Ex Team Once Giant TCR TT bike now finished!

[Retro Dan]

Hi Guys,
Taken a lot longer than I had planned but finally finished the Ex Team Once TCR Time Trial Bike I picked up some time ago.

The bike was missing groupset and wheels but the best was there - although it had been repainted in Liberty Seguros colours (Once became Liberty Seguros in 2004 - they issued BH road bikes but re-used their Giant TCR`s as TT bikeds - same TCR`s but with TT bars and saddles. This one still had plenty of Once stickers still on it and the classic pro thing of stickers covering up things like a Cinelli sticker over the 3ttt bar sticker. The frame also had some neat additional ally filets (guessing to add strength) welded in place around the BB and the seatpost/top tube junction and a lot of smoothing of the welds.

One painted (not doing that again - a lot of tricky masking...) it was fitted with a really good Campagnolo TT groupset and Hed Tri spokes with Veloflex Criterium rubber.

Put it on the turbo for a few sessions to tweak the fit and get used to it (first time on a TT rig and it definatly streches you out) then took it out at the weekend for its first real ride - its certainly fast but man its a stiff and challenging ride on the cr*ppy roads where I live (planning on re-locating it to the slick roads of southern France soon).

Finished bike (don`t worry about the seat angle, has been adjusted):


As it would have been (yellow paint showing through paint chips gave the clues for the paint job - Giant used several combinations):


As it was when it arrived:


Bare Frame:


Additional ally re-enforcing filets:


BB filets:


Finished:


Super Record 10 speed TT groupset 53/42 11/25:


Original TT set up cleaned up:


Original Once TT skinsuit and a regular Giro aero helmet to finish the look:

 

[Iwasgoodonce]

Awesome! You have to love a mad TT bike.

I think that GPS might struggle to get a fix once you're on it though?

 

[raidan73]

Wow! Great dedication and a fine looking machine

 

[non-fixie]

Excellent piece of work! Colour me impressed.

 

[Nob]

Great Job & getting the smaller details done looks great

 

[zerogravitas]

Super job, right up my street this one. Lots of interesting features and an excellent restoration and rebuild.

 

[Triathlonchap32]

Outstanding restoration. Odd that Manolo Sainz at ONCE didn’t rebrand the composite Giant TT frames ONCE used in 2003 (and maybe 2002)?

 

[Triathlonchap32]

Hi Dan, who makes the adjustable stem in your ONCE TT bike restoration? Is that a Giant stem? An evolution of the original EXT Mike Burrows ones for the TCR, but for a-heads? I need to source a few and I’ve had no luck searching eBay as yet.

 

[Retro Dan]

Yep, its very similar to the Mike Burrows one, the three piece one thats basically a collar for the steerer tube then the two sides that bolt together to allow full range of adjustment, these are bolted to a 3TTT tribar setup with Cinelli stickers over the 3TTT ones.

Loads of unanswered questions about these TCR`s - by the time ONCE became Liberty they were on carbon TCR`s, I guess that however road this one really liked the re-inforced ally version and stuck with it, Dan.

 

[Triathlonchap32]

Thanks for your answer Dan. Much appreciated. I’m just starting out on a bunch of ONCE restorations.

I have just bought the bike in the attached image and trying to work out what’s were the correct TT bars I need to source. Cinelli Bat, a 3T product or something else?