first bike - Giant OCR?

Hi All,
Im living in Mount Isa Qld and looking at getting back into road bikes
after an absence of about 15 years. I'm 6'2", 110kgs and medium
unfit ;-)

Have been down to my local bike shop, they have a fair range of bikes
there in the 1k-5k range, but im probably closer to the 1k end of the
spectrum! I have been looking at the Giant OCR1/2/3 range. Some
questions, in no particular order;

Are clip on peddles a big thing?

do these bikes wear well? Am i better off getting the same bike
second hand, for a lot less?

Are these bikes strong enough for someone my weight? Am i going to be
breaking it?

OCR's on ebay are going for 300-800, and displaying RRP's of 2k-3k.
The OCR's in my LBS are all under 1k. What gives?

Thanks,
Shaun

wrote in message
...
Are these bikes strong enough for someone my weight? Am i going to be
breaking it?

You'll be fine. If you start breaking spokes on the rear wheel get it
retensioned or DIY. If you ride pretty much every day for an hour or more
you might have to replace chain, cassette and maybe one or both chainrings
every year or two but the rest of it should be just fine.

OCR's on ebay are going for 300-800, and displaying RRP's of 2k-3k.
The OCR's in my LBS are all under 1k. What gives?

Check out Giant's website - http://www.giant-bicycles.com/en-AU//. You'll
find the OCR "Sport" Series (OCR1, 2 & 3) are cheap as chips alloy frames
with Sora, Tiagra & 2200 group sets while the OCR "Performance" series get
into composite frames with 105 group sets so they're a bit dearer. (More
info about Shimano groupsets at
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shimano...ycle_groupsets)

Online retailers like http://www.riders.com.au/ are good to get an idea of
prices for different models and comparing to other common brands.

--
www.ozcableguy.com
www.oztechnologies.com

On 2008-01-09, wrote:

I have been looking at the Giant OCR1/2/3 range. Some questions, in
no particular order;

Are clip on peddles a big thing?

They're pretty popular with road riders, they are safer (once you get
habituated to them) then toe-clips or flat peddles. Personally I use
toe-clips for the convenience on not needing special shoes.

do these bikes wear well? Am i better off getting the same bike
second hand, for a lot less?

You can get a good second hand road bike for much less then that, if
you're not sure about your commitment to cycling it may be a cheaper
option. A good quality 2nd hand steel frame will probably last longer
then the alloy frame on a OCR.

Are these bikes strong enough for someone my weight? Am i going to be
breaking it?

I'd keep an eye on the rear wheel, if it goes out of true or starts
breaking spokes consider replacing it with a 36 spoke wheel.

Cheers

Joel

--
Human Powered Cycles | High quality servicing and repairs
| Affordable second hand bikes
(03) 9029 6504 |
www.humanpowered.com.au | CPF and RTCA Member

wrote in message
...
Hi All,
Im living in Mount Isa Qld and looking at getting back into road bikes
after an absence of about 15 years. I'm 6'2", 110kgs and medium
unfit ;-)

Have been down to my local bike shop, they have a fair range of bikes
there in the 1k-5k range, but im probably closer to the 1k end of the
spectrum! I have been looking at the Giant OCR1/2/3 range. Some
questions, in no particular order;

Are clip on peddles a big thing?

do these bikes wear well? Am i better off getting the same bike
second hand, for a lot less?

Are these bikes strong enough for someone my weight? Am i going to be
breaking it?

OCR's on ebay are going for 300-800, and displaying RRP's of 2k-3k.
The OCR's in my LBS are all under 1k. What gives?

Thanks,
Shaun


The spec on current OCR3s isn't as high as previous years. They now run the
2200 gear instead of Sora and the forks are steel instead of carbon fibre. I
didn't look through the current spec more than that, but it's not the same
bike. An '06 OCR3 will, I'm guessing, be a rather better bike than a current
one. I don't know what '07 spec was.

Joel Mayes Wrote:
On 2008-01-09, wrote:

I have been looking at the Giant OCR1/2/3 range. Some questions, in
no particular order;

Are clip on peddles a big thing?

They're pretty popular with road riders, they are safer (once you get
habituated to them) then toe-clips or flat peddles. Personally I use
toe-clips for the convenience on not needing special shoes.

do these bikes wear well? Am i better off getting the same bike
second hand, for a lot less?

You can get a good second hand road bike for much less then that, if
you're not sure about your commitment to cycling it may be a cheaper
option. A good quality 2nd hand steel frame will probably last longer
then the alloy frame on a OCR.

Are these bikes strong enough for someone my weight? Am i going to be
breaking it?

