My Giant ONCE TCR

[riddim-track]

Well after reading many other build threads on here I'm starting my own (even after many builds I didn't bother to photograph). I've been kinda prompted by Migueltreze who is building a ONCE TCR too http://www.retrobike.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=240454 So we'll see how differently they turn out.

Ok so here's a pic of what I'm starting with, I've got another 3 unbuilt TCR frames here but have chosen this one. I also have the luxury of having 3 complete groupsets to choose from a 600/ultegra, SRAM Rival and a Dura Ace 7700. I also have a set of Mike Burrows carbon hub/spoke & Rigida wheels here or some lovely Velocity, novatek, sapim wheels to choose from. Not sure which wheels to go for but I decided on the Dura Ace groupset and just to make sure the bike is really overspeced I'm probably going to get a Chris King headset too.
I just need to make a small repair to the paint on one rear seat stay and then I'm good to go. Here's a pic of the bare frame, I'll keep you posted.

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[migueltreze]

Many thanks for sharing. Yes, you are quite fortunate to have top quality groupsets to choose from, it will be very dificult for you to have a bad final build in terms of components. The frame looks to be in top shape, please do update progress.

 

[riddim-track]

Ok so waiting for the Chris King headset, I need to find some suitable 40cm 26mm clamp handlebars then I'll be off. Going to try and locate some suitable paint tomorrow to touch up rear stays on the frame where there's a few chips to the paint. Here are some pics of my goodies so far... yes I know some people will think the 7700 DA group is wasted on a TCR but I like to think I'm honoring a design classic. Bought a set of polished cranks but not keen on the way the logo stands out from the polished alloy so not sure which to go with, the slightly more used looking natural ones or the polished? any views?

 

[migueltreze]

(...) yes I know some people will think the 7700 DA group is wasted on a TCR but I like to think I'm honoring a design classic. Bought a set of polished cranks but not keen on the way the logo stands out from the polished alloy so not sure which to go with, the slightly more used looking natural ones or the polished? any views?

Totaly agree with you, your frame will be very pleased to have a 7700 DA groupset In my humble opinion, the natural crankset is the one to go, unless you finish the job and remove the logos on the polished one. That seatpost is a Giant original piece?

Great choice for the saddle, Flite is trluy great.

 

[riddim-track]

Totaly agree with you, your frame will be very pleased to have a 7700 DA groupset In my humble opinion, the natural crankset is the one to go, unless you finish the job and remove the logos on the polished one. That seatpost is a Giant original piece?

Great choice for the saddle, Flite is trluy great.

Thanks, yes it's a nice saddle, and weighs in very light.

Got my paint today so going to have a go at mixing the right colour and having a practice spray, I've got a small modellers spray gun I'm going to use so I can try and mix an exact match for the paint colour. It's a first for me so we'll see how it goes.

The seatpost is an original Giant EXT designed by Mike burrows, who designed the TCR (and introduced compact geometry to road bikes). Those aero seatposts came with TCRs and were available in 7 different lengths, along with an adjustable stem, so the shop could fit your bike for you and Giant could get away with only producing small, medium and large frames. I have a few of the seatposts and I find them a nice retro touch and nod to Mike Burrows for a retro Giant build. The wheels below are also Burrows design and came with some early TCRs, until around 1998 I think. It's worth looking up Mike Burrows on wikipedia or google, he's quite an interesting character, and was extremely influential in the development of modern frame design.

However I'm probably going to keep those for another TCR I'm building and I'll probably use these Novatech/Velocity/Sapim wheels on the ONCE TCR as they'll look more in keeping with the DA components and are much lighter nicer wheels (built by cycle clinic, user of this site)

 

[migueltreze]

Any developments on this build?

 

[riddim-track]

er well... I got a bit distracted thinking about the other grey TCR I got, but I'm pretty much decided to use the Dura Ace kit probably with the old Giant Rigida wheels to keep it more period correct. I've found some suitable 3T 26mm clamp handlebars and my C King headset arrived. I've just bought a nice Selle Italia Turbomatic in yellow and black so I intend to fit that and keep the Flite for the grey frame. The grey TCR will probably be built using the new black SRAM rival & force kit I've got sitting here in the box still.

Anyway with the ONCE frame I removed the mech hanger, cage bolts etc last night, cleaned up the area I need to repaint a bit (poor quality photo below) and messed around trying to mix up a good match for the paint. I've got a small spray gun, the type that screws onto a can of compressed air which model builders and people who paint women's finger nails use. I'm planning to respray the area using mat finish enamel paint which I can mix myself, I found I can get a pretty close match just adding a bit of gloss white to one of the standard yellow colours produced by a model paint company. I'm going to photograph the whole process and if it is a success I'll post a thread about it. For now here's a poor quality pic of the area before any prep work. I'm not sure if enamel paint is ideal for alloy bike frame but it's quite a small area and I don't want to spray the whole length of the seat stay as there are logos on it, so I'm going to brush/fade it out to the existing colour. I just had to do 3 hours overtime at work with no notice and got home late so nothing today but I'll start tomorrow hopefully. First I need to give the frame a good clean and get any grease off it and a load of gooey adhesive where there were some frame protectors stuck on.

 

[migueltreze]

It will be interesting to see the process to touch up the frame. I think the Turbomatic will sit nicely on the bike. Also looking forward to see that grey TCR on the move