New Giant TCR 2024

Road 06/03/24 09:00 Migue A.

The Giant TCR, the climbing machine from the Taiwanese firm, reaches its 10th generation while maintaining its identity features unchanged, such as the compact geometry or the integrated seatpost of its top-of-the-line models, as well as extremely stylized lines. A bike that, however, does not give up the latest carbon technology to further improve the efficiency of one of the reference models.

Giant TCR, Giant's climbing bike continues in top form

One of the iconic bikes in the peloton, the Giant TCR, is renewed and reaches its 10th generation. Always with the same climbing bike philosophy with which it was born back in 1997 to equip the legendary ONCE team in the following season.

A revolutionary bike in its day by introducing what they called compact geometry in a policy that reduced the available sizes that were adjusted to each cyclist through the components. To achieve this, they abandoned the classic look of road bikes to start using frames with a lot of sloping. The first generations were made of aluminum until in 2003 they made the leap to carbon and, two years later, the integrated seatpost was incorporated, which is still today one of the identity features of the Giant TCR.

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Without losing this essence of pure climber, Giant evolves this TCR seeking, as usual, greater lightness, increased stiffness compared to the previous model and, despite being an extremely stylized bike, scraping a bit of aerodynamic resistance.

An aerodynamic improvement that begins with the remodeling of its Overdrive steering tube, more streamlined to improve penetration and improving the integration of the fork with the down tube. Both the fork legs and the steering tube have a truncated D-shaped profile that allows for better aerodynamics without increasing weight or compromising lateral stiffness. The front aerodynamics are completed with the ubiquitous internally routed cables, although, in this TCR, they run between the handlebar and the steering externally under the stem, but perfectly integrated and hidden from the wind by the structure of the new Contact SLR and SL Aerolight stem.

Also, the Contact SLR and SL handlebars take into account aerodynamics and, without being a specific model, they receive a slight flattening on the top apart from having dimensions with a slight flare to maintain a narrow position at the top while, gripped in the curve, we still maintain full stability.

Traveling towards the rear of the frame, we find the most characteristic element of this bike, the integrated ISP seatpost, a very common solution more than a decade ago and that Giant continues to maintain not only as an identity feature but also as an option to achieve a more robust construction of its TCR Advanced SL frames. Remember that their top-of-the-line frames are made with what Giant calls Advanced SL grade carbon where they start from the carbon thread braiding the different sheets that make it up. In the seatpost area, its sheets are braided together with those of the top tube and molded into a single block to achieve the most robust and lightweight construction.

In a second tier, we find the Advanced Grade frames, with a carbon and a first-rate elaboration that has very little to envy the top of the range, and in which the integrated seatpost is dispensed with in favor of their Variant model which maintains full integration in the frame.

Furthermore, in this latest generation of the TCR Advanced SL, Giant has optimized the resins used, incorporating carbon nanotubes, which allows for increased impact resistance. In addition, the lamination is optimized using longer continuous pieces and fewer layers, pieces that are cut using a new method called cold blade to avoid the heat affecting the carbon pieces when cut with a laser as it was being done.

The set of this Giant TCR is completed by the use of Cadex components from the brand, which are mounted on the top-of-the-line TCR Advanced SL models and raise the bar of this bike to turn it into an efficient competition machine that, without giving up the latest technological solutions, maintains the flavor of those climbing bikes of all time.