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-

roadbikereview.comreviewscrx.aspxOpen ↗

roadbikereview.comGiant+Bicycle+Open ↗
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 www4.tpgi.com.aubpoOpen ↗

"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