Giant Defy Advanced Pro Problems

General cycling advice ( NOT technical ! )
Jimdennison
Posts: 1
Joined: 12 Apr 2018, 9:33am

Re: Giant Defy Advanced Pro Problems

Post by Jimdennison »

I’ve got a Giant Defy 1 purchased new in June 2016. I’ve covered 16000km in the 22 months I’ve had it (so, approx. 700 km per month).

I’ve been shocked how much I’ve had to spend on it. The Freehub (Giant component) seems especially weak. It’s on its 5th one now - the Giant dealer has replaced a couple of them under warranty because they failed within 2 months). I say failed - in most cases they just sound awful and gravelly. In one case it totally failed (ratchet broke). The Giant store are puzzled and say it’s very unusual. But I’m not impressed
Brucey
Posts: 44456
Joined: 4 Jan 2012, 6:25pm

Re: Giant Defy Advanced Pro Problems

Post by Brucey »

most OEM quality freehubs (which are invariably made by a third party such as Joytech) are just a lube job and a setup away from being perfectly reliable. I have personally seen such hubs (once set up and lubed properly) do over 24000 miles in all weathers and they still looked like new inside.

By contrast I have also seen similar hubs that were not so treated fail in a very short time. The use of caustic bike cleaning chemicals is one of the things that hastened their demise.

cheers
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Brucey~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
busb
Posts: 196
Joined: 28 Sep 2017, 10:10am
Location: Berks, UK

Re: Giant Defy Advanced Pro Problems

Post by busb »

bigjim wrote: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.

My Defy A Pro 1 is just under a year old - had zero issues but it's not been ridden since last Oct. It will be ridden again very shortly. My only complaint is Giant going for only 20 spokes on the front wheel - should have min of 24 like the rear, especially on a bike with disc brakes. The Defy is an extremely popular model so I wouldn't be put off too much by this thread as annoying as it is for those who do experience problems.
Would I buy another one? Yup. I did weigh up buying a bike with a CF frame but decided that Giant's were reliable enough for me.
softlips
Posts: 667
Joined: 12 Dec 2016, 8:51pm

Re: Giant Defy Advanced Pro Problems

Post by softlips »

busb wrote:
bigjim wrote: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.

My Defy A Pro 1 is just under a year old - had zero issues but it's not been ridden since last Oct. It will be ridden again very shortly. My only complaint is Giant going for only 20 spokes on the front wheel - should have min of 24 like the rear, especially on a bike with disc brakes. The Defy is an extremely popular model so I wouldn't be put off too much by this thread as annoying as it is for those who do experience problems.
Would I buy another one? Yup. I did weigh up buying a bike with a CF frame but decided that Giant's were reliable enough for me.


Same here, only complaint is cable rattle in the down tube. I keep forgetting to sort it.
User avatar
willcee
Posts: 1436
Joined: 14 Aug 2008, 11:30pm
Location: castleroe,co.derryUlster

Re: Giant Defy Advanced Pro Problems

Post by willcee »

I have done quite a bit of work on various Giants and would confirm that the freehubs are absolutely the first thing that gives bother, mentioned on here in the past, my local Dealer sells the guys a set of Mavics at whichever price level they want to pay..the newer Defys afaik have pressfit BB's and should be avoided like a plague.. or a convertor used if that is your only option to have a longer lasting BB and you've already had a couple inserted.. what a bloody awful system it is, the more you have replaced the looser that interface becomes..all to save Giant money when finishing the frames..Hollow teck has its issues but most get a year out of a set unless they ride in all weathers .. will
Post Reply