Giant TCX rebuild/modifications

[Peter Salt]

Picked up what I think was a pretty good deal earlier today:



It's a 2012 Giant TCX cyclo-cross bike. Marked '3' which I think was the lowest spec; 'S' so my size. The owner had it from new, decided to part ways after a decade - older chap, looks like he did hardly any riding. No cable rub, no marks on chain stay protector, tyres and pads have no wear, cassette so shiny you can see your reflection, no marks on levers, original bar tape. Only thing giving it away is a nasty scar from a chain drop and a rear tyre fitted in the wrong direction.

The thing looks like it just rolled out of a bike shop. So naturally - I'm going to take it apart Intention is to rebuild with some parts I have lying around from when I was building my road bike. Budget: Ideally nothing.

Initial thoughts: Taking out the 19mm press fit BB will require some creativity and brute force. I'm not aware of any removal tools this small. Do I keep the Tektro brakes or fit road Ultegra - it will fit current tyres and the frame has the holes. Will the current band-on to braze-on converter take an Ultegra FD. Will the current wheel/freehub take 11-speed.

Comments and ridicule welcome. Any desirable old parts you see - send me an IM as it's likely I won't need them. A few more pics below.

















Progress posts:
1. One.
2. Two.
3. Three.
4. Four (done).

 

[dan_bo]

Nice bike.

 

[Cycleops]

An oldie but goodie.

 

[Peter Salt]

Enjoyed watching The Tour and dismantling the bike.

Great success with the BB.










Not only it's out, I've also managed not to destroy it - bearing still smmoth and whatnot. May list chainset along with the BB on fleabay as in really good condition. That revenue would go towards upgrades.







Bike now completely stripped, time for a full clean, then basic headset assembly and fitting a new old BB for a 24mm spindle. Just noticed that it came with a 420mm handlebars - really odd for a small frame. Will need to find something narrower.

 

[Peter Salt]

Slow Sunday.

New BB fitted, no dramas.



A few cosmetic improvements. Gloss seal and spacers replaced with spare satin ones to match the bike, Zipp QRs that I had leftover. Also seen the new old 11-speed cassette.





The braze on seat tube clamp will work, just added a small washer to the FD as the one included had the wrong shape.





Both derailleurs and cranks fitted.





Wheels. A bit of a story. Bearings on the front that came with the bike were shot - completely dry and a bit corroded. Decided to do a comparison to the Giant PR2 wheelset that I had. PR2s are not great but better than the CR51s in question. 300g lighter overall, marginally larger internal and external diameter as well as depth. And incidentally white and gray stickers that match the bike.

 

[SpokeyDokey]

I have one of these except it is TCX1 in equally mint condition and it is used as my turbo trainer bike.

The TCX1 came with TRP CX8.4 linear pull brakes as standard - maybe you can get these if you want to upgrade the brakes from the canti's that your bike has on. Great brakes especially when shod with some long Ashima blocks.

 

[Peter Salt]

I have one of these except it is TCX1 in equally mint condition and it is used as my turbo trainer bike.

The TCX1 came with TRP CX8.4 linear pull brakes as standard - maybe you can get these if you want to upgrade the brakes from the canti's that your bike has on. Great brakes especially when shod with some long Ashima blocks.

Thank you for this - I'm a bit clueless when it comes to CX components to be honest. The CX8.4 availability is scarce but the CX9 look equally good. I assume these would play nicely with Ultegra 6800 STI shifters? I was hoping to find Shimano Ultegra BR-CX70 - they would fit the rest nicely. BR-CX50 was option 'B'.

I have the Ultegra blocks.

[EDIT]: Just googled and looks like CX8.4 is for SRAM/Campi shifters and the CX9 works with newer Shimano New option 'B' definitely. Thanks again.

 

[SpokeyDokey]

Thank you for this - I'm a bit clueless when it comes to CX components to be honest. The CX8.4 availability is scarce but the CX9 look equally good. I assume these would play nicely with Ultegra 6800 STI shifters? I was hoping to find Shimano Ultegra BR-CX70 - they would fit the rest nicely. BR-CX50 was option 'B'.

