eduskator

So apparently, the new redesigned TCR is about to be announced and deliveries are expected before the summer. Giant usually wait until the end of the summer to start delivering their next year's bike so I am not sure what's going on, but that's nice for consumers.

My girlfriend went to our local Giant store this morning to try a 2024 and the owner showed her the 2025 lineup on his store computer. The current TCR is 4 years old and due for a redesign. Aside from a frame redesign, she told me that the cables were - finally - integrated like on the Propel and Defy, which is a great news for fans of integrated cables. There's also new SLR wheels.

Looking forward for the official announcement and the full specs . I've always loved the TCRs.

tempocyclist

Dave Arthur just dropped his YouTube video on the new TCR. I haven't watched it as I'm not all that interested, but here it is...


There's probably a dozen other reviewers and cycling media peeps about to upload their no-longer-under-embargo video reviews and bike checks in the next couple of hours too.

Yan 

Just watched a couple of videos about the new model. Between this and the Propel, I think most people would be better off with the Propel. The weight difference is not very much at all.

Shadco 

Can you get them at Dick’s Sporting Goods?

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eduskator

Well, it's officially out!

TCR Advanced Pro (2025) | Giant Bicycles US (giant-bicycles.com)
TCR Advanced Pro (2025) | Giant Bicycles Canada (giant-bicycles.com)

New 2024 Giant TCR is the 'lightest, stiffest and fastest' yet (bikeradar.com)
If it isn't broke... Giant's new TCR gets marginal improvement as new wheels, tyres and handlebars launched too | Cyclingnews

eduskator

6.4kg for the TCR SL 0 vs 6.91kg for the Propel SL 0 is a big difference though. 500g is a pound.

I owned both models (in Advanced Pro 0 trims) and I preferred the TCR. It felt much lighter, although the Propel felt stiffer.

TCR still remains the climber's choice

Yan 

Anything else you preferred about it other than the weight? I'm in the market for a new bike later this year, considering a Giant but unsure which one.

eduskator

I had bought the Propel for aero gains. I had both (Propel Pro 0 2023 & TCR Pro 0 2021) and rode both for 2 months. The TCR just felt more agile, lighter and I was happier with and on it. I am not sure if my Propel was really ''faster'' than my TCR, but I clearly prefer feeling faster than being faster.

Ended up selling the Propel a few months later and bought a Tarmac SL8. If I were to buy another Giant bike, it would definitively be the TCR. I must say that I ride hills 100% of the time, so if you're riding mainly flats, a Propel may be better suited. Food for thought.

Jrasero

Redesign is a very loose term for this bike. All of the gains are mostly on the Advanced SL bikes with the integrated seat mast, plus they are running the CADEX Max 40 wheels with the unibody carbon spoke design similar to what Lightweight does. Yes this is the "best" TCR yet but that's like saying every new iPhone is the best iPhone yet, granted there are such marginal gains. Giant claims 4 watts savings with the new TCR, but 2 watts can be easily from going integrated with the wire and the extra 2 watts maybe from the very expensive and niche wheels. The TCR is still a great value but why is CADEX doubling down on hookless wheels? It's one thing on a TCR Advanced Pro, since those are more basic wheels which you can just swap out, but if you are buying a $12.5K TCR Advanced SL with wheels that a bare min would sell at $2500+ from someone like Winspace with their Mega line, if not closer to $5K like Syncros Silverton SL wheelset, why would you want to be swapping wheels out at that point if you are anti hookless? I guess the good news is framesets are still available but no rim brake versions are offered which will enrage a lot of people I bet. My big issue with the TCR is not that it's not a great bike or better, but the fact that the Propel that offers more aero gains is very similar in price plus only weighs slightly more and really is more akin to a do it all Specialized Tarmac SL 8 than a Cervelo S5 pure aero machine. My other issue again is with the wheels which look awesome and probably perform greta, however as someone who has ridden unibody carbon spoke wheels I can say they are insanely stiff to the point where most people have zero business riding them since they have little to no compliance and really all the compliance comes from the tires and pressure. Again, no one is forcing you get the Advanced SL but if all the "gains" are coming from that specific model what improvement is the more "basic" Advanced Pro models really offering besides full integration?

Besides Giant still not offering 165mm cranks on their smallest XS size and nothing smaller than a 400mm handlebar width, my biggest issue is that I still think for a lightweight climbing bike I would choice a Canyon Ultimate SLX or a Specialized Aethos if I wanted a truly weatherlight bike. In the end I think the issue is that the new Propel is simply too much of what the new TCR brings to the table and with the UCI rules limiting the TCR's weight, I question why anybody really should just get the Propel

eduskator

Yeah, it's kind of crazy that the SL8 S-Works frameset - which is chunkier and better looking - weighs less (5g) than a TCR Advanced SL. I would have hoped to see better numbers for Giant's top tier frameset.

I'm really happy with my SL8 and I wouldn't go back to Giant, but they're still great bikes and the best bang for the buck IMO.

Jrasero

I said this before, but believe the Tarmac SL 8 is the best race bike for most people. We can argue whether you align with Specialized's ethos, if the Tarmac is overpriced, or resale value compared to other brands, but from a feel and performance aspect the current gen Tarmac is the king. Where I live Tarmacs are kind of a dime a dozen thus you do have a camp of people who simply will never one just to be counter culture.

I know you didn't really fancy the new Propel, which is fine but I think with the Propel Advanced Pro O now being $7200 in the states and the Tarmac SL 8 Pro still being $8800 I think $1600 is more than enough to sway people either way now. Granted I probably still would do a Tarmac personally because I refuse to go hookless or spend that much money on hookless, Giant for whatever reason still buts 170mm cranks on their smallest XS frame, and the narrowest bar you can get is still 400mm. I personally would just build up a SL 8 frameset

As per the TCR it's still a great bike but really all of the meaningful gains come from non frame parts and on the integrated seatpost model model which is a bit polarizing. IMO I would have taken a page out of the Aethos and gone under the UCI weight limit. I think we are seeing much fewer teams riding dedicating aero vs climbing bikes with more just using all around aero bikes. If the TCR Pro model was 15lbs or less stock than yeah I think the bike would be given more praise. Either way I am sure this bike will sell a ton of units and that's why they didn't get rid of it in favor of just keeping the Propel

eduskator

I fully agree with you. Great text and great opinion.

And yeah, they're almost already all sold out here in Canada with no other deliveries expected. It's hard to get a specific model in a specific size. Typical Giant thing ever since the pandemic started. The US of A will have more stock for sure as they always do.

Another thing we did not discuss is the - unexisting - choice of color, which has been a big deception for me since a few years. It's also one of the reasons why I changed brand after owning several different Giant bikes.