# Amazing review of 04 TCR



## toronto-rider (Aug 16, 2002)

This is the most praise I have ever read form a reviewer on a bike. That’s why I love to ride my bike up hills, it just flies.
http://www.cyclingnews.com/tech.php?id=tech/2004/reviews/giant_tcr_composite_1


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## blurry (Mar 4, 2004)

nice i just put some money down on a 2004 tcr 2 carbon same frame as the tcr 1 but not as nice components. justs gives me things to upgrade


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## travis200 (Oct 29, 2002)

Always glad to see some good reviews on the TCR 1 it is an outstanding bike.


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## Trevor! (Feb 28, 2004)

Ahh, that review put a big smile on my face. I am due to get my Composite 1 in this week some time. 

Cant wait to get out and ride it for sure... 

Trevor!


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## thegood (Feb 27, 2004)

*Just got mine...*

I just picked up mine last night, and I left work a little early today to take her out for a little spin...it felt really awesome compared to my hardtail MTB, which I've been riding all winter. But this is my first road bike, so I don't have anything meaningful to compare it to. Although my heart still belongs to mountain biking, I really can't wait to put some miles on this bike.

Oh yeah, I was surprised to see that my bike came with a Dura Ace rear derailleur, since I thought it was all Ultegra. I also checked a smaller size that was on the showroom floor...it had a Dura Ace rear derailleur too. Pic is attached.


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## Trevor! (Feb 28, 2004)

thegood said:


> I just picked up mine last night, and I left work a little early today to take her out for a little spin...it felt really awesome compared to my hardtail MTB, which I've been riding all winter. But this is my first road bike, so I don't have anything meaningful to compare it to. Although my heart still belongs to mountain biking, I really can't wait to put some miles on this bike.
> 
> Oh yeah, I was surprised to see that my bike came with a Dura Ace rear derailleur, since I thought it was all Ultegra. I also checked a smaller size that was on the showroom floor...it had a Dura Ace rear derailleur too. Pic is attached.


Sweet now I really cant wait to get mine.. Looks like you are on the same size bike as me - Medium right???

I too am a MTB and have been riding a friends older TCR compact frame and cant wait to try my carbon one out for sure.

Its the one bike I wont be taking parts off in a hurry, thought I will probably add a SLR ASAP since thats my all time fav saddle.

Love the look of your bike....
Trevor!


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## bikewriter (Sep 2, 2002)

Most of my team ride the composite TCR and no one liked the stock saddle. Flites and SLRs were put on immediately.

I was thisclose to getting a Composite 2 but I just couldn't pull the trigger, and ended up getting another bike that the shop sponsor carries. Though it's ugly as all get out, and the brand's rep is even "lower" than the lowest of most Taiwain frames (just kidding... I like Taiwan built frames), the price was unbeatable.

A 2004 KHS Flite 2000 is leaving soon for my grubby hands. I have to finalize the spec tomorrow between 04 Record and 04 DA 10! Since my current bike has 03 Chorus/Record 10sp (Orbea Lobular Carbon), I might jump back on the DA bandwagon (I'm not too picky and don't subscribe to the Shimano/Campy debate). Plus, it was about the same price when all was said and done. I'm only paying $1610 US for the KHS which is LESS than just the grouppo alone.

But my team sure likes the TCR Composite! They are incredible, and I dare say just as sweet of a racebike as my Calfee (ssshhhh!).


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## thegood (Feb 27, 2004)

Trevor! said:


> Sweet now I really cant wait to get mine.. Looks like you are on the same size bike as me - Medium right???
> 
> I too am a MTB and have been riding a friends older TCR compact frame and cant wait to try my carbon one out for sure.
> 
> ...


Thanks. Yep, it's a medium. It's mostly stock, except for the saddle and the pedals. I had a selle trans am before and I didn't think it was very comfortable, so I swapped it for a san marco aspide. I also had the dealer buy back the stock pedals, and I put on a pair of time atac xs titan pedals that I was saving for my XC racer. When will you be getting yours?


