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New bike - Giant Defy Alliance (pic included)

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Road Cycling “It is by riding a bicycle that you learn the contours of a country best, since you have to sweat up the hills and coast down them. Thus you remember them as they actually are, while in a motor car only a high hill impresses you, and you have no such accurate remembrance of country you have driven through as you gain by riding a bicycle.” -- Ernest Hemingway

New bike - Giant Defy Alliance (pic included)

Old 10-10-08, 05:52 PM
  #101  
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Originally Posted by Turbocruiser13
Flat tires cost money and take time out of riding and are a real bummer when you get them. Kinda like getting a flat tire in a car with slightly less expense.

And before you ask it because I know you probably will, I'm well aware that any hobby/sport/etc costs money and that's part of the game. Some people budget a little differently than others and a 5 dollar tube can mean I don't ride for a few days because I have to save my pennies for another 5 dollar tube. And yes, I know it only takes 5 minutes (if that, as it has already been mentioned) to change a tube so it can't take THAT much time out of my riding. If you're still questioning that statement, see the statement above. Some people can spend money like it's going out of style on their hobbies, while the other side of the coin obvserves people who spend 3 years trying to buy last year's bike. You can probably guess which side of the coin I'm on, considering my bike helmet still has the "November 1997" sticker on the inside of it.
I got a dozen 5 dollar tubes right here:
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Old 10-10-08, 06:17 PM
  #102  
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I came back from a grocery run and settled down for a read. This thread got off topic in a hurry when someone started trolling it on page 3. Until then, I'd been enjoying reading something of a rarity on the cycling forum; a thread about someone enjoying riding a bicycle. To the OP, enjoy your bike; it's a beauty. To Turbo, ignore the trolls--literally. I put at least two of the people you're arguing with on ignore about a month ago. They aren't worth the time or trouble, and they get kicks out of pissing with people instead of riding bikes. I don't carry a tube or pump or any of that stuff when I ride either; if something happens, I'll walk the bike home or call someone. Don't let other people try to put you down for not doing things the way they do; life is too short to waste on such small-mindeness.
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Old 10-10-08, 06:55 PM
  #103  
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Originally Posted by uke
To Turbo, ignore the trolls--literally. I put at least two of the people you're arguing with on ignore about a month ago.
I guess one of them was me then... I'm hurt

Originally Posted by uke
They aren't worth the time or trouble, and they get kicks out of pissing with people instead of riding bikes.
Incorrect. I rode 20,000 miles last year and nearly 13,000 miles so far this year.

Originally Posted by uke
I don't carry a tube or pump or any of that stuff when I ride either; if something happens, I'll walk the bike home or call someone. Don't let other people try to put you down for not doing things the way they do; life is too short to waste on such small-mindeness.
If you don't want to carry the equipment to be self-reliant that's one thing. But Turbo brought this on himself by criticising the vast majority of riders that do chose be self-reliant, by saying "Some people need all the baggage and stupid water bottle cages tho". However, the thing that really set me off was "I would rather spend my free time sitting in a car grumbling about my flat rather than sitting on the side of the road trying to fix it". To me, that statement defies logic.

Edit: I did say I liked the OP's bike I have a Giant also, and I like it.

Last edited by umd; 10-10-08 at 07:09 PM.
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Old 10-10-08, 07:02 PM
  #104  
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I skipped 5 pages- is RyanF buried in there somewhere? How else did this thread get so long- Nice bike!
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Old 10-11-08, 01:30 PM
  #105  
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Originally Posted by fitzpch
JohnKScott -
Great bike you have. I too am coming off a flat bar bike and am going back to a road bike for the first time in almost 20 yrs. I just purchased the Defy 1 and will pick it up tomorrow. I could afford the Alliance but they didn't have one for me to test ride and I liked the feel of the Defy 1 enough to pick it without waiting. Interesting that my LBS owner didn't try to over-sell by pushing the Alliance. He didn't think I'd notice that much difference and it looks like you did like both bikes. In fact, I am having them switch out the triple for a compact so the only difference between the two choices will be the frame.

Sounds like the main pluses for your Alliance choice were the compact (which I'm getting) and cornering ability. Anything else come to mine or would you have been almost as happy with the Defy 1?

Also, what type of lights do you have? I've never really considered riding that early on my old bike but now that I'm getting this road bike, I might want to give it a try to get in miles during the week in the Fall and Spring.

Thanks for the info on your purchase!!!
Fitz
Hey Fitz Congrats on the new bike! Yeah the Defy 1 was the first one I rode. I really did like it. I think with compact double on there I would have been quite pleased with the bike. I just happened to like the Alliance a tad better because of the handling. The Defy 1 is a sweet bike and had I been strapped for the cash I would have been perfectly happy riding it for a long time. I actually like the look of the Defy 1 better . I did a 40 mile moderately paced ride this morning and never got off the bike or really off the saddle much at all and felt totally comfortable. I loved it! I guess the fitting was pretty good.

I have a Blackburn red blinky light on the back that is fairly bright and a Cateye headlight ( https://www.cateye.com/en/product_detail/342 )on the front which is barely sufficient. I definitely wouldn't be doing any fast descents with it or travelling on any roads that I wasn't very familiar with. I hit about 30 mph on a couple of small rolling descents on my morning route and that's probably too fast. My wife is worried about my safety so I have permission to go find a brighter one . I may just do that.

Enjoy your new ride!
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Old 10-11-08, 01:35 PM
  #106  
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Originally Posted by CCFISH81
I skipped 5 pages- is RyanF buried in there somewhere? How else did this thread get so long- Nice bike!
LOL..thanks

Bad news...a lot of bickering in my thread.

