Giant have released their brand new Propel. We took a look at the Giant Propel Advanced SL Zero, the range topping bike. There have been some big claims from the bike maker, those being a 6.2 watt saving over the previous model, a 300g weight saving and of course it being stiffer in all the right places while building in compliance for a more comfortable ride. Is this just more of the same marketing headlines or is it actually a better bike?
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00:00 (upbeat music)
00:02 Hot off the press today, we have this,
00:07 the Giant Propel Advanced SL,
00:09 and this one here is the Zero model.
00:12 Now, the previous version of the Propel
00:14 has been around for four years or just over that,
00:16 so it's in time for a bit of a refresh,
00:19 and this one has some pretty impressive stats.
00:21 So let's get into them
00:23 and see how good this new bike really is.
00:27 Now, this new Propel comes with all the usual promises
00:30 of being lighter, stiffer, and more aero,
00:33 so there's no surprises there.
00:35 However, the numbers themselves are quite impressive.
00:38 So when we come onto the weight savings,
00:40 this version over the previous model
00:43 has saved a total of 327 grammes, which is pretty good.
00:47 Now, that's split across two parts.
00:49 First up, you've got the cockpit,
00:51 so you've got the stem and the bar,
00:53 and they've managed to save 102 grammes from that area.
00:56 Now, from the frame set itself, they've saved 225 grammes,
01:01 which that's the more impressive number in my opinion,
01:04 and they've done that in a variety of places,
01:06 one of which being the seat tube,
01:09 where they've engineered it not only to be lighter,
01:12 but they've also built in more compliance as well,
01:14 so in theory, should be a lot more comfortable.
01:17 Now, cutting the seat post
01:18 can be a bit of a nerve-wracking time for owners,
01:21 which is why Giant have come through
01:24 and they've actually sorted you out pretty well
01:26 because this saddle clamp here
01:27 that joins the saddle to the frame itself,
01:30 with this version, you can actually stack it up
01:33 with 25 mils worth of shims,
01:35 so you can make those fine adjustments later on
01:37 if you need to, and in the box,
01:39 you also get another one of these,
01:41 which will allow you to do it to 45 millimetres,
01:44 so if you wanna come sell it in the future,
01:46 then you can think about other people's height
01:48 and know that they're gonna be okay, which is great.
01:51 One last thing while we're in this area of the bike
01:54 is actually the saddle cradle itself.
01:55 It can be flipped around
01:57 so that you either have zero millimetres of saddle offset
02:00 or 20 millimetres of saddle offset,
02:03 so again, you're pretty well covered
02:04 for that kind of versatility of bike fitting
02:08 rather than needing to have to go and get other parts.
02:11 Now, it is only the Advanced SL
02:13 which comes with that integrated seat post.
02:15 The other versions of the Propel
02:17 will have the more conventional seat tube,
02:19 so if this isn't for you,
02:21 then you do have other options available to you.
02:24 Now, we've moved up to the front of the bike
02:25 now because the cockpit
02:27 is where we've seen quite a few extra advancements
02:29 and ones that I think would be good to see across the board
02:33 and that is how they've integrated the hoses themselves.
02:36 Rather than the hoses going through the stem,
02:39 they now go underneath it into a hollowed-out channel,
02:42 so if you look underneath,
02:43 you can actually still see the hoses,
02:46 which means that they're a lot more easily accessible.
02:48 The way that the hoses are running are through the bars
02:51 and then they pop out the back of the bars,
02:54 through the stem and then down the head tube.
02:57 In my mind, this makes a whole lot more sense
03:00 to how things have previously been done
03:02 because it means that adjustments
03:04 aren't now a three-hour break bleed
03:06 just to maybe remove some spaces,
03:08 which is very, very helpful in my opinion.
03:11 Now, the spaces themselves are split as well,
03:14 so you can actually remove them
03:16 without having to take absolutely everything apart.
03:19 Now, one more thing on that hose routing
03:21 and the way they've managed to make it so easy
03:24 is with the use of a D-shaped steerer.
03:27 The only downside to that, in my opinion,
03:29 is that you are locked into using one of Giant's own stems,
03:33 but they have thought about this
03:35 and you've got a carbon option,
03:36 which is what's fitted to this one,
03:38 but they've also done a more budget-friendly
03:41 aluminium version.
03:42 So you do have a couple of options.
03:44 Obviously, you can't go and use a third-party stem,
03:46 which is a bit of a shame,
03:47 but you can still use a third-party bar
03:50 because it is still a 31.8 mil clamp.
03:54 And if you wanna use integrated bars,
03:55 then you can either throw the hoses out the bottom,
03:58 up underneath the stem and into the frame,
04:00 or you can even do it so that they come out the back
04:03 and in the same way that these bars here do it.
