Giant TCR Advanced SL 0 Dura-Ace Di2 review

The previous-generation Giant TCR Advanced SL delivered everything a lightweight all-round race bike should.

Despite that, Giant promises improved stiffness, lower weight and better aerodynamic optimisations with this 10th iteration of the TCR.

Some of this comes down to tweaks you can see on the outside, and some of it via a refinement of the brand’s carbon manufacturing techniques. (Head to our news story on the new Giant TCR for all of the tech details – in this review, I'll focus on how it rides).

Giant also says working hand-in-hand with components offshoot brand Cadex contributes to the improvements.

Overall, the new Giant TCR is certainly lighter, while the handling is still sharp, and the ride quality arguably a touch smoother.

It’s a bike that comes together like a coordinated system, as one might hope, and is impressive across the board.

Nonetheless, those trading up from the previous TCR might not find the jump in performance worth upgrading for, given that this Shimano Dura-Ace model comes in at £11,999 / $12,500 / €12,299 / AU$13,799.

Giant TCR Advanced SL 0 frame details

Those goals are admirable, but when you are starting from such a high level with the previous generation, such increases in technical scrutiny seem the very definition of marginal gains.

Giant has reduced the weight by 75g to an impressive 690g (including the integrated seat mast and clamp).

TCR Advanced SL 0 - Dura Ace Di2

It has also reduced the surface area of the bike by 2 per cent compared to the previous version, tweaking the aerodynamics to make it 4.19 watts more efficient at 40kph.

The frame and fork are marginally stiffer (0.53 per cent), but Giant says this translates to a larger 3.38 per cent stiffness-to-weight ratio improvement.

Again, it's worth reiterating that the previous TCR didn’t lack anything dynamically, and I’d argue the generation before didn’t either – I wrote a comparison of the two.

There’s fully integrated cable routing now, while the frame tweaks have led to a 1mm increase in tyre clearance – up to 33mm.

The ISP (integrated seatpost) on the SL is divisive, and while you can get as much as 45mm of vertical adjustment with the ISP clamp, I can understand that the design may make resale a little more difficult down the line.

My colleague, Simon von Bromley, has also validly pointed out that a non-telescoping design can be more difficult to transport in a bike box or bag. However, I’ve carted mine to Italy, Denmark and Australia without a hitch – its large frame fits in my standard bike case.

The ISP design is certainly clean, eliminates the chances of seatpost slip and (according to Giant) enables the brand to better engineer compliance here, while making a lighter and more aerodynamic system.

On a bike that's aimed at being a no-compromise all-round race bike, it’s a design that certainly seems aligned.

Giant TCR Advanced SL 0 geometry

Giant hasn’t changed the geometry figures that contribute to the handling – fundamentally, the new TCR should feel just like the old bike.

In my size-large test bike, which broadly mimics a size-58cm or XL bike from other brands, the TCR features 73-degree angles at the head tube and seat tube.

Both should bring about race-bike handling characteristics, while the wheelbase is 1,006mm.

The reach is 402mm – also race-bike esque, but not overly stretched out.

For comparison, a size-58cm Specialized Tarmac SL8 is 0.5 degrees steeper at the head tube and seat tube, but has identical wheelbase and reach figures.

Giant TCR Advanced SL 0 specifications

According to Nixon Huang, Giant’s road product manager, the new bike represents a direct collaboration between Giant’s design and engineering team and its premium component brand, Cadex.

Cadex’s head of product, Jeff Schneider, explained to me that “right from day one, it was Giant and Cadex in the same room working to the same goals and finding the solutions together”.

The top-spec Cadex Max 40 wheelset is supplied here, with carbon spokes and hub shells, fitted with 700 x 28c Race GC Tubeless tyres, which were developed to mesh with the frameset’s aerodynamics, while complementing its low weight.

The Cadex 40 weighs a claimed 1,249g, with a 40mm-deep rim that has a 22.4mm inner width.

Giant says the new Cadex bar (160g, claimed) and Contact SLR stem were developed alongside the frame, benefitting from CFD (computational fluid dynamics) testing and wind-tunnel proving.

Cadex also provides its short-nosed Amp saddle.

