# Giant Carbon Frames



## Sundog (Sep 25, 2013)

Shopping for my first road bike. The LBS that I like the best so far sells Giant. I'm looking at a Defy Composite Apex. Is there anything special or remarkable about Giant carbon frames - compared to other offerings in the same price range? Thanks.


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## Kodiak21 (Jan 30, 2012)

Not very many companies have something that's super special around that price range. However, the reason I went with Giant was because you get more for your money (or at least I did, compared to what was in my vicinity) along with a fairly decent component set. I've yet to actually replace any of the parts that came with the bike other than the saddle for comfort reasons.

In addition, after a pretty gnarly crash I was in, my frame remained super solid and only sustained cosmetic damage and a bent rear derailleur hanger, both of which were fixed fairly easily and cheaply. The rest of the components, other than sustaining slight cosmetic damage, still stayed strong, and my rear wheel only needed to be trued b/c of the crash, and even then, barely.

If you like the LBS, then go for it, 'cause you would still be making an excellent decision in a road bike. If you haven't already, try test riding the bike, and compare to test rides on other brand bikes from different LBS's to see which you enjoy the most.


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## wanderinwalker (May 10, 2012)

I agree with Kodiak, none of the frames in that $2000 range are going to be more spectacular than the another vendor's product.

That said, I really, really like my 2012 Defy Composite 2 with Apex. It's been a great riding bicycle over about 3400 miles or so to date. The fact that I was able to get a full carbon frame and fork at my price range just blew me away. The frame has shrugged off rocks and hits on gravel roads with no ill affects. And it may be a placebo effect but I'm certain it rides smoother than the aluminum frame Trek I had before. Or at least road chatter is dampened better.

And you said you like the shop the best. That is the win there. A shop you like and trust is more valuable than the brand decal on the head tube.


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## TCRAdvanced (Oct 25, 2013)

What Kodiak said, i think GIANT offers much more value with their bikes.
I picked up a 2012 Giant TCR Comp 1 in the spring of 2013 for a super good deal. WHen I was doing some research on the bike prior to buying it, i found that at a retail price of $2800CAD, full ultegra (except brakes and cassette) was phenomenal value. Looking at other brands like cannondale and specialized, you would be looking at easily $500-$700 more for a similar level frame and similar groupset.

Loved this bike so much, I recently bought a 2012 Giant TCR Advanced frameset to build up as my winter project. Best thing about it is that a lot of people skip over Giant in favour of Cannondale and Specialized...allowing me to snatch this frameset up at a steal! Going with full SRAM Force on this build, my total cost to have this bike on the road is going to be less than half what this bike retailed for


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## Sundog (Sep 25, 2013)

I snoozed and lost out on the close out deal that had sparked my interest on the Giant frames in question. I ended up with an Orbea instead.


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