# eBay Giant TCR Comp Pro - First Ride Impression.



## lifanus (Feb 25, 2011)

So I sold my hybrid bike (a Trek FX) that I've owned for many years, and considered getting a road bike (I've had a Cannondale CAAD10 for a few years but sold it to get in to MTB). 

And because of increased weekly bike rides in Miami that me and my wife do (we are casual riders not racers). I bought her a Giant Avail to replace her old Diamondback Insight hybrid that she was ridding. She absolutely loved the Avail, the geometry is fantastic, she was able to easily ride 30+ miles without complaining about any pain.

At first I considered getting a Giant Defy composite on craigslist since many people are selling the base version with Tiagra groupset for $1000-$1200 (it's a great deal BTW). But I wanted a little more aggressive ridding position, and I was pretty comfortable on the CAAD10 I had, so I said why not just build a TCR with new 11 speed 105 groupset?

Off we go. I found the 11 speed 105 groupset and a nice Shimano RS61 wheelset on Merlin Cycles in UK all for less than $500 shipped. Bought the frame on eBay and got a nice used carbon handlebar to get the bike complete. Yesterday I took the bike for the first ride.. Compared to my old CAAD10, the carbon frame absorbed a lot of small road noise. Tried to do a few sprinting standing up and the bike felt quite rigid, only under heaviest load does it felt some flex. Wife's Avail had more noticeable flex under load (probably because I'm almost 200lb with all the stuff in my backpack.)

The default ridding position is definitely aggressive. I had to use a shorter stem,raise it, and cut the seatpost to fit a little better...

The frame is definitely legit. It's build by Giant's factory in Kunshan, China. (my wife's Avail is made in Taiwan) The frame's paint job and coating is very thick and durable. It's a pressfit BB, and it can prob fit tires up to 25c. The only quirk is that the 105 brake pad almost touches the rear seatstay and requires some fine tuning to get it right.

Don't forget to get inline barrel adjusters if you are building the frame from scratch.

Size wise, the Giant bikes are definitely one size larger compared to other company's offerings. I usually ride a Medium/52cm but the TCR size M is almost too big for me despite it states a 50cm seat tube size. I'm suspecting the compact geometry makes the seat tube seem small but in reality the real sizing are quite taller when you put the wheels in place. So get small if you are 5'7-5'8, and Extra Small if you usually ride a 48cm or smaller.






The eBay link for TCR Comp Pro is here

Here are some pics:








































































Hope it helps you to make the decision whether to build a TCR or buy a complete bike.


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## Cannot (Jun 27, 2012)

Does Giant have TCR Composite "Pro"? I think Pro used for Advanced line.


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## lifanus (Feb 25, 2011)

It's used to be listed on the official Giant's China website few months back, should have taken a screenshot as proof. They just took the product listing off for the new offerings. The comp "pro" is just the regular composite as in States.


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## r1lee (Jul 22, 2012)

is that what the TCR Comp downtube looks like? why so different from the Advanced and the Advanced SL?


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## Ventruck (Mar 9, 2009)

lifanus said:


> It's used to be listed on the official Giant's China website few months back, should have taken a screenshot as proof. They just took the product listing off for the new offerings. The comp "pro" is just the regular composite as in States.


I think it got pulled quick because Giant stopped using Toray's supposedly-retired T600 (their "Composite grade" fibers). The 2015 Advanced 2 was actually using the Composite design (so no OD2 steerer) with T700 "Advanced" fibers. And then add in the whole revamp for 2016...

Not to judge, but looks like you'd be more at home on a Defy. The TCR's headtube is already tall, and you considered this Medium oversized, and yet you got quite the spacer stack. But still, I can see how you pursued a decent deal; it's gonna be a bit "rare" too. I got my Advanced 2 for ~$1,500, but it skimps on the 105 cranks and brakes.


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## lifanus (Feb 25, 2011)

Yeah, I quickly realized that it's designed for 5'8 and up while I'm only 5'7... Already couple hundred miles on it now, so far I'm happy with slight compromise of shorter stem stacked high, and having to cut the seat tube... When this frame retire, I'll be looking for a Defy on sale 

Having said that, it has been comfortable on 30+ mile joy rides, especially that I got brooks swift to put on it.












Ventruck said:


> I think it got pulled quick because Giant stopped using Toray's supposedly-retired T600 (their "Composite grade" fibers). The 2015 Advanced 2 was actually using the Composite design (so no OD2 steerer) with T700 "Advanced" fibers. And then add in the whole revamp for 2016...
> 
> Not to judge, but looks like you'd be more at home on a Defy. The TCR's headtube is already tall, and you considered this Medium oversized, and yet you got quite the spacer stack. But still, I can see how you pursued a decent deal; it's gonna be a bit "rare" too. I got my Advanced 2 for ~$1,500, but it skimps on the 105 cranks and brakes.


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## HEMIjer (Oct 18, 2008)

Nice.

You said you felt some flex my guess is that came form the wheels not the frame  Awesome way to get a great unique bike.


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## lifanus (Feb 25, 2011)

HEMIjer said:


> Nice.
> 
> You said you felt some flex my guess is that came form the wheels not the frame  Awesome way to get a great unique bike.


Yeah, I think it's the cheaper wheels... The bike is almost too rigid to ride on some less than perfect roads. On a nice paved road, it's as smooth as it can get.


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## 2kredc5 (Oct 24, 2015)




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