Help me decide--Giant TCR comp or OCR comp

naphas13 said:

After taking quite a few years off, I recently started riding again. I've been doing 30 mile circuits on the weekend, maybe 10-15 miles once a week after work. I'm not planning on doing any racing, but will probably up the mileage a bit and start doing some hilly rides. I'm pretty strong and fit (5'10", 185 lbs.), and like to ride fairly fast. Anyway, I'm looking to replace my ancient steel frame bike, have ridden quite a few bikes (Trek, Specialized, Fuji, a few others I don't remember) in the past couple weeks, and have narrowed down to:

'06 Giant TCR Comp 3 (105 setup, generic brakes)
'05 Giant TCR Composite Limited (ultegra setup, generic brakes)
'06 Giant OCR Comp 3 (105 setup, generic brakes)
'06 Giant OCR Comp 2 (mostly ultegra setup w/ 105 front derailler, generic brakes)

All are $1500, except the OCR Comp 2, which is $1600. Whatever I get I'll probably switch out the brake calipers to ultegra.

I've only been able to use these on short, around the block kind of rides on fairly rough pavement (much worse than I typically ride on). The TCR's have much more snap, handle better, etc. and are generally more fun to ride, but I'm a little leery of how they'll feel on longer rides. Any advice?

personally i'd go with the 05 tcr. a little higher componentry than the others. you should be able to get a fairly good discount on it as the 07's are rolling our now.

The TCR leans towards competition. All the TCR's are based off of the race bike; they have aggressive geometry. The OCR's are meant for distance/comfort with more relaxed geometry. My advice is to keep test riding them...with a price tag like that, I am sure the LBS will let you spin them around a few more times to see which you like better.

TCR if you like faster riding. shorter chainstays, lower headtube - makes for a better handling bike out of the saddle and a lower position up front.

unless you have back problems, the bike isn't fitted correctly, or you have some riding quirks, you shouldnt have any problems with the geometry on longer rides. although many of my rides are about an hour long, I've regularly ridden my TCR(s) on 3-5 hour rides with no problems other than being tired and getting sore, being a desk jockey in real life. I also race and found the bike to be perfectly fine in close quarter crits, aggressive group rides, hard sprints, and short fast climbs. Since I can't climb well, I can't comment on long climbs 🙂

I don't know which forks come on the bikes but if they are the flat bladed Giant forks (look sort of aero, blade is rectangular shaped from the side) then replace the fork when you can. I put a Reynolds fork (ouzo?) on one TCR and had no problems at any speeds. The Giant fork is a bit flexy laterally. With the stock fork descending at up to 45-50 mph is okay, faster than that I'd go to something else. I have an AL TCR with the stock fork and was fine till 50. I have a carbon TCR with their newer fork and it was fine with the stock fork (slimmer from the side).

good luck
cdr

Thanks, that's exactly the advice I was looking for. I've been doing 2-hour rides most of the time, might move it up to maybe 4 or so, and was concerned about whether I'd be able to go that long on the bike without extreme discomfort. I'm definitely somewhat of a speed freak 😄, and preferred the sportier handling of the TCR, all other things considered, even though I have no plans to race.

I have had some back problems off and on (muscular, maybe hips), but overall I'm pretty flexible, so I'm not that worried about the posture. I do yoga 3-4 times a week when not injured, trained as yoga instructor, etc., so getting and staying in a good riding stance is a piece of cake comparatively speaking. Riding a bike actually helps loosen up my back, so I figure that if I feel OK in the drops initially, everything should be OK longer term.

On the fork issue, which year TCR comp do you have? I'm going to try to sort out which are on the bikes in question, but I'm not sure if I'll be able to figure out the difference based on your description.

Again, thanks for the advice.

carpediemracing said:

TCR if you like faster riding. shorter chainstays, lower headtube - makes for a better handling bike out of the saddle and a lower position up front.

unless you have back problems, the bike isn't fitted correctly, or you have some riding quirks, you shouldnt have any problems with the geometry on longer rides. although many of my rides are about an hour long, I've regularly ridden my TCR(s) on 3-5 hour rides with no problems other than being tired and getting sore, being a desk jockey in real life. I also race and found the bike to be perfectly fine in close quarter crits, aggressive group rides, hard sprints, and short fast climbs. Since I can't climb well, I can't comment on long climbs 🙂

I don't know which forks come on the bikes but if they are the flat bladed Giant forks (look sort of aero, blade is rectangular shaped from the side) then replace the fork when you can. I put a Reynolds fork (ouzo?) on one TCR and had no problems at any speeds. The Giant fork is a bit flexy laterally. With the stock fork descending at up to 45-50 mph is okay, faster than that I'd go to something else. I have an AL TCR with the stock fork and was fine till 50. I have a carbon TCR with their newer fork and it was fine with the stock fork (slimmer from the side).

good luck
cdr