GIANT DEFY ADVANCED 1 £1999

The cheapest bike in our sportive machine test at just shy of £2k, the Giant Defy Advanced 1 offers something a little out of the ordinary in the shape of Giant’s own Conduct SL hydraulic disc brakes controlled by cable-actuated Shimano Ultegra brake levers – a pairing that works by virtue of a converter integrated into the stem’s face plate.