Giant Defy and Liv Avail endurance road 2015 ranges announced
Giant Defy and Liv Avail endurance road 2015 ranges announced
Lighter, stiffer, comfier, sleeker – and (mostly) disc-only
The new Giant Defy Advanced SL offers race bike performance but with a smoother ride, hydraulic disc brakes, and (officially) clearance for 28mm wide tires. As shown here, this top-end Defy Advanced SL 0 model (size small) weighs just 7.75kg (17.09lb) complete with pedals and a bottle cage
The new Giant Defy Advanced SL offers race bike performance but with a smoother ride, hydraulic disc brakes, and (officially) clearance for 28mm wide tires. As shown here, this top-end Defy Advanced SL 0 model (size small) weighs just 7.75kg (17.09lb) complete with pedals and a bottle cage - James Huang / Future Publishing
Giant claims that the new Defy Advanced SL is built on a lighter-weight chassis (frame, fork, headset, seatpost/ISP, and associated hardware) than the Specialized S-Works Roubaix SL4 Disc, Trek Domane Disc 6.9, and Cannondale Synapse Hi-Mod Disc. In addition, Giant claims its new bike is stiffer than all of those competitors while also delivering a measurably smoother ride than all but the Cannondale - James Huang / Future Publishing
Much of Giant's ride quality claims can be sourced to the so-called 'D-Fuse' seatmast and seat tube shape, which features a flattened back side that is said to flex more than a round or oval profile - James Huang / Future Publishing
The offset seat cluster also supposedly allows for even more seat tube flex under load while the more horizontally oriented seat stays are claimed to behave more like leaf springs - James Huang / Future Publishing
The 86.5mm-wide press-fit 'PowerCore' bottom bracket shell anchors a similar wide down tube and seat tube, plus a massive box section for the asymmetrical chainstays - James Huang / Future Publishing
Up front is Giant's OverDrive 2 1 1/4-to-1 1/2in tapered steerer tube. The front disc brake hose is routed up the back of the fork blade - James Huang / Future Publishing
The rear brake caliper on the new Giant Defy Advanced SL mounts to the chain stay, allowing the seat stays to be very slim - James Huang / Future Publishing
The internal routing system can be set up with either electronic or mechanical drivetrains. Giant has bundled up the various ports into as few holes as possible, too - James Huang / Future Publishing
The top-end Giant Defy Advanced SL 0 comes with the company's own massive molded carbon fiber stem and carbon fiber drop bar with flattened tops - James Huang / Future Publishing
The drivetrain on the flagship Giant Defy Advanced SL 0 model includes a Shimano Dura-Ace Di2 9070 electronic transmission paired with hydraulic Shimano R785 Dual Control levers. The wide-range gearing includes 50/34-tooth chainrings and a broad 11-28T cassette - James Huang / Future Publishing
The stock Zipp 202 Disc carbon clincher wheels on the flagship Giant Defy Advanced SL 0 are wrapped with Giant's own 25mm-wide P-SLR1 rubber - James Huang / Future Publishing
Note how the non-driveside seat stay is bowed out to allow tool access to the disc brake caliper. The chain stays don't appear incredibly tall in profile but they're quite wide and very noticeably stout under power. Chainstay length is 420mm - James Huang / Future Publishing
Women get their own version of the top-end flagship called the Avail Advanced SL 0, complete with a specific frame shape, carbon lay-up, and componentry but with the same Shimano Dura-Ace Di2 9070 group - James Huang / Future Publishing
Liv will offer not one, but two versions of the top-end Avail Advanced SL chassis. This second-tier Avail Advanced SL 1 substitutes the flagship model's Shimano Dura-Ace Di2 9070 group with Ultegra Di2 and also uses house-brand P-SL 0 aluminium clincher wheels - James Huang / Future Publishing
The seat cluster of the Liv Avail Advanced SL gets very different shaping from the Giant Defy Advanced SL but the front end uses the same OverDrive 2 1 1/4-to-1 1/2in tapered steerer - James Huang / Future Publishing
While Giant's previous bikes were branded as "Liv/Giant" previously, they're now flying under just the "Liv" moniker to further establish the range as being solely built with women in mind - James Huang / Future Publishing
Tire clearance on both the Giant Defy Advanced SL and Liv Avail Advanced SL framesets is 28mm - but there looks to be room for 30mm ones - James Huang / Future Publishing
Most of the Giant Defy and Liv Avail models will come with house-brand wheels featuring 30mm-deep rims and relatively generous 17mm internal widths to better support higher-volume rubber - James Huang / Future Publishing
The second-tier Giant Defy Advanced SL 1 features the same frame as the flagship but with a Shimano Ultegra mechanical group, Shimano's new mechanical/hydraulic RS685 levers, and Giant's own carbon clinchers - James Huang / Future Publishing
Another benefit of the D-Fuse seatmast shape over the old aero-profile one is that the seatmast head is now lighter, too - James Huang / Future Publishing
