Baik

If you are on a computer, a better (?) experience can be found here: manueltrachsler.ch/mybaik. On mobile, this is all there is.

Baik – There are many like it, but this one is mine.

This is my Giant Propel 2026. I call it Seaplane because of all the seaplanes taking off and landing around Stanley Park in Vancouver. Vancouver also is where I bought this bike. Originally, it was named Giant Propel Advanced Pro 0. The colour is called Prismatic Haze/Iris which is (also) a bad name for a colour.

I call it sparkly ice. The frame size is S. The bike came with a modern setup out of the box, and I tweaked it a bit to my liking. The frame composite is so-called “Advanced Grade”.

Drivetrain: The chainring is a Magene PES P515 running through a RaceFace screw-in Pressfit BB (kind of a mouthful but works like a charm). Crank length is 165mm. I am rather shortish, so this seems more like a good biomechanical choice than a trend in my case. The pedals are Shimano Ultegra SPD-SL, tried and tested.

Gearing: I run a 52/36 chainring which with an 11-30 cassette gives me a wide enough ratio to comfortably pedal on all but a handful of climbs and descents and a narrow enough gearing to be in my desired cadence in most races.

The chain is a cheap e-bike chain. I actually seem to prefer heavier chains as I like the feeling of the chain holding some inertia; this is all in my head and probably holding me back. The chain is degreased and runs Silca Secret wax.

The saddle is a Shimano Pro Stealth saddle. I really like this saddle and it allows me to sit quite aggressively on the nose, especially when pushing hard-ish in the flats. The saddlebag is a Silca Wrap bag that I got recently. While it looks quite clean, I am not yet used to the Boa dial setup that this thing has going for itself. Underneath is a Trek light that I am looking to replace.

Cockpit: The handlebars are the stock Giant Contact SLR Aero in 380mm paired with a Giant 130mm stem. These handlebars have a lot of reach, making this bike quite long even though it doesn’t look like it. At the end of the handlebars are Shimano Ultegra shifters that take care of the braking (140mm/160mm Shimano rotors) and the shifting (Ultegra FD and RD). The Garmin mount is the one that came stock with the bike; attached to it is a part from the bin of the university bike shop that lets me mount lights with Garmin interfaces fast and easy. Finally, the head unit is a trusty Garmin 840. While some features obviously lag behind some competitors, the live segment tracking, controlling it with the extra buttons on the shifters and music control via Garmin are features that I heavily rely on in my day-to-day riding.

Wheelset: The rims are the stock Giant SLR 1 50 Carbon Disc (hookless lol) which are laced with steel spokes onto the loudest “Giant Low Friction Hub, 30T ratchet drive” hub ever built. The front tyre is a 26mm (yes, I know) Continental Aero 111. Apparently it is slow but good in the wet; I might go for another one but this one still looks brand new after riding it since July. In the back we have a 30mm Continental 5000TR. Both tyres run orange sealant through the stock Giant valves.

The bottle cages are one Giant Aero Bottle Cage and one Trek Aero Bottle Cage. I like the front bottle to be aero as it closes the lower triangle of the frame quite well while not being as costly as running two aero bottles.

Giant Propel 2026 in sparkly ice, side view on grass