giant cfr 1... any good?

Hmmm... Is Shimano 600 and Shimano Ultegra the same thing??? Has the groupset technology changed much in the last 5 years?

Is my bike a heap 'o junk now, or does it still rock? Is it worth cleaning up, or is it better off in the junkyard? 😉 I know I don't want to drive around in a 20 year old car, but what about a 5 year old bike?

Quoted post said:

Originally posted by gobba
Hmmm... Is Shimano 600 and Shimano Ultegra the same thing??? Has the groupset technology changed much in the last 5 years?

Is my bike a heap 'o junk now, or does it still rock? Is it worth cleaning up, or is it better off in the junkyard? 😉 I know I don't want to drive around in a 20 year old car, but what about a 5 year old bike?

600 became ultegra. Same places in shimano lineup.Yours may have 8 speeds in the rear,new stuff has 9 or 10. Not that big a deal. Who can tell you what it's worth to you? If you have deep pockets, just toss it and buy a new one,even tho others might die for it and it may have alot of good miles left.

Quoted post said:

Originally posted by boudreaux
600 became ultegra. Same places in shimano lineup.Yours may have 8 speeds in the rear,new stuff has 9 or 10. Not that big a deal. Who can tell you what it's worth to you? If you have deep pockets, just toss it and buy a new one,even tho others might die for it and it may have alot of good miles left.

It is an 8 speed 🙁 That said I've never quite understood what was wrong with 5 speed, so who am I to complain about 8 😉 Are the 600 8 speed series parts interchangable with Ultegra 9 speed?

I've just recovered from a back injury, and I'm ready to start commuting to work by bicycle to regain my fitness, I think I'll be covering around 400 kms per week.

How do you think a brand new aluminium bike w.carbon fork and Tiagra groupset (i.e. Learsport 7700) would compare to my old CFR1 with cadex and old 600 (ultegra?) groupset. Because Shimano keeps upgrading the groupset without changing the names I'm not sure whether old 600=old ultegra is better or worse than new Tiagra.

Also I've heard occasionally about old carbon fibre bikes falling apart, so is the frame getting too old? I can't really justify the expense to buy a NEW carbon fibre or magnesium frame, so how do modern aluminium frames compare?

Phew.... I've been out of the game so long I've got a lot of questions, sorry guys 🙂)))

Quoted post said:

Originally posted by gobba
Are the 600 8 speed series parts interchangable with Ultegra 9 speed?

Everything but the rear shifter,cassette and chain.

i actually still ride my CFR 1. It has mostly been upgraded over the years with new running gear but the frame although not really up to todays standards for racing, is a top training bike that is quite comfortable (an inherent quality of something that flexes this much!) If you only plan on riding to work then i wouldnt bother with the new one, so long as the old stuff works.......if it needs too much work to get it working properly again i would chuck it and get the new one. Also if u plan on racing get the new one, it will be much faster. Hope that helps.

- Along a similar lines - ive found a Giant CFR1 frameset from a reputable mail order firm for £300 (~$500). Its brand new (but been sitting around in a box for a few years in a warehouse), and as such I cant find much information about the frame on the internet, even the giant website doesn't have anything to say on the matter.

The long and the short of it is, is this as good a deal for a full-carbon frameset as it appears on paper - and has this frameset had any past problems epsc in larger models (this one is a 59 cm c-c, Im 6ft3 and a bit)

Quoted post said:

Originally posted by audiolessonover
- Along a similar lines - ive found a Giant CFR1 frameset from a reputable mail order firm for £300 (~$500). Its brand new (but been sitting around in a box for a few years in a warehouse), and as such I cant find much information about the frame on the internet, even the giant website doesn't have anything to say on the matter.

The long and the short of it is, is this as good a deal for a full-carbon frameset as it appears on paper - and has this frameset had any past problems epsc in larger models (this one is a 59 cm c-c, Im 6ft3 and a bit)

I would not give $500 for one, and a 59 may be too small for you. It's not 'full carbon' as the lugs are aluminum. They were ok in their day, nothing special and not in the same class as the trek OCLV.

