Giant TCX SLR 1

Giant's TCX SLR 1 is a well-specced and very fine handling cyclo-cross bike. It's ideally suited to anyone looking to take up 'cross racing this winter, where the fast and stable handling is right at home on a tight and twisty course, but it's equally at home as a rugged winter/commuter bike for predominantly road use.

Giant is the world's largest bicycle manufacturer and it is one of the companies that has really got behind disc brakes, first on cyclo-cross bikes but also more recently on its updated Defy endurance road bike range.

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Giant also has the honour of having one of its sponsored racers being the first to win a UCI Cyclo-cross World Cup race on a disc-equipped bike, proving that disc brakes can cut it at the pointy end of the sport, even if they are still outnumbered by bikes with cantilever brakes. It's a different story in the amateur ranks, where disc brakes are proving very popular.

Half a monkey above a grand, this TCX SLR 1 offers an aluminium frame, carbon fibre fork with 15mm thru-axle, Shimano 105 groupset and TRP Spyre mechanical disc brakes. The finishing kit is Giant branded, and the Maxxis tyres are suitable for a British winter of mud.

Ride and handling

For a bike that shares DNA with a cyclo-cross world cup winning bike, it's no surprise that the TCX SLR 1 has very race-focused handling. It's fast and nimble around a typical cyclo-cross race course packed with tight corners and hairpin turns. On the flip side, when the course opens up and the speeds increase, it's composed and very stable, especially when rattling over bumpy fields and rough tracks.

The geometry is very similar to the Specialized Crux I recently tested, but the Giant has a smidgen longer wheelbase and chainstays. That slight difference lends the Giant more stability at higher speeds or when descending slippery slopes, and makes it feel a bit easier to ride.

Aluminium provides a high level of stiffness and it's well suited to cyclo-cross. The demands of a typical 'cross course require lots of sudden accelerations from low speeds, and the last thing you want is a frame twisting and flexing under load. The TCX sprints aggressively and authoritatively out of low-speed corners, and the front end, with the tapered head tube, carbon fork and 15mm thru-axle, feels taut when you're heaving heavily on the handlebar.

Giant's D-shaped composite seatpost, the D-Fuse, along with a seat clamp integrated into the top tube to provide more exposed post, provides noticeable deflection when bumping and grinding along a rough track. It's not a chalk and cheese difference, but you do notice it on firmer ground with higher tyre pressures. It's subtle but welcome vibration absorption.

Giant recognises that a lot of people buy a cyclo-cross bike for the ruggedness that makes them ideally suited to winter road training and commuting. There's certainly clearance for mudguards, and eyelets on the rear dropouts. It'll even take a rack with an adaptor supplied with the bike.

With a change of tyres (I opted for Panaracer's excellent Gravel King) the TCX makes a fine road bike. The gearing does limit top-end acceleration, but cruising along at 17-20mph is just fine. The TCX is comfortable on longer rides, and very steady on rougher roads or when negotiating steep and leaf-covered country lanes.

The mechanical disc brakes don't provide the same power as hydraulics, but they work adequately in a range of conditions. Best of all, whether it's cyclo-cross racing or road riding, the brakes aren't as easily fouled by rain and mud as rim brakes. The huge clearance between tyre and frame is ideal for tackling mud-covered lanes as well.

Frame and equipment

I have to admit, the TCX is a really good looking bike. It's a bit of a love it/hate it paint job, though it does grow on you, but the shape of the tube profiles, from the oversized and flattened down tube to the slender top tube and the clean seat tube junction, creates a particularly eye-catching profile. It looks purposeful, as a cyclo-cross bike should do.

The frame is made from Giant's own ALUXX SLR triple butted aluminium and it's joined up front by a composite carbon fork, including a carbon steerer tube. The tapered steerer tube is Giant's OverDrive 2, which features a 1 1/4in top and 1 1/2in bottom bearing. That means none of your own 1 1/8in stems will fit, but the benefit, according to the company, is a 30 per cent increase in torsional stiffness. Tricky to assess that difference in real-world testing, though, and it's telling that Giant has since dropped OverDrive 2 from some of its latest mountain bikes.

