Is The Giant TCR The Most IMPORTANT Road Bike Ever?

The Giant TCR is pretty much the father of all modern road bikes and was a trail blazer in every sense of the word. Designed by legendary bike designer Mike Burrows it truly revolutionised road bike design.
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[@bokfitness]

Giant is the most bike you can buy for your dollar! My Giant TCR Advanced 0 weighs a little over 14lbs comes equipped with tubeless carbon wheels and a Full Dura Ace group all for $ 5100.00 No other company can come close to the value.

[@comedyman112]

Van Rysel has a Dura-Ace rim brake road bike for 4.172,70 $

[@bokfitness]

@@comedyman112 Wow. Didn’t know that, Thanks. I probably paid an extra grand to lose 2lbs of weight.

[@njm3211]

Bought a TCR Zero frameset in 2001. Built it up with Durace and continue with upgrades over the years as bikes went from 9, 10 and 11 speed, tubeless, and affordable carbon components, power meters and titanium bling. Fantastic bike. Still ride it several times a week. In a size medium with pedals it weighs 7.3 kg. Not shabby at all.

[@josiahlomas2111]

Hi....is your tcr a aluminum frame???

[@njm3211]

Yes ​@@josiahlomas2111

[@cesarivanramos9591]

Love my Giant Defy 1 (2015)... not the lightest bike but super confy .. love riding her!

[@gregripp]

Yup, Love mine too! Best bike yet.

[@Ystadcop]

I bought one in 2003. Ok, I've moved on to carbon stuff but the TCR is the most comfortable ride ever. I keep it in immaculate condition, it's a gem.

[@Greendaypunkcovers]

Had a Giant TCR Compact since 2013. Great bike. My first proper road bike. Still a great bike 🎉

[@euruidelgado]

Can´t wait for my TCR! I have ordered one of these beasts!

[@deldridg]

Just back from a spin on my beautiful 1998 TCR1 after not touching it in years. It's still lovely to ride, requires a bit of effort to stop but rewards with comfort and pretty good handling, given its age. The old Ultegra 600 groupset still does its job perfectly and I think I'll hang on to it for a while yet. Cheers for the great vid - Dave (Aust)

[@MyMegaJOKER2]

Any clue what it weighs?

[@deldridg]

@@MyMegaJOKER2 I'll give it a weigh-in when I get home and let you know. It's quite light though today's tech is possibly much lighter. I always quietly laugh at the guys who have parted with many $1000's to lose the odd gram as they tuck into cheesecake and other naughties at the local cafe... :-) Cheers - Dave

[@MyMegaJOKER2]

@@deldridg haha totally agree! Am riding a super vintage giant at the moment. So am looking for a new old beast. But the bike I currently have is relatively heavy haha and I'm not that heavy myself. Would love it if the TCR is a little lighter and a great piece of history

[@deldridg]

@@MyMegaJOKER2 Hi mate - just weighed in at 8.5kg. Just looking at it again makes me want to fire up the old girl and take her for a spin. Lovely winter's day here in Sydney - might just do that! Cheers - Dave

[@deldridg]

@@MyMegaJOKER2 What vintage is your current Giant? There is something magical about these early bikes IMHO. A mate of mine is a fine rider and rides a Peugeot that once belonged to a Tour winning team in the 80s (as I recall). Like you I'm not a heavy guy at 75kg so prefer a lighter bike too. Cheers - Dave

[@Colinke]

As an engineer in Giant, Taiwan, I actually feel sad about we replace the geometrically-aesthetic old frames with new compact ones......u just cant doubt the beauty of a vertical upper tube and a gold triangle that bikes used to be built with...

[@ajussiwannabe]

Isn't the preference for a particular geometry more of personal preference rather than actual functionality? I actually like the compact frame geometry over the older one. In the end, it should be what geometry best fits the body of the rider.

