Giant OCR-3 Advice

On Sat, 15 May 2004 23:43:37 GMT, "Doug" <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

All,

Now that I'm addicted again, I'm finding that my son is very interested in
riding with me. He's 13, and seems to a strong desire to "get out there".
His last bike was a Schwinn mountain bike. Our plans are to join a local
club eventually and take part in group rides, along with the occasional ride
with just the two of us.

I want to make sure he gets a decent bike to start. My fear is that if the
bike isn't comfortable he'll tend to not want to ride. We've looked at
several entry level bikes, including specialized, cannondale, schwinn, fuji
and a few others. They all seem to be in the $550 - $625 range. Today we
found a black Giant OCR3 with Yellow accents. The guy at the shop told us it
was this year's model.

Can any one share any experiences with this bike? How reliable is it? Are
there any common failures? How is Giant's reputation?

Thanks for all anticipate responses in my quest to share my addiction!

Thanks,
Doug

A decent place to look over bikes-

http://www.roadbikereview.com/reviewscrx.aspx

http://www.roadbikereview.com/2003+Road+Bike/Giant+Bicycle+Inc.+OCR+3/PRD_138786_4338crx.aspx

In article <[email hidden]>,
[email hidden] says...

....

Quoted message said:

I want to make sure he gets a decent bike to start. My fear is that if the
bike isn't comfortable he'll tend to not want to ride. We've looked at
several entry level bikes, including specialized, cannondale, schwinn, fuji
and a few others. They all seem to be in the $550 - $625 range. Today we
found a black Giant OCR3 with Yellow accents. The guy at the shop told us it
was this year's model.

Can any one share any experiences with this bike? How reliable is it? Are
there any common failures? How is Giant's reputation?

I can't comment on that particular model, but Giant is a very reputable
company. Personally, I like Fuji's entry level road bikes, but they are
all very similar in that price range.

....

--
Dave Kerber
Fight spam: remove the ns_ from the return address before replying!

REAL programmers write self-modifying code.

Doug said:

Can any one share any experiences with this bike? How reliable is it? Are
there any common failures? How is Giant's reputation?

Thanks for all anticipate responses in my quest to share my addiction!

Thanks,
Doug

I've been told that Giant (unlike Trek) doesn't offer lifetime warranty on
their frames. Since he'll likely out grow the frame in a few years this
probably isn't a big factor. I presume this is a road bike? Where do you
ride? (trail/road?)

-B

"Badger_South" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Doug said:

Can any one share any experiences with this bike? How reliable is it? Are
there any common failures? How is Giant's reputation?

Thanks for all anticipate responses in my quest to share my addiction!

Thanks,
Doug

I've been told that Giant (unlike Trek) doesn't offer lifetime warranty on
their frames. Since he'll likely out grow the frame in a few years this
probably isn't a big factor. I presume this is a road bike? Where do you
ride? (trail/road?)

-B

I'm hoping that he'll get 2-3 years out of the bike. At this point road
riding will be the main focus. There are a few charity type rides that I do
that he has expressed interest in. We're also planning regular weekend rides
in the 10-40 mile range to start, then longer rides as his endurance
increases.

Doug

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Doug said:

"Badger_South" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Doug said:

Can any one share any experiences with this bike? How reliable is it? Are
there any common failures? How is Giant's reputation?

Thanks for all anticipate responses in my quest to share my addiction!

Thanks,
Doug

I've been told that Giant (unlike Trek) doesn't offer lifetime warranty on
their frames. Since he'll likely out grow the frame in a few years this
probably isn't a big factor. I presume this is a road bike? Where do you
ride? (trail/road?)

-B

I'm hoping that he'll get 2-3 years out of the bike. At this point road
riding will be the main focus. There are a few charity type rides that I do
that he has expressed interest in. We're also planning regular weekend rides
in the 10-40 mile range to start, then longer rides as his endurance
increases.

Doug

The only other thing I'd suggest is to let him ride a few bikes in a
similar range, obviously, and let him pick the final ones. Also read the
reviews and replace one or two obviously low end components (such as poor
pedals, or seat).

If you can, don't be in too big a hurry to buy. Look around, visit other
bike shops, all things being equal pick the best bike shop.

-B

"Doug" <[email hidden]> wrote in
news:[email hidden]:

Quoted message said:

Can any one share any experiences with this bike? How reliable is it?
Are there any common failures? How is Giant's reputation?

