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Custom build: Giant Propel Advanced

October 29 , 2016

One of our friends needs a mountain bike and after a few failed attempts to acquire one, an opportunity presented itself as Life Cycle Pasay informed me that they have a sale for 2015 models which included the Giant Anthem. At 50% discount, it is hard to pass on and I arranged with my friend and Life Cycle to secure the bike. Today, we picked it up for him.


As we wait for the assembly of the bike, I was looking around and something caught my attention. One customer was holding a Giant Propel Advanced frame and I was attracted to it, more so when I learned that it's part of the 50% discount sale. The frame size is small and out of curiosity, I asked one of the staff of Life Cycle if I can "fit" a built bike of the same model and size. I did fit quite nicely in fact and this means trouble. As I contemplate hard if I should bite the bullet, I stowed away the frameset out of the display area.

I was telling myself I don't ned another bike, but there's this certain urge to build it myself with much more involvement than the Giant Anthem custom build I previously worked on. In the end, this was the result.

The Frameset

Even though the Propel Advanced is made of carbon fiber, it is a little bit heavier compared to the frameset of the Eddy Merckx Blockhaus 67. What came to me as a surprise are:

  • integrated V-brakes, which means that I won't need to purchase a brakeset.
  • RideSense, Giant's cadence and speed sensors. This one is the older model that use ANT+ protocol (the new one adds Bluetooth LE) but I don't mind as my Garmin Edge 25 and Sony Xperia will just be as happy.

This purchase actually presented a problem, as I was hoping to purchase the Campagnolo Potenza 11 groupset while I was in Singapore but it wasn't meant to be. While I found one, the chainring is standard and the cassette is 11-29t. My main requirement for going with the Potenza 11 is the 11-32t cassette, and a compact chainring.

Anyway, I still have the Tiagra 4700 and WH-R501 from the upgraded Blockhaus 67 and I told myself to just make use of them as a temporary measure until I get an appropriate groupset. I just need a stem and a drop bar and this bike will roll.

Cockpit

I went back to Life Cycle to get a Deda stem, drop bar, and bar tape. Unfortunately, I forgot that the Propel use Overdrive 2 steerer and the stem won't fit. As much as I prefer Deda, I have no choice but to switch to Zipp Service Course stem and Service Course SL-80 drop bar. The Zipp pair is more expensive and heavier than the Deda, sigh.

For the bar tape, I exchanged the Deda for a Giant Contact SLR and took the oppotunity to match it with the color theme of the Propel.

I had the stem cut by Mang Jun at Cristy's and the seat post cut by Mang Boy at Life Cycle.

Groupset

Since Campagnolo is out of the picture, the next battleplan is to go with SRAM eTAP as a natural choice as the frameset came with integrated brakes. I was so excited to finally experience wireless electronic shifting but alas, Life Cycle doesn't have it anymore. To make matters worse, they can't tell me when stocks will be replenished. Brokenhearted, I decide to go with Shimano Ultegra Di2 once more.

Still disappointed, I headed to Cristy's once more to acquire the Ultegra Di2 upgrade kit instead. It is much cheaper as it does not include the brakes, cassette, chain, and crankset. Since this is my second Ultegra Di2 I wanted a different flavor, so I got the 11-28t cassette and 52-36t chainring since I do not plan to use the Propel for climbing. This will allow me to play with different combinations with the Ultegra Di2 on my Blockhaus 67 which is now configured as my climbing bike.

I traded in my Shimano Tiagra 4700 and R501 wheelset for the remaining parts I need to complete the Ultegra Di2 components.

I found that my Tacx trainer can double as a flexible bike workstation, which allowed me to access the bottom bracket easily to work with the Ultegra Di2 wiring.

The Propel Advanced is Di2 ready and includes all the rubber grommets for the Di2 cables' entry and exit holes. Cable routing is extremely easy, I love this build! The junction box is tucked away nicely using velcro tapes inside the downtube.

The internal battery is wrapped in foam and inserted into the seat tube. The following cable lenghts are sufficient for this build.

  • 300mm x 2, connects the shifters to the SM-EW90-B junction box underneath the stem.
  • 1200mm, connects the SM-EW90-B to the SM-JC41 junction box inside the frame.
  • 750mm, connects the internal battery to the SM-JC41.
  • 350mm, connects the front derailleur to the SM-JC41.
  • 650mm, connects the rear derailleur to the SM-JC41.

Tuning the Ultegra Di2 is relatively easy and straightforward compared to its mechanical counterparts.

Wheelset

I am very happy with the Carbon Nation Cycling wheelset that was previously used on the Eddy Merckx Blockhaus 67 so I decided to use it for this build. The Blockhaus 67 got a new wheelset.

[Update] The Propel got a new wheelset, the Reynolds Assault SLG.

The Mavic Swiss Stop yellow pads moved to the Propel, naturally.

The final specification of my Giant Propel Advanced build is as follows:

  • Frameset: Giant Propel Advanced
  • Cockpit: Zipp Service Course
  • Groupset: Shimano Ultegra Di2 (6870)
  • Wheelset: Reynolds Assault SLG tubular
  • Tires: Continenta; Sprinter Gatorskin 700 x 25c
  • Saddle: Fizik Gobi