/L TCR cause me many issues if I'm use to riding a M Defy?
The measurements for each bike are below.
TCR (M/L
Head Angle / Seat Angle / Top Tube / Reach / Head Tube / Stack / Chain Stay / Wheel Base / Standover Height
73.0 73.0 57.0 39.8 16.8 56.7 40.5 99.7 78.7
Defy (M)
72.5 73.5 54.5 37.7 16.5 56.6 42.0 99.5 77.7
Cheers, unless anyone can find the bike in M for £1K I did find one place who had stock but it's an extra £200!!
The m/l has a much longer toptube than your Defy so id say better with the medium.
If your interested I can do you either a deal on the 2018 advanced 2 ( I have mediums instock ) or 2yrs 0% at RRP
If you can get your fit on a defy, I don't see much point swapping to a TCR unless it's a much more expensive one.
fwiw, the M defy and the M/L TCR have the same stack, but the TCR has a 20mm longer reach. (stack and reach are much more important than actual TT lengths etc)
What stem length do you use on the defy at the mo? and how many spacers? using the same stack of spacers on the TCR but with a 20mm shorter stem than you currently use would get you the same fit, but it might handle like pony.
fwiw, the M defy and the M/L TCR have the same stack, but the TCR has a 20mm longer reach. (stack and reach are much more important than actual TT lengths etc)
What stem length do you use on the defy at the mo? and how many spacers? using the same stack of spacers on the TCR but with a 20mm shorter stem than you currently use would get you the same fit, but it might handle like pony.
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I seem to recall @IndigoGorilla has an older Defy, around 2012-13 mid range one with 8-9 speed Tiagra/Sora so quite a bit to gain going carbon & 11 speed!
Biggest 'shock' will be going from the fairly relaxed geometry Defy to a racier TCR/Propel regardless of size and fit. Going for the smaller medium TCR would give you more flexibility in swapping out stem/seatpost to relax the fit. Your 32" inseam isn't particularly long for someone nearly 6 foot so I'd say you're more suited to Medium, but I'm no expert!
Although I do ride a Medium Defy at 5'7 & 30" inseam, I did swap to a shorter stem. Ideally you should have a bike fit as you may have changed 'fit' (size) since fitted to the Defy?
Yep, used them on clinchers in the past and liked them a lot.
The stats are good on bicyclerollingresistance.com too.
@Saytan @Roady
The stem length on my current bike is 110m. As Roady said it's an older Defy which has been upgraded with an older Tiagra 10 Speed group set (the one that doesn't look like the current 105/Ultegra stuff).
Main reasons for wanting a TCR are due to using the Defy for commuting and wanting something a bit racier / new for Sunday rides and my triathlons. Realistically I don't need it and it is more of a want of course. Have raced on the Defy before and it does well.
The other option was possibly to buy a TCX and have a bike that can handle off-road rides too (within reason).
The stem length on my current bike is 110m. As Roady said it's an older Defy which has been upgraded with an older Tiagra 10 Speed group set (the one that doesn't look like the current 105/Ultegra stuff).
Main reasons for wanting a TCR are due to using the Defy for commuting and wanting something a bit racier / new for Sunday rides and my triathlons. Realistically I don't need it and it is more of a want of course. Have raced on the Defy before and it does well.
The other option was possibly to buy a TCX and have a bike that can handle off-road rides too (within reason).
a 90mm stem and the same height spacers would put the bars in pretty much the same position (relative to the bottombracket which should always be your reference point) on an ML TCR as your M defy with the 110 stem.
a sharp racey bike like the TCR might handle a bit funny with a 90mm stem though. Plus a 90mm stem on a bike that size will look pony.
