![]() The frameset includes a small cutting guide that clamps in place, and then you cut across the top of it. ![]() In order to achieve my saddle height, I had to cut the TCR’s seatmast. ![]() Though this is less than some forks that balloon out to as much as 1.5”, for the first time ever I actually will say, “Yep, I think that’s as much as I’ll ever need”. The carbon steerer tube is 1.125” at the top, but flares to a stout 1.25” at the crown. Giant employs the same philosophy at the front end too. If that wasn’t enough, the monobloc-style chainstay and laterally flared seat tube contribute to the stiffest bottom bracket I have ever experienced (no shit). The bottom bracket components and the frame’s shell end up being lighter since a lot less metal is used, but the frame itself can also be laterally stiffer since the width of the down tube can now be 86mm wide rather than 68mm. The bearings sit in lightweight plastic cups that are pressed into the shell from either side. BB86 is essentially the same size bearing and bearing position as used by typical external bearing road cranks, but BB86 makes the shell (frame) wide enough house those bearings internally. The frame accepts a BB86 press-fit bottom bracket. It is a full carbon monocoque with an integrated seatpost (ISP). This is a 2011 TCR Advanced SL, size XS (sizes XS/S/M/L/XL available). Certainly, if I were to get another carbon frame, I would get a Taiwanese bike, and it doesn’t get anymore Taiwanese than Giant. But after all my travels in Taiwan over the past four years, visiting their high-end factory in Taichung, meeting Giant founder Liu, and hanging out with sponsored pro team Rabobank, I kinda had a jones to try out the TCR. They all had some ideas that I’d stolen from those TCR designs, even though I’d never owned one. Meanwhile, I’ve had a series of custom bikes for racing, recreation, and courier work that were built in steel, aluminum, and titanium. After the past 15 years, almost every major manufacturer has incorporated sloping top tubes into their road racing designs. Ultimately, that 3 size concept didn’t endure, but the TCR did demonstrate that the level top tube was just an arbitrary design element and that a long carbon seatpost could be used to tune the ride of an otherwise tight and rigid rear geometry. At the time, the concept was that the radically sloped top tube, long seatposts, and adjustable stem would allow just 3 frame sizes to fit everybody. I remember those yellow TCRs really stood out amongst all those European bikes, the first really radical departure from traditional look of road bikes in decades. In the 1995, Giant debuted their Compact Road Design, and three years later the Taiwanese company became the bike supplier to the ONCE professional cycling team.
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