2005 Giant TCR Advanced frame... in 2017?

[Dead Man]

Hola caballeros

What do we think about building up a 2005 carbon frameset in 2017?

I've got a 2005 Giant TCR Advanced frameset collecting dust hanging in my garage. I got it from a bro for almost nothing, and the frame is almost new condition. It was obviously built up and ridden, but obviously not very much - Paint is almost perfect, no chain slap, no chips, super clean.

I'm a carbon frame noob - bought a carbon CX bike this season, but on 33mm tires at 35psi, that doesn't give me much more than my baseline '0' experience rating with carbon.

I read lots of opinions to the effect that carbon has "come a long way" since... some indefinite point in recent history.... but what does that mean? Would I build up this "old" frame and be like "well damn, this bike is a disappointment." Or would I build it up and ride it and be able to appreciate whatever it is about carbon that makes it so speshul?

Purpose would be to road race, but I'd make that call once it's built up and see how I like the ride. IIRC, I did put calipers to the stays and fork and determined there's probably room for 27mms.. but I gotta remember to double check that when I'm home. Have a full EDGE cockpit and probably a 9000 set I'd give it. Seems to me like it would be a sweet bike, and for almost nothing out of pocket

Thanks for your thoughts!

-B

http://i844.photobucket.com/albums/ab6/bkb0000/IMG_0443_zpswp3ztujc.jpg

[rustychisel]

Pretty sweet bike, I know a number of people who love them. Stiff, capable, robust, you'll lose nothing by having had it hanging up for some years. Carbon technology has advanced, for sure, but mostly in the area of layup and weight savings, so this frame might be 400g or so heavier than a current lightweight. Big deal.

FWIW some people felt the TCR was less than excellent in descending, mainly due to its short wheelbase and overall 'tight' design, IIRC, but that is only some people.

[ColnagoFan]

Rideable bike > Frame on the wall. Every time.

Build it! If you hate it no worries, take it back apart. In fact if you do, we should all donate some parts to build it up for some junior or something in your town... :D

Didn't we do that once or twice on here? I'm in for some parts.

[Hilltopperny]

Had one a few years ago. It was a fast, stiff and lightweight frame. Seems like it would make for a great race bike, but I also had a newer tcr 2012 and it was a much better bike. Also had a carbon Cannondale supersix and that was by far the best carbon bike I've ever owned:beer:

[saab2000]

Build it and ride it.

I own two Look 585s of the same vintage and I love them and they're less advanced than this Giant.

I also own a 2012 or so Giant TCR Advanced SL and it's my go-to bike.

Yeah, they've probably come a long way since 2005 but that's still a great ride.

[Luwabra]

If your road racing your lucky if you never crash. I'd 100% give that frame some love. Ride it like you stole it.

[LJohnny]

It's a great ride. I had a 2006 TCR Advanced that was pretty much the same frameset, just different colors. Loved the ride!

I prefer that geo to the newer TCR that have a more upright arrangement. I think around 2008 they started to change for the worst (IMO)

[ultraman6970]

Those giants are really hard to find now a days, I never had one but there must be a reason why nobody wants to sell them and are so hard to find.

There is a big chance those giants are one of the best carbon frames ever built, then marketing takes over and blah blah blah :P

[weisan]

Didn't Oscar Freire win the 2004 world championship on one of these? :D

[beeatnik]

Colnago C40 is the best CF bike ever manufactured. I had a 2002 which I'm starting to believe is a finer frame than a C59/60.

https://c2.staticflickr.com/4/3693/13337138145_b95550eea1_b.jpg

https://c7.staticflickr.com/9/8860/27996702750_272b79ae2d_b.jpg

https://c7.staticflickr.com/8/7362/27938435686_4134a2c7da_b.jpg

[Lanternrouge]

A bike that was a great bike in 2005 is still a great bike today even if there have been improvements since then. I still have a 2005 bike in my quiver and it is still a great bike. Build the frame, enjoy it, and don't over-think whether a later and "greater" frame would be more enjoyable to ride.

