SeanMiles said:

Is anyone else getting the new TCR? Thoughts in general? Probably going to order it pretty soonish as I'm pretty bikeless at the moment

Tried it out at InterBike.  It rode pretty well--comfier than I would have guessed from sitting on the saddle and looking at the downtube.  A bit more fast-turning then my CaaD 10, but still fairly stable.  And, yes, it's stiff and light.  

I'm intrigued by the aluminum version as well.

meh... I saw one at Ride yesterday and it's pretty slick and seems like a solid bike, but nothing inspiring. I would choose it over the Propel if it came down to that because I like hassle free brakes.

For me our discount could make up for any lack of inspiration.

vlad said:

meh... I saw one at Ride yesterday and it's pretty slick and seems like a solid bike, but nothing inspiring. I would choose it over the Propel if it came down to that because I like hassle free brakes.

FWIW I've had zero issues with the brakes on my Propel.

I rode a TCR SL a couple of years back and it was a really great ride. It was very direct when turning (which I happen to like). I almost pulled the trigger and bought one in the Rabo Orange/Blue getup, but I got caught up in the aero bike craze and the Propel was not yet available and so I ended up going elsewhere. 
Of the 4 most prevalent large-scale manufacturers I still have a leaning towards Giant so If I were in the market now I would probably look no further than the TCR.

Stem choice may be a limiting factor. Giant have their own, including a very nice integrated setup; Ritchey have the 4-axis, and I believe (shimano) Pro also have suitable stems, but other than that nada.

when is giant going to have non-endurance road bikes with disc brakes, a la caad12 disc ultegra?  what's the Defy like?  does anyone race them?

Test road the Advance 1 with Ultegra (small - my size) several weeks ago. Impressed by how light, solid and responsive it is -and that was the bottom third tier TCR . A true racing geometry, but felt quite comfortable, though didn't ride it beyond 30 miles.

Was in Red Beard the other day, they were just building an Advanced Pro 0 - medium. I think Ilya said it would be available for a test ride. My TCR order is in.

I am not sure when I can or want to order one. But the TCR is high on the list for my next road bike -- in fact the only other bike in that list is probably the Van Dessel Hellafaster. Very different bikes. But love aspects of both.

Hmmm...okay, so no one had any opinions on the Ridley. What about this bad boy?

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10206551483457654&set=gm.481634928681787&type=1&theater

just offer $1200 and buy it. It'll be the hotness.

I think cannondale recommends sizing down from their road bikes to their cross bikes, but considering the stack you have under your road stem, you probably don't need to.

brakes are meh.  wheels are meh.  And 10-speed?  There are still parts around, but it will get harder to source.

I think geometry is only slightly tweaked from my 2007 frameset. And I'm pretty happy with mine.  

JP what size is your 'dale cx frame?

mugwump said:

I think cannondale recommends sizing down from their road bikes to their cross bikes, but considering the stack you have under your road stem, you probably don't need to.

brakes are meh.  wheels are meh.  And 10-speed?  There are still parts around, but it will get harder to source.

I think geometry is only slightly tweaked from my 2007 frameset. And I'm pretty happy with mine.  

Ahh, took out the measuring tape to my current cross rig. Yeah, that standover is like 2cm higher than my Jake the Snake. And I don't exactly have a lot of breathing room on the Snake. Well, that makes that decision easy. Thanks for the feedback everyone!

Marc, Have you considered the Giant TCX2?
http://www.shutuplegs.org/long-term-ride-review-giant-tcx-slr-2/

#clubsponsor #discounted #marcbertucco ####

JohnMalcolmson said:

Marc, Have you considered the Giant TCX2?
http://www.shutuplegs.org/long-term-ride-review-giant-tcx-slr-2/

#clubsponsor #discounted #marcbertucco ####

Yeah, going with a Giant makes a lot of sense. I should check in with Redbeard. In the meanwhile I will continue to enter every raffle at every cross race I go to...haha.

I think if you're going to buy a new cyclocross bike with disc brakes, it is worth it to pay more and get the hydraulic disc brakes instead of mechanical ones.  Which would make your option the TCX ADvanced Pro 2 (http://www.giant-bicycles.com/en-us/bikes/model/tcx.advanced.pro.2/22186/84005/#specifications)

Or see if Redbeard can fit some hydraulics to the TCX SLR 2 for some kind of discounted price based on the fact that they'd get to keep the shiny new shifters and brakes that came with the bike.

Yeah, I've heard not good things about the non-hydraulic disc brakes. This may only make sense to me and my wife, but, if I can't get a cheap very high quality used rig (not looking to upgrade my current bike, "a little") then I've got my eye on the baddest-ass brand new rig from Giant. This is a move that was set up a few years ago when I bought a lower-end road bike than I really wanted.

We'll see though. It still makes more sense for me to spend my money going racing. That's ultimately what it's all about. Of course, I could spend January/February weekends picking up extra shifts in the ER. But that's less family time (which is the best time).

Anyway, appreciate all the interesting feedback.

The geometry of the new TCX makes it hard to shoulder comfortably in my humble opinion especially if you are a big dude. 

you mileage will vary

JohnMalcolmson said:

Marc, Have you considered the Giant TCX2?
http://www.shutuplegs.org/long-term-ride-review-giant-tcx-slr-2/

#clubsponsor #discounted #marcbertucco ####

Don't do the TCX2.  I hemmed and hawed about this bike purchase for a while and went the cheap route and have been regretting it since.  You've got to go with the TCX Advanced Pro 2--hydraulic brakes and much better wheels.  Oh and carbon, which is always better.  My mechanical disc Spyre-C brakes are hardly there even after hours of finagling by Redbeard.  Having ridden Patrick and Jeff's Sram Hydro setups, I would say there is no question that you should get hydraulic disc for cross. 
 

