Giant MCR

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QuangVuong
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Giant MCR

Postby QuangVuong » Sat Jun 17, 2017 6:33 pm

There were three Giant MCR models made. In 1997 there was the MCR 1 and the MCR 2. The MCR 1 was purple and had 7700 Dura Ace. The MCR 2, one model lower had the same frame but in blue and an Ultegra groupset. Apparently a 6400 one, rather than a 6500 according to here.

In 1998, there was just one model called the MCR. Its paint scheme was a darker blue than the 1997 MCR 2 and there was more blue highlights around.

Regardless of the years, the frame was always the same. It was a one size fits all, with a 55cm effective top tube and a seat tube that was 46cm c-t. For taller riders, the 27.2 aero seatpost had a longer aero section, and the original Giant EXT stem can be adjusted up and down to change the angle, although the stem was quite a long one at 120 mm c-c.

This 1997 Giant MCR 2 frame weighs 1845g with a 545g fork. The frame does have an integrated headset which does add the to the weight.
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DS hole leads to the RD. Middle hole leads to the FD. NDS hole leads to the rear brake. They all have guides that take full length housing. The housing for the FD stops internally just before where the cable exits the frame.
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The MCR actually has a provision for a bottle cage.
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FD recess. The ferrule seem there does not come out(or is stuck in there over the past 20 years). That is the point where the FD housing stops.
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The BB shell is 68mm English threaded. There should be two aluminium rings glued to the side of the frame behind the chainrings to prevent too much chaindrop damage, however someone managed to knock both of them off and scratch everything up.
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The RD housing exit can be seen on the right of the chainstay. There is another guide right near the dropout to keep the housing away from the chain/cassette. There is also a large cutout area for the rear brake. The nut is accessible from within the wheel arch.
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Replaceable dropouts. Although good luck finding a set of replacement dropouts. Custom made ones would be the go if needed.
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Chunky chainstays make removing the rear wheel very hard. The wheel must go down otherwise the cassette will hit the chainstay, but now the wheel hits the RD, which needs to be swung backwards to get out of the way. Quite the troublesome design. Also note the asymmetric design.
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27.2 seat post size. Clamp bolt takes a 5mm allen key.
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This is the lower headset cup. It is integrated into the frame and cannot be swapped out. The upper cup could possibly come out, but I didn't knock it out to check.
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And the rest of the headset. A YST HP233 roller bearing headset. The bearings are interchangable with the various other 1" roller bearing headsets around( Tange G Master, Stronglights, and the still currently produced Miche Primato, amongst others). The top cap has two grub screws to lock it in position. This is quite useful as when it is cabled up, it is hard to access the headset flats.
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The bike came to me with mostly 1055 components with the exception of Sora cranks and the newer 9s 105 RD.
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But Dura Ace 7700 is the go. So off goes the 1055 groupset and on with DA. The following pictures were taken by my brother minhyy.
ImageDSC_6172.jpg by Minh, on Flickr

ImageDSC_6173.jpg by Minh, on Flickr

Rear view. Doesn't look as aero as the Lotus.
ImageDSC_6188.jpg by Minh, on Flickr

ImageDSC_6187.jpg by Minh, on Flickr

Front view.
ImageDSC_6186.jpg by Minh, on Flickr

ImageDSC_6176.jpg by Minh, on Flickr

Please ignore the BMX pedals.
ImageDSC_6174.jpg by Minh, on Flickr

This is the exit point of the rear brake housing.
ImageDSC_6181.jpg by Minh, on Flickr

ImageDSC_6184.jpg by Minh, on Flickr

This is the Giant aero seatpost. I'm thinking this one is slightly newer than this MCR as there is no Giant EXT logo on it.
ImageDSC_6177.jpg by Minh, on Flickr

The frame can support a 12-27t cassette without the cassette hitting the frame. There is still more room, but I do not have anything bigger.
ImageDSC_6178.jpg by Minh, on Flickr

There are also 2 different hubs. One is labelled Composite on its own like this, but there are ones with a Giant EXT logo on them.
ImageDSC_6183.jpg by Minh, on Flickr

Mike Burrows was the one who came up with the compact design as well as this, which does share similarities with the Lotus.
ImageDSC_6180.jpg by Minh, on Flickr

Recessed rear brake.
ImageDSC_6182.jpg by Minh, on Flickr
Last edited by QuangVuong on Sat Aug 26, 2017 4:23 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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P!N20
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Re: Giant MCR

Postby P!N20 » Sun Jun 18, 2017 9:16 pm

Hey mate this is the retro thread :P

This is the ugliest bike I have ever seen...I love it!

