Colossus Of Roads

Giant claims that adding disc brakes has made its Propel even faster

- Stu Bowers

It’s been nearly five years since Giant launched its pure aero road bike, the Propel, and it hasn’t changed much in that time. This new 2018 version is the first true revamp, and there’s more to it than the addition of disc brakes.

Eagle-eyed race fans may have spotted Aussie Michael Matthews of Team Sunweb using a pre-production version of the Propel Advanced SL Disc on some of the flatter stages at this year’s Tour de France (he still preferred the lighter TCR Advanced SL for the mountains). Matthews and his teammates informed the design process and now the bike’s release is official, with a three-tiered range expected to land in stores from November.

Compared to the more outlandish aero creations we’ve seen from the likes of Specialized with its Venge ViAS and Trek with its Madone, the Propel Disc is fairly conservative. In fact, discs aside, its silhouette is not radically different from before. A closer look, however, reveals the tube shapes are all completely new.

Gone are the full aerofoil sections, replaced by more truncated profiles. Giant has developed its own ellipsed tube shape, using what it refers to as Aero System Shaping (understandably they didn’t go for a three-letter acronym with that one).