Giant's 2007 bike range revealed, October 12, 2006 Part 2 - Giant's 2007 line-up Yesterday CyclingNews' Ben Atkins rubbed shoulders with multinational heavyweights as he removed the covers from Giant's 2007 range of bikes. In Part 2, Atkins gets down to business and puts Giant's finest future models through the ropes. Nice climber... finally I get Photo ©: Bastiaan Heus Test Ride - Road The morning ride entailed heading for the hills on the incredible cycle path that follows Madrid's orbital highway. I've never seen a cycle path like it, two lanes wide and perfectly surfaced, it forms part of a network built in line with Madrid's 2012 Olympic bid (are you watching London?). Despite the cloudy skies the temperatures were pretty comfortably nestled in the mid twenties centigrade. Those of us from northern Europe were sweating nicely in our short sleeved jerseys and shorts - all the Spaniards we encountered were in long sleeves, most were in full tights! Early on in the ride, I dropped back while waiting for one of the guys with a puncture, so I had a great opportunity to chase back and see what the bike could do at speed. Normally, I prefer Campag Ergos to Shimano STIs, but in this kind of situation the large hoods are great for holding on to, in a really comfy, low position. Roeland Ruijssenaars (Giant Europe's Marketing co-ordinator) and I had a great time through and offing it until we caught the others at the first cheesy pose venue of the day; a nice scenic Spanish Castle! Say Cheese Again! Photo ©: Bastiaan Heus Once everyone had said cheese (or European language equivalent) a few times, we headed off on the first serious part of the test - a longish, steady climb. The road featured some good hairpins and some steepish sections to test the stiffness and responsiveness of Alliance frame. I managed to put myself off the back before the steep section by stopping for a 'comfort break', but managed to catch a couple of riders before the peak. There then followed a long, fast descent - this allowed me to get a good look at the handling of this 'etape' bike at speed. It took all the twists, turns and sweeps just as I asked it to - this is a TCR all right! Those of us who only wanted to look at the road bikes returned to the hotel for lunch, but for some this was a rare opportunity to have a thrash around on a top of the range mountain bike - which for me was too much to resist... Rune show me how you're Photo ©: Bastiaan Heus Test Ride - Off Road My 'test ride' of the Trance Advanced was more an expose of my own lack of off-road skills than the strengths of the bike! I do have a number of excuses to hand though, for this very occasion. I'm used to riding rigid Singlespeed back home, so I was constantly struggling with the unfamiliarity of the SRAM thumb shifters - they were really crisp and true when I managed to press the right buttons, but this was a pretty rare occurrence! The race course at the Festi Bike show was dry and technical, with a lot of steep descents that exposed the lack of bottle and skill of more than one road based journo! This really put my fun rides on the muddy South Downs into perspective. Great fun though. I always say that an MTB ride is no fun if you don't fall off - two bruised hips and a grazed elbow show just how enjoyable it was! I wonder if I can fit one of these in my suitcase.... Rune Hoydahl borrowed the bike after me and showed me how it should be done. Tour Guide Tom takes us round Photo ©: Bastiaan Heus Cerveca, Tapas and Flamenco Sounds like some kind of Costa del Sol package nightmare, but... The evening began with a guided tour to the centre of Madrid, the coach passing down the Castilliana - the grand boulevard that crosses the city from North to South. We traveled between those two leaning towers that have featured on so many iconic pictures of last year's Worlds, past the Bernabeu (Real Madrid) Stadium before getting out to continue our tour on foot. Yummy! The Tapas Boys at Photo ©: Bastiaan Heus After a few minutes we arrived at our first important rendezvous; the Cerveceria Santa Ana - one of Madrid's oldest bars - for our first tapas of the evening. The beer flowed as freely as you would expect with a bar full of journalists and a willing multinational picking up the tab, but soon it was time for our journey to continue as our next venue was waiting... Casa Patas is an unassuming looking restaurant, but in its back room it has one of the foremost flamenco venues in the whole of Spain. After (a lot) more beer and loads more tapas we squeezed in to watch two hours of some of the most incredible music and dancing I've ever seen. This stuff is genuine Spanish Gypsy Flamenco, full of years of pain, anger and repression that's so far removed from the stuff they serve up to tourists on the Costa del Sol. I was completely blown away from the first note to the last! Eventually we rolled back to the coach and snoozed our way back to the hotel, where I finally got to bed at around 3:30am - to be up at 7:30 for my flight home! If only all bike launches could be this much fun! See also Part 1 - Giant's 2007 line-up Photography For a thumbnail gallery of these images, click here Images by Bastiaan Heus The TCR launch ride rolls out along the incredible cycle path that surrounds Madrid Sprinting back on with Giant's Roeland Ruijssenaars. Say Cheese! Say Cheese Again! Nice climber... finally I get to ride a bike that matches my helmet! Giant's Tom Davies just loves to ride his TCR Advanced! We put the climbing prowess of the 2007 Trance and Anthem through its paces (I'm very much bringing up the rear!) Rune show me how you're supposed to ride these bikes! This is the kind of thing that the Glory Zero is built for... Tour Guide Tom takes us round some of the sights of Madrid Yummy! The Tapas Boys at the Cerveceria Santa Ana Aha! that's what a cerveceria sells - cerveca! More Tapas at Casa Patas This is proper flamenco - a million miles away from that stuff you get in Benidorm Full of gypsy passion... ...the Casa Patas is Madrid's number one flamenco venue