Just in: Giant TCR Advanced 3

I'm in Singapore and been riding for about 5 years after I was advised to do non-impact exercise. I thus elected for cycling over swimmming. It was great advice as I very much enjoy cycling although more for exercise and fitness.

My Giant TCR Advanced 2 bought in 2010, introduced me to carbon fiber bicycling and after my Trek 1200c aluminum frame, it took me to the next level of cycling. I loved every minute riding on it and always looked forward to my next ride. I had read in detail Road CC's review on my Giant and found it accurate and informative - good review Road cc!

However my world came crashing down after I sent my Giant bicycle for a routine service – this was about 9 months after buying it. My mechanic found a crack on the seat post tube and it was traced to poor tightening of the seat to the tube so whenever I hit a bump, the inner part of the seat tube would hit the seat tube casing. Eventually after many rides (I guess hundreds of kms if not more),a crack developed and I was strongly advised by the local Giant agent not to ride any more on it. It is now under claim against Giant who initially rejected it as they viewed it as not a manufacturing defect which I agree but what I don’t agree to their rejection is that it is a design flaw as they should have ensured the seat tube construction should have been properly designed to account for this.

Going forward and to save the other components fitted on my Giant TCR Advanced 2 bicycle, I cannibalized it and had it fitted to a Specailized Allex aluminum frame. You know what! I ride faster on it than on my Giant. It is also even faster in many respects than my other Specialized bicycle which is a Roubaix SL3. OK I must admit I bought as a Xmas present for myself. That said, the Allez can’t beat the buttery smoothness of my Roubaix which I use for my longer rides.

The quick release on your brakes isn't done up

Bought a 2012 TCR Advanced 2 in January. It was the only stock bike in my price range that came through with full Ultegra + the optional standard crank and 12/25 cassette. I'm in Florida USA and we ride 12 months. I'm a flatlander so a standard crank is for me. I immediately jumped to the head of the class with my regular crew. My pulls are longer and my sprints are stronger.The bike is fast,responsive,quite, and comfortable.
The 1st problem was the rear tire exploded at the kevlar bead at approx.50 miles. Not only did the shop owner hand me a new tire but Giant came through with a set of tires free. I managed to shred the 2nd Giant rear tire within 200 miles. The tires are front and rear specific, I've got +2000 miles on the front, trouble free. You may want to upgrade the tires. The stem screws do work themselves loose but after torquing them to the proper NM things stayed tight. Some of the screw locations are marked with their proper torque settings, when in doubt start with 4nm, Giant makes a really nice torque key. The seat post was creaky until I shot a little silicon lube onto it,creak gone. The bike wasn't shifting to my satisfaction so I had the bike shop guy look at it, problem solved by cleaning and tugging on the derailleur cable, but it came back. The cable had frayed and spiraled back into the tube that carrys it and wiped it out smack dab under the BB. Until Giant can send a new tube my mechanic cut away the bad section of tube and replaced the cable. Quite the job. While he was at it he judges that the rear derailleur should have a bit more movement, and so he is asking Giant for a warranty replacement. The bike shifts better than ever even with the broken tube. My mechanic is a meticulous fellow and really glad I bought the bike from the local shop. Also a big hi five goes out to Giant for standing behind their products.

I have the TCR advanced frame from 2010, built up with Campag Chorus and Ambrosio/Record wheels. Very nice bike to ride, I would buy another one tomorrow, preferably the TCR Advanced SL with Record groupset.

I like it, except the colour... damn.

Can I ask what owners think of it comfort wise?

I have this bike. Bought as an upgrade from a (stolen) Cannondale Synapse, and I am very pleased with it. I haven't noticed any loosening of the headset bolt and the black plastic disk was removed before I left the shop. It will mainly be trained on and raced over long distance triathlons this summer and whilst I was at first considering a wheel upgrade to race on, the Giant wheels that come with the package seem to be doing the job so I may not bother.

I have the 2012 TCR Advanced 2 - which looks to be an Ultegra version of the 105 fitted to the '3' - but all the other parts are the same as far as I can tell. I'm well impressed with the bike - a totally different experience to my aluminium Lapierre (which has since been put to good use by my son!).

The black plastic disk between the cassette and the spokes is just plain ugly. It's on my bike at the moment, but once I need to change my cassette, the disk will be consigned to the same circular filing cabinet used to store the bell that was taken off the bike the day I bought it. Secondly, the headset bolt has needed to be tightened twice in one month - anybody else experience the same thing?

The wheels feel pretty stiff and quite responsive, but I have noticed that the front is slightly out of true ... no biggie. They'll do fine for now until I can convince Her Indoors that they would make my son's bike go so much better, giving me the perfect excuse to buy something else.

The internal cable routing is pretty neat and tidy. The RideSense sensor works really well with my Garmin. Just don't be a numpty like me by wasting a half hour adjusting the wheel and cadence magnets wondering why nothing seems to work .... you have to take the sensor out and then remove the plastic seal over the battery. Problem sorted.

I do like the aero seatpost aesthetically speaking, even if it means that my existing rear light bracket won't fit to it. An easy tradeoff and nothing to complain about.

I'll be doing a few time trials on the bike, and the bars can accommodate a set of clip-ons quite easily without having to cut off any bar tape.

Now all I need are a decent pair of legs to complete the package.

Giant uses a lower-spec carbon fibre for the 'Composite' frames. A TCR Composite frame weighs less than a TCR aluminum frame and more than a TCR Advanced frame.

my medium weighs just under 8.5 kg

Lovely, i'd love to know if there is any real ride difference between the Advanced and the Composite which i'm after.

Any information on weight? I'd love to know how much a large with the full rig weighs.