The best Giant TCR alternative is a cheaper TCR 🤯 

Thank you.

We will! Maybe once a week.

Why do you think they are so disconnected at the moment, nobody is buying them! Yea they are a great bike I’ve owned many of them, but they are currently heavily disconnected due to lack of demand and oversupply

All are very valid points but most importantly it rides perfectly. TCR provides by far better ride quality than all the mentioned bikes. Reacto is good on flats only. If you want better frameset than TCR, prepare to pay over 6K. Teammachine or Alpe D'huez.

@@tombola4046 I will be buying one👍

@@dickieblench5001 plenty to choose from, dealers desperate to shift them as another model Inbound and the overstock of the current model is crazy!

My 2019 TCR advanced pro 1 is 7.3kg and I got it for £1900, it is rim brake though...

Totally agree! Nice addition to the channel!

Depends on your values, the Merida Scultura 8000 is arguably better value than the TCR Advanced Pro Disk 1, they are available at essentially the same price, but the Scultura comes with full Ultegra Di2 Wireless whereas the TCR has only 105 Di2. There are other pros and cons: Scultura has a slightly heavier frame (~150g), the TCR's 36mm deep Giant SLR1 carbon wheels are lighter than the 41mm deep Reynolds AR wheels (but the Reynolds are possibly more aero due to greater depth?), the TCR has a power meter which the Merida doesn't have, the smaller Scultura sizes come with 165mm cranks (like finding hen's teeth, could be a deal breaker for smaller people) but the TCR's shortest cranks are 170mm, a XXS Scultura comes with 380mm bars as compared to 400mm bars on the similar sized TCR. The Scultura is also equipped with race ready Continental Grand Prix 5000S TR 700x28C unlike the TCR's Giant Gavia Course 1 700x25c!!!

Incorrect. The Giant has Ultegra DI2 you are talking about an old model.Tyres are not Gavia , You have the Giant spec totally wrong. @@Ronald-qj5nx

Sure it's generous, but just keep in mind most of the kids who are gonna get that are probably racers, and ride a crap ton. I think that's worthy of mentioning.

Not if they’re racing…

if you have kids who are showing potential at anything then it will cost you, sport or otherwise....mostly its a reward fro commitment......but there will be plenty of kids and adults who splash the cash on something unnecessary....

Canny parents could get their 16yr old a bike on their C2W scheme.

You don't have kids, fo you? 😬

Nice. I love the seat stay design of that bike.

It was your channel that got me into the quality of the look framesets after owning most of the mainstream brands. The new look 795 RS looks fantastic something to aspire to in the future, @@Mapdec

Not just scammers, but thieves too. Few months ago, a used bike caught my attention... Took a look on Bike Index and someone reported the same bike as stolen (I think there was something not stock that made it stand out). Contacted the owner who confirmed yes, indeed the bike listed was theirs. 😮

Tbh I'm looking at a bike currently and the price point looks too good to be true. They don't seem to be a scammer but I guess theft is still an option!

@@jasonwu9287 Any idea about the bike's status now? I do hope somebody can "steal" it back, either from a samaritan or the owner themselves.

If it's the standard version (never sold new unless a shop takes it apart from a complete bike), great. If it's the Pro variant, you have less stem choices and if it's the SL variant, you'd better hope you're the sole owner or find a second owner with a very similar inseam if it's to be sold second-hand.

Now comes with 2 ISP clamps for more flexibility

Bought a contend from eBay for my son. Mint condition tiagra £300

It needs a massive overhaul as it’s saving high earners a huge amount of money and the commissions charged to shops can really dilute already slim margins, and for lower earners it doesn’t help much as their employer rarely gives vouchers for enough value to get something fit for purpose.

If it’s a custom build I’d probably go for custom wheels. Good aluminium bars instead of carbon, you only trade something like 50-100 g and you’ll be less concerned after a crash or just when carrying the bike around. I like what you say about finding a good deal on a nice groupset. It’s a part that can get really expensive without really providing any value for most of us, but for racers very sharp electronic shifting or a 12th gear can make a difference in how reactive the bike feels.

$400 for a stick!

