It’s been a while, but back in the mid to late 1990s, the Giant Bicycle Corporation changed the game for road bike geometry. When Giant introduced Compact Road Design they created a new way to ride and the industry has been playing catchup since.
Not only did Compact Road Design change the way bikes looked by introducing a toptube that slopes from the headtube to the seattube, but more importantly the design created better performing bikes. The smaller front and rear triangles were lighter, stiffer and provided better power transfer as there was less frame material to bend and flex under the stress of hard pedal strokes.
Giant, and its women’s brand Liv, applied the design and technology to its top line of road bicycles and the TCR was born. Short for Total Compact Road, TCR bikes are at the leading edge of performance technology. Whether the design is applied to an aluminum frame or a composite carbon frame, Compact Road Design improves the ride.