Giant Defy Advanced Pro Problems

General cycling advice ( NOT technical ! )
Brian696969
Posts: 89
Joined: 22 Jul 2016, 12:38pm

Giant Defy Advanced Pro Problems

Post by Brian696969 »

Back in January, I bought one of the above for £3429. I do ride the bike frequently and put on around 150 miles a week. I also maintain the bike as well as I can.
Since buying the bike from Tri My BIke in Gravesend, Kent, I have had an endless series of problems :
The " Free Hub" replaced
The rear wheel replaced
The bottom bracket bearings replaced
The Giant "ride sense" replaced.

Now I have to say, that the Giant dealer has been very helpful, and they have agreed that I have had just too many problems. I recently e mailed Giant UK! and their CEO, and after waiting two weeks , I still have not even had a response. Has anyone else had " noise" and just general problems with their new Giant Defy, or is it just me ?

Any suggestions or feedback greatly appreciated . I should add, that I am most certainly not a habitual complainer, but I just feel that I have been badly served by Giant UK.


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Brucey
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Re: Giant Defy Advanced Pro Problems

Post by Brucey »

Brian696969 wrote: ....I have had an endless series of problems...


another way of looking at it is that you have had four problems that apparently necessitated replacement parts in about 4000 miles. I'd be disappointed by that, but not overly surprised; stuff (especially lightweight stuff) does just break and wear out if you ride a lot, and that goes double if you ride in bad weather, and double again if you are big and strong.

I can't speak for the exact details of (say) the rear hub on that model of wheelset but I do know that I have found it very difficult to make any modern lightweight rear hub last well in all-weather use without a good deal of both routine and preventative maintenance. On a bike like that I'd expect to be putting in about an hour of 'deep spanner time' every 200 miles or so, over and above the usual cleaning and lubing.

BTW I wouldn't have chosen a bike with a built-in sensor system, any more than I would a car with a built in sat-nav; when it goes wrong or needs updating, it is just more trouble than it would be as a stand-alone system.

Whether you will get (or should have) any redress from Giant is a moot point; I've seen enough bikes go wrong that I think it is very likely that you will have problems if you do that many miles (and I think it is unlikely that they will be dry miles if they are that many, not in the UK). Whether this 'inevitable failure rate' is remotely acceptable or not I couldn't say.

I'd advise anyone (anyone willing to listen) that if they are doing that many miles they would probably be better off with 'a training bike' for the hard miles.

cheers
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Brucey~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Brian696969
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Re: Giant Defy Advanced Pro Problems

Post by Brian696969 »

Bruce's
What you say makes a lot of sense. I have a SCOTT Solace which I was going to sell, but with all of the problems, I think that I might keep it as my " bad weather bike"
Yes, I have been using my Giant in all weathers, and sometimes our dear leader does take us down some pretty rough roads.
Again can't really disagree with you at all. A " high spec" bike,for want of a better term, needs care and attention I guess. I'll plod on, and accept, that Bottomline, I do like must bike, but will accept that it's not an all weather bike.
Again, thanks for the comments.
Brian


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PT1029
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Joined: 16 Apr 2012, 9:20pm

Re: Giant Defy Advanced Pro Problems

Post by PT1029 »

I don't have the bike in question.
The parts that failed, what was the cause (came loose, weather ingress, plain noisy, got rough?)
You also refer to"noise", can you be more specific.
Also, some of these really expensive bikes will struggle if you are a big (heavy) person (not that you said you were!). If you are a small person, your problems would be all the more puzzling.
I would agree with Brucey, not an all weather bike unless you have deep pockets for repairs/maintenance
Brian696969
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Joined: 22 Jul 2016, 12:38pm

Re: Giant Defy Advanced Pro Problems

Post by Brian696969 »

Thanks for commenting.
The free hub failed , apparently because of "wear". The dealer said it was very unusual.
The lower bracket bearings were not in good shape and had to be replaced as "
Water had got into the unit which is not sealed.
Weight wise I'm 74 kilos, so not really "huge".
I'm beginning to think that this bike just does not like bad weather, and yes, I do ride ( did ride!) in any condition.
Perhaps I just didn't appreciate how " finicky"
A bike can be.




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bazzo
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Joined: 27 Jul 2012, 7:37am

Re: Giant Defy Advanced Pro Problems

Post by bazzo »

External bottom bracket bearings seem to be a poor idea for the British climate. People will argue that they are stronger and more rigid than square tapered sealed bearings. I think they are a pain.
Brian696969
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Re: Giant Defy Advanced Pro Problems

Post by Brian696969 »

I agree !!!!


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bigjim
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Re: Giant Defy Advanced Pro Problems

Post by bigjim »

I remove the seals on my external BBs and pack them with grease on a regular basis. It's an easy enough job. There is never that much grease in there. The theory is that if you pack the space with grease the water cannot get in. I don't know if that is correct but I've never had a failure and my bikes are out in pretty rough weather and muddy terrain at times. I'm also pretty heavy at 15 stone.
Brian696969
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Re: Giant Defy Advanced Pro Problems

Post by Brian696969 »

Giant have asked for the bike to be returned to them, via the dealer that I purchased it from. They will then examine the bike and determine what needs to be done / can be done, and or, should be done .
When I hear back from Giant, I will post their response.
Thanks to all,
Brian


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Brucey
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Re: Giant Defy Advanced Pro Problems

Post by Brucey »

bigjim wrote:I remove the seals on my external BBs and pack them with grease on a regular basis. It's an easy enough job. There is never that much grease in there. The theory is that if you pack the space with grease the water cannot get in. I don't know if that is correct but I've never had a failure and my bikes are out in pretty rough weather and muddy terrain at times. I'm also pretty heavy at 15 stone.