Easily, then again gone are the days of the trusty wooden options. These kids are using pro-level carbon fibre sticks (and they routinely snap like toothpicks)

True. It’s almost impossible to sell a rim brake bike these days. It’s like trying to sell a 26inch MTB.

they don't have anything even close to spec and budget

Depends on the dealer.

@@MapdecI think I know what you mean. I have now purchased a Cube 62 Pro with SRAM AXS ETap, not carbon wheels (but I’m not ever going to be a racer, may look to upgrade), upgraded carbon bars and stem. From a local bike shop (with an online presence) so I was able to go in, get the sizing right and inspected the bike. Watching all your content has made me so much more aware of what look for, how to train, understand a lot of intrinsic details about bikes and components. It’s been a massive help since I started cycling in October. Oh the price £2400. Thank you for all your replies and great content helping me navigate the minefield of all things bike.

@@ramsden35 nice. Well done.

Not with post mount. There are frames about but the options are sparse in comparison.

All bikes were second hand with the exception of the 2019 TCR (copped in Feb 2020 just before covid hit)

Who knows. He only sees a tiny sample of the worst examples sent by viewers. This year we serviced over 1100 bikes. We have a much larger sample size to draw trends from.

Hambini did a video of what he rates and doesn't iirc Merida is the low threshold of what to buy but you'd have to find the video and watch it to be sure. From best to worst: • Time • Look (older production*) • Winspace • Hongfu, Dengfu, Yeoleo, ICAN, Trifox, Cube • Argon 18, 'newish' Cannondale • Merida • Giant, Focus • Storck, Canyon, Specialized, Trek, Pinarello, Cervolo, Dolan • OPEN, Bowman *Look moved the factory from France to Tunisia, so maybe that's the reason he rates older models above newer ones? I think ownership of Cannondale changed as well, so maybe it's a push from Pon Holdings BV to improve quality?

@@chris_gb_ like I say, he sees relatively few and is sent free frames from Asia. We are too, but choose not to discuss them. Look only make track frames in Tunisia, the rest is from a factory in Taiwan they have thier own employees at. I don’t think Hambini has seen a modern Look frame. Last time I spoke to him the last he saw was the 695 rim brake we sent him for a BB65 to Dub conversion.

​@@Mapdec I think even with Hambini's relatively low sample count his videos and opinions are useful, but for sure everyone needs to be conscious that everyone has their own biases and preferences, and limitations of knowledge and experience. I really like to see whose opinions overlap, and where and why there are disagreements, not just here on RU-vid, but using other sources like Paceline and WeightWeenies. I wouldn't ever take one source as gospel, except maybe in cases like that Sarto on Hambini's channel: €8000-€9000 for a frameset? and a light held behind the bottom brackets shows just how shoddy it is, every single one of those should be 'perfect' before being shipped. Obviously the best and most awful are going to stand out easily, but it's hardest to find the middle ground where we get a better combination of quality and affordability. I said it on the previous video, but Merida is where I'd put my money if I had some, the impression I get is that for the moment they are doing a little better than Giant in terms of quality, and the prices are more competitive. Interesting about the Look frames, I thought it was an odd choice to go to Tunisia, even more so now if it's just the track frames. Seems quite low volume and specialist, but it must've been worth it to Look to save on their costs 🤷‍♂ As for those Chinese brands, I think Seka is the only one I like the look of on a superficial level and wouldn't mind riding. Although Weight Weenies has a thread with a few complaints about things like slipping seat posts, so I'd want to be sure all their quality issues have been sorted and there is a relatively easy recourse for things that are wrong. Dealers in Spain and Netherlands but not the UK, so def would be a pass I think. I think Yeoleo appears to be better quality? but again with UK retail, so it seems like a potentially expensive headache if something major is wrong.

@@chris_gb_ we did a vid on Yeoleo. Enjoy.

Some would argue that it makes close racing quite difficult when there is a a range of braking distances.

USD?

You should be able to judge that within 2 seconds, look at cyclingToms new cannondale, its truly hideous

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder etc.

