On Sun, 26 Sep 2004 01:03:45 GMT, "Oz" <
[email protected]> wrote:
>"Ken" <[email protected]> wrote in message
>news:[email protected]...
>> "Oz" <[email protected]> wrote in news:5Bh5d.3242$%06.810
>> @newsread3.news.atl.earthlink.net:
>> > I am curious, how hard is it to upgrade the components on a Giant OCR-3?
>> > The current system is Shimano Sora 8-speed and I want to know how hard
>it
>> > would be to upgrade to a Shimano 9-speed system.
>>
>> Upgrading is not hard, but it is not cheap and the performance gains are
>not
>> large. You can save a lot of money by just buying a better bike to begin
>> with.
>>
>
>Yeah . . . . . . If I could have afforded a $2,000 bike I would have bought
>one. Kinda hard to justify a purchase like that with 4 kids to
>raise/feed/clothe. Then again, for my first bike I did not want to drop
>that kind of money.
You're kinda missing the point. Now-a-days, it -is- better to buy the best
bike you can afford, all other things being equal, b/c "upgrading" isn't
really that beneficial/cost effective.
IMO, bikes are cheap for what you get - light weight, indexed shifting,
clipless pedals, carbon forks. Anything that you're going to use -a lot-
you should be willing to save up or budget around and get good equipment.
IMO, at around $1200 bucks there's a price break, go under $1000 and
there's some compromise, depending on the bike...ah, heck, make that under
$800 and there's compromise if you get a year-end sale. Some might say
build your own bike off ebay or shop for used bikes and know a diamond in
the rough and you can do much better than that.
However if your bike fits, and works fairly seamlessly with you, then
you've got all you need. One need not try make up for ill fit, or lack of
training with spending more money. You can get good to great performance at
the $1000-1200 range. It's just a matter of getting over the 'sticker
shock'. Remember you're paying >10K for your car, maybe even >20K, and it's
just a box to get you to distant destinations quickly. A bike is an
experience, a joy, even a way of life/life-saving device!
-B