Re: help to choose between defy 3 defy 5 or budget of 50 to 60k road cycle

Giant Defy is endurance geometry I hope. You can also look into red triban 3 which is on sale in decathlon under 30k with carbon forks.
Or buy Defy and switch components instead of upgrade.
Also have a look with Merida ride series. There is also something called flat handle bar roadbikes which is easy on pedals and back.

Post your query in CYCLOP and bikeszone forums.

Re: help to choose between defy 3 defy 5 or budget of 50 to 60k road cycle

thanks for the views. I just want the brand giant . so I did not go any further . it was a choice between Montra Celtic because it is made in india and defy 3 by giant. I also realised that except for the frame a cycle can be customised to any extend to suit my body and riding style. and giant is one of / or the biggest cycle manufacturer in the world and they are in Asia.

help to choose between defy 3 defy 5 or budget of 50 to 60k road cycle

Hello Hari,

Have you bought defy 3 ? If not do consider Merida bikes. They are good vfm bikes.

Merida Ride series are comfort geometry, has got good components. I have friends who are using Ride 300, Ride 500. Check component specs and compare.

Let me know if you need any further info, I can connect you with folks here in Bangalore.

Regarding comfort on a cycle

Unlike motor bikes and cars, bikes are not made in one size for all. We have different frame sizes which you can choose based on your inseam length.

Frame size is not the only thing, we have stem length, seat post height, handlebar width, saddle width (after measuring you sit bones width) etc to consider for a good bike fit.

I would suggest you to check out for body geometry (BGFit) and get it done one for yourself if you use road bike. This will help you to be comfortable on bike and enjoy your ride.

Regarding which bike to choose (road/mtb/hybrid)
1. Please list out the intended use ( commute, fitness, racing, brevet's)
2. Finalise bike type
3. Decide on a budget
4. Based on your usage choose model/component(if your usage is intense then it's good to invest on better components)
5. Buy the bike which is at top level of your budget or slightly higher and meets all your requirement.

Custom bikes

Writing on this point as you said you want to build one for yourself. As rightly pointed by you and others except frame every other components is replaceable, if you have a good frame you can use it for life time buy just replacing/upgrading components (I have friends who are doing this)

In India we have very less options to buy only frames. We have surly frames which you can be used to build bike as per requirement.

Pardon me if you don't like any of my points.

Re: help to choose between defy 3 defy 5 or budget of 50 to 60k road cycle

I thought I will conclude this thread rather opening a new thread. here is the story on my defy 3 and sorry for the delay. I am at chennai since the last one and a half months and yet to get settled down wanted a cycle. so bought a hero hawk by choice for Rs 4500/ - Since my defy and montra are cooling off at thiruvananthapuram my hero hawk will provide me the cycling comfort at chennai for some time.