So how does it ride?

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find_bruce
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Re: Giant MCR

Postby find_bruce » Mon Jun 19, 2017 7:30 am

Nice work Quang. How are the carbon spokes holding up? I presume you are out of luck if replacements are required.

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ldrcycles
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Re: Giant MCR

Postby ldrcycles » Mon Jun 19, 2017 11:15 am

Great to see that seatpost found such an appropriate home to go to :) . But i have to agree with P!n20, that bike is really ugly!

Re spokes, i think the last post i saw online about anyone getting their hands on replacements was at least 10 years ago..
"I must be rather keen on cycling"- Sir Hubert Opperman.

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familyguy
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Re: Giant MCR

Postby familyguy » Mon Jun 19, 2017 3:40 pm

Nice. Yes, ugly in a form follows function kinda way.

Did you swap the FiR version wheels for the Rigida version? Colour change...

Jim

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QuangVuong
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Re: Giant MCR

Postby QuangVuong » Mon Jun 26, 2017 12:10 am

P!N20 wrote:Hey mate this is the retro thread :P

This is the ugliest bike I have ever seen...I love it!

So how does it ride?
It doesn't have a gold chain, and the stem isn't low, so it isn't my bike. The MCR above was built for a friend, and I didn't really get the chance to ride it. But it is ok, I have my own one.
familyguy wrote:Nice. Yes, ugly in a form follows function kinda way.

Did you swap the FiR version wheels for the Rigida version? Colour change...

Jim
Magic... There's actually 4 sets of these wheels in my shed now. Two FIR sets and two Rigida sets. 3 sets are on bikes now, and one last set for another. Just keep an eye out and find out what the last set are going on.

I've been riding on a set of these wheels on the Superbike for the past year and a half or so without any problems. They've stayed relatively true and I haven't broken any spokes. I think as long as you don't nick the spokes against a curb or something, then they will be fine. But I really do wonder where will I get spokes when I need them. By then, I think it is the right time to go back to a more normal set of wheels. These are very flexible wheels that are heavy. They look cool, and that's the only real point why I have them.
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There are two different versions of rims; the gold Rigida DP18 and the black Fir rims. Both are 30mm rims which have custom drillings for the carbon spokes. The hubs are made by Joytech and have a carbon centre. There seems to be two different generations of hubs. One that is labelled EXT Giant Pro.
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And the other is just Giant Composite.
ImageDSC_6183.jpg by Minh, on Flickr

I'm not sure which is the newer one, but I suspect it is the plain Composite hubs as the Giant EXT Pro logos disappeared off the 1998 MCR. I also weighed a FIR wheel with Composite hub which came in at 1285g, and a Rigida wheel with Giant EXT Pro hub 1405g. There is a 120g difference is mass in just the rear wheel. The front wheels weigh 1005g and 1020g respectively.

