2015 Giant Propel Advanced 2 - Thoughts?

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Defy The Odds
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2015 Giant Propel Advanced 2 - Thoughts?

Postby Defy The Odds » Fri May 04, 2018 11:13 am

I have an opportunity to pick up a 2015 Giant Propel Advanced 2 in my size at a pretty good price (sub $2k) which is brand new.

Are there any points of notice on these particular models?

This is the bike in question:

https://www.giant-bicycles.com/au/prope ... ced-2-2015


The plan is to purchase the bike (mainly for the frame) and replace wheels ASAP and then components over time to Dura Ace Mechanical.

Also, I have heard some models of Propel's had some sort of issue with the brakes but not sure what?

Anyone who could shed some light before I make my decision, it would be greatly appreciated :D

Thank you

wicksey
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Re: 2015 Giant Propel Advanced 2 - Thoughts?

Postby wicksey » Fri May 04, 2018 11:27 am

What size? I've got a M/L in Perth I'm about to list for $1500.

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Defy The Odds
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Re: 2015 Giant Propel Advanced 2 - Thoughts?

Postby Defy The Odds » Fri May 04, 2018 11:35 am

wicksey wrote:What size? I've got a M/L in Perth I'm about to list for $1500.
I'm in Melbourne mate, sorry

Anything you'd like to let me know about these bikes ?

Also is yours new or second hand ?

wicksey
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Re: 2015 Giant Propel Advanced 2 - Thoughts?

Postby wicksey » Fri May 04, 2018 12:38 pm

No worries. Great bike, especially for the money.

Not sure how you managed to find one new given the age of them.

Jmuzz
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Re: 2015 Giant Propel Advanced 2 - Thoughts?

Postby Jmuzz » Fri May 04, 2018 3:59 pm

wicksey wrote: Not sure how you managed to find one new given the age of them.
There are a couple on bikeexchange, must be the XS.

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Duck!
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Re: 2015 Giant Propel Advanced 2 - Thoughts?

Postby Duck! » Sat May 05, 2018 10:56 am

Defy The Odds wrote: Also, I have heard some models of Propel's had some sort of issue with the brakes but not sure what?
Earlier bikes had fairly short brake arms, which especially on the rear would foul the cable on anything bigger than 23mm tyres. I'm not sure exactly when, but somewhere along the way the brakes were replaced with slightly longer ones that allow fitting of 25mm rubber. Don't even think about 28mm, this is a dead-set race bike and it simply does not have the clearances anywhere for bigger than 25mm.

The spring balancing screws on each brake arm are very touchy and temperamental as all get-out. You'll spend a lot of time fiddling with the brakes because the bloody things will change by themselves.
Last edited by Duck! on Sat May 05, 2018 12:57 pm, edited 1 time in total.
I had a thought, but it got run over as it crossed my mind.

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Defy The Odds
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Re: 2015 Giant Propel Advanced 2 - Thoughts?

Postby Defy The Odds » Sat May 05, 2018 11:53 am

Duck! wrote:
Defy The Odds wrote: Also, I have heard some models of Propel's had some sort of issue with the brakes but not sure what?
Earlier bikes had fairly short brake arms, which especially on the rear would foul the cable on anything bigger than 23mm tyres. I'm not sure exactly when, but somewhere along the way the brakes were replaced with slightly longer ones that allow fitting of 25mm rubber. Don't even think about 28mm, this is a dead-set race bike and it simply does not have the clearances anywhere for bigger than 25mm.

The spring balancing screws on each brake arm are very touchy and temperamental as all get-out. You'll spend alot of time fiddling with the brakes because the bloody things will change by themselves.
Thanks Duck !
I did hear something along these lines but couldn't remeber what exactly.

The bike does look gorgeous and I have a Defy currently and wanted this to be my fair weather flats, balls-to-the-wall bike but I dont have the time or patience to be dealing with brake issues all the time.

It's a shame but will move on to something else.

