Giant,听the world鈥檚 largest bike manufacturer,听doesn鈥檛 get as much love as some of its smaller, more boutique听competitors, in part because its听designs and marketing tend to be a bit staid.听(And partly, in our estimation, because of the David and Goliath syndrome.)听But climbing on the 鈥攚hich is every bit as spry and refined as any other top-shelf race bike on the market but costs some 30 percent less鈥攎akes you think that more people should be riding Giant听bikes.
This new iteration of the company鈥檚 all-around race bike keeps the previous generation鈥檚 strengths鈥攍ight, responsive, and totally rigid where you want it, namely in the head tube and bottom bracket regions鈥攂ut adds enough compliance that it gives endurance roadies a run for their money. Giant credits a whole slew听of new frame tweaks for the added comfort, including a narrower top tube near the seat post, a mono-stay design out back that drops the seat stays below the seat-tube junction, a redesigned aero seat post that has more flex,听thanks to the听cam-bolt clamp that holds it, and skinnier fork and stays.
At just 14.4 pounds for our size M/L, the TCR Advanced felt as impatient to move as a caged animal. It leapt forward on 15-percent and steeper grades, which in turn made us want to stomp down even harder. The carbon wheels are impressively quick to spin up, which accounts for a lot of the bike鈥檚 pop. But unlike many lightweight machines, this bike was also planted and confident on sinuous descents. It鈥檚 so capable and fleet that it reminded us of the Cerv茅lo RCA听(only more comfortable), whose bare frame costs more than this complete bike.
Giant听keeps the cost of its bikes down by producing most of its own components.听On the TCR Advanced, the company produces the shallow-drop handlebars (alloy, like the pros prefer), stem, incredibly sprightly carbon wheels, tires, and even saddle. The only thing on the bike without a Giant logo is the Shimano Dura-Ace mechanical group set, which worked flawlessly (as expected).听
Yes, the TCR Advanced 0鈥檚 $5,500 price tag is hardly cheap, but relative to comparably spec鈥檇 race machines from the competition, it鈥檚 a steal. The only bike we can think of that鈥檚 as light and capable as the TCR is the , which is actually a little cheaper but not quite as high performance听because of its heavier听aluminum wheels. (Incidentally, Fuji also keeps its costs low with in-house component manufacturing.)
The best news听for the budget conscious:听the , with the exact same frame as the model we rode, just听with Ultegra parts and slightly heavier wheels, is an incredible deal鈥$3,200鈥攁nd still right at the UCI weight limit of 15 pounds.
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