Carbon frames have pockets in the chain stay for Giant's Ride Sense wireless speed and cadence sensor - James Huang / Future Publishing
The Liv Avail Advanced Pro uses a slightly heavier carbon fiber blend than the Advanced SL frame along with a telescoping D-shaped seatpost - James Huang / Future Publishing
Carbon frames with telescoping posts use an internal binder - James Huang / Future Publishing
All of the new Giant Defy and Liv Avail bikes will come with 25mm-wide tyres - James Huang / Future Publishing
The women-specific Liv Avail bikes bear no Giant logos at all aside from a single small one on the down tube - James Huang / Future Publishing
The new Giant Defy Advanced Pro 1 frame uses a slightly heavier carbon blend than the top-end SL frame, plus a telescoping D-shaped seatpost. The Shimano Ultegra mechanical group is paired with Shimano's new RS685 mechanical/hydraulic Dual Control levers - James Huang / Future Publishing
The Giant Defy Advanced Advanced 1 Compact comes with an aluminium steerer, Shimano Ultegra mechanical group, Giant P-R2 disc wheels, and TRP Spyre cable-actuated disc brakes - James Huang / Future Publishing
While top-end carbon frames feature hollow carbon dropouts as well, lesser ones are built with aluminium ones - James Huang / Future Publishing
Models equipped with mechanical disc brakes upsize to 160mm-diameter rotors to make up for the decrease in power as compared to full-hydraulic setups - James Huang / Future Publishing
The Liv Avail Advanced 1 features a carbon frame built up with a Shimano Ultegra mechanical group, TRP Spyre cable actuated disc brakes, and Giant P-R2 Disc aluminium clincher wheels - James Huang / Future Publishing
The top-end aluminum Giant Defy model is the Defy 1 Compact, which uses many of the same design philosophies as the carbon models such as the D-shaped seatpost and seat tube, offset seat cluster, and slim seat stays - James Huang / Future Publishing
Aluminium frames come with external cable routing - James Huang / Future Publishing
Even in aluminium, Giant says the new Defy frame design's lowered seat stays yield a smoother-riding rear end as compared to a conventional layout - James Huang / Future Publishing
The D-Fuse seatpost shape may very well improve ride comfort but it does mean that you're likely stuck with Giant seatposts for the life of the bike - James Huang / Future Publishing
Aluminium frames use extra-wide PF86 press-fit bottom bracket shells, which allow for very widely spaced chain stays and bigger main frame tubes than would be possible with a threaded setup - James Huang / Future Publishing
The Giant Defy 4 Compact is the second least expensive model in the range - James Huang / Future Publishing
While all of the carbon fiber Giant Defy and Liv Avail bikes come with disc brakes only, the aluminium models will come exclusively with rim brakes - James Huang / Future Publishing
The Liv Avail 1 is the top-end aluminium women-specific endurance road bike from Giant for 2015 - James Huang / Future Publishing
Lower-end Liv Avail models come with top-mounted brake levers for extra control - James Huang / Future Publishing
Although they're crafted in aluminium instead of carbon fiber, standard Giant Defy and Liv Avail frames utilize quite a bit of complex shaping - James Huang / Future Publishing
The Liv Avail 2 uses mostly Shimano Tiagra componentry along with Giant house-brand aluminium wheels to help keep the price down - James Huang / Future Publishing
Giant – and its recently pseudo-independent women-specific brand, Liv – have completely overhauled their Defy and Avail collection of endurance road bikes for 2015. According to Giant, they're lighter, smoother, more efficient, and with the addition of disc brakes nearly across the line, more consistently controllable in all conditions. The previous version won the coveted Cycling Plus Bike of the Year award in 2013, and this new one seems like an easy candidate for another shot at the title.
The new giant defy advanced sl offers race bike performance but with a smoother ride, hydraulic disc brakes, and (officially) clearance for 28mm wide tyres. as shown here, this top-end defy advanced sl 0 model (size small) weighs just 7.75kg (17.09lb) complete with pedals and a bottle cage:
The new Defy Advanced SL and Avail Advanced SL flagships blur the lines even further between what many riders might expect from a 'race bike' and a so-called 'endurance bike'. The more sharply engineering-centric frame shapes are still less than 900g – a number many dedicated competition frames struggle to hit – and yet Giant also claims that they're more comfortable than their previous versions.
Key ride-oriented features include seat tubes, and top tubes that are supposedly more apt to flex over bumps than rounder sections; similarly D-shaped seatmasts and seatposts with slim diameters and lots of extension; lowered seat stays that are said to act more like leaf springs than conventional rear-end layouts; and slender fork blades that balance out the ride from front to back.
