Bike at Bedtime: Giant Defy Advanced 3

The Giant Defy Advanced 3 has just arrived at road.cc for testing, and here's a sneaky glimpse before we take it out on the road.

While Giant’s TCR is focused on stiffness-to-weight and the Propel is all about aerodynamics, the Defy has its sights set on long-distance comfort. We have the large model in for review, with a 575mm effective top tube and a 205mm head tube.

That top tube is 5mm shorter than on the equivalent TCR, and the head tube is 20mm taller, putting you into a more upright riding position with a little less strain on your back and neck. This is still a sporty bike, though, designed to be quick and efficient – it’s just that the position isn’t quite as aggressive as some.

2021 Giant road bikes - explore the complete range with our guide

Giant includes other features specifically intended to add more comfort. The composite D-Fuse seatpost is slim and D-shaped, the idea being that it will absorb road shock and vibration. Giant’s frame design, with a top tube that slopes significantly along its length and a small rear triangle, means that you’ll certainly have quite a lot of seatpost extending out of the frame and capable of being flexed. Giant reckons that the D-Fuse post will allow up to 12mm of movement to smooth the ride.

It’s a similar story with the D-Fuse handlebar. Giant says that the drops have 10% more downward compliance than its round-shaped Contact handlebar, but that it’s stiffer than a round bar in the upward direction.

Following the comfort theme, Giant specs 32mm-wide tyres on its Defy bikes and there’s enough space for 35s if you want to go even wider in the future, and they’re tubeless so you can run them at reasonably low pressures without the risk of a pinch flat.

Read our review of a previous version of the Giant Defy Advanced 3 

One other thing to mention when it comes to comfort is that Giant makes some really good saddles these days. The Approach fitted here contains free-flowing particles that sit in pockets beneath the cover, moulding to your anatomy to distribute the pressure.

At £2,099, The Defy Advanced 3 is the most affordable model in the range, built around what Giant calls an Advanced-Grade Composite frame that’s compatible with mudguards, and a full composite fork.

It’s specced with a Shimano Tiagra 10-speed groupset, including hydraulic disc brakes. The 50/34-tooth compact chainset and 11-34-tooth cassette should get you up even the steepest of climbs without too much trouble. Shimano 105 (£2,299) and Shimano Ultegra (£2,499) builds are also available.

More expensive Defy Advanced Pro models use the same frame but the full-carbon fork has an OverDrive 2 steerer, turning on 1 1/4in and 1 1/2in bearings rather than the 1 1/8in and 1 1/4in bearings of the Defy Advanced for improved front end precision.

The Advanced Pro models are built up with Shimano 105 (£3,299), Shimano Ultegra (£3,999) and SRAM Force eTap AXS (£5,499) groupsets.

Right, that’s yer lot for now. We’ll have a review of the Giant Defy Advanced 3 on road.cc in the next few weeks.

www.giant-bicycles.com