20/11 HSLCC Fri Night Ride - Winter Begins Plus Giant defy 3 Review!

Zack and Nick Join the Friday Night riders!

HSLCC Friday Night Ride 

Cold but dry weather brought out a good turnout of nine riders for the Friday night ride. Joining us for the first time were father and son, Nick and Zack Fawcett.

We have moved our departure time from 7:35 to 7;30 , so at 7;28 myself and Steve B (on a fixie) set off two minutes before the others to ensure a safe descent. Unfortunately on the way down my leyzanne pump worked its way loose from the bracket and started to hit the chain ring.  Pulling over to the side I had to time to turn round and admire the sight of the other riders streaming down Battery Hill with their pure white lights lighting up the road.

On the way through the reserve Andy T's front wheel puncturesd when it  struck one of the
many pebbles that litter the path. I shouted out to the others but they were too far ahead to hear me. It was a good job that I had been behind Andy as he had forgotten to pack his levers so he would have been stuck out there. Andy is another rider who has discovered the benefits of CO2 cylinders so soon had the puncture sorted while I set off to tell the others who were waiting at the public conveniences.

We were all back together for the Broad-oak drag but almost immediately became spread out into different ability groups. For a while I rode with Nick and Steve B but despite being on a high geared fixie Steve had enough strength to eventually drop us but not before we had wheeled in Andy , who was a little off form not have ridden for about a month. About half way up the climb Nick started to fade a little and was dropped by myself and the off form Andy who were an equal match all the way to the top.

Success on Stonestile for Zack and Nick !

I had several comments from the others on how well I was riding. Rather than put this down to my fitness I think it was more due to being back on my now sorted Giant defy ( mini review below) . The frame is not as smooth as my CAAD 8 but the bike is lighter and a bit stiffer so has an advantage on the climbs!

Reaching the 'cut through to Doleham lane' , I was struck by how cold it was. Dan checked his garmin and informed me it was only 1.5 degrees C, so no wonder! My chest felt cold from breathing in all the crisp air but my hands still felt warm despite wearing fingerless gloves.

With the Westfield road still closed to traffic , we enjoyed another blast down the 'etape style' closed lane with Malc leading the charge. Sweeping into the Stonestile approach  I nearly over cooked it, forgetting the Defy doesn't handle quite as well as the CAAD 8. This was Nick and Zack's first time Fri night ascent of Stonestile , Zack found it easy while Nick found it more of a struggle but did well to complete it first time.





Giant Defy Mini Review

Giant Defy 3 returns safely from the 'Friday Night Ride'!

I bought my giant defy 3 a year ago. At this time of the year you can buy a Defy 3 brand new for just £400 . I had previously had one of the first generation Defys and really enjoyed the ride position but found the rear end far to flexible due to the position of the rear seat stays joining the seat tube well down the frame. When the frame cracked it gave me the prefect excuse to get one of the newer models with  the stiffer back end.
 On my first long ride I found the 2014 bike was  too long and it gave me back ache. This was strange as it was the same size frame as my old one . It turned out to be the incredibility long ramps on the handlebars.It was only when I changed the stem from the 100mm stock to a 70mm one that the back ache stopped.
The head tube on the med/large defy is 18.5 cm , I found this a bit too high but there are plenty of  spacers under the stem that can be removed to drop the height to a slightly more racy position. the tall head tube is great for the older rider to avoid stiff back and shoulders.
 The seat post is one of those ratchet types where there are a set number of positions, after much anguish I couldn't find the right angle, it was either pointing too far up or too far down, this was solved by use of a ritchie dual bolt set post with an infinite number of positions.
The bike came with the brand new 9 speed Sora group set. The shifters are a copy of the old style 9 speed Tiagra shifters and worked well . Not so good were the rear and front dérailleurs which gave  clunky gear changes . The front one was particularly nasty and would constantly go out of true, even the bike shop couldn't get it sorted so these were junked and replaced with some  new 10 speed Tiagra ones which are far better quality.
Wheels on mid range giant bikes used to be notoriously bad but the ones fitted to the Defy 3 are actually OK. Weight is reasonable and I have only managed to break one spoke so far. The hubs are not the best though as they don't spin as freely as shimano hubs.
The overall weight of the bike is impressive for such a low price. The front forks are straight and come into their own when out of the saddle. The frame is a good compromise between stiffness and comfort. Handling is very stable downhill but the high front end does limit handling when sweeping around bends. With the  higher position of the seat stays the annoying 'bounce' of the original defy has long gone.
Best feature of all are the rack mounts front and back so this makes the bike a capable tourer as well as a club bike.
Unfortunately in 2015 giant have gone back to the idea of seat stays joining the seat tube low down to give a more comfortable leaf spring ride, but to me this just means that the rear end will be over springy, so I cannot recommend these, also they have gone over to their own unique seat tubes so you are stuck with giants own brand seat post. The 2015 Giant Defy 3 avoids these problems by being exactly the same as the 2014 but then you have to put up with sora dérailleurs.
If you want a giant Defy I would recommend buying a used 2014 defy 0,1 or 2 second hand but bear in mind that there are no rack mounts on defy 0 or1, So overall I would opt for a second hand defy 2014 Defy 2 or buy a brand new 2015 defy 3 but be prepared to replace the dérailleurs for Tiagra ones (Only cost about £50)

Steve C