Giant OCR 2 - 2005?

James Appleby said:

I am not really a serious bike rider. I am interested in doing fitness work
and maybe a few social races during the year. I have been told by bike
riding friends that the new 2005 Giant OCR2 will be perfect for me and it is
within my budget.... I have ridden the OCR3 at the LBJ and loved it. The
OCR 2 will have to be ordered in for me.

....Have you even considered riding anything *other* than the OCR2?

-Luigi

Quoted message said:

Any comments or reviews of this bicycle would be appreciated by you bicycle
savants

Thank you.

In article <[email hidden]>,

Luigi de Guzman said:

James Appleby said:

I am not really a serious bike rider. I am interested in doing fitness work
and maybe a few social races during the year. I have been told by bike
riding friends that the new 2005 Giant OCR2 will be perfect for me and it is
within my budget.... I have ridden the OCR3 at the LBJ and loved it. The
OCR 2 will have to be ordered in for me.

...Have you even considered riding anything *other* than the OCR2?

Luigi has a point, but that said, The only difference between the OCR2
and the OCR3 is that the OCR2 has Tiagra-level components on the same
frame where the OCR3 uses Sora (Giant road-bike naming conventions give
nicer bikes lower numbers), so the OCR2 is just a slightly lighter OCR3
with one more gear (Sora is only 8-speed).

If one of the (traditionalists, please look away now) four
compact-geometry sizes they sell fits you well, this is a perfectly
reasonable choice. I race on a heavier bike than the OCR2 would be.

--
Ryan Cousineau, [email hidden] http://www.wiredcola.com
President, Fabrizio Mazzoleni Fan Club

Ryan Cousineau said:

In article <[email hidden]>,

Luigi de Guzman said:

James Appleby said:

I am not really a serious bike rider. I am interested in doing fitness work
and maybe a few social races during the year. I have been told by bike
riding friends that the new 2005 Giant OCR2 will be perfect for me and it is
within my budget.... I have ridden the OCR3 at the LBJ and loved it. The
OCR 2 will have to be ordered in for me.

...Have you even considered riding anything *other* than the OCR2?

Luigi has a point, but that said, The only difference between the OCR2
and the OCR3 is that the OCR2 has Tiagra-level components on the same
frame where the OCR3 uses Sora (Giant road-bike naming conventions give
nicer bikes lower numbers), so the OCR2 is just a slightly lighter OCR3
with one more gear (Sora is only 8-speed).

If one of the (traditionalists, please look away now) four
compact-geometry sizes they sell fits you well, this is a perfectly
reasonable choice. I race on a heavier bike than the OCR2 would be.

I started riding with the same idea in mind as you Ryan. I thought I would
be casually riding, say, 40- 50 miles a week and the social rides like you
mentioned. I too, bought the OCR2. I love it! Compared to what I was
riding (15 year old Miata) it just grew on me. I'm now looking for an
excuse to ride and have done a 150 mile 2 day charity ride, a 62 miler, a
mini triathlon, and many 35 milers this summer. I've logged over 1200
miles and am only guessing as to what I'll end up at in the fall.
I guess I'm just saying that though the bike isn't perfect, the price point
gives the a lot of good stuff. It's at least a safe buy.

In article <[email hidden]>,

kennected kennected said:

Ryan Cousineau said:

In article <[email hidden]>,

Luigi de Guzman said:

On Mon, 26 Jul 2004 14:30:07 +1200, "James Appleby"
<[email hidden]> wrote:

>I am not really a serious bike rider. I am interested in doing fitness
>work
>and maybe a few social races during the year. I have been told by bike
>riding friends that the new 2005 Giant OCR2 will be perfect for me and it
>is
>within my budget.... I have ridden the OCR3 at the LBJ and loved it. The
>OCR 2 will have to be ordered in for me.
>

...Have you even considered riding anything *other* than the OCR2?

Luigi has a point, but that said, The only difference between the OCR2
and the OCR3 is that the OCR2 has Tiagra-level components on the same
frame where the OCR3 uses Sora (Giant road-bike naming conventions give
nicer bikes lower numbers), so the OCR2 is just a slightly lighter OCR3
with one more gear (Sora is only 8-speed).

If one of the (traditionalists, please look away now) four
compact-geometry sizes they sell fits you well, this is a perfectly
reasonable choice. I race on a heavier bike than the OCR2 would be.

