Mr_Crankypants

Hi all, newbie bikeforum-er here.

I'm looking to buy a new bike in the next few weeks or months (kind of depends on the answer to the following question).

I'm leaning towards the Giant TCR. But I'm on the fence as to whether to go for the TCR Advanced, which I could afford much sooner, or hold out for the Advanced Pro, which is about $1K more. I'm not all that keen on spending the extra cash on the nicer wheels and other components, but I'm wondering about that Overdrive/hybrid fork vs. Overdrive 2/full-carbon fork. That seems to be the only difference that I couldn't upgrade later.

Sure, I can test-ride, but that's a pretty limited experience with a bike and I can't put it through every kind of riding I'm going to do in a 10-minute ride around the block. Does anyone have any input into this? I'm on the lighter side, so I don't know if the extra stiffness will be all that necessary for me. I can't seem to find any numbers on the weight difference between the forks. Would the weight difference be that noticeable? Are there any other advantages to the Overdrive 2 vs the Overdrive? Or to full-carbon forks vs hybrids? I'd be grateful for any advice on this!

OBoile

IMO, the biggest difference between the bikes is the wheels. If you're willing to upgrade wheels later, you're probably fine with the advanced.

Maelochs

I see you cannot post links yet do I wll post these 9 random 2018 models---you can find the exact ones you are looking for and then use the https******://****https://www.****giant-bicycles.*****c...nced-****pro-1 workaround to post links until you have enough posts.)

TCR-Advanced pro 1--- https://www.giant-bicycles.com/us/tcr-advanced-pro-1

TCR Advnaced 2-- https://www.giant-bicycles.com/us/tcr-advanced--2

Plus this article: https://www.cyclingweekly.com/group-...ant-tcr-353142

Excerpt:
Giant TCR Advanced 2 road bike £1449
Move up from the TCR Advanced 3 to the TCR Advanced 2 and for your extra £150 you get a full 11-speed Shimano 105 groupset with a compact chainset and a wider range 11-28 cassette. Giant also upgrades the wheels to its PR 2 model.

Giant TCR Advanced 1 road bike £1799
The TCR Advanced 1 upgrades the groupset to Shimano Ultegra, while the gear ratios, wheels and other components remain as for the TCR Advanced 2.”

Giant TCR Advanced Pro road bike
Move from the TCR Advanced to the TCR Advanced Pro range and you get Giant’s all-carbon fork with an OverDrive 2 steerer, which has wider 1¼ inch top and 1½ inch lower head tube bearings. This should provide a bit more steering accuracy than the standard OverDrive set-up found on the TCR Advanced range, with Giant quoting a 30% increase in torsional stiffness.

You also get a wheel upgrade to Giant’s carbon rimmed SLR1 wheel system and Giant Gavia AC 1 25mm tyres.

The left chainstay carries a built in Giant RideSense speed and cadence monitor, letting you pair up to a Bluetooth or ANT+ head unit for extra ride stats without needing to buy a separate device to zip tie to your shiny new frame.

As well as complete bikes, the TCR Advanced Pro has a frameset-only option for £1349.

Giant TCR Advanced Pro 1 road bike £2799
As you’d expect, your extra cash buys you an upgrade to a full Shimano Ultegra groupset, with the other components remaining as for the Advanced Pro 2.

Giant TCR Advanced Pro 2 road bike £2399
The entry to the TCR Advanced Pro range, you get a Shimano 105 groupset with a semi-compact 52/36 chainset coupled to an 11-28 cassette.

As I see it the Advanced 0 offers Ultegra DI2 if you like that …. Advanced 1 offers Ultegra mechanical. Advanced 2 had 105. All these come with PR2 wheels.

Advanced 3 has 10-speed Tiagra and SR2 wheels. (You can google that stuff yourself.)

Pro gets you the better fork/headset, and a slightly better frame, carbon-fiber wheels, and some built-in electrionics.

Pro 2 has 105, Pro 1 has Ultegra, Pro 0 has Dura-ace and better tires.

Depends on your budget.

I would prefer Ultegra if I were going to be spending all that money anyway, but 105 is an excellent group (I have one Ultegra bike and two 105 bikes.)

I would always want the best frame possible because I can upgrade everything else fairly cheaply (for bike bits,) but the frame is generally really expensive.

I think Dura-Ace is overpriced unless you race, and race Seriously. In which case, get SRAM Red.

The Big thing here is wheels. Are Any of the wheels really spectacular?

I have been told wheels are one of the most important upgrades one can make. Lighter wheels respond better, and can really change the feel of a bike (my own unscientific testing supports this.)

Almost always manufacturers compromise on wheels and tires because they know the high-budget buyers will likely replace both pretty quickly.

But …. Giant often offers good stuff. You would have to investigate the wheels which come with the bike, and what options you might have in what price range.

I don’t see where the Pro line is worth the money unless the wheels are Massively better—for MY intended uses. I would probably look at the Advanced 1 or the 1 Disc as having the good enough stuff for a decent price.