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## Trevor! (Feb 28, 2004)

thegood said:


> Thanks. Yep, it's a medium. It's mostly stock, except for the saddle and the pedals. I had a selle trans am before and I didn't think it was very comfortable, so I swapped it for a san marco aspide. I also had the dealer buy back the stock pedals, and I put on a pair of time atac xs titan pedals that I was saving for my XC racer. When will you be getting yours?


I should get mine in around 3-5 days and I can tell you I am totally excited.

I have been riding a buddies Medium compact OCR frame with 10 year old 105 on it, and have had a great time, so no doubt this bike will really deliver what I am looking for: Comfort, stiffness, light weight etc.

The LBS I am getting it off has thrown in a pair of the black SPD-SL 540 (105 model) pedals or whatever they are called so I will give them a go but will most likely get some Time Mag Ti pedals when I find a killer deal on them. 

My intention is to put a SLR on the bike, as thats the saddle of choice on my MTB. I cant find anything else that matches its comfort.. (for me)

I really cant wait to get out and ride it. My first ride will be a 4hr training ride, I look forward to it.

Trevor!


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## Thorman (Apr 6, 2002)

You will absolutely love this bike! I know I sure do. The only suggestion I would have is to ditch the MTB pedals. I use ATAC's on my winter road and MTB and love them, but they're much too heavy for your TCR. I'd suggest a set of Speedplays or Coombe (If you have 6 weeks to wait around for them).


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## thegood (Feb 27, 2004)

*I thought about road pedals...*



Thorman said:


> You will absolutely love this bike! I know I sure do. The only suggestion I would have is to ditch the MTB pedals. I use ATAC's on my winter road and MTB and love them, but they're much too heavy for your TCR. I'd suggest a set of Speedplays or Coombe (If you have 6 weeks to wait around for them).


but mountain biking is my real passion. As of now, my plan is to use my TCR for endurance and sprint training. I didn't want to get new shoes/cleats, since I'm running ATACs on my mountain bikes. If I get hooked on road riding, I will probably go with speedplays because I can get a sweet deal on them from a racer friend. 

Actually, the 04 ATAC Titans that I put on my TCR weigh in at 252g (verified on my digital scale...yes, I am a weight weenie), which isn't that heavy. But thanks anyway for the recommendation.


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## Trevor! (Feb 28, 2004)

Thorman said:


> You will absolutely love this bike! I know I sure do. The only suggestion I would have is to ditch the MTB pedals. I use ATAC's on my winter road and MTB and love them, but they're much too heavy for your TCR. I'd suggest a set of Speedplays or Coombe (If you have 6 weeks to wait around for them).


Hey Thorman, what are these Commbe pedals? Are they lightweight, or similar in design the speedplays.

Trevor!


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## RemingtonShowdown (Feb 4, 2004)

http://www.coombe.com/ 

They're quite simply the most elegant bicycle pedals ever created.


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## Thorman (Apr 6, 2002)

Trevor! said:


> Hey Thorman, what are these Commbe pedals? Are they lightweight, or similar in design the speedplays.
> 
> Trevor!


They are somewhat similar to Speedplays since they use a tongue and groove type of engagement between the pedal and cleat, but instead of pushing down to climp in the Coombe's twist in. They have no moving parts and there is no way to pull out since you're completely locked into the pedal.

The only downside is their service sucks big time. You will have to wait on average 4-8 weeks after you order them before they arrive. It took mine about 4 weeks last year and when I ordered new cleats this year it took 6 weeks. They sell good product, but if I had to do it all over again I'd get Speedplays.


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## Trevor! (Feb 28, 2004)

Thorman said:


> They are somewhat similar to Speedplays since they use a tongue and groove type of engagement between the pedal and cleat, but instead of pushing down to climp in the Coombe's twist in. They have no moving parts and there is no way to pull out since you're completely locked into the pedal.
> 
> The only downside is their service sucks big time. You will have to wait on average 4-8 weeks after you order them before they arrive. It took mine about 4 weeks last year and when I ordered new cleats this year it took 6 weeks. They sell good product, but if I had to do it all over again I'd get Speedplays.


