roccobike

Great looking bike JohnKScott. I just picked up a leftover OCR-C. Maybe I should have waited.

Glidedon

Don't worry about botto, he's a commie, you can tell by his avatar and his attitude.

lbear

It is a great looking bike john! I do like the 2009 colors.
But for 2009 the prices have gone up $300+ . You no doubt got a better deal on the left over OCR.

botto 

you old coot!

JohnKScott

Heh...



Yeah there was a hole in the story. I was so happy to take my new ride on a shake down cruise that I left my old bike there and took the van back later to pick it up.

JohnKScott

Noice!!

JohnKScott

Maybe I'll strip it down for a pron shot

I just don't usually leave the house without at least my saddle bag with some spare tube, patch kit etc. And the bento box comes in handy when I get hungry .

JohnKScott

The fitting was good. In fact, I had gone in under the thought that I would probably need a M/L and when he got me on the trainer and started measuring turns out the M was the ticket. He swapped the stock stem out for something a little more angled (up for now ) and got me squared away quite well on the bike. I can already tell I'm going to have to get a little more used to being "stretched out" when I'm on the hoods. Really, the drops are quite comfortable, although I'll have to do a little getting used to that position as well. Shouldn't take long.

Loved the shop. The guy I was working with actually was steering me toward the less expenseive Defy 1 (which I did like a lot and if I had them swap out the triple for a compact double would have worked just fine). However, when I rode the Alliance 1 the difference in the cornering made my mind up for me. I just loved it and decided to go that route without any sales pressure.

The guys at the shop invited me to come along on their after work ride. Unfortuately, I had to be somewhere else with the family. And considering I spent all morning and part of the afternoon at the bike shop it was probably prudent I didn't push it .

Looking forward to putting my lights on and taking it out for a spin at 5 AM tomorrow

ravenmore

Giant is REALLY stepping their game up this year.

lbear

I really think the Alliance frame is a much over looked deal. I have ridden all carbon frames and all aluminum. The Alliance IMHO has the feel of all carbon. Stiff where it needs to be and still able to absorb vibration. It also is one of a handful of bikes in <$2000 that comes with a compact double.

CrimsonKarter21

In more ways than one. Including their opening of "concept stores" like Specialized where you can get any bike you want as long as it's a Giant.

MONGO!

It takes 5 mins to fix a flat, if that.

JohnKScott

I know that's a well established business model, but I'm glad this shop wasn't like that. I enjoyed riding a Trek, Scott as well as the two Giants that I rode. One of the main reasons I spent so much time in that shop and probably a large contributor to why I bought there.

Just my perspective.

Turbocruiser13

Thanks for the heads up, captain obvious

To the OP...yeah I was wondering how you got the other bike home lol. Atleast you remembered to go pick it up! If I would have left my beater bike down there they probably would have had to call me a couple days later and say uh...are you gonna pick this thing up or what?

ridethecliche

Nice bike, you still shoulda test ridden a CAAD9. Do it sometime anyway. It'll give you something to compare to, and if anything mentally seal the deal for you.

(Ride your bike like you stole it, it's sweet!)

JohnKScott

LOL...same here.

Old bike is now officially mounted on the trainer for when it's too nasty to go out in the morning. Probably the only time I'll take it down is if the weather is nasty and I STILL want to ride outside.

JohnKScott

Thanks.

I may still do that. Although I'm a little afraid to. What if I like it better

But still, I may for the heck of it.

wrxrider

Congratulations.

I was on a long charity ride this past weekend any my bike, a Giant OCR C2 broke about 25 miles in (the ride was 220 in total). Giant was a sponsor for the ride and had a tech w/ demo bikes along. He didn't have the part to fix my bike, but he did have a brand new Defy Advanced for me to ride for the next 2 1/2 days. Super bike. Great cornering and climbing as well as comfy. I think it's a bit stiffer than my OCR C2 (which feels a little cushier). In any event, I enjoyed it a lot and suspect the whole series is nice.

ridethecliche

Better is subjective. It's a better race bike, corners better, and is probably more stiff than your bike. But I assure you that your bike is probably more comfortable and slightly more relaxed in terms of geometry, which is something that you probably want since this is your first foray into a 'real' road bike.

Either way, your defy is not going to hold you back, just like my 9 isn't the limiting factor when I race.

Glidedon

oh sorry and don't call me old

mangpress

im two weeks into the 09 TCR alliance 1, ultegra, and boy is it ishthot. i love it.

i call BS to NOT being able to ride two bikes home. =]

JF1

So what part of the bike is carbon and what is aluminum? Is the main triangle carbon?

lbear

The fork, Top Tube, half of the seat tube, seat post and seat stays are carbon. The bottom half: down tube,bb, bottom half of the seat tube, and chain stays are aluminum.

lbear

The Alliance frame:

jburks725

I'm about 6 weeks and 400 miles into my 2008 OCR A1. Great bike; got it on season-end sale. Haven't looked all that closely at the Defy specs, but I believe that Giant has gone away from the all-Shimano setup (at least the build-up at my LBS had). I also think the wheels on the 2008 are better than the wheels on the 2009. But the Alliance frame is quite nice for a <$2000 bike, and I've definitely loved riding it.

-Jason