I consisered a TCR Advanced 3 with Tiagra and slowly upgrade over time to Dura-Ace but am thinking its similar to my 2013 Defy Composite in geometry. Newer Defy's seem to gear much more towards comfort whereas older ones were closer to TCR race geometry

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Re: 2015 Giant Propel Advanced 2 - Thoughts?

Postby Duck! » Sat May 05, 2018 12:55 pm

Defy The Odds wrote:I consisered a TCR Advanced 3 with Tiagra and slowly upgrade over time to Dura-Ace but am thinking its similar to my 2013 Defy Composite in geometry. Newer Defy's seem to gear much more towards comfort whereas older ones were closer to TCR race geometry
What size are you looking at? At the very small end of the size range the cockpit geometries are very similar, just the Defy has longer rear stays. As you move up to bigger frames the TCR gets longer in the top & lower in the head; this is consistent across the generations.
I had a thought, but it got run over as it crossed my mind.

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Defy The Odds
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Re: 2015 Giant Propel Advanced 2 - Thoughts?

Postby Defy The Odds » Mon May 07, 2018 8:36 am

Duck! wrote:
Defy The Odds wrote:I consisered a TCR Advanced 3 with Tiagra and slowly upgrade over time to Dura-Ace but am thinking its similar to my 2013 Defy Composite in geometry. Newer Defy's seem to gear much more towards comfort whereas older ones were closer to TCR race geometry
What size are you looking at? At the very small end of the size range the cockpit geometries are very similar, just the Defy has longer rear stays. As you move up to bigger frames the TCR gets longer in the top & lower in the head; this is consistent across the generations.
Hey Duck, I ride an XS Defy currently. I'm in the overlap of XS and S. Have the XS fitted to suit (seat pushed all the way forward, stem extended 20mm and slammed). When I last checked the TCR and Defy were almost identical bar the chain stays

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Re: 2015 Giant Propel Advanced 2 - Thoughts?

Postby g-boaf » Mon May 07, 2018 9:28 am

Duck! wrote:
Defy The Odds wrote: Also, I have heard some models of Propel's had some sort of issue with the brakes but not sure what?
Earlier bikes had fairly short brake arms, which especially on the rear would foul the cable on anything bigger than 23mm tyres. I'm not sure exactly when, but somewhere along the way the brakes were replaced with slightly longer ones that allow fitting of 25mm rubber. Don't even think about 28mm, this is a dead-set race bike and it simply does not have the clearances anywhere for bigger than 25mm.

The spring balancing screws on each brake arm are very touchy and temperamental as all get-out. You'll spend a lot of time fiddling with the brakes because the bloody things will change by themselves.
So it's rather the same as the SRAM Red Aerolink brakes I have, and the Planet X Ultralight CNC ones I used to use. I think there were aftermarket brakes available for the Propel if I'm not mistaken. I went close to getting a Ultegra Di2 Propel at one stage but ended up instead getting a TCR Advanced SL1 which is a far better bike.

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Duck!
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Re: 2015 Giant Propel Advanced 2 - Thoughts?

Postby Duck! » Mon May 07, 2018 10:15 pm

Defy The Odds wrote:
Duck! wrote:
Defy The Odds wrote:I consisered a TCR Advanced 3 with Tiagra and slowly upgrade over time to Dura-Ace but am thinking its similar to my 2013 Defy Composite in geometry. Newer Defy's seem to gear much more towards comfort whereas older ones were closer to TCR race geometry
What size are you looking at? At the very small end of the size range the cockpit geometries are very similar, just the Defy has longer rear stays. As you move up to bigger frames the TCR gets longer in the top & lower in the head; this is consistent across the generations.
Hey Duck, I ride an XS Defy currently. I'm in the overlap of XS and S. Have the XS fitted to suit (seat pushed all the way forward, stem extended 20mm and slammed). When I last checked the TCR and Defy were almost identical bar the chain stays
At that size you won't really find much difference to the Propel either. Aside from the taller effective seat tube measurement resulting from the level top tube, the geometry is very similar to the TCR across the size range.
I had a thought, but it got run over as it crossed my mind.

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