Unfortunately, some people are willing to fork out these absurd prices or they wouldn’t be selling out all the time.
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I think that eventually the demand for $$$$ bikes will fall soon as that portion of the market is finite and would (theoretically) get saturated… I could be wrong but there can only be so many people that can afford a $7k bike, and they aren’t buying a new one every year.
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Eh, if the bikes supposed to be X% faster, then they should give us gears to pedal it faster…not less fast. At least a 50/10
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50/10 is equal to 55/11. What bike has ever come stock with that gearing?
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Think exactly those people that can afford those bikes are buying new ones every year.
I like the look of the Scott foil, but that tested version literally costs 10x as much as my bike. I highly doubt it’s 10x as good.
As for the Giant Popel…honestly, who came up with that name?!?
My DA1 with sram has a 53 on the front 
I just want to be able to pedal a supppsedly fast bike downhill without spending 1k immediately on a new crankset and front der. I don’t think I’m asking a lot from an 8k+ bike.
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53x11 at 110 RPM gives you 42.1 mph/67.8 kph. Are you still pedaling at that point? Honest question…just curious!
Thats usually when I tuck a bit and pray my brakes still work 
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I was doing 38-39 today at 400w going down a 2% grade and definitely could’ve used another gear. Final set of TR interval…usually would reserve that for uphill but was running out of time to get to work so needed to do the last sets while going home. With a nice tailwind and some motivation I can run out of gears on a flat road at a threshold pace.
Imho, that’s not acceptable from a supposed top of the line aero race bike.
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In 2020, I had the choice between a Propel or a Madone. I wanted the Madone so badly.
Arranged a test ride for both. The Trek dealership couldn’t have been less interested in me or my business. The bike hadn’t been set up to my measurements and the gentleman I spoke to told me that ‘it was a different type of bike to the one I’d been riding, I’d get used to it…’ Needless to say, I didn’t get used to it because I didn’t buy it. Maybe the Madone is one of the greatest road bikes in recent years but I simply wasn’t prepared to hand over £5k+ based on my initial experience.
The Giant store on the other hand couldn’t have been more different. They dialled in my measurements to within two millimetres at the stem and arranged for me to have the bike for a weekend. I then returned with the bike and spent a further hour dialling things in on their rig. No money changed hands for this process.
When this was done, I told the store I didn’t want a ‘stock’ bike, I wanted one built up. No problem, they made it happen. Everything was sourced to my spec and I had my bike two months later.
To date, I still take my bike back to that store. They treat me and that bike like royalty. It’s a bit embarrassing to be honest. Yes, I ended up putting down just under £6k. Do I think it was money well spent? Yes. I got a bike that is far more capable than I will ever be.
The Propel might not be the prettiest bike you’ll ever see but I’ll be brutally honest, if you buy a bike purely on looks, you’re missing out. Does that bike fit you well? Does it encourage you to get everything out when you’re on the road? Yeah, coffee stop comments are nice but they count for little if you’re suffering discomfort.
Would I buy a new Propel? Based on my pervious experience and if the new model fits me, without question, yes. The only problem Giant have right now is that their 2020 Propel is still too much bike for me.
No, I’m not sponsored by Giant and no I’m not a fanboy. I just believe that the bike buying experience starts and finishes with the dealership. Locally for me, no one comes close to Giant.
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Two questions - although this is definitely a bit off topic for this thread
First - could you share some links to rides you’ve done where you’ve run out of gears? I’m genuinely curious what situations you’re finding yourself in. I race fairly high level road in the US and with a 52-11 I am never spun out. The wind resistance is such that putting out power over 40 MPH is such a marginal speed increase that in nearly all situations you’re better off saving the effort - so I’m really curious when you feel you’d need these gears.
Second - are you aware of other aero race bikes that do offer the gearing you’re looking for, or are all of the manufacturers consistent on this?
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48-10 sits right between a 52-11 and a 53-11. 0.37% lower gearing than a 53-11 by my reckoning, or 0.16mph at cadence of 100, so you won’t even notice the difference. I’m not aware of any mainstream bikes that have ever sold with higher gearing than 53-11 as stock. If you really need more than a 53-11 then you just change the chain ring which is a pretty easy and cost neutral switch (unless you buy the Red crankset where the power meter is built into the chain rings).
But you almost certainly don’t need more gearing anyway - if you really need to lay down power >40mph then learning to pedal smoothly at higher cadence is a much better option with no downsides compared to switching chain rings. I.e. Being comfortable pushing power at 120rpm instead of 110 is a 9% increase in speed before spinning out with no cost, getting the same increase via gearing would involve switching from 53 to 58T which quite apart from the cost also means changing your inner chain ring and therefore losing quite a lot of lower gearing which is going to impact your climbing.