04:05 So even though you don't have the versatility on the stem,
04:08 you do still have it on the bars.
04:10 So we've spoken about the weight savings,
04:12 but one of the other big claims
04:14 is the aerodynamic efficiency.
04:16 Now, this model compared to the previous model
04:19 is 6.2 watts faster,
04:21 and that's been done in a number of ways.
04:23 First up, you've got these very special bottle cages,
04:26 which actually are different,
04:28 and they are dependent on where you mount them.
04:31 So this one is designed to be here,
04:33 and this one is designed to be here.
04:35 And they are designed to be used with round bottles
04:38 because we all use round bottles.
04:41 Now, moving on from those bottle cages,
04:43 the aerodynamic efficiency has been improved
04:46 with the use of their truncated aerofoils,
04:49 or essentially lots of flat parts of the bike.
04:52 So different parts like the back of the down tube here,
04:56 the seat stays, the back of the forks.
04:59 When you feel them, they're all flat sections.
05:01 And even back here on the bridge
05:04 is actually completely horizontal and again flat
05:07 because flat lines and horizontal lines are faster.
05:11 So that's how they've managed to achieve
05:12 that massive aero gain.
05:14 But the key thing, and potentially more excitingly,
05:17 are actually the wheels this bike's rolling on.
05:20 These are the new Kadex 50 Ultra wheels
05:23 with the brand new Kadex tyres as well.
05:26 And they've been built in conjunction with this bike
05:29 to make sure it's one complete aero package.
05:33 Now, these wheels here are actually quite interesting.
05:36 You may think they're a bit of a strange choice
05:38 for a bike like this,
05:38 because usually people that ride the Propel
05:41 may put much deeper wheels in it.
05:44 But think about it, you might not need to.
05:46 And that's because this bike has been tested
05:48 with a lot of the most popular wheels out there
05:50 from the likes of Envy and Zipp and DT Swiss.
05:53 And actually these ones came out fastest
05:55 with this tyre combo as well.
05:58 And that is because both the wheels and the tyres
06:00 have been designed in conjunction with this bike.
06:03 Now, there is actually quite a lot to be interested about
06:04 with these wheels.
06:05 You've got ceramic bearings in the hubs,
06:07 you've got carbon fibre straight pull spokes,
06:10 you've got hookless rims,
06:11 which measure 22.4 mil wide on the internals.
06:16 There's quite a lot going for them.
06:17 And because they've been designed in conjunction
06:19 with these brand new tyres,
06:21 they should in theory be pretty quick together.
06:24 Even though Kadex are Giant's in-house brand,
06:27 they do still want to be seen
06:28 that they can be fitted on other bikes.
06:30 So they are available as just the wheel set.
06:33 And if you wanted to get hold of the wheels
06:34 just by themselves,
06:35 I'm told that they're going to be around
06:37 the 2,750 pound mark,
06:40 but that's still TBC.
06:43 Now onto price for the entire bike.
06:45 Well, annoyingly,
06:46 that's something I'm not going to be able to tell you
06:48 because Giant don't know themselves.
06:50 We're expecting to see this bike land
06:52 around November, 2022.
06:55 So it would be at that point,
06:56 we really know how much it's going to cost.
06:58 But with this build that we've got here,
07:01 I think it's safe to say we're probably going to be
07:03 into the five figures.
07:05 Now, like I mentioned earlier with the seat posts,
07:08 there will be other models available in the Propel range.
07:11 Now again, still waiting for prices on those,
07:14 but you can see on screen now
07:15 what they're going to look like.
07:17 And I think it's fair to say they do look pretty cool.
07:20 I think one of my only reservations about the bike
07:22 is that if this were to be in a silhouette
07:24 and you took maybe 10 of the most popular
07:27 aero road bikes out there today,
07:29 it could potentially be fairly tricky
07:31 to pull it apart in a lineup.
07:34 But maybe it's because a lot of the bike manufacturers
07:37 out there are actually dialing in
07:39 on what the fastest shape is.
07:41 So lastly, let's do a little bike weight check.
07:44 And this one here is coming in at
07:46 6.79 kilos, which that's pretty good.
07:53 So there we have it.
07:54 There's the brand new Giant Propel.
07:56 Do let me know down in the comments what you think of it.
07:59 Do you think it's more of the same?
08:01 Do you think it's just more empty claims
08:03 that no one's really ever going to notice?
08:05 I think it's quite a cool bike.
08:07 And I think the wheels might actually be something
08:10 to get a little bit more excited about.
08:12 But like I say, do let me know your thoughts.
08:15 If you enjoyed the video, drop it a like,
08:16 subscribe to the channel for more content,
08:18 and I'll see you again very soon.
08:20 (whooshing)
08:23 [BLANK_AUDIO]