[cadence90]

Love those Collie Dogs, but didn't the Giant TCR Advanced have a wide-spread, consensus, extremely positive reputation? Plus, it's very elegant looking. Build it, ride it!


After all...

https://photos.smugmug.com/Print-Gallery/TdF2005/i-84rvHf3/0/M/Prints2005-11-image11-M.jpg
:beer:

[cadence90]

Colnago C40 is the best CF bike ever manufactured. I had a 2002 which I'm starting to believe is a finer frame than a C59/60.

I would really love to hear your assessments/comparisons, beeatnik.
Thinking seriously on a 40, 50, EPS, 59, 60....

[oldpotatoe]

Didn't Oscar Freire win the 2004 world championship on one of these? :D

But Oscar's had 10s Di2...so he can't ride it unless he puts Di2 on it..:):eek:;):p


Buuuutttt..build it, ride it, let us know.

[stephenmarklay]

I like the slacker seat tube angle of these bikes. I would not mind one myself.

[weisan]

Dead man, you are funny... If this bike is in my garage, it would have been built YESTERDAY and on the road TODAY!

what's all these talk about?

Enough talking, time for some action!

[ultraman6970]

By then he was in rabobank, I think rabobank was using colnago back then.

Didn't Oscar Freire win the 2004 world championship on one of these? :D

[Dead Man]

Pretty clean consensus... Thanks gents

[batman1425]

I wanted one of these badly when they were new and I was just getting into racing. A few years later I ended up getting a TCR Advanced (around 2008/9) through my first team sponsorship deal. Mine was the last model before they went to the ISP on the TCR and I'm pretty sure the geo was the same as the one you have. My good friend at the time went from Cat 4-2 on one of these.

It was the perfect ride for what I used it for - crit racing. Tight handling, agile, and fast. It wasn't the most stable ride compared to the stage race geometry of the Cannondale Six13 it replace, or the Ridley Damocles that replaced it, but that's part of the trade off for the maneuverability. Not twitchy per say, but it could bite you if you weren't paying attention.

As a race bike - I think it's about as ideal as you can get. It will be every bit as capable as anything else you are racing against, and if you lay it down, you won't be heart broken. It's the carbon equivalent of a late model Caad9/10.

[Keith A]

Not that you need any more encouragement, but it's gets great reviews on RBR...
http://www.roadbikereview.com/cat/latest-bikes/road-bike/giant/tcr-advanced/prd_366635_5668crx.aspx

[benb]

I'd definitely build it and ride it too.

I never rode a 2005, I had a 2004, and the 2005 was a redesign AFAICT (the "Advanced" was added).

My 2004 was a very good bike. Fit me really well, I raced well on it, it was very comfy.

I remember having a little trouble with slipping seat posts and both the fork and frame were not as torsionally stiff as modern carbon frames. You could tell it flexed more when under a lot of power, but not necessarily annoyingly so.

I had some weird occurrences where it felt like the frame twisted in hard cornering while racing and then the back wheel skipped.. never really had that happen on any other bike. Could be gone on the 2005 though.

[cmbicycles]

I had a 2003 TCR, and it was a great bike... it would be quite compatible with 2016/17 roads. ;)
Mine was an XL and weighed in at 16.5#, was comfortable and didn't seem overly flexible. I sold it a few years ago to fund my Legend, but I would gladly ride another if I had one. I prefer the older style as they take a regular round seatpost too.

[tumbler]

Build it! The people who obsess and exaggerate about how far material x/y/z has come since year x/y/z are usually either selling something or justifying something. It will ride like a bike and I think you'll enjoy it. :beer:

[jonc]

I currently ride a 2007 TCR with Ultegra 6600 and it is a great bike. I've had it since it was new and it was my first nice bike. I would highly doubt you could squeeze 27's in there though; mine hardly clears some 25's. I have a medium frame and the issue is the chain stay clearance. It might be better with a larger frame. Either way, it's a great race bike.

