Liv is Giant’s sister brand, producing a full range of women-specific bikes right up to WorldTour-level race bikes for its Liv Racing team.
The newly redesigned Langma race bike sits at the top of the product tree, and at the top of the 11 models in the new Langma lineup is this Advanced SL Disc, which has already been ridden to victory by Lotte Kopecky at Le Samyn des Dames in March and the Belgian National Championships in June.
The eagle-eyed will notice this latest model shares a number of traits with its cousin, the recently redesigned Giant TCR. The tube shapes and silhouette are very similar, as are the skinny fork and the seat tube/seatpost cluster. But that doesn’t mean the Langma is just a ‘shrinked and pinked’ version of the Giant bike.
While Liv and Giant share expertise and technology, the two companies are separate, and Liv insists every element of its bikes is designed with its female customers in mind.
As product manager David Ward puts it, ‘There are separate clothes for men and women, shoes for men and women. We’re built differently so why aren’t our bikes?’
So despite the apparent visual similarity the Langma shares barely any numbers on the geometry chart with its nearest TCR equivalent, and is instead better suited to women’s bodies, according to Liv.
In practical terms, this means a slightly taller stack and shorter reach than on the men’s bikes and the use of more women-appropriate components such as narrower bars and shorter cranks.
More of everything
Among the improvements Liv says the new model brings to the table are lighter weight, a stiffer fork for better handling, and enhanced aerodynamics.
In the Advanced SL Disc, Liv has used longer, more continuous pieces of carbon fibre across the frame tubes and junctions to ensure stiffness while saving on weight.
The result is a frame that is 60g lighter than the previous Langma Advanced SL, making for a complete bike (size small) at just 6.65kg.
The fork stiffness is claimed to have improved by 50% and the new tube profiles promise less drag across a wider range of wind yaw angles, especially when paired with the new Cadex 36 Disc wheels and redesigned aero seatpost.
Get more information on the new Liv Langma now
No expense has been spared with the spec. Alongside the 1,302g Cadex wheels (Cadex is the premium wheel brand under the Giant umbrella), the top-end SL model comes with a top-end groupset, which means that when the bike is available in August, it will be dressed in all-new Shimano Dura-Ace. We won’t know the price of the Langma SL Advanced until then.
The next step down in the range – the Advanced Pro Disc 0 AXS – doesn’t quite have the same magic under the carbon skin, but still boasts weight and stiffness improvements and costs £5,599.
At the other end of the range, the Shimano Tiagra-specced Advanced Disc 3 comes in at nearer £2,000.
The hills are alive
The name Langma derives from ‘Chomolungma’, the Tibetan name for Mount Everest, which gives an idea of where Liv is pitching the bike: ‘The Langma is designed as an all-around performance bike that excels on climbs.’
Everest might be a bit far away for a test ride, but the Lake District boasts some of the most brutal climbs in the UK, and I was keen to see how the bike would perform against them. I think it’s fair to say the bike was better prepared for the hills than the rider was.
The lightness was immediately noticeable on the climbs, offering a virtual extra gear. The bike’s responsiveness was unhesitating thanks to the stiffness of the frame and the Cadex wheels, which also contributed to excellent handling without ever feeling harsh.
As someone who normally rides a unisex – read: men’s – bike, did I notice the women-specific geometry at work? In short, yes.
I never once felt any ache in my upper body, even after a day when I was straining more than usual, and the adjusted ergonomics of the narrower handlebars afforded me greater control when out of the saddle or sweeping through hairpins.
I took the Langma to some of the steepest and longest passes in the Lake District in an attempt to find any cracks in its armour, but the only one who cracked was me.
Get more information on the new Liv Langma now
What’s more, there is also no denying that this is a very good-looking bike. The colour appears almost black in the shade but as soon as a ray of light hits the frame it transforms to a deep, shimmering purple that reveals the carbon fibre construction beneath the glossy surface.
What makes this bike so good? There’s the technology and components, yes. However what I truly love is the feeling that the bike has been built for me, which makes me feel like a child at Christmas whenever I go out for a ride.
Pick of the kit
Pactimo Divide Wind Vest, £67, pactimo.co.uk
This gilet really helps with the early morning what-to-take-what-not-to-take conundrum. It’s incredibly light, allowing for easy movement and perfect for packing away in a rear pocket.
This doesn’t mean Pactimo has compromised on warmth: the MicroTek Suprem fabric across the front and shoulder panels works to block wind chill, while the Zero-Weight mesh in the side panels and back offer breathability.
It’s ideal if you need an effective extra layer but don’t want to feel like a packhorse when the sun decides to shine.
Buy the Pactimo Divide Wind vest now
Alternatively…
Gone with the wind
If your racing style is more about straight-line speed than gliding up mountains, the EnviLiv Advanced Pro 0 Disc (£5,699) is Liv’s pure aero bike.
Order your Liv EnviLiv Advanced Pro 0 Disc now from Rutland Cycling
Grand Canyon
One of the few other brands doing women-specific geometry for race bikes, Canyon’s Ultimate CF SL 8 WMN Disc Di2 (£4,349) offers an equivalent spec to the men’s Ultimate, with contact points for women.
