frame comparison for Fuji/Trek/Giant/Javelin road bikes

[Catcherintherye]

Hi bikes,

I have been looking at several road bikes in the $600 to
$800 category and have narrowed down my choices to these
bikes. Will appreciate if you would let me know which of
them provides the best support and quality for riding upto
100 miles. I did ride couple of bikes in the store but its
hard to compare them after riding only for 10-15 minutes
which is what most LBS allow

Fuji Newest http://www.fujibikes.com/road/bike.asp?category-
_short_name=road&myArray=87,88,89,90,91,92,93,102,94,95,96,-
103,97,104,106,99,98,100,105,101,107,108,109,112,110,111,11-
3,114&myArrayID=9&yr=2004

Trek 1200 http://www.trekbikes.com/bikes/2004/road/1200.jsp

Giant OCR2 http://www.giantbicycles.com/us/030.000.000/030.-
000.000.asp?dealerid=&dealercountry=&lYear=2004&bikesection-
=8834&range=143&model=10770

Javelin Garda http://www.javbike.com/beta2/product_pdfs.php
(pdf file) http://www.javbike.com/beta2/pdfs/garda.pdf

-RA

 

[Alex Rodriguez]

In article
<[email protected]>,
[email protected] says...
>
>
>Hi bikes,
>
>I have been looking at several road bikes in the $600 to
>$800 category and have narrowed down my choices to these
>bikes. Will appreciate if you would let me know which of
>them provides the best support and quality for riding upto
>100 miles. I did ride couple of bikes in the store but its
>hard to compare them after riding only for 10-15 minutes
>which is what most LBS allow
>
>Fuji Newest http://www.fujibikes.com/road/bike.asp?categor-
>y_short_name=road&myArray=87,88,
89,90,91,92,93,102,94,95,96,103,97,104,106,99,98,100,105,10-
1,107,108,109,112,11 ,111,113,114&myArrayID=9&yr=2004
>
>Trek 1200 http://www.trekbikes.com/bikes/2004/road/1200.jsp
>
>Giant OCR2 http://www.giantbicycles.com/us/030.000.000/030-
>.000.000.asp?dealerid=&dealerco
untry=&lYear=2004&bikesection=8834&range=143&model=10770
>
>Javelin Garda http://www.javbike.com/beta2/product_pdfs.php
>(pdf file) http://www.javbike.com/beta2/pdfs/garda.pdf

They are very similar, component wise. So you have to go by
something else. I would see which bike fits me best and go
with that. The other thing to consider is which bike shop
carries the bike you like and how well will they service
your bike.
----------------
Alex

 

[Alex Rodriguez]

In article
<[email protected]>,
[email protected] says...
>
>
>Hi bikes,
>
>I have been looking at several road bikes in the $600 to
>$800 category and have narrowed down my choices to these
>bikes. Will appreciate if you would let me know which of
>them provides the best support and quality for riding upto
>100 miles. I did ride couple of bikes in the store but its
>hard to compare them after riding only for 10-15 minutes
>which is what most LBS allow
>
>Fuji Newest http://www.fujibikes.com/road/bike.asp?categor-
>y_short_name=road&myArray=87,88,
89,90,91,92,93,102,94,95,96,103,97,104,106,99,98,100,105,10-
1,107,108,109,112,11 ,111,113,114&myArrayID=9&yr=2004
>
>Trek 1200 http://www.trekbikes.com/bikes/2004/road/1200.jsp
>
>Giant OCR2 http://www.giantbicycles.com/us/030.000.000/030-
>.000.000.asp?dealerid=&dealerco
untry=&lYear=2004&bikesection=8834&range=143&model=10770
>
>Javelin Garda http://www.javbike.com/beta2/product_pdfs.php
>(pdf file) http://www.javbike.com/beta2/pdfs/garda.pdf

They are very similar, component wise. So you have to go by
something else. I would see which bike fits me best and go
with that. The other thing to consider is which bike shop
carries the bike you like and how well will they service
your bike.
----------------
Alex