[astrov]

Also compare the 2005 TCR Advanced against your current road race bike, which is what - a '99 Litespeed Classic? Giving up the 27s if there isn't enough clearance will be unfortunate, but 25s aren't so bad either. :hello:

[bpiecuch]

I still ride my 2006 TCR composite (non-advanced). Every component has been upgraded or replaced, but the frame is still going strong. It's handled everything I can throw at it; climbs, descents, gravel, winter/summer, racing, centuries... It's not a SuperSix or Colnago, but it's a significant upgrade from my older Steel Lemond.

I currently have a set of Boyd 25mm wide rims with 25mm Conti 4s's. That's about the widest it will run due to clearance on both the front fork and a couple spots on the frame.

Build it, ride it, love it! I've heard the Advanced frames are a nice step up from the regular composite as well.

https://c6.staticflickr.com/6/5645/31031586925_20f0f1532e_o.jpg

[carpediemracing]

I had a 2005? I had it for the 2005 spring, that's for sure. The bike was as much as I'd be able to use, with some caveats below.

Fork was much better than the previous more aero-looking forks. Still somewhat flexible but scarily so. The aero looking ones were literally scary, flexed back and forth probably 2 to 3 inches (axle relative to head tube). I ended up replacing my previous aero-looking fork with a Reynolds Ouzo (alum fork crown version, which was pretty stiff). Until that point I felt uncomfortable riding the bikes (I had a size M aluminum TCR then a size S alum TCR).

Not the best when thrown into a turn. Front end had some lateral flexibility. This was extremely noticeable if riding the same corner back to back using a different bike. Cannondale SystemSix (tapered head tube) was significantly better.

I also had some high speed wiggliness (50-55 mph). However for normal crit and training speeds, say under 40-45 mph, it was fine.

Was the only full carbon frame I've ever owned.

My TCR carbon bike set up for training with a short lived PowerTap. Those are 23c Michelins.
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_TbmplkIYLx8/RjgZ2awHccI/AAAAAAAAAFA/HlXaOe_JL4I/s800/100_1242.JPG

[pasadena]

Yeah let me take that POS C59 off your hands... :p

Colnago C40 is the best CF bike ever manufactured. I had a 2002 which I'm starting to believe is a finer frame than a C59/60.

https://c2.staticflickr.com/4/3693/13337138145_b95550eea1_b.jpg

https://c7.staticflickr.com/9/8860/27996702750_272b79ae2d_b.jpg

https://c7.staticflickr.com/8/7362/27938435686_4134a2c7da_b.jpg

[Dead Man]

I had a 2005? I had it for the 2005 spring, that's for sure. The bike was as much as I'd be able to use, with some caveats below.

Fork was much better than the previous more aero-looking forks. Still somewhat flexible but scarily so. The aero looking ones were literally scary, flexed back and forth probably 2 to 3 inches (axle relative to head tube). I ended up replacing my previous aero-looking fork with a Reynolds Ouzo (alum fork crown version, which was pretty stiff). Until that point I felt uncomfortable riding the bikes (I had a size M aluminum TCR then a size S alum TCR).

Not the best when thrown into a turn. Front end had some lateral flexibility. This was extremely noticeable if riding the same corner back to back using a different bike. Cannondale SystemSix (tapered head tube) was significantly better.

I also had some high speed wiggliness (50-55 mph). However for normal crit and training speeds, say under 40-45 mph, it was fine.

Was the only full carbon frame I've ever owned.

My TCR carbon bike set up for training with a short lived PowerTap. Those are 23c Michelins.
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_TbmplkIYLx8/RjgZ2awHccI/AAAAAAAAAFA/HlXaOe_JL4I/s800/100_1242.JPG

Not entirely sure that's the same frame, but I've never seen another that had that same silvery smoke scheme going on. My smokey wisps are gold, and yours are blue, though... and your fork is aero, mine is round/tapered

Possible same year, just slightly different models? Is your the TCR Advanced Pro maybe?

