Noob Help

Since 2001, over 90,000 cyclist's have joined Cycling Forums to discuss topics from general cycling to equipment, training, racing and travel or vacation destinations (especially in europe during the tour de france). We also feature an great deals in our online store, 100's of articles, classifieds and product reviews.

Help please. I am just starting to get back into road cycling and and considering purchasing the below:
http://www.tiny.cc/Xhdgz

Any advice anyone can give on this bike would be greatfully accepted.


thanx
Al

You'd be better off with a new 08 Giant OCR3 at that price which would include a year's free service.

Better still, you'll have a choice of sizes to choose from at your LBS.

The stem and bar setup on that TCR makes me wince.

Those wheels look very high-drag with their silly fat spokes. Steel is real when it comes to spokes.
The bike and especially the components look pretty old. I agree that the stem looks ghastly.
I would suggest that that bike is worth 200-300$.

The stem looks adjustable so it may not be so bad. However, you should check before committing. The spokes seem to be the bladed type, not the plain circular-section steel so I'd suggest the wheels might actually be quite light and low drag, and better than expected.

You should confirm with the owner how old it is, and how many cogs on the back. Any less than 9 and I'd go for a newer bike.

The most important thing is how well the bike fits you, not what gear it has on it. If it doesn't fit you properly, injury WILL result which, in addition to causing pain, discomfort, and time off the bike, will cost you more to fix and recover from than paying the extra for a new bike of the same spec that fitted you properly in the first place.

For this reason I recommend that newbies go to a competent bike store and get fitted properly, even if it means paying full retail. It's much, much cheaper than getting the fit wrong.

The stem looks adjustable so it may not be so bad. On a second look, I noticed it has a threaded headset. Forget everything I said that might have been encouraging about this bike. It is too old. Go for something newer.

I'd suggest the wheels might actually be quite light and low drag, and better than expected.

J.r., if you look at the meagre literature regarding wheel drag, you will find spoke thickness is important as a cause of drag. Very expensive wheels such as the lightweight obermayer, a deep profile carbon wheel, are almost beaten on drag by cheap wheels such as the r550 because the obermayer has very thick composite spokes, making the latter wheel a bit of a joke. Despite the blade profile, the wheels on this bike appear to have spokes even thicker than those of the obermayer.
I would estimate those wheels to be worse than most in terms of drag; weight is a secondary issue.

J.r., if you look at the meagre literature regarding wheel drag, you will find spoke thickness is important as a cause of drag... ...I would estimate those wheels to be worse than most in terms of drag; weight is a secondary issue.Yep, sure. :) You could well be right about these particular wheels... although without a frontal view we won't really know for sure.

It's all moot anyway - having a threaded headset, the bike undoubtedly has either a cheapo frame/fork and is not worth the asking price, or is more than just a few years old, and therefore a risky purchase. (I'm betting the latter.) Component wear and fatigue, and replacement parts availability could each be a source of problem$ that a beginner would be better off not having to deal with.

So I think we're in furious agreement! :) He would be better off looking elsewhere.