I test rode the TCR Advanced today. A nice ride and very responsive. Thanks @Redbeard

Brendan Rigby said:

I think if you're going to buy a new cyclocross bike with disc brakes, it is worth it to pay more and get the hydraulic disc brakes instead of mechanical ones.  Which would make your option the TCX ADvanced Pro 2 (http://www.giant-bicycles.com/en-us/bikes/model/tcx.advanced.pro.2/22186/84005/#specifications)

Or see if Redbeard can fit some hydraulics to the TCX SLR 2 for some kind of discounted price based on the fact that they'd get to keep the shiny new shifters and brakes that came with the bike.

I would never ever ever ever ever ever waste my good money on non-hydro disc brakes. Look at all other mature disc brakes in any other sport. We all already know the answer to this question. Canti or hydro are the only options I would consider (and only canti if I could save big bucks.)

Jeffrey White said:

Brendan Rigby said:

I think if you're going to buy a new cyclocross bike with disc brakes, it is worth it to pay more and get the hydraulic disc brakes instead of mechanical ones.  Which would make your option the TCX ADvanced Pro 2 (http://www.giant-bicycles.com/en-us/bikes/model/tcx.advanced.pro.2/22186/84005/#specifications)

Or see if Redbeard can fit some hydraulics to the TCX SLR 2 for some kind of discounted price based on the fact that they'd get to keep the shiny new shifters and brakes that came with the bike.

I would never ever ever ever ever ever waste my good money on non-hydro disc brakes. Look at all other mature disc brakes in any other sport. We all already know the answer to this question. Canti or hydro are the only options I would consider (and only canti if I could save big bucks.)

If Giant is selling bikes with brakes that don't work, they've got a serious problem. 

Interestingly Roadcc and cxmag liked the spyres, and cyclingnews liked the modulation.  

http://road.cc/content/review/90569-trp-spyre-mechanical-disc-brake
http://www.cxmagazine.com/review-trp-spyre-dual-piston-mechanical-disc-brake
http://www.cyclingnews.com/features/trp-spyre-road-disc-brake-first-ride-review/

Maybe a different pad and/or rotor could make a real difference in performance.  As the Spyre pads are designed around the Deore pad standard, finding compatible pads should be easy.  Shimano, Kool-Stop, and SwissStop are all options.

Here's the organic SwissStop you'll need.   They have a sintered, too.  http://www.swissstop.ch/discbrakes/disc15/organic/

Maybe the Hy/Rd are the better bet rather than spending the mint for the top bike.

http://www.cyclingnews.com/reviews/trp-hy-rd-road-disc-brakes-first-ride-review/

Considering that many top racers who can choose which braking system they use are often back on cantilevers (notice Powers on them?), I find the assertion that canti's are the lesser system premature at best.  

I am 99% convinced that it is total marketing rubbish.  I spoke to a bud who works at Specialized.  He said that in 2014 they had their annual marketing meeting about company strategy and they were told that the US market is much more open/interested in disks than in Europe so they would emphasize massively disks on all their bikes here and not so much in Europe.  There was absolutely no mention whatsoever of watts saved, braking improvement, aerodynamics or whatever.  No reason for any of the disk stuff other than marketing/PR/product dissemination.

If the disks were 'better'- Spesh (and others) would push it across the board.
If the disks were 'better'- they would have ANY data to show it (note: Spesh is the company that built their own wind tunnel to be able to say that "our bike is X watts better than this bike")
If disks were 'better'- there would be no debate, they would just be incorporated (like aero wheels, skinsuits, aero helmets etc.)

Fact is, brakes that are caliper, canti or disk all work well.  Take your pick.  I ride both disk and caliper.  Whatevs, they both stop my bikes and on both systems I lock out the wheel and skid before the brake itself becomes an issue (as in terms of power).

Agree with JP.  There's no real evidence to say disks offer anything over the other options.  As evidenced by people literally picking and choosing between that system and the other options.  Right now, I guess the decision is based on cost/can you be fucked to bleed your brakes/weight/aerodynamics.  Probably not much braking consideration to consider in this brake discussion.

Adam, I remember when quill stems were disappearing and my favorite mechanic kind of said the same things about it just being a marketing game. It's probably not directly/exactly comparable, BUT in general, I do think we'd be hard pressed to find any goods industry that doesn't feel pressure to "innovate" or change things to keep things appearing fresh and new. Even if we don't need/want it.

FWIW I bled my brakes the other weekend (for diagnostic purposes trying to fix something that turned out to be a bad QR) and found it to be less or the same amount of work as replacing cables.  Unlike replacing cables, I didn't have to undo any handlebar tape, which is one of my least favorite things to do in life.  I hate removing handlebar tape.  I have SRAM, which requires syringes to bleed, but bleeding Shimano brakes is stupid easy.  If I recall correctly, you take off two screws and pour the mineral oil into a cup that fits into the brake hood.  You don't even need a syringe.  The bleed kit is literally a little plastic cup.  What a great idea!

But I think that replacing hydraulic brake cables (which you basically only have to do when they get cut by accident?) would suck.  Apparently you have to do some weirdness to the cable ends to install them into the housings.  Barbs and olives.  Sounds Roman.

I'll let you guys know, but I wouldn't be surprised if hydraulic brakes require less maintenance.  The inside of the lines don't contaminate like exposed cables do.  Then again, one must keep the rotor clean of grease.  Then again, you must do that to any braking surface.   Oh gosh, now even I'm not sure which brakes I want!