Good news...it's the most responses I've ever gotten here

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Old 10-11-08, 06:31 PM
  #107  
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Sweet!!!!!!!!!!!!!

+1

Welcome to the world of Giant!!! Those colors do look nice. I owned a 2007 OCR A1 in red for about 6 months before I got "crazy" and built a new Giant from the ground up, my current TCR C1.

Enjoy !!!!

https://picasaweb.google.com/francisc...52057228086770


Last edited by fskywalker; 10-11-08 at 07:14 PM.
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Old 10-11-08, 08:58 PM
  #108  
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Hey fskywalker, what pedals are those? I've been having hotspots with my speedplays lately and was looking for a set of pedals with some more surface area on them. I tried the looks that everybody likes, but I still can't get used to those. I'm half tempted to get a set of plastic test ride pedals and incorporating my speedplays into them!

BTW, your Giant looks very nice as well! I will most likely do that same thing once I feel the need to put some more carbon on the bike...I'd like to be able to just buy a carbon fame and swap all my stuff over in the future then possibly put some kind of crazy custom paint job on the old frame and throw it up on ebay
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Old 10-11-08, 09:21 PM
  #109  
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Originally Posted by fskywalker
+1

Welcome to the world of Giant!!! Those colors do look nice. I owned a 2007 OCR A1 in red for about 6 months before I got "crazy" and built a new Giant from the ground up, my current TCR C1.

Enjoy !!!!

https://picasaweb.google.com/francisc...52057228086770

Schaweet!
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Old 10-12-08, 01:36 AM
  #110  
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I posted earlier with the 2008 OCR A1.



I have a question that maybe other giant owners could help me with. I bought a OCR 2 on craigs list. The seller said he bought it in 2006. I am having trouble telling if it a 2006 or 2005. The paint seems wrong for both years. It has Tiagra STI, Tiagra fd, 105 rd and Xero XSR-4 wheels.



Sorry I am not trying to steal the post just branch off a bit.
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Old 10-12-08, 07:07 AM
  #111  
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Hi Turbocruiser 13, the pedals are "borrowed" from my mountain bike (Giant LTS-3), they are Shimano SPD type. At the time of the picture I was using them since had sold my shoes (Shimanos SPD-L type) and was waiting for the new ones (Sidi Mega), so could not ride with my Ultegra SL ice grey pedals, so did the switch. I guess I need to take a new picture of the bike, I have also changed the ugly ss water cages for RavX carbon cages !!.

Regards,

Francisco
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Old 10-12-08, 01:36 PM
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Hey Ibear, I'm 99% positive that's an 04, not an 05 or 06

https://www.bikepedia.com/QuickBike/B...%202&Type=bike
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Old 10-20-08, 01:29 PM
  #113  
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Originally Posted by Turbocruiser13
Hey Ibear, I'm 99% positive that's an 04, not an 05 or 06

https://www.bikepedia.com/QuickBike/B...%202&Type=bike
Its close but my bike is sorta bare metal (silver) looking frame with the word GIANT in black outline. Not gray frame with silver GIANT in outline.

I had looked at the Giant Archives and came up with :

https://archive.giant-bicycles.com/us...06&model=11331

and

https://archive.giant-bicycles.com/us...05&model=11026

Mine seems closer to the 2006 OCR 1 except for the yellow trim color.

Thanks for the help.

https://archive.giant-bicycles.com/uk...06&model=10284
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Old 10-21-08, 12:21 PM
  #114  
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Meanwhile, I've gotten about 200 miles on my new bike and I still love it.

For reference. Old bike = $400 Ibex Corrida flat bar road bike bought on line.

What I've noted...

1. I dropped the chain twice on my last ride and the shifting is starting to get a little sloppy. Time to take it in and have everything tweaked. Guess I broke it in pretty good already.

2. I have not documented being measurably faster from my old bike. However, I really haven't been killing myself either. I've been focused on more "easy" riding for the last few weeks. However, I have noticed that it is easier to maintain a 19-20 mph pace on flat stretches that it was on the old bike. Less effort required. I also feel the "potential" to be faster on the bike. We'll see what happens when I actually start pushing harder again and testing. Love the drops.

3. Climbing seems easier on this bike. Even though I had a triple on the ol' flat bar, I haven't been in want for another gear on my new steed. In fact, part of me wishes that I had an 11-26 on the back instead of a 12-27. The bike is abou 6 lbs. lighter than my old bike. I'm sure that helps, but I don't think it's the whole reason. I suspect that better fit and position has a lot to do with it as well. But yeah, climbing has become more fun.

4. This bike is SO much more stable on descents than my old bike. At 40+ mph my old bike would feel a little "floaty". My Giant tracks down these descents so well. I feel very confident on the descents. I'm looking forward to getting up over 50 mph to see how it feels (though that is getting hard to do wearing my too large sail...erm... I mean jacket now that it's gotten cooler). I think this thing will just fly down at 50+ mph.

5. Dang this is a smooth ride. And taking corners is a pleasure. I feel like I can spend all day on the bike. Looking forward to testing this feeling out some day. Don't know when my next "day pass" will be .

6. It's getting kind of dicey for morning rides now. Still hoping to get some in. But DANG, the one drawback of my new bike is it has made me even less enthusiastic about hopping on my old bike on the trainer. I'm gonna probably have to start this week, but YUCK!

That is all.

P.S.

I really like my new bike (in case you didn't get that).

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