Triathlon - Giant OCR 3 - aerobars?

I have just bought my first road bike to train for my first triathlon:) I want to put aerobars on it - but don't want to remove the extra brakes on the top bar.

Any tips? Is there a brand of aerobars that might work better?

Also any tips on shifting with Sora components? I already miss the easy shifting on my hybrid.....

Sorry, but I don't think you will have enough room for both aerobars and the "cyclocross brakes"... After a while, you probably want to remove them anyway, so try to get used to not having them there. This will also free up space to attach the bars..

Could you describe the problems you are having with shifting? Sora is the bottom of the line for Shimano, but still quite alright. My wife had an OCR3 (with Sora) as her first road bike, so I know from experience that it does work if properly adjusted.

I have an ocr3. i put profile century bars on it myself. the cyclocross brakes i left on, because i'm not sophisticated enough to strip them myself, and it was a new bike at the time, so why go through all that out of my own stupidity?

the profile bars are "clip-on", meaning there's a two-piece bracket, which can be tightened more or less on the front and back side of the handlebar. i tightened this around the brake handles and it just fit, and when adjusting the aerobars, it twists the brake levers with it. this means you can't exactly use the extra brake handles easily; you have to pop them back out from the slot in the bracket every time you brake.

it's still nice to have that extra option when i'm just crusing this thing down hills or whatnot...it's a nice enough bike, and a great way to get into tri. i did my first 1/2 IM this year on it.

let me know if this explanation makes no sense, i'll email you pics.

p.s. the sora shifters get out of whack pretty easily. get the free tuneups from your bike shop, then learn how to adjust your derailleur and barrel adjusters yourself, save some time.

Could you e-mail me a pic of how you put them on your bike around the extra brake handles? sean1051@aol.com

seankun it's really easy to get rid of those brakes off your ocr3, I am no bike mechanic by any standards but I took them off with no problems. If you want me to write out a guide send me a message or something and I can help you out with it.

Hello

I have an OCR 3 with aero bars (profile design) on it and has the cyclocross brakes on it.

I just twisted the brakes so they are pointing more down and then loosened the barrel adjuster on them to allow a little more cable slack and put the aero bars on.

Works great

Absolutly. Profile design Century works just fine. I did the same as you in 04 with an ocr 3. The profile fit perfectly. I ran that bike for a season, lots of training, 1 (5) day tour and 1 triathalon and it did the trick, it was a great bike to start from. This season I ran a tri bike and used the ocr 3 for training and a 4 day tour. In the future there are lots of things you can do with that bike. If you are ever into light/fast touring the ocr 3 can easily accomadate bigger tires, has rack eyelets and works great for distance travel.

As for Sora shifting...under the slightist load can cause problems, simply because it is not as responsive. I like the shifters personally vs the toggle on the rest of the shimano lineup and when i changed the derailer out to an ultegra and than an xt it was much inproved.

I also have a OCR 3. I tried the Profile Designs AirStryke and I had trouble with that particular design because the aero bars fit under the handlebar and they were interfering with the inline brakes and cables (see a photo of them and you should see what I'm saying). However, I was able to get them on and try them - they were very comfortable, but I wasn't happy with the inline brake situation, so I took the aero bars back to the LBS. I'm looking at the Profile Design Centry, Syntace C2's, or maybe the Easton EA70's because they clamp on top of the handlebar and shouldn't interfere as much with the inline brakes. It's good to see that Markymark is using the Centuries without any problem.

Markymark,

When you changed your deraileur, did you do it yourself and if so, how hard was it? I bought a new 105 rear deraileur and almost started changing it last night, but I became worried that I might have trouble and the bike would be out of commission for awhile, so I stopped.

A guy I work with liked my bike and the versitility it offered. Bought the OCR 2 and put areo strykes on his. In 500 miles he has yet to get comfortable. I feel that a proper stem fit is whats going to make this setup work on the Ocr's, its to long for most people. My OCR 3 has officially been sold and Iam sure the new owner will enjoy for a long time. These are great bikes to grow into! and eventually sadly enough ,out of.

Iam only learning bike maintainence beyond tire changes. I have a good setup such as tools and a stand but Iam not yet comfortable to do a swap like that. I believe that we pay alot for bike parts, it almost seems that if something is stamped bicycle 200% is added to it(look at co2 cannisters). The retail we pay should include installation and that is the position I have taken and the LBS I have dealt with have been more than accomadating. The city I live in is an Ironman host and the bike shops seem to provide great customer service expectently with the advent of the popularity of cycling and related sports.