I have the Ultegra blocks.

[EDIT]: Just googled and looks like CX8.4 is for SRAM/Campi shifters and the CX9 works with newer Shimano New option 'B' definitely. Thanks again.

Hmm! Just been down to the gym to look and they are 9's not 8.4's - apologies.

Very good brakes and plenty of clearance for 35mm tyres.

Bike came fitted with 105 groupset which worked fine with the TRP's.

 

[Peter Salt]

Hmm! Just been down to the gym to look and they are 9's not 8.4's - apologies.

Very good brakes and plenty of clearance for 35mm tyres.

Bike came fitted with 105 groupset which worked fine with the TRP's.

Well... I might have done something silly:





Found these locally on Gumtree. Listed for £60 but got it down to £35. Main body looks good but internals quite knackered. Just one pair of boss bolts, and no blocks or pads. Planning a trip to a bike shop/charity this weekend to see what they have in terms of handlebars, seat posts and pedals. In the meantime, cleaning these should keep me entertained.

 

[SpokeyDokey]

Well... I might have done something silly:

View attachment 651714

View attachment 651713

Found these locally on Gumtree. Listed for £60 but got it down to £35. Main body looks good but internals quite knackered. Just one pair of boss bolts, and no blocks or pads. Planning a trip to a bike shop/charity this weekend to see what they have in terms of handlebars, seat posts and pedals. In the meantime, cleaning these should keep me entertained.

Any noodles?

 

[Peter Salt]

Any noodles?

Yup, yup. The noodles actually looked really good. Probably replaced? No sure what the black bit at the top is for, why is it so long?



[EDIT]: Ignore that, I'm an idiot. Of course it the cable adjustment.

 

[Peter Salt]

Busy weekend with some riding, walking and shopping. Visited my local charity bike shop, Re-Cycle York, in search of components...

I part-exchanged everything I got from the original bike and don't need (seen in this photo):


Left with this:


And paid them a tenner

The Planet X handlebars and R8000 crankset won't be used for this build. The rs500 pedals currently fitted on my indoor trainer will be replaced with r540 seen in the photo, leaving them free for the build.

The 3T handlebars, lighter seatpost and clamp are now on the bike, along with the brake assembly complete with Ultegra blocks (I already had) and new boss bolts from SJS. Tried on the shifters as well







Bike slowly coming together. Need to do new cabling, get my hands on a 135° brake noodle and still hunting for a nicer saddle.

 

[Peter Salt]

Finished the build two days ago.

Budget-wise I'm very happy. Had to get a few new bits and bobs - cables, brake boss bolts, 135° noodle. On the other hand, I've actually made profit selling the old groupset, handlebars, seat post, etc. while the new ones came from a bike charity shop and cost me pennies. The only other big expense was the used CX9 brakes. Still, the build overall cost just under £300.

For all intents and purposes this is now a fully working bike, it also went from 10.8kg to 9.2 which is a nice bonus. Considering it's still sporting a 2kg wheelset and the stock 400g saddle, that ain't too bad.

What's left from the original: Frame, fork, headset bearings, inner tubes, tyres, bar tape and plugs, stem... I think that's it!





I was quite surprised by how good the brakes are. Solid bite!





Gears indexed and working smooth as butter.



Bike in its natural habitat



Likely future improvements:
- fit 46t big chainring, instead of the 50t,
- replace stock seat with something half the weight,
- replace wheelset with something 400-500g lighter,
- replace 172.5 cranks with 165,
- replace 80mm stem with (at least) 90mm,
- adjust steerer spacers and cut off the chimney.

 

[bikingdad90]

@Peter Salt that is a very nice giant! It’s in my size too if you ever part ways I’d be interested. 😂

 

[SpokeyDokey]

I switched my blocks/shoes to these and they are really very good - although the bike is confined to turbo use these days.

View: https://www.amazon.co.uk/V-BRAKE-CARTRIDGE-SHOE-PAD-FUNCTION/dp/B009YZ6RHM