 

[Hardwarelust]

CatcherInTheRye wrote:
> Hi bikes,
>
> I have been looking at several road bikes in the $600 to
> $800 category and have narrowed down my choices to these
> bikes. Will appreciate if you would let me know which of
> them provides the best support and quality for riding upto
> 100 miles. I did ride couple of bikes in the store but its
> hard to compare them after riding only for 10-15 minutes
> which is what most LBS allow

Those 4 bikes are so similar, it'd be tough to pick one of
the four. They're all just about equal in ride quality I
would think. Aluminum frame, carbon fork, Tiagra components.
Personally, I would not buy an aluminum frame for centuries,
carbon fork or not, but I highly doubt you'll find a decent
new bike at that price range in steel, carbon, or titanium.

You could pick the one from the LBS that you like the most
(and treats you the best). If you're going to use the
mechanics at the store (and you probably will at some
point), then the store is almost as important as the bike.

Or, you could just go with your gut feeling and buy the one
that you like the best, logic be damned. I'm sure there's
one of the four you like better than the others for some
reason, like the color or the price or something. Sometimes
that's the best way. It's hard to ride a bike you don't
like, so keep that in mind. Just make sure the bike shop
guys fit it to you as well as they can.

That all being said, if it were my choice, I would pick the
Giant OCR2 over the others, but that's just me. The Fuji
would be 2nd, and the Trek 3rd. I've never even heard of
Javelin, so I won't comment.

Regards,
H.

 

[Donald Gillies]

[email protected] (CatcherInTheRye) writes:

>Hi bikes,

>I have been looking at several road bikes in the $600 to
>$800 category and have narrowed down my choices to these
>bikes. Will appreciate if you would let me know which of
>them provides the best support and quality for riding upto
>100 miles. I did ride couple of bikes in the store but its
>hard to compare them after riding only for 10-15 minutes
>which is what most LBS allow

One thing to remember is that TREK framesets have a
lifetime warranty. This is important with hi-tech Aluminum
or Carbon framesets. It's the only thing that kept
Cannondale in business in the late 1980's, and it saved my
butt last month.

- Don Gillies San Diego, CA

 

[Anonymous]

"Donald Gillies" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> [email protected] (CatcherInTheRye) writes:
>
> ><SNIP>
> One thing to remember is that TREK framesets have a
> lifetime warranty. This is important with hi-tech Aluminum
> or Carbon framesets. It's the only thing that kept
> Cannondale in business in the late 1980's, and it saved my
> butt last month.
>
Can you explain more about how/what was the only thing that
kept Cannondale in business during the late 80's? It sounds
interesting, but I don't understand your point.

 

[Matt O'Toole]

Donald Gillies wrote:

> [email protected] (CatcherInTheRye) writes:
>
>> Hi bikes,
>
>> I have been looking at several road bikes in the $600 to
>> $800 category and have narrowed down my choices to these
>> bikes. Will appreciate if you would let me know which of
>> them provides the best support and quality for riding
>> upto 100 miles. I did ride couple of bikes in the store
>> but its hard to compare them after riding only for 10-15
>> minutes which is what most LBS allow

Indeed. Once you start riding that much, your fit will
probably change -- perhaps a lot. So it's important to have
a dealer who can help you tweak things here and there --
unless you know about this stuff already, in which case you
wouldn't be asking this question here.

> One thing to remember is that TREK framesets have a
> lifetime warranty. This is important with hi-tech Aluminum
> or Carbon framesets. It's the only thing that kept
> Cannondale in business in the late 1980's, and it saved my
> butt last month.

Besides the lifetime warranty on the frame, Trek has the
best warranty service in general. They'll make good on
anything, immediately, while with other companies it can be
like pulling teeth.

Other than that, I'd go by fit, and how good the dealer is.
You should probably get as good a fit from any of those
bikes, especially if the dealer is good. So it really comes
back to the dealer.

Matt O.