[@Colinke]

ajussiwannabe Well, it might be all about personal preference, but one thing for sure is that cycling is never a sport which fits what we call "Ergonomics." Neither the older frames nor the compact ones. Participating in the bicycle industry for years, I would say what the modern compact frames help the cyclists most are the size limit for frame, lighter frame material and aerodynamic design for cycling(only on TT bike). Still, above three elements do not change the way we ride (except from TT). It just makes consumers easier to find a suitable bicycle categorized into size S, M, L, XL mostly instead of size chart like size 48,50,52...58 in the past; application of lighter materials have also been a a win-win situation for we, manufacturer and cyclists which makes us reduce manufacturing time and cost and cyclists get what they want, "ligher bikes." All i wanna say is that the riding position has been remaining unchanged for more than hundred years, so when it comes to frame geometry, IMO its like what you say a personal preference, the older frames or new ones cant substantially fit riders for good. There is no best fit for the rider as long as the way we ride unchanged.

[@emge1234]

But with all the airo bikes showing up the ground parallel upper tube returns!

[@ianjolley7457]

The letters TCR now stands for Total Compact Racing, but when these bikes were first released it stood for Tubular Compact Racing as it was made from conventional al alloy tubing. At the same time Giant released the radical carbon Giant MCR bike and it stood for Monocoque Compact Racing. It was a true one piece carbon laid up frame. It was only 3 years later that Giant produced a carbon TCR. I own both the MCR and a ONCE team black anodised TCR and I love them both. RIP Mike Burrows.

[@FelipeLuizDickmann]

I'm a proud owner of a 2003 tcr aero. 15 years old, rides awesome though

[@kenc8359]

Me too. Mine is triple crank Dura Ace. Still a gem to ride.

[@kenc8359]

My first was a 1999 ONCE model, but was written off after a crash in 2002. It was irreplaceable and is still my favourite. It was like riding on air, literally!

[@ashkanahmadi]

I have a Giant Defy 3 model 2014. It's a bit heavy but really awesome and flexible

[@bitminerbob6731]

Love my 2018 TCR SL0.

[@icantgivecredit871]

I'm surprised nobody had done this earlier. I mean, all those '70s and '80s road bikes with gigantic frames looked rather hideous; some of them were even so large that the top tube had a slight degree of tilt in the opposite direction. Those bikes only looked attractive with a frame size at or around 52cm.

[@georgejgilles.3999]

This video was so highly informative that it was instrumental in making my purchase of a TCR.

[@frankespinoza9]

I have a giant team tcr 1999 with shimano ultegra components

[@sadcholaclown9163]

If anyone is located in Austin Texas, I am selling one. It's yellow, has been ridden for less than 50 miles and was purchased brand new. Pick up in south Austin. Yellow 2000 Giant TCR2 w/Shimano 105 group, size small. Tires have been replaced. Great condition. Has been test ridden since taken out of storage. I have her listed on Offer Up, too.

[@Bolix345]

two thirds of my bikes are giant I love them

[@ajussiwannabe]

Thanks, this was very informative!

[@fedepatagonia]

I STILL KEEP MY GIANT CADEX CFM2 I LOVE GIANT

[@guillermo7298]

The most important giant was the giant cadex 980c, one of the first carbon frames to be sold on mass

[@arnebiesma1285]

Crossed the Alps on it twice last year. Still close to a NOS exhibit!

[@TCphotographer]

I got TCR Once second hand three years ago full carbon even water bidon holder is carbon the point is it is a very smooth going bike and I could do 100K effortlessly at least not get tired compared to my Jan Janssen alaminium chasis beginner bicycle which was stolen do not remember the model name but black snd red perfect match of colours like my old BMW F700 GS 2015 brand new perfect😄

[@АлександрАндреев-ь7ф]

Excellent

[@georgejgilles.3999]

Chappo mate. I'm about to purchase one in a couple of weeks.

[@PoetWithPace]

Mine is on order :-)

[@chrisrichardson3738]

I wouldn't ride anything else. Love my Giant TCR.

[@darnutzer]

I have a Giant OCR, what means OCR? whats the difference?

