The life and times of a second hand Giant TCR2 bike

I brought this bike secondhand in 2012 for competing in small triathlons and riding on the road. It’s a circa 2002 Giant TCR2 which is similar to the Giant OCR1 I had a few years earlier.

The difference between the OCRs and the TCRs is geometry. The TCRs place the rider in a somewhat more agressive position and are designed for faster more agressive riding. The OCRs have a slightly taller head tube and place the rider in a more upright position.

The TCR has a stronger frame than the Giant OCR, which tended to flex a bit at high speed, because of the carbon fibre seat stays on the back end of the frame.

All this makes for a bike thats pretty stable going flat out down hill and the fastest I’ve got out of it so far is about 70k’s an hour (43MPH). I even took a photo..

It has mostly shimano 105 components, most of which was pretty worn out when I got it and I’ve replaced the chain, cassette, gear change cables, etc since I’ve had it.

It was common ten years ago to use narrow 23c tyres, which I think made it faster but at the expense of comfort. In those days I used to do small distance triathlons.

Nowadays, I ride between cafes and I’m running wider 25c tyres with less air pressure to give it a nicer ride.

One of it’s oddities is that someone had converted the back wheel to a 10 spd from a 9 spd at some point, which means the whole back wheel isn’t standard equipment for the bike.
I’m quite glad about this as my last 9 speed bike never had an ideal gear for me when riding on a dead flat road.

It’s starting to get warmer here down under (New Zealand), so even with the present lockdown, I’m getting out on it quite often.

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