The Giant uses a thru-axle of 15mm diameter while some other manufacturers are going down the 12mm thru-axle route – which some propose is going to become a universal specification on future disc brake road bikes. Giant has stopped short of using a rear thru-axle.

Gear and brake cables are neatly routed inside the down tube, which helps prevent the cables fouling in really muddy conditions – and protects them from the jetwash... The front brake cable is routed externally along the rear of the carbon fork. It's not as pretty as being routed inside the fork, but does offer easy maintenance.

You get two bottle cage mounts – ideal if it's being used for longer adventures or road rides – and an adaptor for a rack makes it ideal for turning into a commuting or off-road touring bike. There's stacks of clearance around the tyres at the fork and stays for mudguards, and you could comfortably go a bit wider if you wanted.

The seat clamp is integrated into the top tube. Two bolts at the rear of the clamp secure the seat post into place, and it's easy to adjust. The carbon fibre D-Fuse seatpost, already mentioned above, is pivotal to the design of the TCX platform, and the SLR1 shares it with the more expensive models in the range. The idea of the integrated clamp is to provide more seatpost extension, which in turn means an increase in the amount it can deflect.

Giant's P-X2 aluminium clincher rims with 6-bolt disc hubs rolling on sealed bearings proved plenty stiff enough for battling through the woods or sprinting along the road, and durability from the bearings has been good. Spoke tension, on a bike designed to take a battering, has remained satisfactory throughout the test period. They're certainly not the lightest or fanciest wheels, but they work reliably and won't let you down.

Tyres are the defining feature of a cyclo-cross bike. The 33mm Maxxis Mud Wrestler tyres are a really smart choice, given that most potential customers will be buying in the winter when most trails and cyclo-cross races are going to involve a fair amount of mud and slop. It's a 60tpi (threads per inch) tyre with a weight of around 390g, and the tread pattern, when run at low pressures, provides pretty good traction in the mud.

The centre of the tread almost forms a continuous zone to ride on, and it offered reasonably good rolling speeds without too much buzz at higher speeds on the road. In the mud, the tyres clear quite well and don't clog badly in the thickest gloop. Regular road riding might demand a slicker tyre (as I said, I fitted Panaracer Gravel King tyres for some of the test period).

The transmission is a combination of Shimano 105 (shifters/levers, front mech and 11-28 cassette), Ultegra (rear mech), and a 36/46 Shimano RS500 chainset. Single ring drivetrains might have become popular recently on cyclo-cross bikes, but there are few 1x choices at this point in the market, and the available spread of gear ratios with the double chainset worked just fine for cyclo-cross and bashing out the road miles.

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The brakes are the excellent TRP Spyre mechanical discs, with 160mm rotors. They're among the best cable-actuated disc brakes on the market and provide a very reassuring feel at the lever, but they do lack the power of a good hydraulic setup. They are easy to set up, though, with no bleeding required, and they work reliably in cruddy conditions. They needed no attention during testing.

Giant's own-brand saddle was comfortable, with generous padding and an agreeable shape. Likewise the compact shaped handlebar, made from aluminium, with comfortable bar tape. The stem was a touch on the short side for my reach preferences, and isn't easily changed because of the larger diameter steerer tube. I'm sure a Giant dealer will happily oblige in swapping the stem length if you need.

Conclusion

The only potentially offputting thing about the TCX SLR 1 is the paint job, which divided opinion on the small poll I conducted. It does grow on you, though, and looks better with a bit of mud and dirt splattered over the frame and wheels.

Regardless of its appearance, the TCX SLR 1 is a highly competent cyclo-cross bike that will meet the needs of someone wanting to take up 'cross racing this winter, or likes the idea of a cyclo-cross bike for winter road miles or commuting. With just a change of tyres it can be transformed into a pleasingly versatile bike.

Verdict

A highly competent aluminium disc brake cyclo-cross bike with a lot going for it – aside, maybe, from the paint job