Better late than never, I have the bike built, dialled in and have had it out for a couple of rides - one group one solo. Looking great, apart from the wheels - I have some Light Bicycle Turbo Pro 78s on the way.
BuildAccording to my mechanic, the build wasn't too bad just a few niggles:
Internal cable routing was tight as a gnat's snatch. He reckons it wasn't really designed for mechanical transmission even though I specifically asked Chris prior to ordering. See the photos, he's done a great job and it looks very neat, no issues with steering but he said to be careful over rotating it e.g. when putting it in the car etc.
On the rear stay there is no hose lug (if that's the word - the bit inside the exit hole which stops the cable sheath slipping into the hole) so he had to fudge it. Works fine though.
I also had seatpost slippage issues despite the grip coating, but tightening it to 'hope I don't break this' Nm sorted it fine.
No issues with RD clearence etc, shifts smoothly through the full range of 24 gears.
RideOverall lovely. I'm not a peak power guy, but no obvious flex. Some of the roads near me are God-awful, and it's noticeable smoother over them than the TCR was. It had alloy bars, I don't know if that contributes.
Geometry is a big improvement - getting the seat forward, shorter cranks and higher seatpost due to that, results in improved power output for the perceived effort. It's also very comfy being more forward in position - there is more weight on the hands certainly but puppy-hoods and drops are both nice to ride.
I have a fairly flat 30km loop I do for testing. The plan was to ride it at the same power as previous efforts and see a small but significant increase in average speed. However, firstly I forgot to re-calibrate my pedals for the short cranks so reported power is about 9% too high. Second, even though I've been off the pace training wise, I couldn't keep the power down - it just loves to go fast! So I was 285W average rather than 260W on my other test rides. Third, it was cold and windy so aero wasn't optimal at all. After all that... I was about 2kph slower than my best on the TCR
Overall, the test was a bust, but the bike was lovely. More power for less perceived effort, and came off it feeling fresh unlike before where I would be fighting the bike and finish with a sore lower back and burning glutes.
One note, the narrower bars take a bit of getting used to out of the saddle, had a few minor wobbles due to the reduced leverage.
Also the seat post doesn't allow me to attach my existing tool bag - will need to come up with another solution. I asked Chris if the rear bottle cage mount from the TT bike could be used (he had previously said the seatposts were the same) but he said it would need riveted - there are no holes in the road version by default. Not sure if they could be added when ordering?
Weight, I have no idea. I'm 80kg, didn't feel much different from the TCR built up.
Looks wise, I think it's great but the UD Matte finish is not perfect. There are clear joins where the carbon sheets overlap most noticeable around the head tube. It also has sections which look dusty or smudged. I'm sure a clear coat paint would solve this but it doesn't bother me.
PartsShimano 105 R7100 (2x12) stripped from the 'donor' 2024 Giant TCR
HB-050 380/110 integrated bar and stem
New PraxisWorks T47 BB
New Shimano R7100 160mm 50/34 crankset
Money1750 for the TCR from which I kept the groupset and wheels only
-300 for the TCR fame (hopefully)
500 for the AeroTrace frame, stem, bars and seatpost
115 for new cranks
200 for the build including hoses and BB
2265 total
I doubt you'd find a bike this good off the shelf for that, even considering that buying a whole bike then using just the groupset and wheels (and then only temporarily) is a horribly inefficient way to build a bike!