Hi Doug. I know it's not the same model as you're looking at, but I've
been riding a Giant OCR-2 for a couple of seasons now and I love it. The
OCR-2 is the next model up from the OCR-3. I think I paid about $900 for
it new. It's been a great bike - dependable, solid, and fast. The
compact-road frame was a little strange at first but now I love it. When
I'm out riding people are always commenting on how cool this bike is. I
guess the only thing I didn't like about it was the cheap-o Hutchinson
tires it came with. After a bunch of flats due to all the road debris
around here I replaced them with Conti gatorskins and life's been good.

Anyway, as far as Giant's bikes go, I'm a loyal fan. When this bike
wears out or I want a new one I'll be buying another Giant most likely.

Dave
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On Sat, 15 May 2004 23:43:37 GMT, Doug wrote:

Hi Doug,

Quoted message said:

Can any one share any experiences with this bike? How reliable is it? Are
there any common failures? How is Giant's reputation?

I bought one recently after my old steel bike died. I'm pretty happy with
it, but these are the problems I had/have, although I haven't been back
for the free service yet:

- Lots of punctures. Replacing the rim tape with good cloth stuff and
the tyres with better 23mm ones seem to have fixed that, though.

- The seatpost slips a bit. My rear light clamp (with thin rubber padding)
is preventing this at the moment, but I'm hoping for a fix when it's
serviced. It seems a little loose, the clamp is rather puny, roads are
imperfect and I weigh over 80kg :-)

- Both the adjustable stem and seatpost get creaky when left uncleaned
and greased for long. I'll replace the stem with a fixed one at some point,
since I've settled on the best position now.

- Unlike my last bike, it had annoying ridges on the axle cutouts which
pretty much defeat the point of quick-release wheels. I've filed them
off :-)

I have no idea how many of these points are typical of low-end road bikes.

--
bpo gallery at http://www4.tpgi.com.au/users/mvw1/bpo

"Doug" <[email hidden]> schreef in bericht
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

All,

Now that I'm addicted again, I'm finding that my son is very interested

in

Quoted message said:

riding with me. He's 13, and seems to a strong desire to "get out there".
His last bike was a Schwinn mountain bike. Our plans are to join a local
club eventually and take part in group rides, along with the occasional

ride

Quoted message said:

with just the two of us.

I want to make sure he gets a decent bike to start. My fear is that if the
bike isn't comfortable he'll tend to not want to ride. We've looked at
several entry level bikes, including specialized, cannondale, schwinn,

fuji

Quoted message said:

and a few others. They all seem to be in the $550 - $625 range. Today we
found a black Giant OCR3 with Yellow accents. The guy at the shop told us

it

Quoted message said:

was this year's model.

Can any one share any experiences with this bike? How reliable is it? Are
there any common failures? How is Giant's reputation?

Thanks for all anticipate responses in my quest to share my addiction!

Thanks,
Doug

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Nothing wrong with Giant bikes.
They are a large brand in the Netherland (and beyond)
The frame geometry is derived from the models the TdF Equipes ride with.
From toplevel to entry level you have:
TCR 1
TCR 2
TCR 3 (now obsolete)
OCR models 1, 2, 3.

If my father would have bought me an OCR at the age of 13 a would have
thanked him to bits.

Bert L. (NL, EU)

--
Posted by news://news.nb.nu

Thanks to all that replied. Tomorrow after work we're off to pick up his new
ride! I'm excited too - hopefully it will give us plenty of time together,
and at the same time start him on something that could last a lifetime!

Thanks again,
Doug

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Quoted message said:

Thanks to all that replied. Tomorrow after work we're off to pick up his new
ride! I'm excited too - hopefully it will give us plenty of time together,
and at the same time start him on something that could last a lifetime!

Thanks again,
Doug

Hopefully you will get this before you get the bike. OCR 3's are fine, my wife
has one. But if you expect that he will be riding 50 to 100 miles per week you
should opt for the OCR 1. It has 105 components and a much lighter wheelset
than the 3 does. I have had an OCR 1 for 3 years now and I love it. Its about
$500 more but ive more than saved that much on upgrading parts (since I havent
had to much).
If you get the OCR3, he will love it.
If you get the OCR1, he will love you.

On Sat, 15 May 2004 23:43:37 GMT, "Doug" <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

Can any one share any experiences with this bike? How reliable is it? Are
there any common failures? How is Giant's reputation?

My TCR2 is treating me well. Frame hasn't cracked (what else would
you ask about a manufacturer?), wheels stay very true (maybe built
well at the factory, or maybe well-prepared at the shop), components
perform as they should (same components as on any other bike
anyway).

Somebody else mentioned replacing the thin rim tape with good
quality cloth rim tape; this is a good idea. I had a sudden,
unexpected flat due to sharp spoke-holes combined with thin rim
tape. Luckily, I was not moving at the time.
--
Rick Onanian