This is a little OT, but why would you buy a giant TCR at 599GBP (about $1100USD), when you could get a custom for about the same price, and even less in some cases?

The Giant fixed bike is the Bowery, and will retail for $500(US) with brakes.
The Omnium is the track frame and is offered as just a frame and fork(alluminum/carbon) for, I think, around $500(US). It has a fork drilled for a brake. Geometry is close to the TCR but with shorter stays(That is the big difference, wheel base is about a half inch shorter)

I plan to order the Omnium just to see what it is like.

Wow. The Bowery is seriously gross.

It almost looks like the down tube and everything forward on the bike is normal size, and then they scaled the whole of the back end down and welded it on.

A design so awful it was banned by the UCI for two years becuase of its unfair advantage over a conventional frame.

Is there really much evidence to suggest that they banned them for performance reasons? What I mean is, it could just as easily be because of their dislike of non-traditional stuff.

Not saying it was one way or another, just that we don't know for sure. Performance data, maybe?

true, gtboy. looking at the geometry again, it's more unconventional than bad. but without performance data, we can't say it's better or not.

not to mention most of us ride on the street, and that's what's important to us.

At first glance I thought the title of the thread as Giant Brewery. I no longer have intrest in said thread.

im glad i dont work for a trek dealer anymore, anything that isnt their top of the line falls apart in shop while you are working on it. i cant imagine this being any different.

XVX

That sounds like a problem with the guy working on or putting the bike together.


The UCI ban on the TCR frame was initiated by competing bike makers, that filed complaints. The advantage was that the bike could be made lighter and stiffer without resorting to spending lots of money.

A couple of years later, everyone realised that they could do the same thing and petioned the UCI to unban the compact frames and now just about everybody makes one.
Personally, I wish they would still offer traditional frames for the people looking for them. The Bowerey would have more appeal with a traditional frame. Most of the potential buyers want a look not performance.

true, most of us do want performance to a point, but we want a look, too. why? we're not racing with them or anything...

Sloping frames = Increased nut clearance = fewer sizes = reduced costs

I don't like the aesthetics much, but I'm starting to come around. If $4000 pro carbon frames have sloping TTs, they've gotta be good for somethig, no?

That Giant Bowster is repellent, but you know it'll be cheapish. Let's all be glad the major mfrs don't start cranking out lugged 853 frames with good parts. what the hell would we do with our time?

I think a lot of the FGers here have been in keirin/euro/lugged steel la-la land. Compact bikes are here to stay, most of the big manufacturers have used slopping top tubes for a few years now despite what the sticklers for traditional geo have said about it. The reality is they are cheaper to produce, have tested to be stiffer, and appeal to the wiz-bang new comers looking for a techno wonder bike like they ride in the TdF.

I think it's a matter of just adjusting what you are used to. Hell, even the Walkster builds some frames with slopping top tubes, maybe he can give us some insight.

it wasnt me, the shop manager and the owner of shop had the same problems. ie: wobbly stem, wheels that didnt stay true or came bent, and the derailors aways came bent to **** and the limit screws hardly did anything when you were adjusting them. trust me, if it was me that was ****ing up the bikes i would admit it. trek just doesnt care about bikes if your not winning them a race.

XVX

I was yanking your chain, I get customers all the time that compalin about some flaw in the bike, that only occured after they started messing with it(Or failed to even lube the chain for six months of rain riding) A guy this weekend was all pissed about this annoying squeal on his "new" bike. There were rust lines running down the chainrings and derailleurs. He had had it since spring and had not lubed it once.
How long has it been? The bikeshop bikes, even the really cheap ones, are all pretty good now. Probably the worst thing is the brakes are not as easy to adjust, the concave washers usually are tweaked from being asssembled so tight, there is some post flaring and the adjuster screws appear to be ramped on their ends(You get it almost dead even, turn the screw just a touch and suddenly the thing is WAY off again.
The other problem is packing, they often get scratched up.

