Giant Propel Advanced SL assessment: Showing its age somewhat however can nonetheless combine it with the very best

It’s barely mad to name a motorbike that’s solely two and a half years outdated ‘outdated’, however such is the tempo of change on the high finish of the game that the Giant Propel is within the ‘elder statesman’ class inside the peloton, together with the Cervélo S5 and the Scott Foil, with a number of seasons use below its imaginary belt. 

The Giant Propel is an aero bike, however maybe solely outlined as such due to the existence of its light-weight sibling the Giant TCR. I’ve usually contemplated whereas racking up the kilometres on the Propel whether or not we’d take into account it in the identical kind of bracket as different all-rounders if it weren’t for a devoted light-weight bike within the model’s vary.

In any case, I’ve put a number of hundred kilometres into the Giant Propel in latest weeks, together with a couple of back-to-back large days in actually depressing climate, and my common Wednesday night time lap of all the greatest hills Bristol has to supply. In quick, it’s a superb bike, and worthy of being within the dialog when discussing the very best street bikes in the marketplace. That shouldn’t be a shock actually, provided that so few top-end bikes are unhealthy these days, however the high line is that it doesn’t actually have the texture of older aero bikes. It’s a superb all-rounder, completely succesful on rolling, hilly terrain, however does lack a contact of the snappiness of another race bikes I’ve ridden. 

Design and aesthetics

The Giant Propel I’ve been kicking about on is the all-singing, all-dancing, Giant Propel Advanced SL mannequin and the very first thing that can most likely catch your eye is the built-in seatpost, which I’ll shorten to ‘ISP’ any further. It’s maybe an uncommon place to begin a design dialogue, however I’m afraid it was an instantaneous annoyance. 

I perceive the reasoning for designing a motorbike with an ISP, and together with the TCR the Giant Propel has a historical past of utilizing them, however from a purely client standpoint they make little sense. In order to get my saddle peak right I wanted to pop the bike within the boot of my companion’s automobile, which is so much more durable to do in a small French hatchback when you may’t drop the saddle peak, and take it to a Giant retailer to chop it all the way down to measurement. Once it’s set then it was completely high quality, however there’s no going again. Even the very useful chaps on the Giant retailer admitted it’s a little bit of a nightmare for anybody eager to resell their Propel, because it depends on promoting it on to somebody who is identical peak as you or shorter (or solely marginally taller with the adjustable mast topper).

The excellent news although is that solely the Giant Propel Advanced SL (for ‘superlight’) has an ISP, whereas the Giant Propel Advanced and the Giant Propel Advanced Pro have a typical adjustable seatpost. Given the bell curve of client buying is probably going going to fall extra on these fashions it’s not one thing I’m going to mark the bike down an excessive amount of for.

The remainder of the bike is traditional aero. Truncated aerofoils, a deep headtube, and comparatively chunky chainstays. The backside bracket space isn’t all that big by fashionable requirements. It’s deep, nevertheless it’s narrower than your bottles. Compare that to the underside bracket space of the Pinarello Dogma, the place the shell is deeper and wider than a typical bottle and there’s a marked distinction, even to an all-rounder. Given the Giant Propel is nominally the sprinters’ bike (although in actuality, we are inclined to see groups utilizing it solely over the TCR) the pedalling platform may very well be given somewhat extra heft. Don’t get me improper, it’s on no account a floppy, noodly body below energy, however below a full dash it lacked somewhat snappiness and I believe this has one thing to do with it. 

While we’re kind of with regards to stays, the chain and seat stays of the Giant Propel are vast sufficient to accommodate a 30c tyre on comparatively fashionable rims, however no wider. While tendencies in bikes usually are to wider tyres –  the newest Canyon Aeroad, Specialized Tarmac SL8, and Colnago V4Rs boast a 32c clearance, and the Cannondale SuperSix Evo as much as 34c – it’s additionally in step with tendencies when the bike was launched. I’d like the choice to go wider, however I rode about fairly fortunately on 30c tyres right here as I did with the Pinarello Dogma, which has an identical clearance. 