Driving this SL 0 model is Shimano’s pinnacle road groupset, Dura-Ace Di2 R9200, with the FC9200-P dual-sided power meter included.

The 52/36T, 11-34t gearing offers plenty of range, making use of the groupset’s capabilities.

The hydraulic brakes, with 160mm front and 140mm rear rotors, provided superb braking and great heat regulation, and proved quiet throughout my rides.

Giant TCR Advanced SL 0 ride impressions

As soon as I got on board the TCR, it was – as a previous-generation TCR owner – a very familiar feeling.

That said, this new complete bike is impressively light. My own TCR, with a frankly ‘elite’ build (SRAM Red eTap AXS groupset and Zipp 202 NSW wheelset, plus CeramicSpeed upgrades throughout, a minimal sub-100g saddle, and a lightweight bar and stem) tips the scales at 7.18kg (size large, with pedals).

This new bike, in the same size, weighed on the same scales, came in at 6.68kg – half a kilogram to the good, and certainly a difference I could feel when the road started to rise.

The new TCR climbs with a responsiveness that only comes from the lightest of road bikes. Even better, it doesn’t seem to pay any penalty for the low weight.

The frame and fork feel stiff, and the Cadex wheels are among the most responsive lightweight hoops I’ve ever ridden.

My longest ride included a 3.75-mile / 6km climb with an average gradient of nine per cent. The TCR flattered me – on the gruelling gradients, I was able to hold a decent rhythm and good pace, and on the hardest ramps (closer to 14-15 per cent) the TCR felt very sprightly.

Getting out of the saddle and stomping on the pedals, the bike made me feel more of a climber than perhaps any 6ft 2in (188cm), 92kg rider of a certain age ever should.

I’d have preferred the more endurance gearing found on Giant’s Defy Advanced SL 0 rather than the 36/34t bottom gear here, because no-one likes when Di2 beeps at you signifying you’ve run out of gears on a steep ramp.

That said, the TCR’s setup is more for powerful and smaller climbers than I.

That stiff climb was rewarded with a 5.25-mile / 8.5km descent that encompassed everything from proper switchbacks to open hairpins, right through to narrow roads with bamboo forming a closed-in canopy and on to open straights where the potential for speed was epic.

Inspection of my post-ride data showed I maxed out at 52.6mph / 84.65kph. That surprised me, given I hadn’t set out to push the bike to that sort of speed.

I’d intended to enjoy the flow of this unfamiliar road and take advantage of the remarkably low traffic levels. Throughout it all, the bike felt planted, the handling so intuitive that I flowed easily from one corner to the next.

The wheels and tyres combined to add even more confidence, with the new rubber impressing – albeit riding on warm, bone-dry, smooth roads.

The tyre profile has lower sidewalls than the previous Cadex rubber and the rolling surface comes further around the tyre profile, ending with a very subtle lip.

I had the sense that this tyre tread, width and shape spread to give very high levels of grip. On exits from corners, the lateral stiffness of the wheels helps the tyres support your acceleration as soon as you’re back pedalling.

Comfort-wise, the TCR feels like one of the best race bikes I’ve ridden.

Again, though, the caveat is the quality of the roads I’ve been riding – it’ll be good to put this bike to the test over our scarred sub-par tarmac.

Giant TCR Advanced SL 0 bottom line

This new Advanced SL 0 is the finest edition of the ‘Total Compact Racing’ bike in Giant’s 28-year history of making it.

That said, I’m not sure it’s a significant improvement over the outgoing TCR Advanced SL 0. As excellent as it is, the previous version was (and still is) extremely good.

I’d certainly love to update my eighth-generation TCR to the new bike, but the top-end pricing wouldn’t make that easy for the vast majority of us.

If you've got the previous-generation Advanced SL 0, the gains are there, but far smaller – the argument is similar to that concerning the Specialized Tarmac SL7 and Tarmac SL8.

In this instance, I’d only suggest upgrading if you don't need to worry about the price.

If you're looking to buy a premium race machine of the money-no-object kind, the TCR Advanced SL 0 should be at the top of your shopping list, alongside the Tarmac SL8, Cannondale SuperSix Evo and, potentially, the ENVE Melee.