BIKE CHECK: MICHAEL VAN DEN HAM'S TCX ADVANCED PRO
Posted by Eric Roque on
07 DECEMBER 2020
Michael van den Ham, the current Canadian National Cyclocross Champion from the Easton-Giant team, is about to start his 2020 Cyclocross race season a few months later than normal. With no racing to speak of in Canada, Michael is on his way to Belgium to compete at a limited number of UCI World Cups and Superprestige races. He'll do so aboard his newly custom painted TCX Advanced Pro race bike.
The bike is inspired by the Avro Arrow, a prototype supersonic plane from the 1950s that was designed to intercept bombers carrying nuclear weapons. As Michael puts it, “the Avro Arrow is one of Canada’s greatest successes, and maybe one of our greatest failures.”
Michael remembers learning about the Avro Arrow when he was a kid visiting the Aviation and Space Musuem in Ottawa, Ontario. “If you aren’t up on your obscure Canadian aviation history, in a mostly confusing, controversial and very political decision, the Arrow was cancelled and the prototypes destroyed not even two years after the first one took flight,” he says.
Michael’s unique TCX Advanced Pro is painted with the model number RL-202. “If you believe the rumors, this is the only Arrow still in existence,” he says. “After all five prototypes were ordered to be destroyed, rumor has it that one of them, the RL-202, was heard taking off and, hours later, landing somewhere in the U.K.”
Here’s a detailed look at the spec on Michael’s TCX Advanced Pro. While not quite supersonic, it is certainly fast on any cyclocross course.
Michael Van den Ham’s custom TCX Advanced Pro
Frame/fork: Giant TCX Advanced Pro w/ custom paint job from Painthouse Customs
Handlebar: EC90 SL, 44cm
Stem: Giant Contact SL, 110mm, -8 degree
Seatpost: Giant D-fuse SLR, composite
Saddle: SDG Duster Carbon
Pedals: Crankbrothers Candy 11
Shifter/Brakes: SRAM Force etap AXS
Cranks: Easton EC90SL, 170mm
Chainring: Easton FLT Cinch, 42t
R. Derailleur: SRAM Force eTap AXS
Cassette: SRAM Force, 12 speed 10x33
Chain: SRAM Force D1, 12 speed
Bottom Bracket: Easton BB86
Wheels: Easton EC90 SL Tubular
Axles: Robert Axle Project Lightweight Bolt-On Axles
Dry Tires: Vittoria Terreno Dry Tubular 33mm
Mid Tires: Vittoria Terreno Mix Tubular, 33mm
Mud Tires: FMB Super Mud, cotton casing, 33mm