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| Giant TCR finished |
Without digging to far back, I started riding road bikes just in the last few years and originally all of the Ultegra components were installed on an aluminum frame Giant OCR, that I upgraded during a winter break.
Almost immediately a friend that rides with our group occasionally sees my upgrades and says ' too bad you didn't buy my TCR carbon frame'. Really? how much? he says $400. I say....sold!
So project TCR begins. I picked up the frame and a brand new carbon fork with carbon steerer from him and put all of the old components back on my OCR and sold it on Craigslist for more than I paid for the new frame.
The following photos showcase the parts and final build. Keep in mind that I bought the frame and fork and took all of the upgrades from my OCR build. So this is a complete ground up refresh with high end components. (well I high end as I was willing to put out). I have had it up to 37MPH on flat land and almost 50MPH downhill without so much as a twitch in the steering! Plus at a little over 18lbs, it's a wet dream to ride!
Okay, let's get started.
The bars are Ritchey WCS Pro carbon with a matching carbon stem. Keep in mind that the steerer tube is also carbon as well as the forks. Very comfortable to ride, bumps are highly damped since the resonant frequency of carbon is well above an aluminum frame bike.
Here is a nice shot of the Ritchey WCS carbon stem. The stem cap is a salsa aluminum simply to match the rest of the red accent pieces you will see in later photos. I also installed a Cane Creek IS8 Carbon headset.
Here is a full on front shot of the tapered head tube. Apparently it adds strength and reduces weight.
Next up is the Ritchey WCS carbon seat post. I was fortunate enough to get excellent close out prices on all of the Ritchey stuff, and it makes a nice looking set. Good stuff too.
Continuing down the frame are the swept back seat stays and down tube. The frame was in beautiful condition. No scratches or dings anywhere. I was lucky to get this deal, these frames normally go for $1000+ and that doesn't include the forks which are normally $400-$600!
I decided on Shimano Ultegra instead of the Dura Ace only because of price vs. performance. A little known fact is that this years Ultegra is last years Dura Ace. And the main difference is weight and in the case of my full Group (gruppo as the Italians call it) was less than 500 grams. That's not even 1/2 a pound. And almost twice the price. No thanks.
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| The rear derailleur chain pulleys were replaced with Enduro ceramic bearings and red anodized inserts |
The front chain rings are a triple set with
26/39/52 tooth rings. One thing I learned during my purchasing research is the Front Ultegra derailleur has to be large enough to pull the chain through the 13 tooth steps between the rings. They make a smaller one that wouldn't make the jump. I found that lesson out the hard way, but Universal cycles took care of it with no issues. Great place to buy from.
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| I added Kool Stop salmon pads front and rear. |
All of the components were Ultegra 6600 series matching components. Funny thing is, I purchased everything on the internet from several places, including EBay on the brake calipers. The front Brifters, (shifters and brake combos) were off EBay as well.
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| The bottom bracket (above) is an Enduro Ceramic with red anodized cups |
To finish it off I chose some Specialized Roval wheels with the tallest hubs I have ever seen! These wheels spin forever and with the Continental Gatorskins, they roll and roll and roll!
The QR levers are Salsa Titanium's with red anodized levers and nuts.
Well that's it. I Love riding this bike and it honestly makes me a better, faster rider than I have the talent for! I have ridden it with the Wolverines in Detroit and kept up with them at 25mph + all the way downtown and back. I couldn't have done that on any of my other bikes.
Thanks for reading. Please feel free to comment.