(all these considerations are based on the figures provided above)
FWIW i'm 5ft 10 and i'd probably get the M if I were buying a TCR (but i'd want a 110 stem for my fit), though I'd consider the ML (with a 100mm stem for my fit) too, which is the inverse of the factory stem fitting. The difference between two sizes often isn't much at all.
also you may find this useful
https://docs.zoho.com/sheet/published.do?rid=p2rrnf78b800f51254a4981208481abdf96a7
you can put in geometry numbers that are known/fixed then fiddle-faddle stem lengths, spacers stacks etc to see how close you can get it
https://docs.zoho.com/sheet/published.do?rid=p2rrnf78b800f51254a4981208481abdf96a7
you can put in geometry numbers that are known/fixed then fiddle-faddle stem lengths, spacers stacks etc to see how close you can get it
Agreed. Have always heard good things about them and when I go TL I'll probably go the Pro One Evo in 28mm. Expensive but all TL tyres are! Less than 300g and pretty bombproof, not to mention one of the easiest TL tyres to fit (a good starting point for a TL newbie like me!).
I'll step out as sizing and fitting is really not my forte! @Saytan has you covered!
For your road riding and Tri use then aero/race is generally the way to go. You've mentioned no hills/mountains so aero will trump lightness for your use. You already have a relaxed 'sportive' geometry bike in the Defy so really no point buying another. The TCX is more of a CX bike, will have a racey geometry but lots of clearance for nobbly tyres. Really depends what your priorities are. A 'bike for everything' is hard to justify/find when you have specifics like Tri and off road. If you relaxed those requirements to fast-road & basic trails then the booming 'Gravel bike' market (and some CX brands) would have you sorted. Equally your Defy isn't exactly poor for those use cases already.
I ride a Specialized Diverge, a gravel bike, with road tyres and it's no slouch on weekend club rides. Equally it's not that aero or light but I can easily run 28-32 tyres with full guards without feeling slow... It munches the miles while being extremely comfortable. I'll ride some TT's with it this year as although not that aero, it's so comfortable it's faster than my Defy. With TL tyres it'll also be lighter.
My new years resolution was the old classic "metric century a month" which seems like a good idea until you get into the second half of January and run our of excuses and time. So, tomorrow then... new 63.9 mile route, ice warning for the AM, 90% chance of wintry showers in the PM. Whats the worst that can happen 
I want to do that, but I’m going to struggle. Was lined up for Saturday 27th, but I’m going to my parents now so that’s off. I’m screwed unless I take a morning off work and cycle round several houses on the way in, which is doable.My new years resolution was the old classic "metric century a month" which seems like a good idea until you get into the second half of January and run our of excuses and time. So, tomorrow then... new 63.9 mile route, ice warning for the AM, 90% chance of wintry showers in the PM. Whats the worst that can happen
Terrible weather today, so I went swimming while my daughter was in her lesson. Managed 1600m, which is a bit over the standard tri distance of 1500m... now if only I could run 10k...
replied cheers
I imagine you're quite fit from cycling to manage a 10K run easily unless you have issues that prevent you from doing so. The key to running longer distance is just take a cautious approach and build up nice and slowly, let your muscles adapt to the load placed on them and if needs be adopt a run/walk approach for a while if it helps.
That said this is a cycling thread so I'll be sure not to try and talk people into triathlon....
Soldato
- Joined
- 9 Nov 2005
- Posts
- 9,185
- Location
- Southampton, hopefully not too hot, or too cold
Sad news if true, bought three bikes from them over the past 20 years, from their old Bitterne and Millbrook stores.
Yeah I've failed at the first hurdle. It started chucking it down at the 27 mile mark and I gave in and just took the direct route home. Working next weekend so that is out. Oh well, I'll give myself a bit of slack with the exact dates and just spread 12 out over the year.
Vh/Lord robs, don't beat yourself up just get the miles and hours in some other way, it's always tough this time of year with ropey weather. Like my festive 500 attempts I always try and knock it off early doors, as the longer the month goes on in this case the more excuses you put in the way!  
Back to CX today! No option to skip out! This is going to be fun!  I'll try to get some photos of gratuitous mud to remind you all what the outside looks like!
Back to CX today! No option to skip out! This is going to be fun!  I'll try to get some photos of gratuitous mud to remind you all what the outside looks like!