I am super-stoked right now! I sold the Whyte a while ago having decided I'm now officially a 'roadie' and decided I needed a proper modern road bike. I wanted to go disc as I think they have multiple benefits; no rim wear to worry about and reliable braking whatever the weather so after a lot of research I decided on the Giant Defy Advanced 2.
Giant produce over 6 million bikes a year, publish all their frame stiffness comparison data and the Defy range has received rave reviews since it first appeared so I figured it was a pretty safe bet. The fact that the legendary vegan Youtube star, Durianrider, really rates Giant was a real cherry on the cake!
It has a full carbon frame and forks, a full 22 speed 105 groupset and TRP Spyre mechanical disc brakes, I've only ridden it the third of a mile back from my parents house as the wind's howling right now but I love it so far. The size is perfect and it's ridiculously stiff and efficient but very smooth at the same time.
The wind should have died down by tomorrow so I think I'll do the 25 miler on it. Can't wait!
7th January: Got out after work today and did the local 18. I carried on into the village for curry and chips so 19.2 miles to start 2015.
14th January: Had the day off work today but the weather's rubbish so I dragged myself out and did the local 22. It was cold and windy so not particularly pleasant but a (very) much needed 21.9 for January.
21st January: Had another Wednesday off work so I headed out to do the local 22. As it turned out, the weather was horrible, very rainy and windy, so I cut it short and did the old coach road for a measly 14.7 miles. I hate winter!
24th January: It was sunny with blue skies today so I headed out to do the local 22. I decided I needed the mileage so I did the 25 miler I did recently again.
It was sunny but very windy so not a perfect ride but reasonably enjoyable and another much needed 24.7 miles for January.
27th January: I headed out tonight to do the local 22 but the weather quickly decided it wanted to try snowing and the wind started yowling so I decided to cut short and do the old coach road again.
However, the weather brightened up a bit so I tacked Alec's hill onto the end of the ride (which was hard, I need to start hill training a bit more...) to finish with 16.3 miles.
Well, due to the constant howling wind and freezing conditions, January goes out with a whimper and a mere 96.8 miles on the clock. However, I've just bought a rather awesome new bike so catching up shouldn't be too much of a chore...
