Giant TCR advanced pro 1 25 or Specialized Tarmac SL8 expert 25

chippie_chappie
chippie_chappie Posts: 30
in Road buying advice

Which if these two bikes are the best? I am looking for a second road bike as im fed up with having to do long road rides with the club on a mountain bike every time my road bike has to go in to the shop to have something done leaving me without a road bike.

Comments

  • molteni_man
    molteni_man Posts: 461

    Hi. I have just bought a Giant TCR Advanced Pro 1 in the Giant sale. I did a lot of research before committing but the TCR ticked all the boxes of things I wanted. It came with 105 Di2 ( a revelation!), 36mm carbon wheels which were the size I wanted, an inbuilt power meter. Also set up tubeless ready to go. Most importantly, it is a great bike to ride with a lovely racy feel, great handling and is just fun to ride. It was a really good price for the spec - still available on the Giant UK website.

    I’d never really considered Giant before, but a visit to a local Giant/ Liv store to get a gravel bike for my wife ( Liv Devote) made me much more aware of the brand and the quality.

    I can’t wait to get out on it for a third ride - waiting for the rain to pass!. When I tested the bike I didn’t find the short Giant saddle comfortable and have now swapped it out for a Fizik Antares which I have always liked. Some people love these shorter saddles, but was definitely too wide for me…. if you do try a test ride on a TCR don’t be put off by this aspect!

    I’ve just sold a Tarmac SLR 5, but don’t have experience of the SL8. A friend has one and he loves it. For me, it was ultimately about the amount of kit you get with the Giant in the current sale that swung it for me.

    Hope helps a bit - good luck with it - think both are excellent bikes!

  • slowmart
    slowmart Posts: 4,516

    Tarmac will hold a better residual value based on the same maintenance regime which helps mitigate the lack of value compared to the Giant.


    The giant has a press fit bottom bracket which may be a problem but easily changed when the time comes or if the need arises.


    personally I’d buy the bike which makes you want to ride more. Nothing else really matters. It really doesn’t.

    “Give a man a fish and feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and feed him for a lifetime. Teach a man to cycle and he will realize fishing is stupid and boring”

    Desmond Tutu
  • trevor.hall12
    trevor.hall12 Posts: 474

    SL 8 ,the quality of the frame and as above they have moved to threaded bb

  • molteni_man
    molteni_man Posts: 461
    https://forum.bikeradar.com/discussion/13130715/giant-tcr-advanced-pro-1-25-or-specialized-tarmac-sl8-expert-25

    Always great to get an update/ get some feedback from the OP!

  • chippie_chappie
    chippie_chappie Posts: 30

    The thing putting me off with Giant TCR advanced pro 1/0 is the hookless wheels which is a bit of a deal breaker for me. I have read bad things about them with tyres blowing off and stuff and as somebody has said the SL8 has the threaded bottom bracket which I find very appealing also it has Ultegra di2 so I’m leaning towards the Specialized Tarmac SL8 expert 2025 model now but I’m going to wait until about May 2025 by which time I’m hoping the 2026 bikes will be out and there will some excellent deals on the 2025 model.

  • molteni_man
    molteni_man Posts: 461

    Thanks for the update and good luck with the purchase whenever it happens! As noted by others, you won’t go wrong with the Tarmac for sure! BW

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