Early this year we noticed that Giant had removed all of their triathlon frames from giant-bicycles.com. When we reached out to find out why, all they would tell us was to keep a close eye out for a hint of the future at the Tour. But real answers wouldn’t come until Kona. Well Kona is finally here and it is time to introduce you to the 2016 Giant Trinity Advanced Pro.

All-In Aero

The Trinity Advanced Pro was designed to be simply the world’s fastest triathlon bike. And when we say triathlon bike we do not mean a time trial bike that can be used for multi sport events. The Trinity Advanced Pro is a purpose built triathlon machine that holds all your nutrition and hydration in a package that Giant says is the fastest one around.

Giant went through 250 different frame configurations to come up with the bike you see in front of you. To provide triathletes the ultimate aerodynamic advantage without any UCI constraints, the Trinity Advanced Pro is engineered with triathlon-specific features and optimized with Giant’s AeroSystem Shaping Technology. The result is the fastest Trinity ever.

The design process was finalized using Giant’s new 1:1 scale mannequin – “Grischa”. “Grischa” is based on a 3D scan of Giant test rider and former professional racer Grischa Niermann. Designed with anatomically correct articulating legs, this dynamic mannequin allows Giant engineers to measure not only pressure drag and friction drag, but the precise aerodynamic interaction that occurs between the rider and bicycle while in motion. By using a dynamic mannequin rather than a human rider, Giant is able to perform consistent testing, eliminating unwanted variables such as changes in body position or pedaling cadence.

Giant says the final design reduced drag by an average of 15 watts at 50kph across 0-30 degrees yaw (more on the actual data in a bit). To achieve this the team at Giant started with the AeroDrive TriAdvanced-Grade Hybrid Fork. A triathlon-specific 5:1 airfoil fork and integrated stem design offers the ultimate aerodynamic performance and increase steering precision.

The Trinity Advanced Pro’s basebar is a proprietary, triathlon-specific 5:1 airfoil composite base bar that features a reversible design, giving riders 40 millimeters of height adjustment.

Below the bottom bracket is the rear half of Giant’s Speedcontrol Brake System a proprietary fairing that saves 3 watts of drag at 50 kph. Up front the front brake is designed to match the profile and trailing edge of the AeroDrive fork. Refined internal cable routing hides housing completely from the wind, from lever to caliper.

The result of this aerodynamic design is a bike that Giant claims is the fastest one around. Giant took the Trinity Advanced Pro to the tunnel along with a Cervelo P5, Scott Plasma 5, Trek Speed Concept and Specialized Shiv. All the bikes were set up for Grischa’s idea fit and set up with identical equipment (Shimano DuraAce pedals, Zipp 808 FC) unless the bikes had proprietary equipment. All bikes also received a BTA bottle, downtube bottle and storage box – again where proprietary components and accessories were not offered, the most-popular aftermarket accessories were utilized.

The chart below was normalized against the Trinity Advanced Pro (no Giant is not claiming that the Trinity Advanced Pro has 0 grams of drag).

Based on Giant’s testing the Trinity Advanced Pro is a very fast bike.

The Advanced Pro Fit

But speed means nothing if you cannot get fit to the bike. The Trinity Advanced Pro was built specifically with the needs of a multisport athlete in mind. The geometry is optimized to save your legs after 112 miles on the bike to still make it another 26.2 on the run.

The basebar is reversible allowing for a height range of 40mm. Each of the armrests can be stacked in 10mm increments from 10-40 millimeters. The extensions themselves can be moved in and out a total of 100mm.

The armrests feature a wide range of fore/aft, lateral and rotational adjustment. In addition to increased adjustment range, Trinity Advanced Pro’s armrests are 20 millimeters longer than the previous design. The armpads can be set at three width settings – 210/240mm, 240/270mm, 270/300mm. You have fore/aft adjustment of 60mm and 0-10 degrees of rotational adjustment. Finally by swapping the mounts, Trinity Advanced Pro’s extensions can be positioned at two different width settings. Designed for industry-standard 22.2-millimeter extensions, Trinity Advanced Pro can be used with a vast number of aftermarket bend options.

Integrated Storage

One of the key design philosophies of the Trinity Advanced Pro was that all aerodynamic testing needed to include the equipment triathletes will need out on the race course. Being aero only works if you are aero when it comes to race day. To make that happen Giant equipped the Trinity Advanced Pro with integrated hydration and nutrition storage (that they called the AeroVault System) to help get you from T1-T2 as fast as humanly possible.

AeroVault’s front hydration unit provides athletes easy access without compromising an aerodynamic position on the bike. Offering 700mL or 450mL of volume depending on frame size, on-course refills are also made easy via a quick access port at the top of the unit.

Hidden behind the stem and integrated into the toptube, the storage box provides 290mL of storage capacity for on-bike nutrition or spare items. The integrated design not only improves aerodynamic performance but also improves standover height. The soft cover is designed to allow access from either side of the box while keeping sweat out. On Shimano Di2 models, the storage box also houses the junction box for easy adjustments and recharging.

With a trailing edge that transitions from sharp to flat, Trinity’s downtube is specifically designed to hide the AeroVault bottle from the wind— giving athletes a secondary hydration source with 440mL of capacity.

Wrapping Up

The Trinity Advanced Pro will be available at launch in three configurations (Advanced Pro 0, Advanced Pro 1, and Advanced Pro 2) featuring Shimano Dura-Ace Di2, Ultegra Di2 and mechanical Ultegra respectively. The Pro 0 will be available for $7,200, the Pro 1 for $4,950 and the Pro 2 for $3,400. Make sure to keep following AeroGeeks.com for the latest on the Giant Trinity Advanced Pro as well as everything else being launched at Kona this week. And make sure to watch out this weekend for a Giant Trinity Advanced Pro making its bid for the podium.