I've not had any shifting problems with the cable on the inside and the bars don't have a cable groove at the rear so this would end up producing an unsightly and uncomfortable bulge. But I do understand that a larger radius will create a smoother cable pull, if I try some bars that will allow me to route it this way I might give it a go.


I'm really happy with the wheels. I've not owned any other 50mm carbon wheels so I can't compare them to anything else. I weigh 63kg and can't notice any flex when sprinting or climbing, they accelerate quickly and I'm sure it's just placebo but I feel a bit faster on them. They've taken a few hits from potholes sneaking up on me and they have remained straight and round.
The build quality is great and they came in at 1349g for the pair with Soul veloplugs, which seems to be far lighter than other carbon clinchers. I've tried two different carbon pads (both from Soul) and the braking certainly isn't as powerful as my experience of aluminium braking surfaces, though maybe I haven't found the right pad yet.
Sean at Soul has been brilliant in regards to customer service. He promptly answered all of my questions during the order process. I've been a bit unlucky and seemed to get a faulty freehub that chewed through the springs and as soon as I mentioned it to him he sent out replacement parts no questions asked. I don't think this is a common problem, I've had a good search around the internet and couldn't find anyone else who had had a similar fault from the Soul V3 hubs so I wouldn't let it put you off.

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Giant TCR Advanced

Frame: Giant TCR Advanced (Medium - 1035g with mech hanger)
Fork: Giant TCR Advanced (were 325g uncut)
Bars: Giant Contact SLR 42cm (200g)
Stem: Bontrager Race XXX Lite 100mm with ti bolts
Headset: FSA 1 1/4" to 1 1/8" Integrated, conical headset spacer replaced with a rubber shield to protect the bearings
Fork Expander: Extralite Ultrastar 2 (7g)
Topcap: Smud Carbon

Wheels: Soul C5.0 with Soul veloplugs (Front: 592g, Rear: 757g)
Tyres: Veloflex Master 22mm (195g each)
Tubes: Bontrager Race XXX Lite (54g each)
Skewers: Planet-X Ti Stick Quick Release with Carbon Levers (44g pair)

Saddle: Smud Carbon (70g)
Seatpost: Giant Vector - Trimmed, ti M6 bolt, Smud carbon cradle, KCNC yokes (front one drilled to allow bolt to fit through)
Seatpost clamp: Giant with ti bolts (19g)

Cranks: Sram Red 50/34 170mm (636g with chainrings)
Bottom Bracket: Sram BB86 Pressfit (92g)
Pedals: Bebop with Ward Ti axles
Chain: KMC X10-SL
Cassette: Sram Red 11-23t (153g)

Shifters:Sram Red
Front mech: Sram Red Black braze-on (69g)
Rear mech: Sram Red (145g)
Brakes: Planet-X Ultralight CNC with Reynolds Blue carbon pads

Cables: Alligator iLink and iLink mini
Bartape: Deda - sanded the logos off the bar ends
Bottlecage: Smud Carbon conical cages
Extras - Glued a tiny magnet (<1g) to the spokes to replace the obese standard magnet, Jagwire cable adjuster for front mech

The weight is 6.00kg (13.22lbs).

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Giant TCR Advanced

I decided to try tubular tyres so built a new lightweight wheelset whilst trying to stay on the cheaper side of things incase tubs didn't work with my general riding conditions. I was hoping that they would be sub 1kg but the rims came in ~20g overweight which pushed me over slightly.
I took them out for their first spin today (please excuse the dirt on the bike the roads are getting a bit grimey) and was suprised at the difference in feel between my 50mm clinchers and these, I need to add some latex tubes to my clinchers.

Frame: Giant TCR Advanced (Medium - 1035g with mech hanger)
Fork: Giant TCR Advanced (were 325g uncut)
Bars: Giant Contact SLR 42cm (200g)
Stem: Bontrager Race XXX Lite 100mm with ti bolts
Headset: FSA 1 1/4" to 1 1/8" Integrated, conical headset spacer replaced with a rubber shield to protect the bearings
Fork Expander: Extralite Ultrastar 2 (7g)
Topcap: Smud Carbon

Wheels: Dati Hubs paired to Planet X 20mm rims with DT Aerolite spokes (Front: 440g, Rear: 587g)
Tyres: Vittoria Corsa SC 23mm (Averaged 249g each)
Glue: Vittoria Mastik 1
Skewers: Planet-X Ti Stick Quick Release with Carbon Levers (44g pair)

Saddle: Smud Carbon (70g)
Seatpost: Giant Vector - Trimmed, ti M6 bolt, Smud carbon cradle, KCNC yokes (front one drilled to allow bolt to fit through)
Seatpost clamp: Giant with ti bolts (19g)