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Top end aero bikes are designed to be ridden fast and to do it efficiently. As much as I’d like to see bigger gear ratios offered, the thing I find odd is Sram’s small rings/10t.
In a world where people pay £400 to switch an 11 tooth jockey wheel for 13/19t Ceramic Speed options, who wants a 48-10?
I race with 56t on my road bike (and 60t for TT). Important moments in my races happen at >50kph so I’ve got a more efficient chainline, bigger bends on the chain and gearing for really high speed.
But the above is all about SRAM, not Giant really. So quite off topic!
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Sure. Log In to TrainerRoad That’s going up/down a 6mi hill near my house that I regularly go do intervals on, and use on probably half the rides I do to connect to other stuff. It’s between 2 and 5% grade and pretty consistent, which makes it perfect for intervals. Going down is crap though. It’s easy to get to 40mph in a z2 pace but then I’ll be spinning beyond that unless there’s a decent headwind.
(note that my downhills here are rest intervals…so I’m only pedaling to keep the legs moving over, not demonstrating that I spin out on this descent)
The longer descent here is another annoyance I regularly run out of gears on… Log In to TrainerRoad
Similar idea being a 2-5% rolling descent. Any of the steeper sections I turn into a hamster on.
And those examples don’t include our local big climb… Log In to TrainerRoad that’s closer to 4-6% and I’ve generally given up pedaling except out of the corners on that.
I haven’t done a full analysis of gearing on comparable bikes. If they’re the same, then it’s a critique of sram and the industry as a whole.
Lol. Of course this happened. $5000 seemed too good to be true. Number one choice for a new bike is a Madone but $8000 for a 105 is bonkers. Also considering Canyon or Giant. Prices are just stupid now and something needs to stabilize. This seems unsustainable.
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Very interesting and totally valid use case. I’d never considered doing high power intervals while descending. Of course you’d need a larger gear. I guess you could sit up tall and drag a break - but you’re absolutely right. If you’re trying to maintain a power zone on a descent you need way more gears.
I was looking at it entirely from a ride/race perspective - where the sheer inefficiency would overwhelm the need for more gears in nearly ever situations.
Neither have I - but I don’t think I’ve ever seen a stock bike come with something bigger than a 53/11. So I think criticizing Giant is a bit unfair
Oh, I don’t. Can’t even do a constant tempo down that hill because it gets spun out. I just use that hill for intervals up and then recovery down. On a typical constant tempo/endurance ride, it’s still hard to hold a decent pace down that hill, which is why I want a bigger chainring stock.
Eh, you don’t see the guys at the front or in the break from the pro peloton coasting every time they go over 38mph because it’s too inefficient and overwhelming. They’re still pedaling and driving the pace high. That’s why sram gives them bigger chainrings.
And if the counter argument is…“well, that’s different because they’re pros” then that same argument could be used for how unnecessary it is for anyone but a well paid professional to own a fully aero 6.9kg bike. ‘We want you to be able to go faster on less power… but not too fast!’ /bike industry
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Does anyone who is more knowledgeable here think that the new “entry” level Propel Advanced 2 would come in around 3500 USD/EUR?
Furthermore, do you think the gap between the top tier model (where all those sexy head line stats are taken) will be much bigger than in previous models?
Reason I ask, is whether its worth waiting for the Propel to come out and get one for this price point in the new year, or take the plunge on either a 2022 TCR or Canyon Aeroad (very different bikes I know, but they are my current leanings).
I just switched from an Aeroad to a Giant TCR From a ride quality standpoint, the TCR is superb….probably the best carbon bike I have ridden. Sure, the Canyon is technically faster, but I have yet to see any real world differences between the two…and I am a pretty big aero geek.
That said, the Propel kinda ticks all my boxes…pretty light, aero and available in red. 
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Thanks for the info. Great to get some feedback from some real world users. Appreciate that.
The Propel very much peaks my interest, so may wait a bit until the prices are released. Would be amazing if the more entry level ones were avail in Red, but I doubt that 
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The pros can pedal smoothly at very high cadence, they have 6+W/kg engines to power those big chainrings over the hills, and best of all they have dedicated mechanics who can simply swap that big chainring they use for a rolling breakaway day to something smaller on the big mountain days.
If you don’t have to ride up steep climbs and/or you’re enthusiastic enough to swap your gearing regularly for different rides/races, then buy a bigger chainring.