Up entrance, unusually now for a excessive finish bike, the Giant Propel comes with a two-piece bar and stem. Our personal wind tunnel bike take a look at confirmed that the Propel, in a bike-only take a look at, carried out the second worst, solely beating the Look 795 RS (albeit with a margin of error that would push it up a couple of spots). It’s a matter of a handful of watts to get the Propel into the combination of the midpack, and 7 to get it to the highest of the leaderboard. Given how vital the main edges are in aero phrases, having a one-piece cockpit would undoubtedly enhance issues. Given the cables are all inner anyway it’s not truly that a lot simpler to dwell with a separate system, although it’s barely cheaper must you wish to swap bars or stem individually, and it means you may spec one thing bananas just like the Lambda X-Wing bars which will surely enhance your coefficient of drag.

To the wheels and the remainder of the specced parts: Shimano Dura-Ace is spectacular as at all times, so no additional phrases are wanted on that entrance. The Cadex 50 Ultra wheels are undoubtedly good, although a motorbike just like the Propel ought to in my view include one thing somewhat deeper. I recognize Giant was making an attempt to get the bike to a decrease weight, which is aided by shallower all-round wheels, nevertheless it’s an aero bike… give me whooshy deep wheels and to hell with the burden. In all seriousness although, the Cadex 50 Ultra wheels are a good all-round possibility. They weigh little or no however did come within the backside half of our wheels’ wind tunnel take a look at. I don’t assume they’re one thing you’d instantly have to improve by any stretch, however in case you have been speccing the bike from a frameset I’d go deeper, as I’ll go into shortly.

Lastly (unusually late for me as I like to deal with this primary) the aesthetics. I’ll admit that aesthetics are subjective however I discover it laborious to get my pulse racing whereas trying on the Propel. The ISP is visually cool and head-turning, nevertheless it’s a relatively blocky type devoid of finesse. You may draw it fairly simply utilizing only a ruler, although that is an accusation that may very well be levelled towards many aero bikes of the final 5 years. The cockpit is cumbersome and somewhat stolid trying too. It’s not my favorite to have a look at, however that doesn’t impression the way it rides – If you prefer it then you definitely do you and don’t let some biking journo spoil your social gathering.

Performance

I examined the Giant Propel in its inventory configuration first, with the Cadex 50 Ultra wheels. I did nonetheless change the tyres: This had nothing to do with Cadex’s efficiency in our tyre rolling resistance take a look at, however relatively we nicked the Cadex wheels for our wind tunnel checks and swapped the tyres to a standardised pair of Schwalbe Pro One in 28c, so I simply caught with them. Selling a contemporary bike with 25c tyres (what comes inventory on the Giant Propel) is outdated and to me smacks of a model with quite a lot of 25c tyres in inventory that want shifting… my recommendation: improve to one thing wider. 

The Propel is the primary devoted aero bike I’ve examined shortly, however what struck me most is how very similar to the all-rounders I’ve examined it feels. While it’s been years since aero bikes have been actually jarring and uncomfortable, the Propel is a really mellow place to be. It’s not heavy – Giant doesn’t quote a weight however my measurement 56 with out pedals, however with bottle cages, tipped the scales at 7.77kg, and even when climbing steep gradients I by no means discovered myself wishing for some featherweight possibility as an alternative. Yes you would go lighter, nevertheless it’s an aero bike. For that class, it is comparatively mild, however it’s 500g heavier than the Factor Ostro VAM. 

On actually quick, steep climbs – the sort I like and that Bristol is blessed with in abundance – it lacks the darting, razor’s edge really feel of the Tarmac SL8, the Ostro or the Pinarello Dogma, as an alternative having a extra muscular trip really feel. This is definitely borne out over the entire trip expertise, and handling-wise it’s very predictable, however somewhat missing in agility for my tastes. As I’m usually detest to emphasize, that is fully comparative, relatively than absolute. It is a top-end, race-oriented bike and handles accordingly, however in my thoughts, there are lots of race bikes all on a dealing with spectrum. 

