INTERBIKE 2009 – Giant used Cross Vegas as a platform to unveil their prototype concept TCX Cyclocross Bike under pro XC racer Adam Craig and Rabobank pro Bram De Groot.  There are only five of these bikes in existence, and two of them were on hand to further test the concept at the largest cyclocross party, er, race, around.
Both bikes were spec’d differently, and in fact, they wouldn’t even let us weigh them because they said all five are different and these are no where near production ready or equipped with final spec.  The carbon layups are different in each prototype, and they wouldn’t tell us the target weight other than to say light, but not crazy…the emphasis is on performance.
With that in mind, we have lots of pics, but only a few firm details on their new ‘cross bike. Hit ‘more’ to see them all…
Adam Craig’s race bike was outfitted with Shimano Di2 electronic Dura-Ace.  Cable routing for both the rear brake and the derailleurs is internal, and you can see the big holes in the front of the frame to let them in.
The brake cable pops out of the seat tube.  The integrated seatmast takes on a smaller overall diameter and is shaped to allow some flex, as is the seat tube, in order to make the bike more comfortable without giving up performance.
Cable housing (or in this case, wires) comes out  just above the bottom bracket for the front derailleur.
Seems a precarious place to mount the battery pack for a cyclocross bike.  Click to enlarge the image and you can better see the wires/cables coming out of the downtube.
Bram’s bike was outfitted with traditional Dura-Ace.  He flew in from Belgium just for Cross Vegas.
We have video of the introduction with a little more info, and we’ll post that separately as soon as we’re back in the office and can edit and upload.