I have no idea if you plan to race this bike, use it to commute, ride it ten miles a week oat tem mph on an MUP, take century rides every weekend …..

If you are going to be racing, or doing scorching mountain descents, or in any way pushing your bike so that 30 percent more torsional rigidity could really make a difference … there’s your answer. If not … there is a possible answer.

There is also something to be said for buying all the hardware you can afford. If this is a once-a-decade sort of purchase for you, amortize the difference out over that decade and the extra price for the extra quality isn’t so bad. Plus, you can upgrade what you need or want to later.

Also … if you are planning to put all the electronics—power meter, cadence sensor, whatever---on the bike, then see what comes built –in. That is stuff you don’t have to buy later. If you just use a simple bike computer and don’t care about strokes per inch or whatever … then none of that is really added value, just added cost.

The right answer depends entirely on what you expect the bike to do for you.

Some people need to spend as much as possible so they don’t feel they missed anything. Some people need to spend as little as possible so they don’t feel they got cheated. Some people have a specific set of uses in mind and shop to meet the needs implied by those uses. Some people buy the bike with the nicest paint and graphics.

I suggest you buy both bikes, delver them to me, and in a year I will tell you the result of my long-term, real-world testing. Make sure you get them in my size---I usually ride a 56.

Mr_Crankypants

LOL!

I am just starting to race, but at my age, I'm certainly not going to be doing it at the highest level. So the bike will be used for races, and on nice days when I feel like going for some Strava segments, or just when I want to go fast (I have a disc brake bike for lousy weather and long casual rides).

Ideally, I guess I'd get the Advanced Pro frame with lower-level components that I could upgrade with my own choices, rather than being locked into Giant's picks. Or I'd get a frame and do my own build. But they don't list an Advanced Pro rim-brake frame on their website, so the only option would be to go with one of their fully-built models.

It really comes down to the steerer and fork for me - and as OBoile suggests, I wonder if I'd be able to tell the difference in a blind test, with the two bikes spec'd identically except for that.

OBoile

My guess is you wouldn't notice a difference... but I don't really know what I'm talking about here, so take my advice with a big grain of salt.

Also, if you live in a hilly area, or are going to be riding hills, the weight may matter to you but I doubt it's all that much.

HTupolev

The torsional stiffness of the steering axis is pretty much irrelevant to how a road bicycle steers. How often do you apply any significant amount of twisting force to your bars, or feel the bars twisting hard against your grip?

Fork lateral stiffness is mostly insignificant, too. Thanks to centrifugal effects, what the bicycle's fork experiences when you're leaned over in a corner isn't that much different from what it experiences when you're upright. (It's the same reason that you don't have to fight lateral forces on your own body while sitting on a leaned bicycle as it corners).

Rocking the bike while pedaling out of the saddle gets a bit more complicated, but the issues that can arise here are mostly in the wheels.

It'll potentially cost you half a percent or so in speed when climbing speed hills.

Mr_Crankypants

So what I'm gathering here is that the difference in the upgraded fork/steerer is in the realm of very marginal gains. Not the kind of thing I'd ever notice.

Thanks for the input - I think I'm going for the Advanced!

Maelochs

That's what I'd do ... Advanced 1 with Ultegra.

I hope the fact that we'd make the same choice plunges you into doubt and confusion.

Bomb Komodo

Mr_Crankypants

Good to hear you're happy with the TCR! I'm sure I'd want to upgrade those wheels at some point. And I think I'd rather pay less for the bike up front and have the flexibility to decide on a wheel upgrade later (i.e., not be locked into Giant brand wheels, though that would certainly be an option I'd consider among others).

Dean V

You could also upgrade the fork, headset, and stem at a later date if you really felt the need.

Bomb Komodo

Maelochs

Not sure ... you might have to get the head tube drilled and milled. it si likely the whole frame is slightly different ... but whether it is actually better is extremely debatable.

Advanced frame is surely good enough for anyone who is not riding a sponsored bike ... I cannot imagine it will hold him back any. Slap some light wheel son it for race day, and just ride it.

Mr_Crankypants

No chance at all that it will be holding me back, not with the cat 5 racing I'll be doing on it.

It would be really interesting to have reviewers test these different frames, with all the other specs kept the same. And of course, to make it as scientific as possible, the paint job and other cosmetic features couldn't give away which frame was which. Generally, it seems that reviewers are given a single specimen (often the top of the line) for their reviews. So there's very little beyond Giant's marketing copy to help comparison shop within the range.

Dean V

The frames are the same . Headset bearings for the bigger steerer just have a larger internal diameter but the same on the outside.

Maelochs

That is hilarious. The "Pro" frame is simple a headset bearing, but it adds "30 percent more stiffness," they claim---and cost hundreds of dollars more? (Well, that, and the fork is full carbon.)

That's some slick marketing, if so.

Bomb Komodo