Change from Giant TCR SL to KTM Revelator??

So I bought this Giant TCR SL (alloy) last year and been racing it recently:

Then I bought a KTM Revelator (3300 colours) frame with the intention of swapping over the bits. When it came to it tonight, I just couldn’t get enthusiastic about it, despite some good reviews online. I think the KTM might be a bit smoother out on potholed roads, rather than a smooth race circuit and also a better bet for the Etape in July. But like I say, no real enthusiasm to build it up, just feels like generic carbon despite seeming like a good idea at the time.

The frame is like this:

So should I bother? Or just sell the KTM?

Giant have been making amazing alu frames for 20 years and the tcr is the best they have made. Keep it if i where you…

Thats what I was thinking. The TCR SL frame is supposedly only just over 1kg for the medium.

Race that TCR to within an inch of it’s life! It’s a race bike with a fine pedigree. I bought a used Alloy SL before they reissued the version you have as I was worried about crashing something new. It was lighter than my too-nice-to-race-then-stolen Ti Merlin. When you reach 3rd Cat, upgrade it to a nice carbon race frame (Giant Propel or Advanced SL).

Giant make excellent road/race bikes. Ask Marcel or Sep 😉

“When” I rach 3rd cat? That could be a very long time to wait on a new bike given current progress 😉

Anyone want a KTM Revelator frame going cheap 😉

TiRed – Can you tell the difference with those PSLR aero wheels on your Giant or are the benefits really too marginal?

*reach

When I bought the TCR it came with some generic Giant wheels of good quality. I upgraded to some lighter stiffer, used Kysrium SLs which did make a difference when racing – mainly in accelerations. I bought the Defy and upgraded the wheels to the aeros (because teh stock pslr-1’s were too similar to the Ksyriums). I’d like to say that they made a huge difference and I’m so much faster! They aren’t. I did notice that they are faster into headwinds, but a good sideways gust can push you off line until you get used to them.

Like a lot of Giant products; not the lightest, not the best looking but well made and very high performance. I really like them. Except my DT freehub has always been very noisy and sounds like a duck quacking in the bunch! I’ve seen at least three other racers on non-Giant bikes using them, which says a lot. They certainly make the bike looks fast. Here is the TCR with said wheels. I liked the juxtaposition of thin tubing and fat wheels.

For cheaper options, I noticed Sport Pursuit were selling some low profile wheels for about £650. I would always go with alloy brake surfaces because I like the braking and not swapping pads. I’ve only heard bad things about Zipp wheels (mainly from shops who have to repair them). Mavic wheels are also very robust – my Ksyriums have survived a RD in the spokes and some big potholes.

To be honest, if you are looking for a racing set of wheels, I’d go wit the cheap carbon/alloy rims and Novatech hubs. Or used Mavics. You will crash them eventually, and they will need repairing.

EDIT: Teen2’s Giant has similar wheels to yours, and about the same as my original TCR. You would notice the difference going to lighter stiffer wheels, but probably not aero vs. say Ksyriums. Some 1600g handbuilts would offer better durability for racing. See other threads.

Why not give the Revelator a try in your next race? You might be pleasantly suprised

Gaz
KTM MTB Racing (I’m not biased in any way, shape or form :roll:)

That’s actually a very good suggestion. There is no better way to see what really suits. I raced my Defy SL all last season in the Veterans racing (read: fast old men less likely to crash), then switched to the TCR for 4th Cat races. When I dinged the chainstay in a race I switched to Teen1’s Tiagra CAAD8 with my nicer forks, carbon bars and seatpost, ultegra shifters and aero wheels. It’s a good way to find what works for you.

I learned that the CAAD8 is a fantastic race frame which was stiffer than my TCR (perhaps not yours), I prefer carbon Ritchey ergo bars and the lighter shifting of Ultegra 6600. Geometry-wise, the three bikes are not far off.

TiRed, that photo is slightly out of date – its now got some Wheelsmith A23’s on it which came in at about 1500g according to my scales. Those Planet-X’s have gone on another bike.

I am getting drawn by some cheap deep section wheels but its pricey to get a reasonable weight and still get alloy brake tracks – for dependabe braking as you suggest.

I was about to get a set of Wheelsmith carbon alloy clinchers but he’s just stopped doing them.

Thanks Gaz….I may well now have to rather than sell it straight on ;-)…..it has had some good reviews….

I got the KTM because it had a slightly shorter top tube (10mm) and longer head tube (5mm), which was closer to a Trek 1.5 I had that got nicked before I started even thinking about racing. Really liked the Trek but its become a series of expensive ‘experiments’ since!

I’ve got another road bike that needs stripping down, so may well swap the bits across from that to the KTM and give it a trial.

its now got some Wheelsmith A23’s on

In that case you probably won’t notice much difference. I did measure about 20 watts difference in a race on my Propel compared with my Defy a week earlier, and the difference was wheels and frame (conditions were the same). But it is only one datapoint. I don’t notice much between wheels but have not really tried to measure in any accurate way.

Only just seen this…

Been riding a Revelator 3300 frame for a couple of months now (custom build with some decent parts), and have put probably 600 miles or so on it. It’s a great piece of kit!

You may also be surprised who makes the frame for KTM… Some of the detailing is a dead giveaway, but the compact geometry and seatstay/seatpost interface and the 1 1/8 to 1 1/4 (rather than to 1 1/2) head tube is a dead giveaway!!! 😉

Oh, weighed my frame before building it up… 980g on the nose for a 55cm. Whole bike is 7.5kg and that’s with run of the mill wheels etc. and cages and pedals on…

I’ve now got a very similar photo mboy!?

Cranks slipped and then shifter slipped on bars due to my shonky mechanic’ing so only done one chaingang and one crit on it so far. The crit did not go well but I think that was me, not the bike.

Seems smoother on crap road surfaces than the alloy Giant but can’t quite tell if its as stiff or immediate – or whether the bumps being muted is giving a false sense of softness – when actually its that oft marketed ‘stiff but comfortable’??

The frame came in a box saying “KTM – Made in China”??….

Ahhh….I just read up on the China Bicycle Company, Shenzen 😉 ….