I think as long as there is some evidence of grease coming out, probably the seals are still wetted with lube and water cannot get in that easily.

It is worth noting that standard ( the most common type i.e. high speed) bearings have an intentionally lean grease fill; less than half the space inside the bearing is taken up with grease. The reason for this is that if there is more grease in the bearing when it is new, it comes out when the bearing is run at high speed. High speed use almost always means the bearing is running hot (ish) and the grease usually becomes a fair bit thinner when it is hot.

Obviously this shouldn't apply to any bicycle part; 'high speed' in terms of bearings of that size means many thousands of rpm but most bicycle parts struggle to do more than a few hundred rpm, BB bearings less than the wheels etc. Bearing manufacturers will make 'high grease fill' bearing variants for lower speed use and these are the type that ought to be fitted to bicycle parts if you have a choice. They are about 75% filled with grease.

Filling your own bearings with grease is fair game; too much grease rarely seems to do any harm on a bicycle (it just comes out and makes a bit of a mess). The best scheme of all appears to be to remove the inner seals and then to fil the (sealed) cavity between the bearings with a semi-fluid grease; this can keep a sealed bearing assembly (in hubs, BBs, pedals etc) sweet for a very long time.

cheers
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Brucey~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Brian696969
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Re: Giant Defy Advanced Pro Problems

Post by Brian696969 »

Many thanks.


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Pac1969
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Re: Giant Defy Advanced Pro Problems

Post by Pac1969 »

I can sympathise with what you have been through!

I bought a giant defy sl1 this time last year. After being fobbed off a few times about my front wheel not spinning freely eventually the lbs got a replacement from giant.

Then a few miles later, say 500 I noticed the bb had come loose! Went back again the lbs did something to tighten it but said it wasn't covered under werentee and if it came loose it would cost to swap it out. Of course it came loose. I went to another lbs to pay to get it swapped out. They found pretty quickly that the frame was faulty and the bb would not press tight. They contacted giant for me. Tbh giant were great and simply sent out a new frame. So my new lbs rebuilt my bike at a reduced rate for me and did a fantastic job. It was beautiful to ride and as giant only had a replacement black frame it looked like an sl0 :-). Sadly I only had it a few months before I had a disagreement with a car in September. I'm now back riding again and as I was so pleased with the defy when it was sorted out I went for a direct replacement. This one has through axels and guess what... When the rear wheel is in the frame it doesn't spin freely. New lbs has taken it apart and put it back together but achieved nothing. I am back to square one! Arrrgghhh!
Brucey
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Re: Giant Defy Advanced Pro Problems

Post by Brucey »

if the hub runs in cartridge bearings, a common cause for dragging when the wheel is in the frame (but not when it is out or the QR is loose) is that the dropouts don't load the end parts of the hub assembly evenly. This means that said hub end parts cock to one side (under load) and then rub, usually on the neighbouring bearing outer.

This most commonly happens when these end parts are a push-fit onto the axle or are secured using a single grub screw. To cure this, it is a question of either correcting the dropouts (tricky) or (simpler) installing thin shim washers between the hub end parts and the bearings, so that they bear against the centre part of the bearing only, even if they start to cock slightly.

BTW you can check that it is the frame and not something else by fitting a couple of thick section M10 washers each side of the hub (as dummy dropouts) and tightening the QR onto those. If the hub runs freely like this, you know it is basically OK, whereas if it drags then there is some other kind of fault in the hub.

NB if the hub runs in cup and cone bearings (rather than cartridge bearings), they probably aren't set up right.

hth

cheers
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bigjim
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Re: Giant Defy Advanced Pro Problems

Post by bigjim »

I've been casting admiring glances at Defys on e-bay and wonder whether I should submit, so this posts reappearance is interesting. I'm the big heavy guy that gives bikes a hard time so maybe I should think again. I ride older steel machines and I don't think I have any real problems with them. I'm off out again in the cold and wet soon and the venerable Raleigh Clubman will be pressed into service. On wheel alignment, my older machines have the threaded screw adjustment at the rear of the chainstays so one can ensure fine adjustment on the wheel between the stays. If I were the OP I would be wondering why I have to pay anything for a rebuild, just because I had been supplied with a faulty frame.
Pac1969
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Re: Giant Defy Advanced Pro Problems

Post by Pac1969 »

Hi. On the rebuild point. I was prepared to pay when I switched lbs to get away from the one I actually bought the bike from. They new lbs were under no obligation to do anything at all but got a replacement frame for me. I had got to the point of cutting my losses with the first lbs.

Ref the rear hub problem. I think the long and short of it is that I'm going to have to go back yet again and hope the new lbs sorts it out with giant for me...starting to feel like I'm being a pest though.
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