defy 3


it was a see saw affair between a defy 3 by Giant and INDIAN road cycle Montra Celtic. I already have a hybrid montra Blues 1.1 since the last 6 months and has done quite some distance on this cycle. so it was natural that I had to look into their road cycle too. Having ruled out a carbon road bike for reasons of my type of use wanted to take an aluminium framed bike around 1k which is quite reasonable budget. For me the road bike is simply for touring with some added speed compared to my hybrid cycle. So no worry of racing with others and regretting I should have bought a carbon bike costing 2 k or more so that I have better timings etc etc. And my road cycle would be spoiled ( for the puritans here) by fitting kick stand, rear carrier etc etc I required a cycle which will take the beating. wanted each bit of what little comfort offered by a road cycle defy 3 composite carbon fork was a winner. also defy3 scored well in Many bicycle comparisons as the most comfortable cycle while other brands were good at speed etc etc. defy3 also had the mounts for fixing a rear carrier which I require. as I go mostly alone and also early morning while it is dark I want basic tools and food for extended rides. so a rear carrier is a must. I hate to hang things on my seat and handle. gaint by far the largest cycle maker in the world was just an icing on the cake. I narrowed my choice and decided to buy a Gaint cycle, a defy3.
Montra Celtic was a choice simply cause it was made in India. both cycles were good in comparison and for the price sensitive people Montra Celtic is the cycle to buy. Even I thought of buying the Celtic but it had to on pure assumptions. absolutely no info. a little patchy feed back did not help either. for me a cycle is an extension. my Montra Blues hybrid has been slowly customised to my way of use over 3 months. buying a cycle on assumptions was not an option. So Celtic was ruled out. So defy 3 was my prefered choice . Order was given on email with just cycles on 7 th mar 2016 by taking a loan. they confirmed that defy 3 2014 model is available after a few days. The colour was black green combo which I was not happy. I was keen on getting the White red combo. so the idea of getting defy3 2016model came down to 2014 model defy3 compact and that too in a colour not of choice. I had to choose now to wait for 2016 defy3 or go for 2014 defy. can't wait especially since the money was there. so 7th March 2016 gave my consent for defy3 2014 black green combo. promise of delivery of the cycle within 5 days vapourised into thin air and I was on the edge of cancelling the order and buy Montra Celtic . finally on 12april 2016 after many missed delivery dates they called me and told my cycle had come. I told them I want to see the cycle in packing and went to the shop after taking an hour off from office at 12.10 pm. reached there and confirmed that my defy was intact and that was a great relief after the long wait. even it was looking good in dismantled condition. told them to set up the bike and I will come after 7-30 pm and came back to office. around 8.00 pm I reached the shop and defy was ready after pre delivery checks. the mech boy told me to take a small ride as he told he was waiting for me to have the first ride on the bike. after that he took a test ride and I was ready to take the bike home after finishing the payment and paper work. So my first road biking ride was done on a defy. 5 kms of very careful riding I can say unsteady riding I reached home in one piece. whew came home was the first thought at the unsteady way the bike was acting. no bike fitting was done just two instructions were given seat height to be set in a way that I can put both my feet on the road sitting on the seat and a comfortable gear so that I can pedal without any gear change till I reach home. why unsteady I was thinking as next day was a rest day for me. I checked the bike and found that the handle bar and wheel alignment was way off the mark. part1 of self made bike setup started and the flaw was corrected. no wonder the cycle was behaving wild on my first ride. on the third day my first official ride on defy was done. morning 6.15 am on Vishu day 14 April 2016 after the Vishu Pooja etc ( I was the acting priest this time as wife could not do the same) I took the defy out. it was a short spin with my yet to be cycle fitted defy. tried to shift gears etc and generally get used to the cycle. felt that sometimes the rear derailures shifting on its own among the middle sprockets. finally returned home after 45 minutes. generally I was satisfied with my first formal outing with the cycle. next was to cycle fit the defy. did the usual like I did with my Montra self cycle fitting. saddle height and position was adjusted by putting the cycle in front of a dressing mirror. I before fitting had flipped defy' stem for more handle height which was welcome. I expected to ride with this fitting for some days and do corrections in case the need is felt. as I start early in the morning front lights were added in addition to the rear light. did a second handle bar tape cover(lizard skin 3.2mm) on top of the current gaint bar tape for more thickness and comfort. also fitted an Eileen 2 kick stand going against the convention of not having kick stand on road cycles. I am not keen to drop my cycle on the ground or hunt for something to lean my bike every time when I have to take a break. two bottle cages plus an under seat pouch was also fixed. a wired cyclo computer was fixed as my headlight a 550 lumens night rider was simply not allowing a wireless computer to work. now I am planning to fix a rear carrier so that I can carry essentials on all rides big or small and remove my seat pouch. will have to get used to the road cycle now and do good distances.

Re: help to choose between defy 3 defy 5 or budget of 50 to 60k road cycle

Congrats on your bike sir. How many kilometres have you managed to clock up?

Re: help to choose between defy 3 defy 5 or budget of 50 to 60k road cycle

only around 2000.