~AUS$1400-$1600 to spend on a road bike. Which ones to test? Top 5?

Hi all

if you have between AUS $1400-$1600 to spend on a brand new (a known brand
name) road bike, which ones would you choose? Let us just list top 5 or so?

Please consider overall quality, brand support, warranty into your answers
and only complete bikes will do, not a collection of best parts to make such
a bike.... This is for a relative novice rider.

would Giant OCR-1, OCR-2 and Trek 1200 make the list? any others?

thanks in advance!

My 2003 OCR-1 cost $1599 last July.. might be cheaper now... 105 groupset,
nice bike for my first roady.. watch the tyres tho, they are only cheap,
I've replaced the back one already with a Conty...

cheers,
gpl


"Yuri Budilov" wrote in message
...
Hi all

if you have between AUS $1400-$1600 to spend on a brand new (a known brand
name) road bike, which ones would you choose? Let us just list top 5 or
so?

Please consider overall quality, brand support, warranty into your answers
and only complete bikes will do, not a collection of best parts to make
such
a bike.... This is for a relative novice rider.

would Giant OCR-1, OCR-2 and Trek 1200 make the list? any others?

thanks in advance!

GPLama wrote:

only 750km I got from it... it was one small lockup that did it.. put a
nice bump in it... it was my quick $45 lesson in how not to jam on the
stops

the Conty has a 100% better build to it than the default Michelin defaults
on it..

I only got about that from the rear on my 2003 OCR1 as well! I am *sure*
I didn't lock the rear at any time, but within 1000km it had developed a
real ugly bulge. Replaced both with Vittoria Rubino and they are much,
much better.

To the original poster: I can highly recommend the OCR1. It's not a
perfect bike, but they're really good value for money for a first decent
road bike.

I would look at the following, only if you don't want a Trek or a Giant

Lemond Tremolou Gitane 1600 Avanti Vivac

For that money you should try and get a 9speed bike with carbon forks

powin


-

thanks all!

assuming I want to buy a Giant OCR-1 or OCR-2 can anyone recommend a good
shop with a range of Giant bikes to test, within ~20 minutes driving of
Melbourne CBD or perhaps in a Bayside area of Melbourne (i.e. Brighton,
Elwood, Hampton, Middle Park, Black Rock, etc)????

I need someone who knows how to fit a bike well, with good support/service,
open on weekends (sorry!) and last but not least offer good deals on Giant
bikes

thanks again!

"GPLama" wrote in message
...
My 2003 OCR-1 cost $1599 last July.. might be cheaper now... 105
groupset,
nice bike for my first roady.. watch the tyres tho, they are only cheap,
I've replaced the back one already with a Conty...

cheers,
gpl


"Yuri Budilov" wrote in message
...
Hi all

if you have between AUS $1400-$1600 to spend on a brand new (a known
brand
name) road bike, which ones would you choose? Let us just list top 5 or
so?

Please consider overall quality, brand support, warranty into your
answers
and only complete bikes will do, not a collection of best parts to make
such
a bike.... This is for a relative novice rider.

would Giant OCR-1, OCR-2 and Trek 1200 make the list? any others?

thanks in advance!

Lorencia (spelling?) Cycles on Glenferrie rd (spelling again?)... Had an
OCR-1 2003 in stock the other week.. $1599 on the tag, but I'm sure they
can do better now that bike is 6 months past being last years model

Just watch one of the young guys in the service dept, I took the gf's bike
in with her the other week, and she said "yeah, do the whole lot service for
$80".. then while reading what the extra $35 was for above the normal
service I stated that I could take care of that and she'll only want the $45
service..

The guy then looked me up and down, asked if I could true wheels and the
like... which the bike didnt even need... we were then told the bike would
be ready on Tuesday (this was the Saturday of the long weekend)... when all
it needed was some gear adjusting..

Anyways, nice shop, just a bad experience.. I pity that sucker if he ever
crosses my path for something to do with networking.. I'll look him up and
down and ask if he can configure OSPF.. arh no I wont.. that'll make me as
bad as he was..

cheers,
GPL



"yuri budilov" wrote in message
...
thanks all!

assuming I want to buy a Giant OCR-1 or OCR-2 can anyone recommend a good
shop with a range of Giant bikes to test, within ~20 minutes driving of
Melbourne CBD or perhaps in a Bayside area of Melbourne (i.e. Brighton,
Elwood, Hampton, Middle Park, Black Rock, etc)????

I need someone who knows how to fit a bike well, with good
support/service,
open on weekends (sorry!) and last but not least offer good deals on Giant
bikes

thanks again!

"GPLama" wrote in message
...
My 2003 OCR-1 cost $1599 last July.. might be cheaper now... 105
groupset,
nice bike for my first roady.. watch the tyres tho, they are only
cheap,
I've replaced the back one already with a Conty...

cheers,
gpl


"Yuri Budilov" wrote in message
...
Hi all

if you have between AUS $1400-$1600 to spend on a brand new (a known
brand
name) road bike, which ones would you choose? Let us just list top 5
or
so?

Please consider overall quality, brand support, warranty into your
answers
and only complete bikes will do, not a collection of best parts to
make
such
a bike.... This is for a relative novice rider.

would Giant OCR-1, OCR-2 and Trek 1200 make the list? any others?

thanks in advance!

On Fri, 13 Feb 2004 14:16:24 +1100, "yuri budilov"
wrote:

assuming I want to buy a Giant OCR-1 or OCR-2 can anyone recommend a good
shop with a range of Giant bikes to test, within ~20 minutes driving of
Melbourne CBD or perhaps in a Bayside area of Melbourne (i.e. Brighton,
Elwood, Hampton, Middle Park, Black Rock, etc)????

I need someone who knows how to fit a bike well, with good support/service,
open on weekends (sorry!) and last but not least offer good deals on Giant
bikes

Hi Yuri,

I missed the original post. I can't help you with a Giant, but you
should also check out Cytek. There was a review of a $2000 one in the
Jan - Feb 2004 Bicycling Australia. Robert Tighello rode one (their
top model?) to 6th place in this year's Australian Road Race
championship. One of my regular ride partners got a Shimano 105
equipped one for Christmas which I guess would be in your price range.
He's very happy with it. Mind you, he's 70ish, has been riding since
his teens and still does 150 - 200 km rides, so he's not a novice and
what suits him may not suit you.

They have them at ACR, which is at the corner of Warrigal Road and
Toorak Rd/Burwood Hwy. About 20 minutes if you use City Link :-)

Disclaimer: I don't work for Cytek and I've never ridden one of their
bikes. I'm a customer at ACR.

BTW, did you work for CSA about 20 - 25 years ago? Your name is
familiar.


--
Regards.
Richard.