Cranks: Sram Red 50/34 170mm (636g with chainrings)
Bottom Bracket: Sram BB86 Pressfit (92g)
Pedals: Bebop with Ward Ti axles
Chain: KMC X10-SL
Cassette: Sram Red 11-23t (153g)

Shifters:Sram Red
Front mech: Sram Red Black braze-on (69g)
Rear mech: Sram Red (145g)
Brakes: Planet-X Ultralight CNC with Reynolds Blue carbon pads

Cables: Alligator iLink and iLink mini
Bartape: Deda - sanded the logos off the bar ends
Bottlecage: Smud Carbon conical cages
Extras - Glued a tiny magnet (<1g), Jagwire cable adjuster for front mech

The weight is 5.675kg (12.51lbs).

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Giant TCR Advanced

Nice wheels and tubs!!

I wonder how would the wheels look without those red decals on them?

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EX Colnago C50
TREK Madone 5.9 SL #7

I really need to get round to ordering some carbolift.

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Giant TCR Advanced

very nice, especially with the new tubs and wheels. not deep section, but deep enough to look great on this bike.
the sc tubs look almost yellow in my experience and this change also really adds to your build.
edit: thinking about it, the wheels (minus the red) and tubs would look good on my pegoretti

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cannondale flash3 alloy 29er
trek 5200 nude carbon
pegoretti marcelo

Great build!

Do you have the carbon fork?

How are the brakes? They seem very lightweight and not too expensive. Are they the same as these?
http://www.salden.nl/default.asp?pid=53 ... catid=3963

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Ride it like you stole it

It would look nicer without the red logos on my build as well, but I think it's going to be a challenge to remove them now that they're built up.
Does anyone know if carbolift will have any ill effects to the tubs or tub glue if I was to use it on the assembled wheels?


Yeah the TCR Advanced 2 came with full carbon forks. Getting it to this weight without them would have been a bit of a challenge.

Those brakes appear to be the same as the Planet X ones. I'm running them with Reynolds Blue pads and they stop me quick enough, plenty of other weenies seem to be happy with them as well http://weightweenies.starbike.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=60313&hilit=planet+x+brake.

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Giant TCR Advanced

After reading a few of the light weight stem threads that have popped up recently I noticed the budget friendly Kalloy UNO ASA 105. I took the plunge and at the grand expense of £23.50 and a few ti bolts I've managed to get the 100mm stem down to 102g.

- Logos removed with nitromors
- Stock bolts swapped with ti ones

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Giant TCR Advanced

Still liking the build. That new stem looks stealthy, and soooo cheap!

I'm think I'm gonna try to find a fullcarbon fork for my bike, I think it would save an easy 200grams. Getting the right paintjob on it could be more difficult.

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Ride it like you stole it

That stem! Must be one of the best $$ to gram ratios out there and looks good to boot! Let us know how stiffness is once you've had the chance to ride it.

Loving the bike- great to see a non-stock giant! They turn out so well with some well thought out parts on 'em. Enjoy!

Nice ride man. Your adv frame and fork are both lighter than my adv sl!

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"Any intelligent fool can make things bigger, more complex, and more violent. It takes a touch of genius -- and a lot of courage -- to move in the opposite direction."

Lighter my SL too. After all the mods to the seat post, what would you recommend doing? My SL has the ISP, but the mechanics look very similar, and mine is pretty heavy. I have thought about replacing the big top part with some lightweight yokes (KCNC or POP maybe), but just wasn't sure how painful an effort it would be. Especially since you have to finger tighten the front screw, kind of a pain, unless you go with a flow saddle, then you can use tools to tighten it.

So if you had to do the seat post mods all over again, what would be your ideal setup?

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SkidMap.Com
2011 Cannondale Scalpel
2010 Giant TCR Advanced SL
1943 Sieber Track Bike

very nice biuld, congrats.
can you tell me where did you buy that stem? I am looking for a lightweight matte stem and that seems to be THE option.
do you get along well with that bottle cages? I have the Tune ones (smudec copied those from Tune) and hate them.
If you want to sell yours from MT Zoom (new ultiamte), pls let me know.

cheers mate

I got the stem off ebay, just search for "UNO ASA 105". The logos came off really easy with a bit of paint stripper.

I'm really happy with my Smud cages, they work perfectly with the supplied Tacx Source bottle. Though I purchased some Tune bottles at the same time and they're slightly too tight, if you're using the Tune bottles maybe see if you have more luck with the Tacx ones.

I'm not a fan of the MT Zoom cage. I couldn't find a bottle that it would hold properly, I'd rather put up with the extra weight of a reliable cage than use it again. If you don't like the Tune cages then I can't imagine you'll get on with the MT Zoom.

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Giant TCR Advanced