New development on this frameset, though... another Paceliner emailed me stating he thought the frame looked like a M... I'd been under the impression it was a S. So I went out and measured it again - this time on wheels, leveled out....... I'll be damned. I guess the first time I measured it I just didn't take into account how much the TT slopes and how relaxed that seat tube really is. ETT is 55 on this thing.... I generally ride a 52.

Fap.. probably gonna be too big. I think I'm gonna mock it up with cockpit and crank and coast it around the neighborhood anyway, though. You guys had my stoke stoked

[cadence90]

Yeah let me take that POS C59 off your hands... :p
No kidding! :D

[batman1425]

I had a 2005? I had it for the 2005 spring, that's for sure. The bike was as much as I'd be able to use, with some caveats below.

Fork was much better than the previous more aero-looking forks. Still somewhat flexible but scarily so. The aero looking ones were literally scary, flexed back and forth probably 2 to 3 inches (axle relative to head tube). I ended up replacing my previous aero-looking fork with a Reynolds Ouzo (alum fork crown version, which was pretty stiff). Until that point I felt uncomfortable riding the bikes (I had a size M aluminum TCR then a size S alum TCR).

Not the best when thrown into a turn. Front end had some lateral flexibility. This was extremely noticeable if riding the same corner back to back using a different bike. Cannondale SystemSix (tapered head tube) was significantly better.

I also had some high speed wiggliness (50-55 mph). However for normal crit and training speeds, say under 40-45 mph, it was fine.

Was the only full carbon frame I've ever owned.

My TCR carbon bike set up for training with a short lived PowerTap. Those are 23c Michelins.
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_TbmplkIYLx8/RjgZ2awHccI/AAAAAAAAAFA/HlXaOe_JL4I/s800/100_1242.JPG

Mine was a similar build. Picked it up as a frame and transferred the parts from my campy centaur based six13. Eventually upgraded to a mix of chorus and record. Mine had zondas and an FSA crank, but I even had the same tires in the same color.

[eippo1]

Dooo it! I'm itching to build up my 2007 Bianchi 928 that I sold the Chorus bits off of because I needed the money to pay our movers. Changed my Warbird to hydraulic with larger gearing this summer, so realized I now have shifters, a rear derailleur, and a cockpit. Just need brakes an FD and a crank and I'm ready to build it back up again.

[carpediemracing]

Not entirely sure that's the same frame, but I've never seen another that had that same silvery smoke scheme going on. My smokey wisps are gold, and yours are blue, though... and your fork is aero, mine is round/tapered

Possible same year, just slightly different models? Is your the TCR Advanced Pro maybe?

New development on this frameset, though... another Paceliner emailed me stating he thought the frame looked like a M... I'd been under the impression it was a S. So I went out and measured it again - this time on wheels, leveled out....... I'll be damned. I guess the first time I measured it I just didn't take into account how much the TT slopes and how relaxed that seat tube really is. ETT is 55 on this thing.... I generally ride a 52.

Fap.. probably gonna be too big. I think I'm gonna mock it up with cockpit and crank and coast it around the neighborhood anyway, though. You guys had my stoke stoked

My TCR says "Comp" next to TCR. I think it was an Ultegra bike that the shop stripped of its build kit. Perfect storm situation, I was looking for a frameset, shop wanted to build an Ultegra bike. I bought the frame, a different customer got the build kit (sans headset).

Mine was a size S, 53.5 ETT. I think I sold it for some ridiculous low price, I doubt it's hanging on a hook downstairs.

[carpediemracing]

Mine was a similar build. Picked it up as a frame and transferred the parts from my campy centaur based six13. Eventually upgraded to a mix of chorus and record. Mine had zondas and an FSA crank, but I even had the same tires in the same color.

Funny. I bought a SystemSix full bike (replica team, SRM, Record 10s), sold the wheels/bars/post, put my own bar/stem/wheels on, and raced it like that. This became my backup bike.

Normally I had a Eurus rear wheel, but this picture was during the month or two I had a PowerTap. I loved the steel spoked Eurus wheels.