Giant will make its radical time trial bike available to buy later this year |
Giant’s radical looking new time trial bike broke cover last year but it has been in full use at this year’s Tour de France, and the company has just announced that it will be available to purchase later this year.
The design apparently went through five iterations with each being race tested until they were happy enough to roll it out to all sponsored riders, and finally to the consumer. The key feature of the bike and the most standout element is the AeroDrive, the integrated stem and fork that makes the front fairing a structural element between the fork crown and stem. This places the handlebars much lower than with other designs.
Talking of handlebars, each frame will come with Giant’s proprietary integrated bar which fits directly into the front of the stem. Different versions of the stem will give some height adjustment while spacers will allow the extensions to be raised. They’re also adjustable for width and length, and the pads are adjustable too.
There’ll be three sizes of frame with different height head tubes but spacer stacks will help riders get their preferred setup. Along with the radical front-end, there’s the mandatory aero-shape downtube and top tube and a curved seat tube which hugs the curve of the rear wheel. Into the seat tube fits a Vector SLR aero seatpost with integrated internal seatclamp.
All cables will be routed internally to keep the cables out of the air and keeping out of the airflow too are the brakes, which are concealed behind the fork and behind the bottom bracket.
Giant say aero performance of the frame was number one on the list of priorities, followed by stiffness. Still, a PowerCore oversized bottom bracket should provide a solid platform.
The 2010 Trinity Advanced SL series will be offered in various component selections and price points later this summer, with the top end Trinity Advanced SL 0 featuring Shimano Dura-Ace 7900 Di2 electronic component group.