You'll remember from last time that I've bought a project bike for £200 rather than spending upwards of £2k on something new and fancy. My goal is, through judicious upgrades, to turn it into something to rival at least the Boardman SLR 8.9 105, the cheapest bike (at £1,150) on my original "What should I buy?" post. I'm calling this the Bargain Bike Challenge. Anyway, here's the bike as bought - the only thing I've done to it thus far is raise the saddle:
I say only but even that was a bit of a job - the composite D-Fuse seatpost is not round in cross-section but, as the name suggests, D-shaped, which means you can't really twist it to get it out if it proves stiff ... which it certainly did. I was just about to break out some form of lube, in the hope that I could channel some down into the seatpost, when it finally budged. Anyway, let's not digress. So this is the bike, a 2016 Giant Defy 2, in mostly original condition, as far as I can tell. The only thing that might not be original are these brakes which, correct me if I'm wrong, don't look like the original Tektro set that were on the spec sheet. Indeed, these are unbranded, and are shod with solid blocks rather than cartridge brake shoes. Having been out for a green run over the weekend, I can report that these are not very good at all, and will be getting replaced at the earliest opportunity.
The other thing to notice from the picture above is the state of the tyre. Now the project bike has come to me shod with Continental Gatorskins (great) but the back one, as you can see, is very worn. Indeed, it is worn flat, in a manner that suggests it has either been run woefully under-inflated or, more likely, has spent a fair time on a turbo trainer. Either way, new tyres will also be high on my list of things to do early doors.
What else? Well, I can tell you from my green run pootle around the village (in figure of eight loops, to even out the effect of head- and tailwinds, of course) is that the gearing is okay, and well indexed. Yes, it's only 2x10 Shimano Tiagra, 50/34 at the front and 11-32 at the back. But look, there's a long cage there, which provides some scope should I want to make incremental changes in the future. I think my ultimate aim, budgetary constraints permitting, is 2x11 105 or Ultegra, with 11-34 at the back, but that's a bigger job, for further down the line. Maybe I could experiment with 52/36 at the front too, although I fear this may be beyond the financial limits of the project. Just as well, then, that for now, at least, I'm happy to report that the Tiagra set-up here works well, and certainly well enough to see off a lot more miles. Plenty of life in that cassette yet, I hope.
Another thing you can see quite well in this photo is the stock Giant SR-2 wheelset. Again, I can happily report that both front and rear run pretty true, so there's no urgent imperative to swap them out. They are quite heavy though, and you can feel that when you try to spin up to speed quickly (like cresting a hill, for example). So in time I will look to replace them if I can find something equally robust but significantly lighter without blowing the budget. That just might be the biggest challenge of all. Either way, it's something I'd probably only do when I was ready to change the cassette too ... and that's a little way off yet.
The other obvious take-home from taking the project bike out for a green run is that I'm not going to be immediately comfortable on it, even though the saddle has been raised to something like the right height. Sure, it is basically a comfy machine, with a supportive saddle, a well-padded (if slightly ragged) handlebar, good damping from the seatpost and fork, and more. But I think I might need to shift the saddle back a little, and there are changes needed in the cockpit, for me - the stem is only 100mm, and I think I might benefit from 110. Plus the pitch is perhaps too low - I might start by flipping it over and seeing if that feels any better.
And whilst we're on the subject of stems, why, oh why, do Giant bikes of this age appear to have a coffin shape around their stem logo? Hardly inspires confidence in the exposed road cyclist, does it? Ride fast and die!
Of course, the other painfully obvious finding from the green run is that I have to adjust and get comfortable (and confident) too - I haven't ridden a drop-bar on the road since 1992, and it really shows. I'm depressingly timid around corners and in descents, and that'll have to change; after all, there's no point building a rocket if I ride it tamely.
So, the post green run verdict? Well, it's not a bad little bike, as it stands. My first priority is to swap the brake calipers for something better, and then to clock up some confidence-building miles. Check back here again to see how that goes...
The immovable object
