New Road Bike - Giant OCR 0 vs OCR Composite vs TCR 2

OzDaz said:

Tossing up which bike to get. All 2006 models. The OCR 0 looks great and is a good price (AUD 2,299). Wondering if the upgrade to the OCR Composite is worth the extra AUD700. The next question is for the same price should I be looking at the TCR 2 (Composite)? I don't race, and tend to do 50 - 80km rides (or at least am working up to it 35 - 50km at the moment). I want a bike that will perform but also be comfy.

What are people's thoughts?

I recently bought an 2005 OCR Zero and so far it has been great to ride, except perhaps the breaks could be a bit better. My longest ride so far has been 35km and the bike performed very well (can't say the same for myself though, but working on it 🙂 ).

I get a bit of a sore neck sometimes but I am used to riding MTBs so the OCR is a bit more agressive positioned. The TCR range are more aggresive than OCRs in their positioning so for me they were not as comfortable.

Personally I would love to own the OCR Zero Composite but as my first road bike I couldn't justfy the price, therefore got a good deal on the 2005 OCR Zero alloy with carbon bits instead.

Hope this helps you.

OzDaz said:

Tossing up which bike to get. All 2006 models. The OCR 0 looks great and is a good price (AUD 2,299). Wondering if the upgrade to the OCR Composite is worth the extra AUD700. The next question is for the same price should I be looking at the TCR 2 (Composite)? I don't race, and tend to do 50 - 80km rides (or at least am working up to it 35 - 50km at the moment). I want a bike that will perform but also be comfy.

What are people's thoughts?

Hey, lucky you!

My two cents: OCR 0 is a great value for the money - given your goals (sporty 50-80km rides), go for that one. You won't need the composite frame. OCR 0 has composite rear triangle anyway, right?

Also: TCR's have more aggressive geometry - shorter head tube, so you'd be leaning more forward - good for performance riders, but if you don't need to save 3 secs on a 2 hour ride, then you may actually appreciate OCR's extra few millimeters of frame material to keep your hands and your neck just a little bit higher... Enjoy it, ride it!

[quote="janko_hrasko"]Hey, lucky you!

My two cents: OCR 0 is a great value for the money - given your goals (sporty 50-80km rides), go for that one. You won't need the composite frame. OCR 0 has composite rear triangle anyway, right?
QUOTE]

I have got a OCR composite. When I saw it I just could not resist it. Please pardon my ignorance in reagrds to frame construction, does the composite rear triangle equate to the same comfort as a full composite frame bike?

I skipped over the TCR as I am not in a racing shape (if you know what I mean), and having had a chat with the bike shop, it was quite apparent that the OCR geometry would suit my riding needs for a while to come.

I knew from riding my first Road bike Giant CADEX CFR1, that I would prefer a relatively more upright riding position. Now as you get fitter, and more flexible you could adopt a lower riding position.

So these factors and the price of Giant bikes, was what pursuaded me to purhasing the OCR composite.

Now as to why I needed a full composite bike over a aluminium/composite bike, I have to admit its more vanity than anything. I have not been able to compare the two directly.

However, I do have a aluminim Flat bar road bike (full aluminium), and the ride is definitely harsher to the extent that my elbows were sore after riding on it.

Oh yeah as with all bikes, dont forget to bargain and research the price on the internet. The prices you mentioned were RRP.

thomas_cho said:

I have got a OCR composite. When I saw it I just could not resist it. Please pardon my ignorance in reagrds to frame construction, does the composite rear triangle equate to the same comfort as a full composite frame bike?

Not appreciably - most road vibrations are taken by the fork and seat stays, hence the benefits of carbon in these parts of the bike.

Similarly, seat stays take more force than chain stays, so manufactuers tend to offer carbon on seat stays over chain stays; a full carbon rear triangle will often be part of the differentiating components from one model from the next one up (think OCR1 and OCR Zero).

If you're not a weight weenie, then there's no real need for a full carbon frame. However, there's nothing stopping you if you want one =)

--
nerdag

four months ago i got an 05 OCR zero for $1500. they were running out the 2005 models to make way for the 2006.

if you can pick up a 2005 then go for it. the only improvement the 2006 has on the 2005 is the 10 speed ultegra rather than the 9 speed.

i love the bike and bang for buck it is hard to go past. nice and comfortable but still plenty fast and sharp. i have done several >100k rides and one >200k ride on it and it felt great.

My first bike [since being a kid, I'm now 40] was a TCR1 (composite).

Best decision ever. A truly great bike. I have almost 10,000km on it now (in a year).

The composite bike is much more comfortable than any alu bike. There really is no comparison. It is, in my opinion, money extremely well spent.

Regards, MJH

Both are great value for money.

As someone else has mentioned, the TCR has quite a small head tube. My TCR "55cm" had a 150mm HT. At 184cm in height, that was way too small for me and I ended up getting herniated discs because my back was so far out of position when pedalling. It takes a looooong time to develop your flexibility to the point where you can ride an "aggressively" shaped frame...and there is no real need to anyway. Take look at Lance's bike. Very small drop to the handlebar..

If you are on the shorter side, then the smaller headtube on the TCR won't be as big a problem. You could get a Medium and that would fit. The OCR range feature significantly longer headtubes which allow for better biomechanics, IMHO.

F.