06 Giant TCR Frame
 

I have a chance to pickup an unused '06 TCR (carbon) Frame fairly cheap. Being a Specialized owner, I know nothing of Giant products. Can anyone give me some good info or personal reviews on this frame. I'm looking for something STIFF and responsive. My Tarmac is just not the bike I thought it would be....
I'm a climber not a sprinter...6'2" 170...

It's an awesome frame for the price, reasonably light (I want to say 1200-1300g frame), the fork isn't much to write home about, IIRC, it's a Formula One composite fork with an aluminum steerer. The frame isn't amazingly stiff, but it's not anywhere near noodly. I could compare the stiffness to my CAAD8.
As for the 2006, it was an awful year for the TCR's aesthetics.

I haven't seen which color it is...That will weigh heavily on my decision...
I just want to make sure its a step up from my Tarmac...

To answer the question of which you may like better, I need to know what liked and disliked about the Tarmac.

i like mine. cant compare it too much though as its my first carbon fiber frame. as for the aesthetics i think the tcr c2 red and black is hawt! later.

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/251/4...618355a13c.jpg

you say you're a climber not a sprinter, i had an 06 tcr comp 2 and now have the same bike in 07. its not an aero bike, its not a really stiff bike, but theres nothing ive ridden that climbs as beautifully.

excellent climber, stiffer than the tarmac, very light. the diffference in climbing over my old steel frame was remarkable: very direct power transfer.

Crimson says it has an alu steerer, but that's not what i got: definitely carbon when i cut it, and not just the tube but the whole shebang. even the head tube is all carbon. does not run an integrated head set which is a bonus if a bearing shell stuffs up.

less than 1 kg frame. my whole bike is about 7 kg, but i cuold still lose some weight on the seat and seat tube.

rather twitchy going down hill but follows a line well enough if you're game and strong on the handlebars. does get a bit tiresome after a century.

agreed that the paint jobs on the built up bikes suck, the simpler paint jobs on the naked frames are much better.

one and only problem in this frame is the bottle mounts don't allow the bottles to seat all the way in with some cage designs, as the compact frame has very little space inside in the smaller sizes. you'll have to experiment.

I really like my 2006 TCR 1- Yellow and Black. However, I am considering a switch to a Tarmac, funny that. What size is your Tarmac? Maybe we can swing a trade. I have a medium frame.

The Giant TCR isn't the cutting edge latest in carbon frame technology, but the TCR carbon series is a proven ride that has been tried and true. It has a good balance of stiffness, comfort and lightness.

The TCR is a little stiffer, twitchier on descent, more responsive. I always felt that the Tarmac (at least the '06 comp and expert frames I test rode) was trying to do too many things well, and ended up being just a bit compromised on all.

BTW, I ended up on a '06 Allez Expert; it's stiffer than the lower end Tarmacs, not as twitchy as the TCR, and ascends well, even though I pretty much suck at climbing. Of course, it's not quite as comfy as the Tarmacs, either.