Been riding the Contend 1 2021 (Sora) for 2 years now. Did 18000 km and still falling in love more and more every day. A simple wheel upgrade and a 12-25 cassette has brought the weight down to 8.5 kg with pedals. An upgrade on the brake pads is needed though if you want to use it as a winter bike. Great geometry as well. I race nationals here in India and ride 1000km Audax on this bike. Can do it all at such a low price.
@SharD24x7 Жыл бұрын
Even though im not looking for a bike now, im extremely thankful for your website and your videos. It is an absolute blessing for neophytes! Thank you for doing what you do and wish you the best
@michaelalexanderjob9 ай бұрын
I have the SL1 rim and was also sceptical about the alleged 34mm clearance. I did, however, manage to put gravelking ss+ 32c tyres on it, with 5mm of clearance all around. I think it could manage 34mm slicks but we will have to see in about 2000 or so km 😄
@ass5178 Жыл бұрын
My first road bike Ever was a 2017 contend. Brilliant
@valiantabello Жыл бұрын
I use your website almost every day. It's so much fun.
@bikotic Жыл бұрын
Me too :)
@Radioinactiv Жыл бұрын
Love your videos and the website. I just recently shared your site with my local bike shop and my cycling friends and they have had nothing but good things to say about it. Would be great to see you add some female specific bikes such as Liv in the future (selfishly because I am researching a bike for my wife atm and your website tool makes it so convenient, lol). Keep up the amazing work sir!
@ralr Жыл бұрын
Awesome! A new episode!
@GrouEEf Жыл бұрын
I have this bike (Contend AR 1). It is amazing. If you are thinking about getting one: get it. I tuned it with carbon aero handlebars, winspace hyper wheels and a nice r8000 Giant powermeter. It is a beast. It weighs 8,4kg with pedals. And it costs below 3k in this configuration. It's an amazing gravel bike, as it takes 40mm tyres and has nice short chain stays for a gravel bike. It feels like an Aspero, just a bit less racy. And it also is a sick road bike. I rode Mallorca 312 on it with a 28kmh average, which I was quite 'contend' with. Due to the aluminium frame I'm not as worried about damage when traveling with the bike, and I have been to the most amazing places with it. If you are looking for a quiver killer: look no further. Just make sure to tune the bike, as the stock tyres and wheels are a bad joke.
@jdmcdorce87611 ай бұрын
While the P-R2's are a little heavy even for alloy rims, I am definitely not a fan of the Gavia Fondo 2's. The ride on my AR 1 was initially so sluggish, I was tempted to return it. Instead, I swapped the wheels (HED Flanders C2+ disc) and tires (Pirelli P Zero Road 700x28C) onto the AR 1. That cleared up the issue. And the AR 1 now runs pavement great running Continental Grand Prix 2000 S TR 700x32C even on the P-R2's and on gravel with a set of Vittoria Terreno Dry 700x35C on Hunt alloy wheels. Do I expect Giant to ship a $1950 USD bike with $100 to $150 sets of brand name tires? No. I also wouldn't have expected Giant to sell a bike categorized as "Performance and Racing" with wire bead crap tires. Until now.
@DPWebb79 Жыл бұрын
Brought a SL1 rim brake as my first proper road after coming from mountain biking, great all rounder and the only thing I’ve had to change is the tires to a set of Continental GP5000’s
@qibble455 Жыл бұрын
Very interesting, I had no idea the ar version was higher and longer than the sl. Great stuff Bikotic:D
@xelseartheonlyone1267 Жыл бұрын
The AR is an amazing bike.
@richardcarr6493 Жыл бұрын
here l was enjoying the GIANR bark down and then you go show us an even more interesting race machine ...
@asim9379 Жыл бұрын
Contend AR1 is an amazing bike. The 105 groupset is excellent. Love every ride. I had the AR4 but the claris groupset wasn't great and the mech brakes were not great either.
@Daniel-xg3ul Жыл бұрын
I have a AR1 and I love it.
