GIANT DEFY ADVANCED PRO 2 £3,499 GIANT-BICYCLES.COM

The Defy defined a genre. It took the best elements of Giant’s racing TCR and combined them into a ride position that’s not at prolevel extremes of long and low. The Defy comes with some very clever bits of design and execution in the form of Giant’s D-Fuse concept. The D-shaped seatpost debuted on Giant’s TCX and the Defy adopts something similar. The D-shape of the tube maintains lateral rigidity but allows the post to move enough to smooth vibrations from poor road surfaces.

Giant has also rolled the D-Fuse technology into the handlebar. Here the shape (which can cause problems if you’re planning to use the Defy with certain clip-on bars – check with a Giant dealer) is orientated so that it has compliance when there’s force coming from above, such as when you hit a pothole. But when you pull on the bars when sprinting, they’re claimed to be 30% stiffer than a standard bar.

This Defy also features Giant’s own semi-integrated stem (the SL Stealth), its own saddle, wheels designed in conjunction with DT and new wide 32c Gavia Fondo tubeless tyres. The brake hose routing is neatly executed through the Stealth stem, although the gear cables run externally from the bar into a port on the head tube. There’s a lot of smart details with the integrated speed/ cadence sensor in the rear non-driveside chainstay providing accurate data.

GLORIOUSLY COMPOSED

On the road the Defy is gloriously composed with a wonderful ride quality. The ride position afforded by the 605mm stack and 390mm reach errs on the sporty side