I think bikes look very generic these days and that includes the Defy. A bit of a strange comment without knowing why

Easily, I have nearly 200 brands bookmarked. Admittedly quite a lot of them are boutique and small scale, but it's a mix of road and mtb whenever I've found something interesting, and so many brands I ignore because I just find them uninteresting or unappealing. If you could count all brands and all custom frame makers I think the tally would be in the thousands.

Yeah. Maybe. The idea seems popular. I’m not really sure how we monitize podcasts though. I have a coaching one as a passion project, but it doesn’t earn a cent.

What could possibly go wrong?

@@Mapdec I just know your opinion. From your experience with many frame. Of course, about the Bottom bracket, is the most important thing.

@@YisusBike_engineer the thing with direct from Asia brands is that they tend to appear and disappear quite quickly. They can produce excellent quality, and get excellent reviews, only for the next batch to be quite different and poor quality creeps in. We are seeing this play out with Elves on RU-vid right now. Asian brands can be very anonymous when they need to be. Is this any more of a risk than western brands that wriggle out of warranties? Well, in the uk the consumer rights act is there to protect, but folk rarely take advantage of it. You don’t actually save that much money anymore. A winspace is like £1500 plus customs. A Merida Reacto full bike right now is £1999. I would get the Merida any day.

@@Mapdec I appreciate your for take time for answer. The Merida reacto 8000, cost Around 6000 Eu. So expensive. Winspace is famous for making excellent frame, wheels and parts. They have a good support post sales team and warranty. I wanna know if you have problem with this frame or wheels in the past. In my country I can't fine a good option, sl7 or Giant is more expensive, double the price for Winspace

@@YisusBike_engineer the Merida is on sale for like £1999. Insane. Anyway. The Winsapce wheels are a pain to repair when they break. They never have parts in stock and take ages to ship. Their frames are just ‘ok’ for the price. If it wasn’t for the crazy sale prices right now, it might be tempting to take the risk. However, at the moment there are so many significantly better deals out there that carry less risk.

😂

So many triggered people last time 😂

Yeah. I like them. They are having some ownership and restructuring issues, but they make a good bike.

They made bmx then discontinued, made MTB then discontinued, road bikes are next as they're making motorcycles now

@@janeblogs324 thanks I would be buying a felt as they are having issues

Let’s all agree and not have a opinion 😂😂😂

@@17cream 🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️

😏🙄​@@tombola4046

Yes, not keen at all. ENJOY YOUR OVERSIZED BOTTOM BRACKET, GIANT PEOPLE! 👍

​@@17creamyet here you are getting upset about someone having an opinion different to yours 🙄

Cheerleading competitions…. 🤯

I agree to an extent. Many moons ago I was trying to play football and used cycling for training. It help plenty yet I still had to pay for school so the whole evil scheme didn't work. The byproduct was I loved cycling started working in a shop paid for my own bikes cuz money was tight. Then got into all different types of cycling road , track and so on. It was the best for me still ride and have been for almost 40 years now. If cycling was not so friggin expensive it would be a training tool for other sports.

Except the TCR isn’t being raced anymore. The Propel aero bike has taken over that world tour race bike. The TCR would soon by relegated to a legacy product line like the Specialized Allez for its racing heritage. Unless Giant pour development money on the TCR as a premier lightweight climbing bike.

TCR isn’t raced? I see it at plenty of races. Maybe not currently in the Pro teams but doesn’t make it irrelevant. The Allez is an awesome Crit bike and isn’t relegated to the heritage pile.

Hope you all ok.

@@Mapdec thanks buddy, im ok. Still thinking of doing a time build. Unfortunately at the moment it would be a little self indulgent. I thought your giant pod cast was spot on. I own a giant and thats all im going to say. Anyway, keep up the good work!

Have you been riding with Jake?

Totally agree, having an opinion doesn’t equate to triggered.

There's zero need for this kind of elitism and gatekeeping in cycling, and it's in everybody's interests to make it as accessible as possible at grass roots. Carbon and electronics are relatively recent innovations, and entirely unnecessary for regulated competition. If everybody has, and has to have the technological performance to compete, then nobody has an advantage, so we might just as well have racing on all steel bikes as it was for most of the 20th century.

Which is why giant is still the sweetspot for those on a budget

Your ignorance trys to make it sound as if cycling is only a sport instead of a fitness or leisure activity