Hello Bike Packing Community,
it is my first post and would like to need some input for my first long distance tour. Around the island.
I am currently in Taiwan and looking to purchase a bike here. I got a beginner road bike back in Europe, so I think I would like to stick to a dropbar bike. My knowledge is still limited but any advise would be appreciated.
I cannot decide which is the best of these bike I am looking at.
https://www.giant-bicycles.com/tw/contend-aero-2-2025
https://www.giant-bicycles.com/tw/contend-sl-disc-1-2025
https://www.merida-bikes.com/zh-tw/bike/4149/scultura-200
https://www.giant-bicycles.com/tw/contend-1-2025
As far as I understand is that the Aero 2 and SL have hydraulic brakes. The merida has mechanical disc and the contend 1 has rim brakes.
Is it worth it to get hydraulics. Both are in my budget and cheaper than in Europe. If so which of these two models are better for my use case and what is the difference between them? ( sorry I am a newbie )
Much appreciated for any help.
Cheers.
by zubari23