Anyone Here A Roadie?

[Canadian]

I'm thinking about buying a new bike. I prefer to cycle as a form of exercise, and most of that riding would be done on the road, so I'm not about to buy an inefficient mountain bike. I've looked into prices in the past and I think the average entry level bike was about $1000. Just wondering if anyone could share some personal experience with specific bikes and such. I'm leaning towards a Trek - hey, Lance Armstrong's done a good job of influencing me [img]smile.gif[/img]

[One_Divided]

Andy, I'm sort of anti-roady myself, but you can go find some pretty nice second hand bikes in vic on the SIMBS website

Check the classifieds.. I don't know if they have a hell of a lot for rode bikes, but it's worth a try..

[ 28 February 2002, 19:01: Message edited by: One_Divided ]

[Troy F]

One of my friends has a top of the line street bike, he competes in triathalons and just completed his first iron man last summer. He went through quite a bit of research to find the right bike. I'll get back to you with any advice he has.

[Canadian Man]

hey canadian, i am the manager of CYCLEPATH here in calgary and ride 99% on the road. i would be glad to give you an honest opinion on anything bike related you want to know. [img]smile.gif[/img]

[Canadian Man]

just some quick info for you
Giant ocr3 about $800 great entry level bike if you want to ride for recreation only. in you spend about 1500 you can get an ocr 1 and that bike would work well for just about any situation. i own a trek and sell them as well but giant are better deals and more aggresivly priced for their entry level bikes. trek is a great company when getting into their high end aluminum and carbon bikes. if you have questions, feel free to ask! [img]smile.gif[/img]

[Canadian]

Canadian Man, is this the Giant OCR3 that you're talking about that retails for $800?



And are the Shimano Sora components that are pictured here the stock ones for the bike? I don't mind the look of the bike and for $800 it doesn't sound too bad. How are the Cromoly forks for stiffness? I'd prefer not to be bounced around the crappy roads here. And what kind of rims and tires are stock with this bike?

The other thing to keep in mind for me is that I'm quite short: 5'6" with short legs even for my small height -- can you say "Dorf on Cycling?"-- so I'd probably need to have the frame ordered (I don't think many places here in town carry smaller frames as part of their usual stock). The small OCR3 frame is 44cm and the medium is 50cm, which one do you think I'd need?

Also, what kind of price am I looking at for replacing those toe clips with clipless pedals?

I used to be heavily into mountain biking, but that was about 10 years ago, so I haven't kept up to date on the pricing of things and the advances in components. Gimmie a ball-park figure for the OCR3 with clipless pedals and shoes.

BTW, thanks for your help! This is great: being able to talk to someone who knows their stuff before I wander into a store with a "sucker" sticker slapped on my forehead.

[Canadian Man]

hey canadian yea thats the bike i was talking about.
about the front forks: cromo forks are stiff side to side and will absorb road vibration but not as good as the carbon forks that come on many of the higher end forks. but cromoly is your next best option. just dont get an aluminum fork.
the bike does come with sora components all around and has STI(shifters and brake levers in one) this is good!
the rims are alex rims double walled+
tires are hutchinson tires which are decent as well.
you would definatley be the small(44cm) frame size in giant and dont let anyone tell you otherwise. if they do than they are trying to sell you the common size that they have in stock!
pedals should cost you anywhere from 80 to 150 dollars for a decent pair. go with any company but wellgo. eg.shimano,time,look,just make sure it is a brand name and you wont have to replace them after a year. your shoes if you go with road specific should cost no more than 150 for the entry level shoes. if you go with more of a mtb shoe you can get them for 80 to 120 for decent ones.
we sell the ocr3 for 869.95 for the 2002 model and they should have the bike for no more than that. giant givesus a range to price at and many shops go to the high end of the range we go to the middle to bottom.
a ball park figure for bike, shimano shoes, shimano pedals in our store would be 1050 to 1080 plus taxes. you might be able to find a 2001 model in SMALL (44cm)for about 799 but 2002 is better spec. on the bike.
Cheers
Jonathan