After months of teasing in the pro peloton, Giant’s disc-brake equipped Trinity Advanced SL time trial bike has officially been announced.
According to the Taiwanese brand, the new Trinity Advanced SL is lighter, stiffer and – most importantly – more aerodynamic than the outgoing model.
The announcement puts yet another nail in the coffin for rim brake bikes in the WorldTour, leaving Bianchi’s Aquila CV as the last bike standing.
Alongside the new Trinity Advanced SL, Giant’s sister brand, Liv, has announced a women’s specific version of the new TT bike, the Avow Advanced SL.
Giant’s premium component brand, Cadex, has also revealed a new 4-spoke wheelset and an updated rear disc wheel.
The disc wheel is claimed to weigh only 1,000g, while delivering much greater stiffness than its predecessor, thanks to its use of internal integrated carbon spokes.
The Trinity adopts discs
Although the previous-generation Trinity was held in high regard, it became increasingly difficult to ignore the fact that it hadn’t kept pace with evolving tech.
While rim brakes – especially hidden ones like the outgoing Trinity Advanced Pro used – can be very aerodynamic, the lack of a disc brake option also entailed limited compatibility with a large swathe of modern aero wheels (most of which are designed for disc brakes).
With this update, Giant and Liv are finally bringing the Trinity platform up to date for both time trial and triathlon riders.
Giant says it used both CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics) modelling and wind tunnel testing to ensure the addition of disc brakes could “add a significant level of control without compromising aero efficiency”.
According to the brand, the new Trinity has a fork designed to shield the font brake caliper from the wind, which reduces turbulence.
While the silhouette of the Trinity remains similar to the outgoing model, Giant says the 'truncated ellipse' tube shapes have been updated and improved, with changes made to the head tube, down tube, fork and seatpost.
Giant says its wind tunnel testing shows the new Trinity Advanced SL offers an advantage of 5.9 watts at 45kph over the previous version, over a yaw angle sweep from -20 to +20 degrees.
Improved stiffness-to-weight
As is often the case with its road racing bikes, Giant puts an emphasis on the improved stiffness-to-weight ratio of the Trinity Advanced SL.
The brand says using its premium tier, Advanced SL carbon fibre blend (compared to the Advanced Pro carbon used on the previous version) sees the Trinity Advanced SL frameset drop 558g.
Giant hasn’t shared complete bike weights, but says this saving sees the frameset’s stiffness-to-weight ratio improve by 12 per cent.
Improved fit and integration
As well as making improvements to the frameset, Giant has also increased its adaptability to a wider range of riders and bike fits.
The cockpit has also been redesigned, switching from a dual-armrest riser system to a mono-riser setup.
Giant says there are now four seatpost offset positions (two more than previously), offering 51mm of fore-aft adjustment range – an increase of 11mm compared to the previous seatpost.
Giant says the stack height can be adjusted by 80mm (up from 60mm), while reach can be adjusted by 75mm (also up from 60mm).
There are also eight armrest-width settings, two width options for the aero extensions and three for angling the armrests (0, 10 and 15 degrees).
Like the Cadex Tri bike, the triathlon-specific version of the new Trinity Advanced SL includes integrated storage for both nutrition and drinks.
This consists of a bento box on the top tube, which integrates with the cockpit, and an aerodynamically shaped hydration system that nestles between the down tube and seat tube (with a drinking straw going directly from the bottle to the handlebar).
Cadex Max Aero Disc and Aero 4-Spoke WheelSystems
Alongside the new Trinity and Avow Advanced SL, Cadex has launched a new 4-spoke aero wheelset and an updated rear disc wheel.
The Aero 4-Spoke WheelSystem features a full-carbon construction, with 50 and 65mm rim depths front and rear.
According to Cadex, the 4-spoke design offers the “perfect balance of aero efficiency and control with lower side force drag in crosswinds”.
It also claims the wheelset “surpasses the aero performance of competitor disc wheel combinations in headwinds, while achieving lower side force drag in crosswinds", when wind tunnel tested in the Cadex Tri bike.
| Frameset | Front wheel | Rear wheel | Tyre | Aero Number (watts) | Side force (watts) | Difference | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cadex Tri | CADEX Aero 4-Spoke | CADEX Aero 4-Spoke | CADEX Aero 25C | 252.43 | 28.25 | |||
| Cadex Tri | Roval 51 | Roval 321 | Turbo 24 | 255.89 | 28.86 | 3.46 | 0.61 | |
| Cadex Tri | Zipp 858 | Zipp 858 | GP5000-25/28 | 258.11 | 28.07 | 5.68 | -0.18 | |
The Cadex Max Aero Disc uses a spoked internal construction, with carbon spokes integrated to carbon hubs and rims to improve stiffness.
This is then covered with an “ultrathin aero cover made with a 1K carbon fiber weave”.
Cadex says this construction offers greater responsiveness and a lower overall weight, coming in at 1,000g for the complete wheel.
As with all Cadex wheels, the rims are hookless (as opposed to hooked) and feature a 22.4mm internal rim width optimised for the latest road tubeless tyres.