I started riding with the same idea in mind as you Ryan. I thought I would
be casually riding, say, 40- 50 miles a week and the social rides like you
mentioned. I too, bought the OCR2. I love it! Compared to what I was
riding (15 year old Miata) it just grew on me. I'm now looking for an
excuse to ride and have done a 150 mile 2 day charity ride, a 62 miler, a
mini triathlon, and many 35 milers this summer. I've logged over 1200
miles and am only guessing as to what I'll end up at in the fall.
I guess I'm just saying that though the bike isn't perfect, the price point
gives the a lot of good stuff. It's at least a safe buy.

Perfect, perfect...oddly enough, I just bought a garage-sale Miyata and
am using it as my commuter rig.

I would approach this from another angle. Except for the inconvenience
of mounting a rack and fenders on it, or the inability to race
cyclocross, I have no idea what is _wrong_ with a Giant OCR. They're
well-priced, too.

That said, when recommending bikes to people these days, if they show
any interest in a drop-bar bike I make my rote recommendation that they
consider a cyclocross machine: it's a little bit durable, a little bit
touring capable, and gives almost nothing away to a pure road racer. The
marvel is that there's no on-road cycling event you can't take on with a
'cross bike, usually with few or no compromises. And I'd rather ride a
cyclocross bike on most trails than a mountain bike on most roads.

--
Ryan Cousineau [email hidden] http://www.wiredcola.com/
"I don't want kids who are thinking about going into mathematics
to think that they have to take drugs to succeed." -Paul Erdos

Ryan Cousineau said:

In article <[email hidden]>,

kennected kennected said:

Ryan Cousineau said:

In article <[email hidden]>,
Luigi de Guzman <[email hidden]> wrote:

> On Mon, 26 Jul 2004 14:30:07 +1200, "James Appleby"
> <[email hidden]> wrote:
>
> >I am not really a serious bike rider. I am interested in doing fitness
> >work
> >and maybe a few social races during the year. I have been told by bike
> >riding friends that the new 2005 Giant OCR2 will be perfect for me and it
> >is
> >within my budget.... I have ridden the OCR3 at the LBJ and loved it. The
> >OCR 2 will have to be ordered in for me.
> >
>
> ...Have you even considered riding anything *other* than the OCR2?

Luigi has a point, but that said, The only difference between the OCR2
and the OCR3 is that the OCR2 has Tiagra-level components on the same
frame where the OCR3 uses Sora (Giant road-bike naming conventions give
nicer bikes lower numbers), so the OCR2 is just a slightly lighter OCR3
with one more gear (Sora is only 8-speed).

If one of the (traditionalists, please look away now) four
compact-geometry sizes they sell fits you well, this is a perfectly
reasonable choice. I race on a heavier bike than the OCR2 would be.

I started riding with the same idea in mind as you Ryan. I thought I would
be casually riding, say, 40- 50 miles a week and the social rides like you
mentioned. I too, bought the OCR2. I love it! Compared to what I was
riding (15 year old Miata) it just grew on me. I'm now looking for an
excuse to ride and have done a 150 mile 2 day charity ride, a 62 miler, a
mini triathlon, and many 35 milers this summer. I've logged over 1200
miles and am only guessing as to what I'll end up at in the fall.
I guess I'm just saying that though the bike isn't perfect, the price point
gives the a lot of good stuff. It's at least a safe buy.

Perfect, perfect...oddly enough, I just bought a garage-sale Miyata and
am using it as my commuter rig.

I would approach this from another angle. Except for the inconvenience
of mounting a rack and fenders on it, or the inability to race
cyclocross, I have no idea what is _wrong_ with a Giant OCR. They're
well-priced, too.

That said, when recommending bikes to people these days, if they show
any interest in a drop-bar bike I make my rote recommendation that they
consider a cyclocross machine: it's a little bit durable, a little bit
touring capable, and gives almost nothing away to a pure road racer. The
marvel is that there's no on-road cycling event you can't take on with a
'cross bike, usually with few or no compromises. And I'd rather ride a
cyclocross bike on most trails than a mountain bike on most roads.

--
Ryan Cousineau [email hidden] http://www.wiredcola.com/
"I don't want kids who are thinking about going into mathematics
to think that they have to take drugs to succeed." -Paul Erdos

I agree with your recommendation of a cyclocross bike for a road bike.
I've got a Lemond Poprad that I've been riding for five years and it's
been great for road riding, light touring, and light duty trail work.
It's also been very durable and dependable. One of the nicest things
about cyclocross bikes is that you can put wider rubber on them. I've
got Avocet 35mm Cross Ks on mine, which work a lot better for my bad
back.

Smokey