At the jittery and a bit too fast finish of the spectrum is the Canyon Ultimate, and on the slack finish is the Colnago V4Rs. My private candy spot is the Pinarello Dogma, however if you need one thing that is a bit more secure on descents, however sacrifices somewhat within the corners then the Propel might be proper up your avenue. It’s very just like the SuperSix Evo in the way in which it behaves, and is what I believe has been described as ‘impartial’ in numerous critiques previous. 

With mid-depth wheels, it looks like an all-rounder. Even on lengthy, protracted climbs, it was a contented companion. I did although wish to learn the way it fared as an all-out aero bike, and handily I had in my possession a set of Scope Artech 6.A wheels. At 65mm deep they’re very a lot within the ‘deep part’ a part of the market, and from our personal testing, they’re the quickest in the marketplace. They are undoubtedly wonderful wheels, however I’m not going to assert that the bike was reworked instantly right into a pseudo-tt machine.

I do although assume this can be a bike that’s suited to simply committing to the aero setup. With 65mm deep wheels it did really feel somewhat extra purposeful and fewer like a motorbike that was making an attempt to be all issues to all individuals, and with the flexibility to suit actually slender bars, you would make a genuinely extremely aero setup utilizing the Propel – Remember, your physique makes up the overwhelming majority of your aero drag, far outweighing a couple of watts distinction between bikes.

I did a few large days out just lately, each of which concerned a number of hours of largely flat using, and right here the Giant Propel, particularly with deep wheels, feels most adept. It’s snug sufficient to carry an aero place with out wrecking your self, and must you determine to go for very slender bars, the entrance finish is secure and twitch-free sufficient to make {that a} stress-free possibility.

In a dash, it doesn’t really feel fairly as stiff on the rear finish as some newer bikes – The Dogma for instance – although the flip aspect of that is I by no means discovered the rear finish skipping off the tarmac as I did with the Pinarello over damaged tarmac.

Value

The Giant Propel Advanced SL will set you again £11,500 / $12,750. The existence of the Van Rysel RCR Pro, tipping the scales at $1 below the $11k mark actually skews the worth dialogue, particularly contemplating it carried out higher within the wind tunnel. 

Yes, you may examine it to the Pinarello Dogma which is dearer by dint of it being extra unique, and the Specialized Tarmac which is dearer by dint of it being a Specialized Tarmac, however the actual fly within the ointment comes within the type of the Factor Ostro VAM, which is cheaper, quicker within the wind tunnel, and obtained a close to good assessment rating from our Associate Editor, Josh. 

Having a dual-sided energy meter on the Giant Propel is probably worthy of some worth factors, however the Dura-Ace energy meter is famend for being a bit unreliable, and if I have been speccing a motorbike with an influence meter it’d be one thing else. So you’re barely hamstrung right here, both having to stay with the Dura-Ace mannequin, or promote the crankset on… or simply run two energy meters and pay extra. 

All in all, it’s not unhealthy worth. It’s a superb bike however by the numbers there are higher worth choices on the market that additionally carry out higher. I’d additionally say the ISP knocks it down in worth as a result of it may make it more durable to promote on. 

Verdict

The Giant Propel is an aero bike that with the correct wheelset fortunately works as an all-rounder, however I discovered it greatest suited to large days on flatter rides when specced with some correctly deep wheels. The extra simply swappable cockpit means you would make a really aero setup with some hyper-narrow bars, one thing that’s more durable to do when tied into an built-in cockpit setup. 

The dealing with is beautiful and impartial, although it lacks a little bit of agility in comparison with some, however this makes it a assured bike to trip on quick descents. I discovered the rear finish may very well be somewhat stiffer below dash hundreds, however this was solely a minor gripe within the grand scheme of issues. 

Realistically the age of the bike is simply beginning to present, however because it’s two and a half years outdated in an trade that normally works on three-year growth cycles, this isn’t an excellent shock.