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Pro Bike Gallery: Lawson Craddock’s Giant TCR Advanced SL

Craddock landed his first major stage race podium in California aboard this Giant TCR Advanced SL

May 20, 2014 Logan VonBokel

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Pro — Lawson Craddock has been collecting Best Young Rider jerseys for years, but this year at the Tour of California, Craddock landed his first major general classification podium. For road stages Craddock chooses to go with Giant’s TCR Advanced SL 0, a bike that’s been proven in our VeloLab World Tour bike test as a top race machine as well as on the roads of the UCI World Tour. Photo: Logan VonBokel | VeloNews.com

Pro — The entire Giant-Shimano team is running Shimano Dura-Ace 9070 Di2 electronic drivetrains. Craddock’s size small TCR Advanced SL is outfitted with 172.5mm crank arms. Photo: Logan VonBokel | VeloNews.com

Pro — The TCR Advaced SL frame differs from the TCR Advanced in that the SL sports a higher modulous carbon frame and ditches the seat collar in favor of an integrated seat mast. Photo: Logan VonBokel | VeloNews.com

Pro — Craddock’s seatmast is topped with a Pro Griffon saddle. Photo: Logan VonBokel | VeloNews.com

Pro — Craddock, unlike much of the pro peloton, rides carbon bars. He rides the Pro Vibe in Pro’s semi-round Compact II bend. Photo: Logan VonBokel | VeloNews.com

Pro — Shimano C35 tubulars are a mainstay in the peloton, but on Craddock’s small frame, with carbon bars, and a these tubulars, Giant-Shimano mechanics must just barely be meeting the UCI weight limit of 14.9lbs. Photo: Logan VonBokel | VeloNews.com

Pro — 25mm Vittoria Corsa CX tubulars keep Craddock in contact with the road. Photo: Logan VonBokel | VeloNews.com

Pro — The TCR Advanced SL’s downtube sports some sharply angled tubes that are not designed to slip through wind, but to give the rider the stiffest pedaling platform. Photo: Logan VonBokel | VeloNews.com

Pro — An unbadged chain watcher gives Craddock some insurance against dropped chains. Photo: Logan VonBokel | VeloNews.com

Pro — Carbon Elite bottle cages keep Giant-Shimano’s bidons secure. Photo: Logan VonBokel | VeloNews.com

Pro — The faceplate of the stem looks like a Pro Vibe stem, but the Vibe sports a two-bolt faceplate design, not a four-bolt. Photo: Logan VonBokel | VeloNews.com

Pro — The stem is a Pro Vibe stem, as it carries the same distinct shape as ones we’ve ridden, but the TCR Advanced uses an oversized steer tube. Pro produces these 1 1/4″ stems for the Giant-Shimano team exclusively. Photo: Logan VonBokel | VeloNews.com

Pro — After seeing the methodical work of the Giant-Shimano mechanics on Chad Haga’s time trial bike to keep his wires hidden from the wind, a bit of electrical tape to hold this Di2 cable secure shouldn’t surprise us, but we’re still impressed by their attention to detail. Photo: Logan VonBokel | VeloNews.com

An American in France

What’s it like to be an American cyclist living in France? Watch to get professional road cyclist Joe Dombrowski’s view.

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