yaw

I would just buy what you fancy if it feels good on an extended test ride and the geometry matches your bike fit needs.
Not everything in life has to be maximum objective value for money.
If it's too complicated to service at home, give a mechanic something to do.
Enjoy the ride!

RB1-luvr

keep the Giant and buy the BMC, that's what I'd do.

eduskator

I'd love to, but that would go against my ''1 bike per discipline'' rule

str8jakett

Change your rule, that's silly. You need AT LEAST one backup bike per discipline.

In all seriousness, buy the BMC, and that's coming from a long time and happy Giant customer.

seypat

One thing in the Pros column, black goes with most anything.

Random11

My view on this: Buy the bike you'd most like to ride.

tFUnK

Being a relative luddite, at least when it comes to current industry trends, I gotta say I don't see where the upgrade is?

Back in the day I thought both the TCR and the SLR were pro tour level bikes - has that changed? If not, then it's just the parts spec that's the difference between the two. If that's the case then what's stopping the OP from putting money into upgrading the TCR with a top quality build?

Not saying OP shouldn't get the BMC; I love my "vintage" Racemachine.

eduskator

I'd put the Teammachine in the ''aero-race'' category and the TCR in the ''race/climb'' one. The Teammachine seems to be the new thing like the Tarmac SL7 or even the 2023 Propel and that specific category is what I'm looking for for my next bike (Teammachine or not).

No real upgrades for me here aside from the aero-race thing. In fact, it's less equipped (no power meter) when I compare to my current TCR Pro 0. Frankly, I'd rather change the whole bike than to upgrade one that's already more than enough for its intended usage.

Koyote

When you focus on the clause in bold font, do you have any second thoughts about such a large purchase? (It's a serious question -- not rhetorical.)

Branko D

Here's a fun set of videos, where the guy tests various bikes against the TCR in a wind tunnel.


The Madone tests faster, but not by much. The Canyon Ultimate surprisingly doesn’t.

tFUnK

Sounds like enough of a differentiation to me 👍 (ie, not in the same "discipline").

himespau 

I mean, other than the internal routing, are the other two things fairly easy to buy and upgrade your current bike to? A lot cheaper than a whole new bike. Probably less fun though.

seypat

OP has the itch. Calamine lotion's not going to solve it.

GhostRider62

WRT internal hoses, I don't think the issue is routine maintenance. Those hoses should last longer than the brake lines on a car. Rather, how easy is packing the bike when you travel with it? How hard would it be to swap the cockpit for a different size and will the bike shop accommodate that change at time of sale? It seems to me that the answers to both of those questions is, "Not very"


Internal cables vs external is probably worth 2-3 watts at 30 kph and 8-12 watts at 45 kph.

Is that worth it? It being the challenge of getting a proper fit and potentially the challenge of breaking the bike down for travel. Personally, I always need a longer stem/reach and therefore, the stock setup would not work. And, I travel 1-3 times per year with the bike. So, I would tend towards upgrading your current rig myself. I am in the market for a bike myself and integrated cockpit is my biggest issue for those two reasons and I want to be able to mount clipons at either the stem or onto the bars. The shape and size of many integrated cockpits precludes that. Anyway, GL with your decision.

TMonk

Not offering much help here, but I just put together my second consecutive TCR (2022 Pro, Ultegra Di2 12 speed), replacing a 2013 TCR SL. For it's intended application - daily driver/training bike, I have no intention to switch brands at the moment. The Giant is a great "working man's" bike and the value is top notch.

I get wanting something sexier though. Having said that - I think you should make the switch! Also, is having two road bikes an option eduskator? My new TCR makes my tally at six... I'm considering selling the R8000 from my old one, putting on some old 105 11s I had, and making it a dedicated zwift/trainer bike.

eduskator

Nope! I said ''its'' intended usage, not ''my''

Iride01 

I thought the old bike was for climbing and the new bike was for the flatter routes. Sounds like two different disciplines to me.

seypat

What happens if you are in a race that has both climbing and flat sections? How does one decide which bike to take? What if it has a small gravel or caliche section. You're going to need a team car following you with a bike for each situation.

kcjc

While according to Hambini, major faults for the price.
BMC - TCR -

eduskator

Not surprised for BMC as they are way overpriced, but I have a hard time believing that the world's largest bike manufacturer would produce mediocre framesets.

Out of curiosity, what's his favourite frameset?

Shadco

.

kcjc

Shad beat me to it but here's the line up. Everything above red line is good with Time in a league of one's own. Given majority of the manufacturing have move over to mainland, I'm not surprised the ones that stayed have developed issues. I wouldn't expect quality to improve until things settled down especially with their decision to bring production back to the island due to the Trump's trade war.

Branko D

I don't quite trust his shilling Chinese stuff videos because he gets sent other bikes because they have a problem which he solves and demonstrates what sucks (and props for that).
​​​​
​​​​​​He gets sent Chinese bikes by Chinese manufacturer to show off how good they are. Mother of all sampling biases.

eduskator

Sounds like something like this... all the ''known'' brands are excluded from the top of the list... Bullcrap!

Caliwild

Yeah, I was thinking the same thing... I have a Time bike and agree that they are leagues above the rest. But, that doesn't mean my BMC is garbage! I think Hambini is funny and makes good points... but, his opinions are also kinda self-serving, as he sells bottom brackets by arguing that the big brands have bad tolerances... Like everything in life, you just have to take it with a grain of salt.