@TenSapphires Жыл бұрын
I got AR2 year ago, it was on sale for 900$. Tiagra works great and to my surprise tubeless Fondo2 tyres. I didn't like handlebar tape and stock brakes. Color and wheel are so so. In sunlight rosewood color pops up but in shade is muted. If I could chose I would get mine in orange. I got set of Shimano RS171 wheels (150$), Continental GP 4 seasons 28 mm, latex tubes, Ultegra 6700 11-28 second hand cassette (30$),RT 54 discs for my road use. In this setup it's 10,5 kg and rolls supraisingly fast. Tiagra hidraulic shifters would be best upgrade, no need for AR1 in that case. Using wax lubricants, two wheelset, two chains I see this bike lond lasting with 10spd parts sourced for cheap.
@bikotic Жыл бұрын
I upgraded to Tiagra hydro on my Cube Attain, it was a pain, but worth it - good info thanks
@TenSapphires Жыл бұрын
@@bikotic One more thing. If you want wide gravel tyre 38mm is max, but limiting factor is front derailleur. If you change to 105 fd (r7000) you can go wider, 42mm even. You can see Black Water Cyclist video on this.
@bikotic Жыл бұрын
@@TenSapphires thats pretty cool!!
@sonson-ct9cm4 ай бұрын
Very detailed analysis 👍
@andrew30m Жыл бұрын
Love the analogy 👍 helped visualise the concept
@sifi7950 Жыл бұрын
Great video. I’m lucky to have an Enviolo continuously variable transmission hub on my commuter… smooth slope all the way! (That said, I think they are nowhere nears as efficient as a derailleur drive trains and I think they are usually used on e-bikes to compensate for their inefficiency… which my commuter is not!)
@bikotic Жыл бұрын
hey this is cool, I knew what they were conceptually, wasn't sure if they existed on a bike - I will have a look, thanks
@sifi7950 Жыл бұрын
@@bikotic kzbin.info/www/bejne/bKm8Y4Zjbsydfqs
@sifi7950 Жыл бұрын
Not as efficient as geared hubs either aparently… Alee Denham (CyclingAbout) has quite a lot of tech content comparing derailleurs and geared hubs… more from a touring perspective. Keep up the great work!
@bikotic Жыл бұрын
@@sifi7950 Thanks! And thanks for the info, I hope it gets developed and the efficiency issue gets better, the benefits would be huge if they could nail it!
@jamesjackson85217 ай бұрын
Great information, thank you.😊
@stevekelly6544 Жыл бұрын
I have Tektro rim brakes on my Ribble single speed, and it’ll fit 40mm tires easily.
@andrew30m Жыл бұрын
Got myself the SL1 disc very happy with it, except I got quite a few punctures so swapped the tyres for continental 4 season after 2 months which seems to have solved the issue., Maybe just bad luck of course but every 2 or 3 rides…
@scottkeir1060 Жыл бұрын
Has anyone that owns an AR1 raced cyclocross on it? I would like to get one and do both commuting and a bit of (non serious) cross racing. I noticed the AR1 has quite a low BB compared to others. TCX' s are far too expensive for me and like hens teeth on the second hand market here.
@walmasleyben984310 ай бұрын
God this website is a buyers dream.
@mylifeinthailand8751 Жыл бұрын
The TCR isn’t an endurance bike the Defy is, the TCR is more or a flat road racer
@gitgudchannel Жыл бұрын
I'm in the market for my first road bike but I'm tall and heavier than most road bikes are rated for. Been looking at the Contend but for some reason the Revolt is rated for 150kg even though the frame looks thinner than that of the Contend. Should I just get the Revolt and be safe or should I go for a faster bike since I'm a heavy rider? Not sure. Your videos are amazing!
@JackSmith-os8nm Жыл бұрын
I got the contend sl disc 1 2022 new for £1270 so chuffed
@code3xiv Жыл бұрын
Bro, do you still ride the Scott addict? its in size 54 right. Any update long term review of the bike? and lastly how tall are you?
@bikotic Жыл бұрын
Yep, love it, I should do a review👍🏻 - 54 yes, I'm 5 10
@ronitdebnath Жыл бұрын
I am quite convinced its the right size.
@memcore13128 ай бұрын
Based on
@cappahard12 Жыл бұрын
Hi. I have a 2021 Contend SL 1 105 rim break. Lovely bike and very comfortable. Just one thing of annoyance: there is a rattle coming from (I think!!) the handlebar. Prior, I thought is was coming from the head tube or the seat post. this rattle has come and gone a number of times. Had it back at the shop a few times to check but was unable to locate it. Does anyone have a similar issue?
@NicoCalaRyu Жыл бұрын
Hello! What's the size of the bike? How much does it weight?