There is a difference in the freehub body used too. This is the EXT freehub body. It's a steel one I think. The locknut is just held on by a grub screw.
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And this is the Composite freehub body. The locknut is threaded on and locked in place with a grub screw.
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I initally thought it was a titanium freehub body from the colour. I ground away some material from the back side and it made sparks as steel does. Silver underneath too, so its definitely a steel freehub body with some sort of coating.
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And this is how the wheels are trued. A 3mm allen key will adjust the spokes as normal.
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Here is a close up of the Giant EXT Pro stem too. Its made by Taiwanese company Hsilung (HL).
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Made up of 3 main parts, the quill, and two halves for the extension forward. The quill and two halves are splined to keep the stem angle from changing during use. This particular one is 120mm c-c with a 26.0 clamp and is all silver. I've seen others that is half black and half silver, and most I've seen are 120mm long. However there should also be 100 and 110 long stems around, which I would much prefer to use for my frame.
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Anyway, here is my 1998 Giant MCR. Exactly the same as the 1997 models, but with a different paint job. This one weighs 1825g for the frame with a 535g fork which is pretty much the same as the 1997 one.
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Headtube badge
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Entry ports for the internal routing. Same routing as the 1997 frame.
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Giant aero forks. Notice how it only says Composite, and that there is no more Giant EXT Pro logo on it.
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The integrated headset remains. The internal HT insert is much better machined in the 1998 frame. Minimal chatter marks in the machining.
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The model says MCR Compact Pro Series. No more MCR 1 and MCR 2 models in the 1998 lineup.
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What the DS of an undamaged frame should look like. There are the two metal rings stuck to the frame to prevent the chain from damaging the frame in the event of chain drop.
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68mm English threaded BB shell. It is aluminium, but seems to be glued down the middle.
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Same asymmetrical chainstays.
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For a such good condition frame, there is still damage on the inside of the DS chainstay from the cassette.
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The dropouts are replaceable. Three M5 countersunk screws hold it in place along with a aluminium rectangular stop to position the dropout in the right place. Although I'd imagine the custom dropouts must be made as I doubt anyone would have them in stock.
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The rear brake nut is accessible through the inside of the wheel arch. It takes a couple minutes to do up the nut because there's only about 60 degrees of motion available. A ratcheting wrench doesn't fit, nor do ball ended allen keys.
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The original groupset is 9s Ultegra 6500, so that's what goes back on the frame. It is in amazing condition and barely used nor damaged. The shifters suffered from gummed up grease, but that is no problem for me.
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It did have the correct Cinelli Touch bars along with Cinelli tape, but the right side was bent inwards by 2.5 cm. So some anatomic Modolo bars go on. These are the later Taiwanese made bars. Actually made by HL too.
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This frame still had the 3 rubber grommets which help keep water from entering the internal guides.
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GP 4 Seasons are tyres I had lying around. Original tyres are Vredestein Fortezza which are still made now.
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This particular gold chain is actually the KMC X9SL chain which I originally bought for my Giant Cadex 980c. About 4 years old, but it is still not too bad condition.
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When routing cable for the FD, there is a rubber ring with a brass sheath that keeps water from entering through the FD cable port.
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This is the fit of a 12-25t cassette. I reckon a 12t will work best on the MCR. A 11t would be too small and the chain would rub on the chainstay, and a 13t cog may hit that small pin coming out of the chainstay just on the inside of the dropout.
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This 300mm seatpost is too short for me. I need to find the next size up which is the 330mm version I believe.
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Rigida rim.
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Last edited by QuangVuong on Sat Aug 26, 2017 4:24 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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MichaelB
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Re: Giant MCR

Postby MichaelB » Wed Jun 28, 2017 3:25 pm

Wonder if it was built with current CF monococque technology, whether it would be much lighter or still sensible ?

ZZmTopp
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Re: Giant MCR

Postby ZZmTopp » Wed Aug 14, 2019 10:26 am

Hi Quang, I have a pair of the Giant EXT Pro wheels which came with my '98 TCR. How did you remove the freehub body, as i'm at a loss?? I have removed the locknut but that's where i hit a wall. Is the freehub held in by anything or should i be able to just slide it off with ease? Any info is greatly appreciated. Cheers, -Mason

I also have the blue '98 MCR which is in the re-build phase :)

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P!N20
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Re: Giant MCR

Postby P!N20 » Wed Aug 14, 2019 11:58 am

QuangVuong wrote:Giant MCR
Just quoting QV so he gets a notification.

Hey Quang, see above.

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QuangVuong
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Re: Giant MCR

Postby QuangVuong » Thu Aug 22, 2019 10:15 pm

I have replied to Mason through FB as he found me there, but to answer that question here, I never removed the freehub body. The hubs are Joytech, so I assume there would be some sort of documentation out on the internet in regards to hub disassembly.
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