Anyone riding a 2011 or 2012 Giant TCX?

PaddyUTC+8

I'm looking at a Giant TCX as an all purpose bike, mainly audax and sportive types of rides on mixed roads, but I'm a bit in between sizes (S and M). It's also very hard to find a size M here in Taiwan because riders tend to go for smaller bikes.

I noticed that in 2011 Giant seemed to have changed to a taller seat tube and shorter toptube (perhaps more racing oriented?) geometry.

I'm a bit over 177cm with a 83cm cycling inseam (crotch to floor). I've generally found 54cm road bikes to be comfortable but 53's to be a bit cramped. I like a 54.5 - 55.5 cm top tube generally, depending on head tube height/angle and seat tube angle. So do I go down to the S (53) and risk having a bit of a 'racer's drop' or do I go up a size and have a bike that's a bit tall for me?

I should be able to handle the 55cm seat tube if I lower the seat a bit but I'm worried about standover. 80.5 standover seems like it would be VERY snug, perhaps too snug for a dismount on uneven surfaces?

So, 2011 or newer TCX riders, what's your dimensions and what size did you go with? How is your standover?

turnerjohn

wouldn't larger volumn tyres be a better / cheaper alternative ?
From what I remember the TCX doesn't have lugs for racks or mudguards so your limited. Its a very good cyclo-cross bike but I'm wondering if you really need a cyclo-cross bike as opposed to a strong road bike. If your doing sportives / touring the lighter faster road bike will come as a welcome bonus.

PaddyUTC+8

turnerjohn wrote:

wouldn't larger volumn tyres be a better / cheaper alternative ?
From what I remember the TCX doesn't have lugs for racks or mudguards so your limited. Its a very good cyclo-cross bike but I'm wondering if you really need a cyclo-cross bike as opposed to a strong road bike. If your doing sportives / touring the lighter faster road bike will come as a welcome bonus.

To make a long story short, CX and touring bikes are almost impossible to come by in Taiwan. My only requirements are drop bars and the ability to take 700x35c tires. Eyelets are strongly desired but not a deal-breaker.

While the TCX-1 and Advanced lack eyelets, the lower spec'd TCX-2 and TCX-3 models do in fact have rack eyelets on the seat-stay and fender eyelets down low. The TCX-3 is dirt cheap here too, I can get a new one for 377 GBP. I can then still afford to shave some weight off by replacing the wheels and upgrading the gruppo to 105 or Apex.

So I'm cool there, just worried more about the geometry.