I'd keep an eye on the rear wheel, if it goes out of true or starts
breaking spokes consider replacing it with a 36 spoke wheel.

Cheers

Joel

--
Human Powered Cycles | High quality servicing and repairs
| Affordable second hand bikes
(03) 9029 6504 |
'www.humanpowered.com.au' (http://www.humanpowered.com.au/) | CPF and
RTCA Member
Your wheels will be your main concern at 110kgs, expect them to fail ,
subject to the type of riding and frequency, but even the frame might be
too small for your 6'2'.

36 spokers, or maybe 32s would better suit your weight, sadly the base
products from Shimano don't stand up all that well (ducks from rocks
chucked by devotees), expect a new chain every 1500klms or maybe sooner
if you get it gritty and it isn't cleaned and you stress it a lot from
hard acceleration and clunky high speed changes.

If I was ( back at) 110kgs, I would go buy a steel frame and some 32 or
36ers and drop a Campy group set on it, & I'd be happy, I'd probably get
a good second hand 10spd one under $1500k in good order already built up
and maybe with Daytona on it or the like... I wouldn't go near a Giant
Roadie ( new or 2nd hand) at 6'2 and 110kgs with a barge pole, (IMHO)
they can suit smaller riders but larger riders need wheel base and size
, so then its all about your physique and expectations and capability
and what you like!, as you have to like what you ride IMO.

OK I'll duck a bit more from the swinging arms, its a bit like Holden
and Ford, , (the Campy / Shimano thingo) ....remember when the
Godzilla's won Bathurst and they got booed by both camps and Jim
Richards said the bogans were a pack of a's... well you may think that,
but I wouldnt say that to anyone , bottom line have an open mind,
check things out and ask around, and whatever floats your boat and you
see good value for money, just do your homework and use your nut,
certainly deal with the shop if you feel they know their stuff and can
be there when you need them, because you will need them!....and enjoy
your riding... welcome back!


--
rooman

On 2008-01-09, rooman (aka Bruce)
was almost, but not quite, entirely unlike tea:
Your wheels will be your main concern at 110kgs, expect them to fail ,
subject to the type of riding and frequency, but even the frame might be
too small for your 6'2'.

36 spokers, or maybe 32s would better suit your weight, sadly the base
products from Shimano don't stand up all that well (ducks from rocks
chucked by devotees), expect a new chain every 1500klms or maybe sooner
if you get it gritty and it isn't cleaned and you stress it a lot from
hard acceleration and clunky high speed changes.

I think the low end OCR comes with 32 spokes doesn't it?

My OCR3 is only just on its third chain and second cassette, after
almost 15000km. I'm just over half the OP's weight though, so may not
have the legs of _powar_ that breaks chains.

--
TimC
"Patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel." -- Samuel Johnson
"I beg to submit that it is the first." -- Ambrose Bierce
"But there is something even worse: it is the first, last and middle
range of fools." -- H.L. Mencken

On 2008-01-09, Resound (aka Bruce)
was almost, but not quite, entirely unlike tea:
The spec on current OCR3s isn't as high as previous years. They now run the
2200 gear instead of Sora and the forks are steel instead of carbon fibre. I
didn't look through the current spec more than that, but it's not the same
bike. An '06 OCR3 will, I'm guessing, be a rather better bike than a current
one. I don't know what '07 spec was.

You mean there is lower end than Sora? Furrfu!

The '05 was good (or was it '06?)

--
TimC
HANDLE WITH EXTREME CA This Product Contains Minute Electrically
Charged Particles Moving at Velocities in Excess of Five Hundred
Million Miles Per Hour. --unknown

On 2008-01-09, TimC wrote:
On 2008-01-09, rooman (aka Bruce)
was almost, but not quite, entirely unlike tea:
Your wheels will be your main concern at 110kgs, expect them to fail ,
subject to the type of riding and frequency, but even the frame might be
too small for your 6'2'.

36 spokers, or maybe 32s would better suit your weight, sadly the base
products from Shimano don't stand up all that well (ducks from rocks
chucked by devotees), expect a new chain every 1500klms or maybe sooner
if you get it gritty and it isn't cleaned and you stress it a lot from
hard acceleration and clunky high speed changes.

I think the low end OCR comes with 32 spokes doesn't it?

My OCR3 is only just on its third chain and second cassette, after
almost 15000km. I'm just over half the OP's weight though, so may not
have the legs of _powar_ that breaks chains.

24 according to Giant's website.

Cheers

Joel

--
Human Powered Cycles | High quality servicing and repairs
| Affordable second hand bikes
(03) 9029 6504 |
www.humanpowered.com.au | CPF and RTCA Member