Giant 2008 TCR C2 Road Bike. First Ride.

After riding my 2002 Giant aluminum TCR for 6 years, it finally bit the dust. Back in 2002, I destroyed my brand new steel Bianchi after a couple months by crashing in a race. I had a 2001 and a 2002 Giant TCR aluminum frame. There wasn't any particular reason for me to get one. They were cheap ($600 frame/fork/headset), light, and rode surpassingly nice considering the price. I destroyed my 2001 several months ago by driving into a parking garage while it was still on the roof. I destroyed the bike and the roof rack.  I know, please tell me what an idiot I am. :( My 2002 Giant finally bit the dust when a car backed into in the parking garage of my condo.

The Giant TCR was surprisingly nice ride for a race bike, especially one made out of aluminum. The ride wasn't harsh like the old Cannondales. In fact, it was quite comparable to a stiff steel frame. The handling was much quicker than my 1999 Jamis Eclipse, but still quite stable. What stood out about it was the acceleration. It was noticeably better than anything I had ridden before.

I decided to go with another Giant since I had been riding this for so long and didn't want to mess with my setup. I was quite happy with my Giant TCR and getting a new bike set up has always been a hassle, so I decided to just get the same frame to make transitioning to the new bike as easy as possible.

My old bike was a medium, which was a bit too small. But back then, there was only small, medium, and large. Now they have a medium large, which seems perfect for my 6 ft. frame.

This bike is a 2008 TCR C2. I got it at University Cycles for $2000. It was 10% of the list price as they are getting closing out their 2008 line. The 2009 version is much more expensive as the bike industry have raised prices across the board for this year. It features Giant's monocoque one piece full carbon frame, a full Ultegra drivetrain, and Mavic Aksium wheelset. The bike is not particularly light. After adding my Speedplay Zero stainless pedals, water bottle cages, and Cateye wireless computer, and my saddle (a Bel Air SDG that I've been using for the last 10 years) the total weight comes to around 19.5 lbs

I finished my first 20 mile ride today and my first impression is, WOW! It rides and handles very much like my old aluminum TCR, but much smoother and well behaved way. That's the first thing I notice about it. There's much less road feel since it absorbs the bumps in the road so well. I thought the TCR aluminum frame was fairly plush, but this frame is so much smoother. In fact, it's so smooth that it feels like I'm going slower, but one look at the cyclometer shows that I'm going a bit faster if anything. I easily got it up over 30 mph many times, and I'm not in particularly great shape.

Handling is very quick, but a tad more relaxed than my old bike. After all, this is a size larger than my old bike, which results in a longer wheelbase, longer top tube, and slightly more relaxed seat angle. I did a handful of sprints and I can say out of the saddle acceleration is noticeably quicker than my old TCR bike. The ride and handling of any road bike is determined mainly by the wheels and the frame. The improvements on the wheelset and frame are quite noticeable after 6 years. The handles quickly without being twitchy. I got it up to 35 mph riding back into town on 2244 and it was very stable.

The drivetrain is standard Shimano Ultegra. I'm glad to finally be back riding Shimano. This is the first time that I have ridden Shimano 10 speed drivetrain. I have been riding Campy for the past 8 years and the quirks to get annoying. The good thing about Campy is that things can usually be fixed or rebuilt if they break. The bad is that it usually is pretty expensive for parts. Meanwhile, Shimano stuff generally needs to be replaced when it breaks. The shifting on the Shimano is very smooth and the action is very light. The shifting action on Campy does require more force on the levers and the action is much louder. Both work well if adjusted well, but my feeling is that it's much easier to use the Shimano drivetrain. It's also easier to find parts and accessories to work with Shimano. Overall, it's an improvement over my 2003 Campy Chorus drivetrain. The downside is that none of my rear wheels will work with this bike!

Those are my first impressions. I'll write more about this bike as I spend more time with it, but if you have any questions, just email me.