The endurance bike category is a long-established niche in the road bike sector, with rideability the key attribute for those of us who have finally accepted that we’re not going to make it to the WorldTour.
Giant’s Defy, which has occupied a corner of this market for a decade, recently underwent a facelift, with the Taiwanese brand creating a bike “specifically engineered for endurance road riding, delivering a smooth and efficient ride quality that minimises fatigue on long rides”.
The entire range received a makeover, with nine models built around three frames – the Advanced, Advanced Pro and the Advanced SL. These cost from £2,299, for the entry-level Advanced 3, to an eye-watering £11,449 for the rangetopping Advanced SL0.
For this test, Giant sent us the latter, which comes equipped with SR AM Red eTap