Thanks for the information on the pedals Thorman.

I don't think I would have the patients to wait that long for a set of pedals or cleats. Living in Australia would also probably delay with wait even more.

I will just run a set of the Low end lance type pedals till I decided whether or not I really want to try another set.

Again, thanks for the information. Oh and you webpage is very good. Was it hard to make that journal type layout? I want to start a webpage using a similar sort of layout, so I can keep an online race/training journal....

Trevor!


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## cycling6500 (Jan 14, 2003)

It is a very accurate review of the Giant TCR Composite.
As you can see, among my current three favorites bikes, there is a Giant.


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## blurry (Mar 4, 2004)

nice truth..... if i were to show my stable it would be 4 mountain bikes and 1 road bike


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## Trevor! (Feb 28, 2004)

cycling6500 said:


> It is a very accurate review of the Giant TCR Composite.
> As you can see, among my current three favorites bikes, there is a Giant.


Haha, it appears we have similar tastes:

I am awaiting the arrival of my TCR Composite 1 which will be here in a day or so and I also have one of these babies:










Ciao
Trevor!


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## benInMA (Jan 22, 2004)

Sweet bikes... I'll hopefully get some pics of my TCR up this week... I just gotta finish the roll of film.

I raced mine for the first time yesterday. The bike was great... I gave the bike it's most serious handling workout yet, it handles amazingly well. I was so comfortable taking the corners hard that I ended up experimenting trying to figure out how far I could lean it and still pedal, ended up scraping a pedal about 5 laps into the race. Even that didn't upset the handling at all.

It climbs great but then again I'm climbing extremely well right now which I'm sure was part of it.

Ben


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## thegood (Feb 27, 2004)

*Ells here too!*



Trevor! said:


> Haha, it appears we have similar tastes:
> 
> I am awaiting the arrival of my TCR Composite 1 which will be here in a day or so and I also have one of these babies:
> 
> ...


'04 Truth and old school Sub-22...you guys on MTBR too?


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## Thorman (Apr 6, 2002)

Trevor! said:


> Thanks for the information on the pedals Thorman.
> 
> I don't think I would have the patients to wait that long for a set of pedals or cleats. Living in Australia would also probably delay with wait even more.
> 
> ...


The website was a little work to setup, but once I got it going it's been very easy to keep up. If you're interested in setting up a similar type site I would suggest checking out http://www.postnuke.com.


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## Trevor! (Feb 28, 2004)

thegood said:


> '04 Truth and old school Sub-22...you guys on MTBR too?


I'd love to get my hands on a Sub 22..

Yep, I am on MTBR, I am a moderator there and spend way too much time there.

Trevor!


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## Spatialize (Oct 24, 2021)

toronto-rider said:


> This is the most praise I have ever read form a reviewer on a bike. That’s why I love to ride my bike up hills, it just flies.
> http://www.cyclingnews.com/tech.php?id=tech/2004/reviews/giant_tcr_composite_1





Trevor! said:


> Ahh, that review put a big smile on my face. I am due to get my Composite 1 in this week some time.
> 
> Cant wait to get out and ride it for sure...
> 
> Trevor!


Hi, my name is Daniel and I just got this bike recently from my uncle and I gotta say it’s a really nice bike! The parts on it were still factory ultegra groupset, so I decided to upgrade with the newer 105 r7000. Bike is amazing even 17 years later!!


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## PBL450 (Apr 12, 2014)

Spatialize said:


> Hi, my name is Daniel and I just got this bike recently from my uncle and I gotta say it’s a really nice bike! The parts on it were still factory ultegra groupset, so I decided to upgrade with the newer 105 r7000. Bike is amazing even 17 years later!!


Welcome aboard Daniel! That’s a great bike! 


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk


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