CF/metal bonding technology in that era was far inferior to modern bonding.

Quoted post said:

Originally posted by Eidetic
CF/metal bonding technology in that era was far inferior to modern bonding.

Yeah, but the later ones were well into the phase where they knew the problems and were dealing with it. So when it was made could be something of an issue.

Its a 2001 frame, apparently, and i thought the CFR frame was a compact/semi-compact geometry - if so is 59cm still going to be too small ?

I own a 59 cm '99 Giant CFR 1 bike. The frame is, contrary to previous posts, incredibly stiff. The bottom bracket has no flex in it whatsoever. I'm 6ft 2 and weigh 185 lb so i'd notice if there was any!
Must have cycled at least 35 000 miles on it without encountering any problems. By todays standards it is a heavy frameset weighting in the region of 5 pounds. Though having said this i still think it offers good value for money. Bought a Specialized aluminium frame for the racing season but i'm still going to use my Giant for winter training runs.

Quoted post said:

Originally posted by audiolessonover
Its a 2001 frame, apparently, and i thought the CFR frame was a compact/semi-compact geometry - if so is 59cm still going to be too small ?

Somehow that date does not sound right for a CFR. Giant was doing TCR and OCRs in 2000 and the CF TCR in 2001. Never heard of a compact CFR.

i own a used CFR2, same frame but equipped with 7-speed 105 and downtube shifters, so it must date back at least to 1996 (i think it's more likely to be 1994-95)... the fork is alloy made and non-aero (later CFR1-2 had aero-shaped forks). The frame (53-size) seems to have held up well, cannot say much about stiffness cause i have no terms of comparison, but it's solid and it doesn't creaks, and CF-Alloy junctions seem ok. Only complain is that where carbon is exposed, the transparent paint really tends to peel off, no prob where carbon is covered... that's probably the reason why later CFR paintjobs had no exposed carbon.

1999 catalog up on the Giant UK website still lists CFR frameset and CFR1-2-3 complete bikes, but the picture of the CFR frameset is clearly wrong, looks definitely like an early OCR frameset, even though description seems to correspond to CFR.

http://www.giant-bicycle.com/uk/030.000.000/030.000.000.asp?dealerid=&dealercountry=&lYear=1999&bikesection=8782&range=22&model=9520

i think that carbon tubes still give this frameset a pretty decent "bling bling" value (!), so it might be worth to consider about selling it, if you have one sitting around and in good conditions...

Owned one many years ago,sold it a tad haevy but would love to have one again.I t all depends on your riding style any bike will go if you have the legs,been looking for a 55 cm frame for years,mine was yellow and black rainbow.

Got mine in the spring of 1996. 5-10K a year for the first 10 years. Had to replace the front shifter and used a generic Shimano a level around 105, wokrs great but doesn't have the same trim characteristics as the original. 10 years after issue the Ultegra was hard to find and expensive.
Carbob frame and fork, Rigida aero wheels, you know the rest.
Job and location change in 2008 have had the bike mothballed with a dust off and lubrication each year, in hopes that I will have time to ride.
What's it worth as it was a $2k bike in the day? $500?

Quoted post said:

Originally Posted by aikitazz [IMG]/img/forum/go_quote.gif[/IMG]

Got mine in the spring of 1996. 5-10K a year for the first 10 years. Had to replace the front shifter and used a generic Shimano a level around 105, wokrs great but doesn't have the same trim characteristics as the original. 10 years after issue the Ultegra was hard to find and expensive.
Carbob frame and fork, Rigida aero wheels, you know the rest.
Job and location change in 2008 have had the bike mothballed with a dust off and lubrication each year, in hopes that I will have time to ride.
What's it worth as it was a $2k bike in the day? $500?

They were a decent bike for the price, I had one for a few years until it got stolen. Would make a good cheap bike for commuting to work on I reckon.