GIANT TCR ADVANCED SL DISC

£7000 (approx) › Custom options reduce the friction on this disc-braked race frame

The TCR Advanced SL Disc is the frameset I’ve been using to test race-orientated parts on for the last 18 months. In it’s current state, it’s carrying most of my favourite items from that period, including Vision’s Metron 4D bar and Zipp’s 202 NSW Disc wheels. The groupset is SRAM’s excellent Red in its electronically wireless and hydraulically disc-braked eTap HRD guise, and is topped o! with a Quarq DZero power meter [1]. I sit on Pro’s brilliant Stealth saddle, which I think is one of the best of the current crop of short, broad-nosed perches.

I was lucky enough to visit CeramicSpeed in Denmark recently. Before I went I was somewhat skeptical of the bene"ts of ceramic bearings, but after seeing their factory and the reams of research they’ve done, I came away convinced. I returned home with CeramicSpeed bearings for the Zipp wheels and a CeramicSpeed bottom bracket and rear mech cage with oversized jockey wheels [2], all of which have been added to the Giant.

I wasn’t expecting much from them to be honest, but as well as feeling smoother while freewheeling, the bike is consistently faster on my usual timed test routes. This could all be a placebo e!ect – I think the bike is faster so I’m riding it faster – but nevertheless the result is the same: more speed.

I’ve had the TCR for over a year-and-a-half now and it’s "nally time for it to be returned. But I’ve realised I can’t be without it – it’s one of my all-time favourite frames. So calls to Giant have been made and bank transfers completed and the TCR has switched from being a long-term test bike to one that I’ve bought and now own.