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.
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
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 😄
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!
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
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.
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 $150 sets of brand name tires? No. I also wouldn't have expected Giant to sell a bike categorized as "Performance and Racing" with wire bead crap tires. Until now.
I got AR2 year ago, it was on sale for 900$. 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 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.
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.
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!)
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!
@@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!
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.
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…
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!
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?
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.
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
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 😄
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!
My first road bike Ever was a 2017 contend. Brilliant
I use your website almost every day. It's so much fun.
Me too :)
Awesome! A new episode!
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
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.
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 $150 sets of brand name tires? No. I also wouldn't have expected Giant to sell a bike categorized as "Performance and Racing" with wire bead crap tires. Until now.
Very interesting, I had no idea the ar version was higher and longer than the sl. Great stuff Bikotic:D
here l was enjoying the GIANR bark down and then you go show us an even more interesting race machine ...
I got AR2 year ago, it was on sale for 900$. 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.
I upgraded to Tiagra hydro on my Cube Attain, it was a pain, but worth it - good info thanks
@@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.
@@TenSapphires thats pretty cool!!
Love the analogy 👍 helped visualise the concept
The AR is an amazing bike.
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.
I have a AR1 and I love it.
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!)
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
@@bikotic ruclips.net/video/6xY2S-9gjHI/видео.html
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!
@@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!
Great information, thank you.😊
Very detailed analysis 👍
I have Tektro rim brakes on my Ribble single speed, and it’ll fit 40mm tires easily.
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.
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…
The TCR isn’t an endurance bike the Defy is, the TCR is more or a flat road racer
I got the contend sl disc 1 2022 new for £1270 so chuffed
God this website is a buyers dream.
Based on
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!
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?
Yep, love it, I should do a review👍🏻 - 54 yes, I'm 5 10
I am quite convinced its the right size.
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?
Hello! What's the size of the bike? How much does it weight?
Worse bike ever & saddle design. Avoid