Much of giant's ride quality claims can be sourced to the so-called 'd-fuse' seatmast and seat tube shape, which features a flattened back side that is said to flex more than a round or oval profile:
D-shaped tubing supposedly adds flex over the bumps
Even so, several design concepts borrowed from the more racing-oriented TCR range place an emphasis on tuned stiffness that reportedly encroaches that bike's rigidity territory. The OverDrive 2 extra-oversized 1 1/4-to-1 1/2in steerers are bolstered by extremely wide MegaDrive down tubes, which are then connected to PowerCore bottom bracket shells that measure a healthy 86.5mm across. That extra width also lends additional room for the adjoining asymmetrical chain stays to spread apart in order to keep the rear end from wagging under power.
Giant backs this all up with bold in-house testing claims. As compared to the Specialized S-Works Roubaix SL4 Disc, Trek Domane Disc, and Cannondale Synapse Hi-Mod Disc, Giant claims the Defy Advanced SL is the lightest chassis by about 230-310g (including the frame, fork, headset, seatpost/seatmast, seatmast head, seatpost collar, derailleur hangers, headset expander plug, and all cable routing hardware). Torsional stiffness and pedaling stiffness values are also supposedly best in class (by as much as 40 percent in some situations) while overall front and rear 'compliance' is topped only by the Cannondale, all without any "marketing gimmicks" such as elastomeric dampers or integrated pivots.
The 86.5mm-wide press-fit 'powercore' bottom bracket shell anchors a similar wide down tube and seat tube, plus a massive box section for the asymmetrical chainstays:
Trademark features such as the extra-wide 'PowerCore' bottom bracket design carry over
Of course, not all of those specs apply across the rather wide Defy and Avail ranges. Second-tier 'Advanced' frames get slightly heavier carbon fiber blends, telescoping carbon 'D-Fuse' seatposts, and OverDrive 2 forks with aluminium rather than carbon fiber steerer tubes. Base-level Defy and Avail models, meanwhile, will get aluminium frames and aluminium/carbon forks with downsized 1 1/8-to-1 1/4in tapered steerer sizes.
Giant goes all-in on disc brakes
While all of the Defy and Avail models are brand new, geometry is wholly carried over – a good thing since they were already highly refined with stable manners and modestly raised front end that's just 15mm taller on average. Giant has taken the bold step, however, of exclusively using disc brakes nearly across the board for more consistently predictable all-weather stopping performance.
The rear brake caliper on the new giant defy advanced sl mounts to the chain stay, allowing the seat stays to be very slim:
All of the new carbon Giant Defy and Liv Avail models will come with disc brakes only
All carbon models will be disc-equipped for 2015; aluminium bikes will all be rim brake-only. Impressively, Giant looks to have done this without adding any weight – and in fact, says certain complete bikes even end up about 50g lighter than their comparable rim brake-equipped versions. We measured a top-end Defy Advanced SL 0 model at just 7.3kg (16.1lb)
"Our goal was to have a net zero increase," said road product manager Jon Swanson.
Officially, eliminating the rim brake calipers also yields easy clearance for tyres up to 28mm-wide – although we think many 30mm ones will fit, too.
Tyre clearance on both the giant defy advanced sl and liv avail advanced sl framesets is 28mm - but there looks to be room for 30mm ones:
Tyre clearance is outstanding on all disc-equipped models
Giant has not paired those disc brakes with thru-axles, though – a move that we definitely question.
According to Swanson, this was done so as to provide disc-equipped Defy and Avail owners with more wheel choices. Swanson also isn't satisfied with current thru-axle standards as they pertain to road bikes, saying they're overbuilt for the application and insufficiently elegant for the genre.
We're still a bit disappointed in that move, however, and can't help but wonder if this means a new road-specific thru-axle system with more behind-the-scenes industry support is pending.
Either way, things look to be heading in a very good direction here and are looking forward to spending more time aboard the new models. So far, we've developed a solid taste over two solid days on some rather rough roads in northern Scotland. Look for a First Ride Review shortly.
Women get their own version of the top-end flagship called the avail advanced sl 0, complete with a specific frame shape, carbon lay-up, and componentry but with the same shimano dura-ace di2 9070 group:
Women get the similarly ambitious Liv Avail Advanced SL 0
Key specs and retail prices for the complete US-spec Giant Defy and Liv Avail ranges are as follows (UK models and prices are TBD):
James Huang is BikeRadar's former technical editor. After leaving BikeRadar in 2016, he worked at CyclingTips and Escape Collective. He now runs the Substack cycling publication N-1 Bikes.
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