How to upgrade a Giant TCR

Whyner

Howdy,

I’ve got GBP350 (work voucher) to blow, so was thinking of making my first upgrades to my first road bike. Not really sure where to start so I’ll list my current spec and my first thoughts.

Giant TCR Composite 1. Bought the bike second hand last year and it came with Ultegra wheelset and Time RXS pedals
Everything else is stock - full spec is here - https://www.giant-bicycles.com/_pdf/bikes/ireland/giantbicycles-75841-2014.giant.tcr.composite.1.pdf

I’m comfortable enough on 4+ hour spins but a bike fit might be wise if I start buying components which have various size options

Shimano Ultegra 6800 SPD-SL Pedals, £90
Shimano Ultegra 6800 Brake Caliper, £76
New saddle, no idea, £100???
New seatpost, no idea, hate the large white “GIANT”, £???
Another option is to add in a Castelli Perfetto jersey

Probably not for this purchase but what colour bar tape would look nice?

I'd prefer to get 4 or less items from Wiggle as don't want to be pain in the ass for HR

After a bike fit, do they tell you to go off and buy a e.g stem in the required size and you fit it yourself?.............or do they sell them and install them on the day?

Getting into Sportives and considering joining a club for racing next year.

nialljf

That bike is already well kitted out. It sounds like you'd be best off going for a bike fit and then deciding on component changes, such as saddle and stem. The comfort achieved on these points will be more appreciable for a sportive/club racer than, say, upgrading to Ultegra pedals or a lightweight carbon seatpost.

Tenzor07

Put some extra money onto that voucher and upgrade the wheels, the rest you just replace as they wear out... no need to change the seatpost, It's the "aero" shape anyway so quite specific to the Giant

Cee-Jay-Cee

The seat posts are giants own proprietary items and so it may be difficult to find an aftermarket and if you did find one it'll most likely have the makers name on it. If the 'Giant' bothers you then maybe try and remove it? A very fine grit sandpaper will remove it then buff the carbon up again with a polishing paste. It's a bit of work but very doable.

If you are comfortable on the current saddle then don't change it! You could spend €200 on a top of the range saddle and be uncomfortable. If it's not broke don't fix it.

rtmie

Your bike is a pretty decent spec. Normal first upgrade is wheels but you seem to already be a step up in stock wheels with ultegra so it will take well more than your budget to upgrade from what you have .

Are you having comfort issues ? What is reason for saddle change?

Maybe take a look at your clothing/accessories. Is it mostly summer stuff? Maybe invest in some winter gear. How good are your bib shorts - you could splash out on some upmarket ones? The great thing about cycling is there is so much more than just the bike to blow money on :-)

Miklos

It's a very well specced bike to begin with, a bike fit and a lightweight set of wheels and you'd be away in a hack.

A lot of bike fitters will sell you components to compliment the fit if a change needs to be made, the most common would be the stem, and I would imagine you could have them fitted there and then.

Whyner

nialljf wrote: »

That bike is already well kitted out. It sounds like you'd be best off going for a bike fit and then deciding on component changes, such as saddle and stem.

Will looking into booking one asap and see how that goes

Cee-Jay-Cee wrote: »

The seat posts are giants own proprietary items and so it may be difficult to find an aftermarket and if you did find one it'll most likely have the makers name on it. If the 'Giant' bothers you then maybe try and remove it? A very fine grit sandpaper will remove it then buff the carbon up again with a polishing paste. It's a bit of work but very doable.

If you are comfortable on the current saddle then don't change it! You could spend €200 on a top of the range saddle and be uncomfortable. If it's not broke don't fix it.

Will look into the sandpaper jobby, on the bother scale it would be 2/10

rtmie wrote: »

Your bike is a pretty decent spec. Normal first upgrade is wheels but you seem to already be a step up in stock wheels with ultegra so it will take well more than your budget to upgrade from what you have .

Are you having comfort issues ? What is reason for saddle change?

Maybe take a look at your clothing/accessories. Is it mostly summer stuff? Maybe invest in some winter gear. How good are your bib shorts - you could splash out on some upmarket ones? The great thing about cycling is there is so much more than just the bike to blow money on :-)

I've never had another saddle so I've nothing to compare it to. The wardrobe is taking shape. Have one pair of dhb tights and 2 decent pair of shorts, just got some castelli endurance, others are Rivelo Hoinister. Was trying to avoid clothes so I wouldn't have to return anything but I guess that could happen even with pedals. The original options were Mont Blanc pens and fancy wallets so Ive done well to get away from that anyway. Not retiring any time soon

Miklos wrote: »

It's a very well specced bike to begin with, a bike fit and a lightweight set of wheels and you'd be away in a hack.

A lot of bike fitters will sell you components to compliment the fit if a change needs to be made, the most common would be the stem, and I would imagine you could have them fitted there and then.

A bike fit it is.

I'm surprised at the reasonable and logical responses :pac::pac:

Daroxtar

I'll second or third the praise of the Ultegra wheels. They're as good as you'll get unless you want to spend double the money. They're tubeless compatible so you could make the switch to tubeless tyres to reduce rolling resistance and increase comfort.
Bike fit is a definite, I thought I was fairly good on my bike but a proper Retul bikefit made a huge difference to my cycling.

Another option you could look at if you're thinking of racing is buying a decent turbo for training during the winter months.

Or decent winter bibs, base layer, jacket, gloves and over shoes so you can get out in all weather.

Or bling... Carbon bottle cages, KMC SL DLC chain, oversized jockey wheels, Titanium skewers... All guaranteed to make you faster

07Lapierre

Leave the bike as it is. Buy a Garmin 520

rtmie

This! Bundle with sensors for £300 on wiggle.

07Lapierre wrote: »

Leave the bike as it is. Buy a Garmin 520

Whyner

07Lapierre wrote: »

Leave the bike as it is. Buy a Garmin 520

There's one on the bike in the pic. Savage piece of kit

rtmie

Would there be nothing to be said for buying another bike? :-)

funnights74

Whyner wrote: »

There's one on the bike in the pic. Savage piece of kit

Terrific bike, as said before its well kitted out so nothing major needed. The best bang for your buck is a good bike fit. You won't believe the difference it makes. If your happy with the Garmin fair enough but I got fed up with the poor battery life so I went for the Wahoo elemnt bolt awhile back and it's terrific. It doesn't have the bling features of the Garmin but plenty of data fields and the battery life is rock solid.

07Lapierre

Whyner wrote: »

There's one on the bike in the pic. Savage piece of kit

Well spotted! I was too busy looking at the way the bike was put leaning against a pole by its crossbar!