I'm in doubt, should I go for the integrated seatpost frame? Are there any other differences between the 2 except for the seatpost?

Yes, there are. "Advanced SL" is made of T-800 carbon fiber while the "Advanced" is made of T-700. Also there are some specific manufacturing technologies used only at Advanced SL....CARBON NANOTUBE TECHNOLOGY, CONTINUOUS FIBER TECHNOLOGY. You can find some details at Giant official website

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Shut Up Legs! (Jens Voigt)

The ISP frame (the SL) should be more comfortable. The aero seatpost on the regular advanced is a bit of a brick. A lot more convenient if you do any serious travelling though. SL is lighter but I've never heard anyone say the could tell the difference in the ride despite the different carbon tech. Bound to be some difference I guess - should be stiffer.

FWIW I have an SL. Love it, tried many bikes, never found a bike I liked more. (handling, respsonsiveness, stability - a great combo/balance of attributes.)

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I had an 09 sl with ISP and currently have a '13 advanced. I miss my old frame a lot. The ISP makes a world of difference. The sl has more urgency for lack of a better description. You can't feel any wasted energy in that frame anywhere.

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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."

RIDE Mag did a review of the TCR Advanced 0 - where Alex (who wrote the review) was in best position to compare to a SL, as that was his team bike.

If you're weighing up between the two, would be worth reading. But ultimately, aside from a small increase in weight, Alex could not split the two. So differences might not be as pronounced as anicomp568 might be suggesting.

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Baum Ristretto, Baum Mondrian Corretto & the '89 Merckx! | "If you could eat it in one sitting, hold your line." | twitter.com/Tinea_Pedis

My main ride is a 2011 TCR Advanced SL which I've done over 13000km on it.

Back then, I was deciding between the SL and non-SL frameset. Main factors I considered was weight (obviously) and price. FWIW, my SL frameset is a non-ISP version. In the end, I went for the SL and I can tell you it's one sweet ride (better than my CAAD10 IMHO) and you will not regret getting the SL version.

I used to work in the cycling industry (many years ago), so I still have a nice discount. That discount makes the difference in price between the advanced and advanced SL a bit smaller
I used to train a lot, but had to stop because of a chronic disease. After many years of not being able to ride, I've picked up cycling again. But at a much lower intensity and volume. So despite the discount it's hard to justify the higher price because it won't be used that hard and often.
What's important for me is the extra comfort. Stifness or weight aren't all that important. They used to be back when I was racing, but not anymore.

If comfort is important, perhaps you could look at the Defy range instead?

In any case, despite being stiff, the TCR (SL or non-SL) is not a harsh riding frameset, compared to say, e.g. a Venge.

I would definately prefer a Defy over a TCR. But that frameset is hard to find here. I've tried a few sources that I used to do business with and that will give me a nice discount, but they don't have the Defy framesets and only the complete bicycles. And I prefer frameset because that's a lot cheaper for me and I can build it with parts that I like.
Also, what about the stem?
Do Deda or FSA have light stems in 1.25? I know of some older FSA models with a shim, but not sure about their current models.

Given what a complete Giant goes for, buying the full bike, stripping it down and selling the parts could be an easy and cost-effective way to get on board a Defy.

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Baum Ristretto, Baum Mondrian Corretto & the '89 Merckx! | "If you could eat it in one sitting, hold your line." | twitter.com/Tinea_Pedis

If I buy the parts from different sources it's about 800 Euro cheaper to build it myself with roughly the same parts, then when I buy it complete. That is including all discounts in both the complete bike and self built bike.
And the OEP parts are usually hard to sell.
So I prefer building it myself.

All you would need to sell is the groupset and wheels. Maybe the bars and saddle.

It solves your stem issue. And seat post is proprietary.

Seems odd frameset is cheaper option. Maybe that's just Australian pricing?


Whatever the case, my Advanced SL has never left me feeling beaten up. Impressive bike.

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Baum Ristretto, Baum Mondrian Corretto & the '89 Merckx! | "If you could eat it in one sitting, hold your line." | twitter.com/Tinea_Pedis

If I go for a Sram groupset (haven't decided on Force vs Red yet), what crankset/BB combo do I need?
The Giant needs BB86. So do I get a SRAM BB30 crankset + BB86 adapter, or SRAM BSA crankset + BB86 adaptor?

SRAM GXP and adapter.

BB30 won't work. I know, my team mates had this issue.

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Baum Ristretto, Baum Mondrian Corretto & the '89 Merckx! | "If you could eat it in one sitting, hold your line." | twitter.com/Tinea_Pedis

It's been +/- 6 years since I built a bike. I'm shocked to see there are now even more 'standards' in BB then there were at that time