Giant TCR Advanced SL0
Even by Giant’s high standards, the TCR Advanced SL 0, as used by the Sunweb pro team, is a light bike. Procycling’s Robin Wilmott "inds out that it also rides like a dream
Rarely these days do we receive a test bike so light that ‘wow’ is the only polite reaction when performing the mandatory heft test. But in our ML size, the 6.14kg Giant TCR Advanced SL 0 must have pro team mechanics scratching heads trying to work out what they need to add to bring it up to the UCI’s 6.8kg minimum weight limit.
Somehow they rose to the challenge. This bike already has racing pedigree. It was first seen beneath Giant-Alpecin’s Tom Dumoulin at the 2015 Vuelta, where he emerged as a Grand Tour contender and came sixth. Confirming both his and the bike’s credentials, Dumoulin also led last year’s Giro for six days after winning the opening stage. His GiantAlpecin team have become Team Sunweb for 2017, but their Giant bikes are largely unchanged.
Aside from the frameset, the bikes ridden by Sunweb in 2017 have little else in common with the complete bike that you can buy, though a framesetonly option is available for anyone looking to build their own. Sponsor requirements mean Sunweb’s bikes are almost all Shimano-equipped, with the new Dura-Ace 9100 Di2 groupset, Dura-Ace carbon tubular wheels, Dura-Ace pedals and Giant’s own cockpit, instead of last season’s PRO bar and stem.
It’s not as if Giant have gone all German über-light with their retail model’s component spec to achieve a low weight. Constructing their lightest ever road frame is a good start. It’s an achievement for a frame that’s never been in need of a diet: incorporating the Variant integrated seatpost sealed the deal. Giant weave their carbon fibre in their own factory, and the Advanced SL frame includes Carbon Nanotube Technology (CNT) in its unique resin. This strong and virtually bubble-free microscopic polymer effectively braces each composite layer, resulting in 14 per cent greater impact resistance. The TCR frame is built using the minimum number of frame sections and junctions, increasing ultimate strength and reducing the overall mass.
The OverDrive 2 oversized carbon steerer is tapered, with 1.25in upper and 1.5in lower headset bearings, giving a claimed 30 per cent more stiffness than the original Overdrive system and torsion-free steering accuracy. The similarly oversized Giant carbon stem, plus Giant Contact SLR carbon bar and carbon-railed saddle, continue the theme. Own brand lightweight carbon tubeless wheels and tyres are a seamless addition, and then there’s SRAM’s Red eTap groupset. Why bother with the weight, hassle and internal routing of gear cables and casing when you can go wireless?
There’s a cost for such luxuries. Less is often more, at least financially. But thanks to the world’s biggest bike manufacturer’s economies of scale, the complete bike price for a raft of cutting edge design isn’t outrageous. They’re not giving it away, but this bike is essentially a pro-spec machine. The TCR seems to have been around forever, and predates some current juniors, but somehow it has kept evolving without losing its soul, and there hasn’t been a dud yet.
A light bike doesn’t always guarantee a good ride, as some super light creations can skip across rough
surfaces and feel skittish. Giant’s years of carbon expertise mean that is certainly not the case here. Some bikes take a little time to get accustomed to and feel truly comfortable, but we immediately felt at one with this TCR, as if enveloped by it.
Not only is the frameset light, but the tubeless carbon wheelset and tyres are impressively feathery. The alloy hubs have DT Swiss internals, and employ what Giant call Dynamic Balanced Lacing technology, meaning the rear wheel’s spoke tension is balanced when under load from a rider. It’s just 930g for the complete front wheel, and 1,280g for the rear, including tyres, cassette and skewers. Subtracting the weight of two 300g tyres is 1,610g, and that’s before allowing for the cassette, tubeless sealant, valves and skewers. In short, Giant claim a pair of UCI- and ITUapproved SLR 0 Climbing Wheelsystem wheels weigh 1,335g - they’re light, and they feel it. Acceleration is as easy as it is blistering, and no ride has ever been blighted by a surfeit of wheel performance.
The rims are 30mm deep and 23mm wide externally and 17mm internally, making the 25mm Giant tyres inflate to an actual 24mm in width. They’re supplefeeling, with a dual rubber compound – harder in the Line changes and licks around obstacles are virtually telepathic, needing little more than a weight shift on what is a very agile bike centre and grippier on the shoulders – and seem to roll as fast as anything out there, with good progressive grip when banking into corners. There looks to be clearance for a 28mm tyre too, which could expand the bike’s impressive versatility further still. It’s already set up tubeless as supplied and we have no doubt that it improves ride quality, grip and rotational weight, and the included sealant adds reliability.
With astounding terrain-covering ability, short rises and drags virtually cease to exist as the TCR refuses to recognise elevation changes, it maintains speed so effectively. It’s a bike that doesn’t just dance up longer climbs, it’s more of a quick step, and we found ourselves comfortably turning larger gears than usual on familiar hills. With shallow rims that spin up to speed quickly, great lateral rigidity and brutal power transfer, the SL 0 has a devastating kick. The transition from fast cruise to stem-eating attack is like flicking a switch.
We’re not blessed with billiard table-smooth tarmac in the UK, but even pointing the TCR at the most uneven, rutted stretches has little effect on the ride quality. Vibration and bump absorption is impressive, and the bike accurately follows your chosen line. Line changes and flicks around obstacles are virtually telepathic, needing little more than a weight shift on what is a very agile bike. Descending is incredibly confident too, the positive steering feedback, ideal weight balance and effective braking combining to keep things calm and composed.
Integrated seatposts are often thought to increase rigidity to the detriment of comfort, but this one is so slim that allied to the TCR’s customary Compact Road Design frame that increases its unsupported length, there’s fore and aft flex aplenty. Giant’s saddle is a good, supportive shape, but was our least favourite part of the bike. As always saddle choice is completely subjective and easily altered.
If the handling is near telepathic, the drivetrain soon becomes second nature to the point that you wonder why other systems need more shift buttons. SRAM’s Red eTap frees the bike of half its cables and rids the mind of the tiny extra thought process required with some other systems, and with just one shift paddle to operate on each side, it’ll work however ham-fisted you might be.
The 52/36 chain rings and 11-28 cassette are perfect for training and competition. Even if you think you might need lower gearing, the TCR’s seemingly inbuilt speed multiplies your efforts and saves energy. More than once we extended our test rides simply because we felt our intended routes weren’t long enough, the SL 0’s grin factor is quite addictive.
Buried within the non-drive side chain stay, Giant’s RideSense wireless transmitter measures cadence and rear wheel speed, and sends them to any ANT+ device. On the road, any GPS unit can already measure speed, but a cadence reading is useful for anyone not planning to fit a power meter.
Giant say this frameset has the highest stiffnessto-weight ratio of any road bike on the market. Whether digging deep on a steep climb or sprinting for a sign, we didn’t once feel the bike was lacking in performance. We were left with an urge to improve our own capability, in order to unlock more of the TCR’s potential. Light weight is impressive, and something non-bike people will be wowed by, but this TCR’s thrill comes from the ride, which maintains its often-held position as a high-performance, greatvalue benchmark.