BikeRadar\u2019s TCR obsessive has his say on a potential new model <\/p>
Given two of Giant’s three high-end carbon road bikes \u2013 the Propel and Defy \u2013 have seen recent updates, logic dictates the TCR is due a refresh too.<\/p>
It has been nearly four years since the 2021 Giant TCR<\/a> launched \u2013 the kind of timeframe in which we\u2019d now expect to see an update \u2013 but the legendary bike finds itself at something of a crossroads.<\/p> Despite being billed as the Taiwanese brand\u2019s \u201ctotal race bike\u201d, riders from the WorldTour teams it sponsors \u2013 Team Jayco-AlUla in the men\u2019s WorldTour<\/a> and Liv-AlUla-Jayco<\/a> \u2013 seldom opt to use the TCR (or its women\u2019s-specific equivalent, the Liv Langma<\/a>) anymore.<\/p> Instead, most choose the latest Giant Propel<\/a> or Liv EnviLiv<\/a>, both of which offer aero road bike<\/a> speed while tickling the UCI\u2019s minimum bike weight limit<\/a>.<\/p> Where does the TCR find its niche, then? Given the new Giant Defy<\/a> already has endurance road and all-road duties sewn up, should Giant simply double down on the lightweight theme and make a TCR so light as to be unrideable in the professional peloton?<\/p> This strategy worked for Specialized with its classically styled, featherweight S-Works Aethos<\/a>, after all.<\/p> Given Giant\u2019s conservative development of the TCR platform over the years (the current model bears an almost identical design philosophy to the original 1998 TCR), I have a hunch about what we\u2019re likely to see from an updated version \u2013 fully integrated cable routing, plus lighter, stiffer and a little more aerodynamic.<\/p> In other words, nothing we haven\u2019t seen before.<\/p> Of course, there\u2019s an argument that if it ain\u2019t broke, don\u2019t fix it, and I can empathise with that. Why mess with a proven formula?<\/p>