Price Paid: $1600.00

Pros: Ultegra 10 speedCarbon fork & seat postupgraded shimano wheelstime pedals

Cons: funky handlingcompact geometrynot very uniqueexternally routed cables

After trashing my last bike (1998 TREK 5000), I went looking for a quality road bike that fit the best bang for the buck in the 1500 - 2000 range. I have always owned Treks but for the first time I wanted to try anything. So I took the Giant TCR1 on a two week 100+ miles test ride.

The TCR1 is a great bargain, other than Felt, no other company offers as much value as the Giant. The Ultegra 10 group is an incredible upgrade from my 105 8speed. The shifting was smooth as silk and the wide range of gears allows just about anyone to find their cadence no matter what route they ride. I liked the stiffness of the frame, you can stand and crank on the pedals with very little flex. I also really liked the wheels.

According to the shop, one of the bikes came in with damaged wheels and Giant sent the wheels for the TCR 1 Composite as replacements. Basically a $200 upgrade for free. Giant also focuses on little details like a carbon seat post and a carbon bladed fork. Also this bike comes with time pedals, so for $1600, you're ready to roll.

Where the bike feel short is in the handling and fit. I suppose that some people are more likely to fit the compact geometry than me. My hands went numb about 20 miles into my last ride. I know that this could be from a wide variety of things but it didn't happen on my old Trek. And this was after the shop spent an hour fitting and adjusting the bike to fit me. This bike also seemed a little unstable at high speeds, though as I spent more time in the saddle I grew more comfortable with the handling. I'm always a little leery of companies that make only three frame sizes (S,M,L) and try to fit everyone to their bikes by switching out seat posts and handlebar stems. A frame should fit the rider, not vise-versa. I'm also not a fan of externally routed cables. I always seemed to catch my water bottle on the rear brake cable. Even my wife’s bike, 1994 Trek 2200, has the rear brake cable routed inside the frame.

Basically, I really like the bike. My only concern is that for the money I'm spending, you should love your bike. I didn’t find the it to be very unique. Sure it is a quality bike and deserves the attention of people shopping even in the $2000 price range. But, I approach buying a bike differently than I do most purchases in life. I drive a Toyota, work in a corporate job, live in a typical house, I don’t want to ride just another bike (no matter what value it may have). I want something unique and by looking at the sheer number of small bike manufactures out there (Cervelo, Kestrel, Colanago, Litespeed, Masi, etc) I’m not alone. After all, for some of us, just looking at it should inspire us to get off the couch and go for a ride.