Just won my first road bike on Ebay - What do ya think?

[Z06C5R]

2003 Giant TCR2, with some upgraded components. I'm pretty psyched to finally get off the full suspension mtb that I've been using exclusivly for road use in the last 2 months...

Here's a link with pics and details

Anybody see any obvious problems I should address?

 

[padawan]

Anybody see any obvious problems I should address?

Only the addiction to e-bay!

Nothing like e-bay to fuel dreams of the latest & greatest components. Where did all those hours of my life go?

 

[sgtpepper64]

Congratulations! I'm pretty new to ebay as well and made sure as a new buyer to contact the sellers of the items I would bid on to make sure they knew I was legit.

I won a Voler skinsuit and some Voler Dryline Tech XM tights. The seller of the tights never gave me feedback, so I'm stuck at +1 right now.

Edit: Oh and thanks to ebay, I spent over $200 in cycling gear in the first 2.5 weeks of my college life. $90.00 on a Green Globe DSC replica kit, 38 bucks on those tights, about 47 on the skinsuit, and then 70 someodd on Exustar Shoes and Nashbar Special Road pedals from Nashbar. I'm gearing up for this winter and next season.
Cat 5 here I come!

 

[Z06C5R]

lol, yeah. I was a mad bidder today... Had my cell phone rigged so I could bid on a nice cannondale caad8 during class (lost that one). 2 hours later, I won this! I had another one comming up at mid-night, and a nice litespeed vela who's buy-it-now was within my specs if all else failed.

Yeah, perhaps it was a bit of an Ebay addiction...

 

[JTE83]

My Giant 2002 TCR Aero 2 is of similar build and when I bought it in 2003 I paid around $1513 after tax. I think it would sell for around $825 ebay too. At that price, I'd rather keep it and use it as my winter bike and for biking past bad neighborhoods.

 

[dgregory57]

I think it is a goods deal, but wouldn't be too excited about the upgrades.

The two things upgraded to DA are probably the two things I would be least likely to pay to upgrade to DA... of course I would be highly unlikely to ever pay for DA for anything, but if I did, I would do it for components that would make a difference.

Also, I am not sure, but I don't think the Shimano wheelset is very well respected...

But, I suspect you have a nice bike that should give you several thousand trouble free miles based on what I can see in the ad. Other than an occasional flat, redular maintenance or adjustment of course.

 

[Camilo]

I think it is a goods deal, but wouldn't be too excited about the upgrades.

The two things upgraded to DA are probably the two things I would be least likely to pay to upgrade to DA... of course I would be highly unlikely to ever pay for DA for anything, but if I did, I would do it for components that would make a difference.

Also, I am not sure, but I don't think the Shimano wheelset is very well respected...

But, I suspect you have a nice bike that should give you several thousand trouble free miles based on what I can see in the ad. Other than an occasional flat, redular maintenance or adjustment of course.

I agree with everything written - sounds like a good bike and while the "upgrades" aren't worth paying for (to me), you probably didn't!

My WAG on the wheels is that the seller had a better set of wheels on that bike and put the Shimanos on it for the sale. Wouldn't be surprised if he kept his saddle too. To me, these two things are almost to be expected. No big deal, but that's what I thik. It happened when I bought a bike on ebay - the seller put a lower grade saddle and wheels on it for the sale. I'm happy with the wheels (Aksium) and understood that change from original specs going in and based value on that. The saddle I had no clue, but didn't care because saddles have no monetary value other than how they fit your butt. Interestingly enough, is about the best I've found for myself so far. Who knows what the original, more expensive saddle would have felt like, would have been a **** shoot.

Your next upgrade? a good fitting tweek, maybe some attention to saddle upgrade if necessary, but most important: minimum of 400 miles per month for the next year! Anything else is not necessary.

 

[janiejones]

2003 Giant TCR2, with some upgraded components. I'm pretty psyched to finally get off the full suspension mtb that I've been using exclusivly for road use in the last 2 months...

Here's a link with pics and details

Anybody see any obvious problems I should address?

Nice bike - I think Shimano 550 wheels are prety good, not that light, but tough, I rode with the 500s for a while and found them pretty good, a lot of people at my club use 550s.

Ultegra calipers are excellent.

 

[artemidorus]

That is my exact bike, apart from the frame size, your "upgraded" bits and my "upgraded" bits. You don't need to change anything. Those wheels are fine, including being more aerodynamic than many vastly more expensive wheels, provided that they hold together. Some of the R550s had spokes from a bad batch.
It's a Tour de France level alloy frame, the same frame as Team Once were using a year or two before. Not the very lightest frame at ~1250g, but very strong - I've broken three wheels, seatpost, front derailleur, both fork blades, handlebars and shifters, and bent my BB axle, in various crashes and the frame appears unscathed and certainly unbent.

 

[capwater]

I'm on my 3rd TCR. (crashed a TCR2, use a TCR0 as a backup and race on a TCR1). Awesome bikes. That's a decent price, about average. Use the Shimano wheels to train on, if you end up racing much kick up for something better. Enjoy.

 

[JTE83]

My Shimano R535 / R540 wheels have low hub friction, and they are more aero than Ksyrium SLs. If the 550s are so similar, they're a good enough wheel for the budget racer. They're only heavier which makes them accelerate slower, but you might not feel the difference from a wheel like a Ksyrium SL. If you wanna upgrade get Ricthey Protocols from ebay for around $380. Light as Ksyrium SLs and more aero. The Shimano wheels are so underrated, but it was because heavy riders were having problems breaking their spokes.

And change the cassette to an SRAM 11-26 - a better combo for a compact.

 

[kdelong]

2003 Giant TCR2, with some upgraded components. I'm pretty psyched to finally get off the full suspension mtb that I've been using exclusivly for road use in the last 2 months...

Here's a link with pics and details

Anybody see any obvious problems I should address?

Awesome bike dude ! Congrats and enjoy it!

 

[oldbobcat]

I'm finally building up a fixie with parts from eBay. The frame is a 58 cm Frejus track model, maybe early 60s vintage, that a buddy dumped on my porch 30 years ago when he went away to college. I've been selling off my pile of old parts, too.