I have talked to the reps about traditional frames to no avail. Specialized had some nice Columbus Foco road frames that would have flown out the door except they were compact. They even had oldschool paint jobs. They also rode great, but the guy that wants steel, wants tradition.
I will have to wait until I have a Bowery in hand before I lay judgement on it. Giant is pretty good on value for the dollar. And that often makes the difference. We have the KHS and it looks like a track bike, but we also have the Langster and it is cheaper, with brakes, so we sell more of them.

One of the guys I work with at the bike shop is ordering one tommorow. He has a TCR so he was excited to have bikes with similiar geometry. Plus he can buy it switch all the good parts off his current track bike put the Bowerys new parts on his old frame, sell it and come out even.

good god that bike looks like it's half the size he should ride...or is it just me?

it's a compact frame, no doubt...just look at the seat, and it looks better.

This is a bit of thread necromancy, but I saw one in person yesterday at my fave bike shop. The tubes are fairly thick, and there's no mistaking that it's a 'modern' bike - no 'japanese steel' old-school appeal.

I'm not sure why folks are so down on it. It looks pretty sweet on the frame size I'm interested in - an XL. It's also not a track bike - it has thick rims and tires, and the stance felt a bit less aggressive. It felt a bit closer to some of the cyclocross bikes I've looked at. The LBS also let me know, in no uncertain terms, that the 'Giant' logos are stickers that can be easily peeled off.

I'm too old/bulky/fat to be a hipster, so that doesn't matter. I don't want the stance of a track bike. If I want a flip/flop hub bike to tool around on locally, and I don't want to spend more than $500, what's wrong with it?

08/21/05

http://www.bikeforums.net/showpost.p...38&postcount=2

The bowery looks OK, pretty basic alu fixie.

i find clearcoated polished alu very 90's though. zaskar.

On a side note, don't you think "Langster" is the most wack bike model name ever? at leat zaskar meant something.

Reminds me of those mall t-shirts with skateboarders printed on them, and "aggro" in tribal text.

i'd take a bowery over a langster

It has a lot of what I want:

1) Cheap, ideally $500 or so
2) Brand new, I'm not into wrenching
3) SS/Fixie flip-flop capable
4) Front and rear brake capable

The only other bikes that I know that compare are the Bianchi San Jose (hate the paint job) and the IRO Rob Roy (nice, but those seatstays give me the heebie jeebies), but both are in the $600 range. The Langster has a better paint job, but it's way too expensive.

For under $600 I would get a conversion. You are able to find a better quality frame and fork than you will find on most entry level frames. Components can be upgraded as you figure out what works better for you.

In addition. I just saw one this weekend. It's heavy and the welds are ugly.

I am now working for a Giant dealer and we sell the hell out of these bikes. They are fugly. Like, really fugly. The other fixed bikes we sell are the langster, pista, and concept, and the Bowery is just eycatchingly ugly compared to all of them.
It's not shown in the giant site, but it comes stock with a flimsy plastic chain-guard like on kiddie bikes. I'm sure it's for liability reasons, but it increases the ugly factor about 10x.

It also just looks shoddy. The quality of the cranks is ultra crappy, even worse than specialized's house brand, and much worse than the truvativs on the pista. You get the same feel from the fork too.

I built my bike from the frame up and managed to use nice-ish (80s dura ace) components for about the same price, and I know the bike is relatively solid.
If I was going to buy a showroom bike, or was dead set on a compact aluminum frame, I would probably pay the exra 150 for the langster, or just go with an Ebay bike... in fact I would definitely go with an Ebay mercier or windsor over the Bowery because the component spec in the major components (wheels, cranks) is better, and they cost 150 bucks less.

I'm actually kind of surprised. Giant is known for being an outstanding value for the price point, getting lots of nice parts packed onto a decent frame for very little moolah. This bike just doesn't seem worth the 500.



my 2cents.