[@neilbaquiran643]

i have 2004 giant tcr aero 1 . it came with ultegra 3x9 it has small paint chips on the fork but not something i cant fix. been hanging on my sidewall on my office.

[@berndmuffe5681]

Love!!!

[@meestekstra5318]

The best part is that its mine🤣🤣🤣

[@antnfedak]

Can someone tell which headset a yellow once team TCR uses? Thank you!

[@Argon-18]

Giant produce 7 million bikes a year, yet i cant afford one...😭

[@bokfitness]

Yes, you can.

[@majalca03]

Get a job, save, cut down on food.

[@wgvwgv579]

youll never know who i am I have a defy 1 105, good bike and not expensive

[@smallnuts2]

youll never know who i am you can finance on there site

[@skinnbones11811]

I've got a the once frame in the garage aluminium model anyone want to buy a piece of history

[@Super6predictions]

I’ve owed the 1997 MCR2 from new and just got my hands on the 1997 TCR2 both great bikes. I’m after a mint condition MCR1 and a TCR1 from 1997. Anyone got one.. pls contact me

[@MyMegaJOKER2]

Do you know what they weigh?

[@florianschellenberger728]

Fuck,now i am realized what i have got in 1996 from giant....Long Long Times ago....i think,it was one of the First one tcr 1....with ultegra compenents and the wheels.......Problem was the fork,it was changed in 1997. The original was lila and i become a black one,because it was not Stiff enough...sorry,for my Bad Englisch

[@petemorbius3936]

cannondale super 6 evo still not using that design

[@user-uh6lm5wv6n]

Clearly youve never heard of a Colnago C40.

[@alradhi6627]

Wonder why time trial not having slope top tube. UCI banned TCR in the past. Maybe in the future 2010 Specialized Shiv nose cone or Felt Bayonet headtube external steerer will have the same honour.

[@SpeedbeetleV2]

TT Bikes are all about aerodynamics, and a top tube that's parallel to the road cuts through the air better. That's also why most aero road bikes have horizontal top tubes as well

[@alradhi6627]

SpeedbeetleV2 ah yes i forgot. I thought sloping top tube on common road bike are all about weight saving. And pro athlete this day will sacrifice weight for more aero.

[@Secretlyanothername]

He ruined road bikes. The compact rear-biased geometry means it's difficult for a rider to get a good position with a straight back and enough leg extension.

[@galatians22122]

I Have a TCR C3: Anyone interested in Purchasing it?

[@halfrousseau69]

Lol - What is the criteria for "importance" here? To my eyes the TCR has always looked ungainly and lacking any kind of aesthetic value. Is that important? Or is the quality of the carbon being used...? If so, tell us how this beats the carbon in say the Pinarello F10 or the Bianchi Infinito? Is it reliability? I doubt it - most of those in my group who used Giants ditched them long ago due to quality issues especially around the bottom bracket. Looking forward to someone unravelling the mystery.

[@CyclingPulse]

It's about the geometry

[@tommykarate6226]

your a fool who missed the point!

[@BMH1965]

Most important bike ever! Sure, if 'ever' means any time in the previous 20 years. You, like so many road cyclists, have very short memories.

[@chaosengine3772]

Must be Millennials...

[@caperider1160]

... most largest?

[@dylannewton76]

Could never find a comfortable position on my TCR.

[@hotdog9025]

The-Vanilla-Cyclist get a ‘bike fit’ at a good cycle shop.

[@dylannewton76]

James The Giant Killer Nah mate. Tried it all. The frames are just not made to fit everyone. I was one. And the ride was trash like a piece of spaghetti. Compared to my hand made steel frame at the time it was garbage. Geometry was woeful.

[@converginguniverses4057]

Solomon Grundy is supposed to feed on discomfort as it fuels the rampage on lemmings of the "civilized" world.

[@tommykarate6226]

any bike can fit anyone with tweaks, are you a freak of nature?

[@spongebobtentacles5393]

Nope, my bike is most important