Turbocruiser13

Hey guys...its that time again lol. I've been riding my dad's hand me down road bike for too long, and I've got a 175 mile ride coming up in 5 weeks. The bike has done well for me with a nashbar frame and full dura ace 9 speed components. The only problem is...I'm 5'10" and it's a 60cm frame so it feels like crap for me! Been lookin around at a few bikes lately (yes, I've been to bikesdirect.com lol) but there's just a huge amount of bikes to be able to sort through on the internet. I'm a HUGE fan of the geometry of giant's bicycles like the TCR but you have to spend big bucks to get decent components. I do a lot of mountain riding, so a triple is a must. 10 speed preferred since that's where the market's at these days. I am more into compact frames for personal preference...I guess I'll always have that scared feeling I have now when I try to straddle the 60cm frame lol. Sooooo what's out there for me? I've got about a thousand dollar budget give or take. Can probably spend about 1200 max but no more. What's going to be the best bang for my buck? I looked at the best bikes for under $750 thread but not too many guys seem to bring up triples. Yeah, I'm a wuss and don't have the power for a double just yet lol. Thanks in advance to any helpers

Davidlean

Compact double rings (50x34) can come close to triple gearing. That said, if you do a lot of mountains, a triple is very helpful (ignore the critics).

Best deals are slightly used bikes that fit.

bubbaeck

W00t, Nashbar frames ftw

Turbocruiser13

Lol, still goin strong with my 99 dollar frame haha.

That being said, I think I might have just answered my own question as I found a site with the Giant OCR1 with the 105/FSA triple setup and the gemoetry I am looking for. Price shows $1099 but nowhere to order lol.

Edit: Augora cycles has an 07 OCR1 with the same components for $950...might check into that one

nycphotography

Whatever you get you should get it soon so you have time to get used to it and to work out any fit issues before the big ride.

And at 5'10 you might consider a 54 frame w/ a longer stem and raised seat. I'm 6' and my 58cm fuji is maybe a half size too big (I had to shorten the stem). I should probably on a 56.

bwunger

Have you checked local bike shops to see if they have any '07 or '08's left? I got a new '07 at the start of this season for a pretty good price. Way cheaper than buying a new '08. With all the companies releasing their '09 stuff, there should be some good deals now, or coming up soon.

Turbocruiser13

I've been looking around, most of our bike shops don't carry a huge line of road bikes. Being in southern california, everybody wants to go downhill with full suspension, ride bmx, or get out to the beach on a cruiser...not much left of the road bike industry down here. I'll keep trying though, I'm just afraid that if I go to a bike shop and see something that's in my price range I'll be forced to "settle" with it and later on down the line I wont like it. As stated before, I am in LOVE with giant's lineup...I found what looks to be an 05 OCR1 on my local cragslist for $650 but it's a 58 and doesn't look to have a triple on it.

On a side note, has anybody ever heard of this Fezzari company before? I typed in "105 triple compact" and they were a few pages down on the list. They have this 08 model ( I would assume since it doesn't say last years model) with basically everything I'm looking for, as well as the compact geometry I want (almost identical to an OCR frame) and its only $949. Here's the link:

https://www.fezzari.com/products/inde...ple/7/19#Specs

yogi13

Where are you in SoCal? There are a bunch of shops that specialize in road bikes here. Maybe try in the SoCal forum and ask about good shops in your vicinity.

Darkrider23

Specialized Allez?
Trek 1.5?

I just bought a 2009 Trek 1.5 for 1,100. Don't regret the purchase at all. First mountain bike. Ordered a triple too .

Also, do you even know your correct frame size? I'm 5'8 and ride a 52. I'm guessing you're a 54/56?

Turbocruiser13

Like I said I'm currently riding a 60...which is WAY too big for me. My dad is 6'1 and he stepped down from the 60 to a 58. I've ridden the 58 quite a few times and while I liked it (who doesn't like a $6k bike lol) it was still a tad too big. I've ridden a few 56s and I really like how they feel. I rode a 54 in a parking lot and I felt a little cramped on it, but then again it was only in a parking lot and it was adjusted to someone else's body not mine. I think I would do well on a 56, especially with a compact frame.

As for where I'm located...I'm in san bernardino, CA. We have redlands cyclery not too far from us, and they're known for a few sponsored riders here and there but they don't really have what I'm looking for. Their inventory changes constantly, so maybe I just need to go back in there. Last time I was there, they had a bunch of overpriced bikes with tiagra crap on them, and then some incredibly high priced bikes with dura ace on them, but nothing really inbetween. I might jump back over there tomorrow and see what's going on. I just got my email from JensonUSA a few minutes ago that says they're having a parking lot sale on september 6th, but that's only going to leave me about 2 weeks to get dialed in on the bike. I'd really hate to push it that close considering I'd rather go in for my 100-200 mile tuneup with about a week to spare before my big ride. It would suck to buy a bike just before the ride and by the time I'm done with the ride the friggin cables have stretched and it went out of tune going up the backside of the castaic mtn range lol.

sunburst

I agree with giving yourself time to get used to the fit. I have a Giant OCR C1 and it took me a looong time to get used to that geometry. Now I love it, but I tried 6 saddles, lots of saddle tweaking, different pedals and cleat positioning, and a shorter stem before I got it dialed in. And these things are interactive: change the cleat position and you may have to raise/lower the saddle or change the fore/aft position.

Btw, I'm 5'10" (long legs, short torso) and I got a medium Giant. They basically just have small, medium, large and maybe XL. I swapped the stock 90mm stem with a 70mm before it left the shop - or maybe it was 110 down to 90, can't remember.

Turbocruiser13

Thanks for all the help/advice guys, I'm gonna take my dad over to the bike store tomorrow and catch some labor day sales stuff to see if they're giving anything away for cheap...reguardless I'll make a purchase before monday so I'll keep ya guys posted as to what I end up with

Turbocruiser13

Bumpin this up...bike's in route

This one came down to a really close decision between two bikes. While I prefered one bike a little more, I found it was fairly hard to get ahold of one because nobody in the states will ship them. I am referring to the 08 Giant OCR1 with all the 105 components and the triple front. Best price I found was $1099 plus either tax or shipping. I really liked that bike too lol. I made my decision though, it's a stock photo (and doesn't show the triple) but I'm goin with this...



07 Scott Speedster S30. All the components are identical to the Giant's stuff. The wheels kinda suck but atleast I can get on something that's not 4cm too big for me now. Wheels are easily upgradable My LBS had this one on close out for triple digits ($999).

Turbocruiser13

Bumping this thread again lol. Soooo my LBS THOUGHT they had one of the scott's but apparently it was too small for me. Inventory said they had a 56 and no 52s but in the back room they had a 52 but no 56s. Go figure lol. So I did some more shopping and today I ended up making a purchase on a Giant TCR2 in a 56 (I actually saw the bike in person and rode it lol) with carbon fork and carbon seat post, Xero Lite wheelset, 105 rear derailer, ultegra front derailer, and it had a truvativ elite crank on it. The problem is that it wasn't a compact crank, it looked like a 53/39 which is in the opposite direction I wanted to go! So my guy made a call and he ended up getting a brand new dura ace compact crank for me at no extra charge. Price was 1150 out the door. The crank will be in tomorrow, I'll have pics of the bike in my hands on friday