Order your Canyon Ultimate CF SL 8 WMN Disc Di2 now
Spec
| Frame | Liv Langma Advanced SL Disc |
| Groupset | Sram Red eTap AXS |
| Brakes | Sram Red eTap AXS |
| Chainset | Sram Red eTap AXS |
| Cassette | Sram Red eTap AXS |
| Bars | Liv Contact SLR |
| Stem | Giant Contact SLR |
| Seatpost | Giant Variant SLR |
| Saddle | Liv Alcara SLR CS |
| Wheels | Cadex 36 Disc; Cadex Road Race Tubeless 25mm tyres |
| Weight | 6.65kg (small) |
| Contact | liv-cycling.com |
All reviews are fully independent and no payments have been made by companies featured in reviews
Liv, Giant’s sister brand dedicated to women’s bikes, has launched its brand new MY22 Liv Langma Disc road bike range.
The original Langma appeared in 2017 as the company’s lightweight race bike, and the updated model for 2022 introduces a number of improvements to provide, in Liv’s words, ‘the choice for riders looking to lead the peloton or those who seek unrivalled performance’.
To prove the point, Lotte Kopecky of Women’s WorldTour team Liv Racing rode the new Langma Disc to victory at the Le Samyn des Dames in March.
What’s new?
A glance at the new Langma shows it has taken many of its cues from Giant’s lightweight racer, the TCR, with a similar skinny fork, the same flowing curves around the seat tube/seatpost cluster, and the same cut-out in the seat tube around the rear wheel.
Compared to the old Langma, the silhouette of the new version is a touch more refined, with fewer dramatic angles and sharp edges.
Under the skin, the new Langma Advanced SL Disc boasts an improved carbon layup, which has allowed Liv to shave 60g off the frame weight of the top-end model. The frame is constructed using longer, more continuous pieces of carbon fibre across the tubes and junctions, which means it can use less carbon overall to save on weight while actually increasing stiffness by 21%.
The technology extends to the new aero fork to create more lateral stiffness, and Liv claims these fork are the ‘lightest and stiffest Langma fork to date’.
Shop the Liv Langma Disc range now at Rutland Cycling
Liv also claims improved handling for the Langma Disc, and the new fork has increased clearance for tyres up to 32mm.
Aerodynamics have been updated as well, with a new truncated ellipse profile to the tubing that Liv says reduces wind drag at a greater range of yaw angles to save precious watts.
Three models; 11 specs
The new Liv Langma Disc range comes in three tiers. At the top is the Langma Advanced SL Disc, as ridden by the pros in the Liv Racing Women’s WorldTour squad. This boasts the greatest advances in weight-saving and stiffness gains, and comes decked out with Sram Red eTap AXS groupset and new Cadex 36 Carbon Disc wheels.
The fully built model weighs in at around 6.65kg, according to Liv, and the frame is designed to be specific for electronic groupsets only, with no entry ports to accept mechanical gear cables.
Next level down is the Liv Langma Advanced Pro Disc series, which boasts almost-but-not-quite-as-much advancements as the SL frameset in terms of carbon layup, and so can’t boast quite the same weight savings (25g) and stiffness increases (6.6%) as the previous version of the Pro Disc.
It comes in three groupset specs: Sram Force eTap AXS, Sram Rival eTap AXS or Shimano Ultegra. Wheel options include Giant’s new SLR 1 or SLR 2 36 carbon disc wheels.
At present we have no details on weights for fully built models of the Advanced Pro Disc bikes.
At the lowest level is the Liv Langma Advanced Disc, which like the Advanced Pro Disc sees a reduction in frame weight by 25g compared to the old model. This level comes in seven different specs, with the top end Advanced Disc 1+ AR decked out in Sram Rival eTap AXS, and the lowest version Advanced Disc 3 QOM coming with Shimano Tiagra. The gaps in between are filled by Shimano Ultegra and 105.
Women-specific sizing
Liv says its core values centre around providing bikes built ‘for women, by women, with women’. This means that the geometry of the Langma frames is not simply a smaller version Giant’s men’s bikes, but has been developed using women’s body dimensional data.
The result is that the Liv Langma frames tend to have a slightly taller stack and shorter reach than the nearest equivalent Giant TCR frames.
Shop the Liv Langma Disc range now at Rutland Cycling
The Langma range comes in five sizes, from XXS to Large, which Liv says will accommodate riders with heights ranging from 145cm to 183cm.
As well as frame dimensions, Liv has focussed on areas such as the handlebars, crank arm lengths and saddle types to provide not only comfort but maximise the power produced by women and allow this to be translated through the bike.
Frame colours
Liv has opted for two colour palettes across the Langma range, which it is calling ‘Back to Nature’ and ‘Self-Reflection’, and which are muted, natural shades – no garish pinks in sight.
‘Back to Nature’ consists of earth tones such as beige, pistachio, terracotta and purple ash. These can be found on models including the Langma Advanced SL Disc Red and Langma Advanced Disc 3 QOM.
The second palette, ‘Self-Reflection’, consists of eucalyptus, Nordic breeze, milky way, metal and fig, which can be seen on the Langma Advanced Pro Disc 1 and Langma Advanced Disc 2. If you’re uncertain what colour a Nordic breeze is, you’ll have to check out the options on the Liv website, liv-cycling.com.
Prices
At the time of going to press, we don’t have a price for the top-end Liv Langma Advanced SL. The next step down – the Advanced Pro Disc 0 AXS, specced with Sram Force eTap AXS and Giant SLR 36 wheels – comes in at £5,599.
Shop the Liv Langma Disc range now at Rutland Cycling
The Advanced Pro Disc 1, with Shimano Ultegra, costs £3,999. The Advanced Disc comes in at £3,149 with Ultegra and Giant SLR 36 wheels; £2,599 with lower-spec Giant PR-2 wheels; and £2,349 with Shimano 105.
Prices for other specs will be revealed on the Liv website after launch date.
