Giant TCR Advanced Pro 1 First Ride Review

Posted in: Blog, Cycling | Mar 21, 2017 at 9:35 AM

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INTRODUCTION

As someone who works in IT, other than when you’re sleeping, you can’t help but being online almost 100% of the time. Well, at least that is what I do anyway. I must say however, that there not many things I’d like to do online other than checking social media, emails, reading news and browsing bikes. One of my favourite online bike websites is Bike Exchange and I happened to stumble upon an advertisement about trialing Giant demo bikes. This immediately drew my attention just because I would never look away from testing bikes for free.

The last time I owned a Giant was in 2010 and this was when I was only few months into cycling. Therefore, I couldn’t quiet appreciate the quality of the bike. My skill was simply not there yet. It’s the same as throwing a high-end drum-kit to a rookie drummer. Surely he wouldn’t be able to tell the difference.

My very first bike was Giant OCR (alloy hybrid) that I owned for about 3 months which I then traded with Giant TCR Advanced 0. The only thing I could tell at that time was the weight – the OCR was about 10kg and the TCR was about 7.5kg. But other than that, all I’ve ever done was just flat work commuting at 21km/h. Therefore, I knew nothing about stiffness, comfort, etc.

Fast forward to 2017, now that I’ve managed to have a lot more KMs on my legs, as well as completing several Fondos including Australia’s toughest sportives: Peaks Challenge Falls Creek, Gold Coast and Cradle Mountain, I can have a lot better appreciation of bike’s qualities.

So back to the Giant’s offering, I quickly registered and chose TBE Myaree as the local bike shop that will provide me with the test bike. I did not expect much but came to my surprise, a phone call came about few days after. So long story short, I get in contact with TBE and here I am taking home the test bike for few days!

The bike I chose was Giant TCR Advanced Pro 1 which photo you can see at the end of this article. The bike came with Ultegra groupset 52-36 chainring and 11-28 cassette. Please go to Giant’s website URL below for the full spec:

https://www.giant-bicycles.com/au/tcr-advanced-pro-1

STRAVA RIDE

Below is the Strava ride URL related to this review:

https://www.strava.com/activities/905586974

THE REVIEW

So I get to take home the bike for few days which was a privilege. Thanks to TBE Myaree, the shop assistants were all very helpful and friendly. When I collected the bike all I asked for was to increase the saddle height to my measurement: 67.8mm from the centre of BB. I deliberately did not ask to change anything else such as stem angle, reach, etc just so I can do a proper first-ride review. This was Saturday.

On Sunday I took it to a short hill ride around Gooseberry. Please see above for the Strava ride log. I would also be riding with my cycling group: about 10 riders in total. Our meeting point was at BP Willeri Dr, Willetton at 6am which was about 14kms from my house. So I quickly get setup and looking forward to do my very first ride with the bike. Total weight of the bike using my bike scale (without pedals and bottle cages) was 7.1kg.

As I stepped on the bike, the very first impression I got from the geometry was my position was very upright. Even though the stem was 90mm long – which was the correct size for me, but with all the spacers they pushed it right up. I then left my house and the very first thing I encountered on the way to the main road was a short 200m 5% incline. I stood and boy, how stiff this bike was! The non-SL bikes were made with T700 carbon while the SL ones were made with T800. This bike I tested was created using T700 carbon and was already stiff. I can’t imagine how awesome the SL ones would be.

After I get through the short incline, all I had after that was all flat towards the meeting point. On flat this bike flew, too. I can certainly attest its stiffness. Every pedal stroke propels you forward. I’ve also done some sprints along the way and it was certainly stiff enough for me. Mind you though, I’m not a heavy nor powerful rider by any means. At 170cm, 69kg and about 400watts sprint, the bike certainly did not flex at all. Along the way I also tried few times to ride hands-free off the handlebar to test its stability. Oh man, this bike was a lot easier to ride hands-free compared to my AX. My AX was very twitchy; and slight wind gust will threw you off-balance.

The another thing I noticed was how comfortable this bike was. I’m currently riding a very harsh stiff lightweight bike: AX Lightness Vial Ultra and I must say the TCR is at least 30-40% more comfortable. Another harsh reality is, you can buy two TCRs complete bike for not even the price of one Vial Ultra frameset! Sigh! Is it as comfortable as Roubaix S-Works? Absolutely not. But compared to my Vial Ultra, which was supposed to be my dedicated climbing bike, the TCR would perform as a better all-rounder in my opinion. It’s as stiff but a lot more comfortable. I hate to admit it, but moving forward I would stay away from buying a very lightweight bike. It’s a lot harder to maintain, felt more fragile and most importantly, a lot less comfy.

So, long story short, I met the guys and quickly we rode to Gooseberry Hill. The distance from the meeting point was probably about another 20-30km. And along the way the road undulated. Again, the bike truly shone on flats and undulation. I was normally a mid-pack if not the bottom-of-the-pack rider but this time I managed to hang on with the strong guys which surprised a lot of people. It was a tailwind to Gooseberry so we rolled at 35-40km/h. The bike did not have any issue whatsoever. I had to lower my body position because otherwise, I would sit very right up. This caused a bit of strain on my shoulder which eventually (by the end of the ride) gave me a stinging pain. But more to this later.

We then arrived at Gooseberry Hill Rd. We did not start at the bottom but rather about 1/2 way up. It was a 1.5km at 11-20% gradient. As a guy who is used to spinning (my AX was installed with 33-50 chainring and 11-44 cassette), the 52-36 and 11/28 combination on the TCR was certainly too heavy for me. But this would be a very good test to the stiffness quality of the bike. On the 11-15% I could still spin at 60-70RPM but as it went beyond 15%, I had to stand; and even standing was difficult! Unless you’re Alberto Contador, this gear combination will not work for most of us. Anyway, the bike really shone. Standing or sitting down, the bike was truly showed its stiffness quality. The only thing that AX won over this bike was its weight. But hey, given that you have enough gearing, the 200-300gr difference won’t make a huge impact.

Now, talking about gearing, I must say that the 52-36 11/28 combination was certainly too heavy for most riders. If you live in WA, you can still get away with it because here in WA there are rarely hills longer than 2km. But if you want to take this bike to a mountain, I don’t think you’ll survive. Well not for someone at my strength anyway.

What goes up must go down. Once we reached the top, we stopped for a quick coffee then we descended down to home. On descent, the TCR was a lot more stable than my AX! Argghhh….! I felt very confident going down. Even though here in WA you would be expecting at least 30km/h crosswind at almost any time of the day, the gust did not affect the bike at all. Reaching 71km/h and I did not falter! This bike is truly a contender for the best bikes money can buy.

After 3 hours in, my neck however, was very sore. I know this would happen because my body position was very upright. But this had nothing to do with the bike but rather the bike fit. I did not wear gloves throughout the ride and I did not get numb hands. While on my AX, the stiffness and harshness get the better of my hands.

CONCLUSION

I had no complaint whatsoever with the bike. I must say this is one of the best bikes I’ve ridden. I really wouldn’t mind sourcing a TCR frameset and transfer my components over from my AX. You can’t beat the TCR for value-for-money. At $3200, you get everything you could every ask for from a bike.

I hate to say this but the TCR is certainly a better all-rounder compared to my AX. Weight-wise, I can always upgrade the components to lighter ones. The quality of the frame however, is unchangeable and the TCR is a winner in this regard.

It’s stable, comfortable, stiff. What else do you ask for?

Have a great day,

Tommy

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