Giant OCR 2 or 3?

"Brian" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Quick question for all you knowledgeable people out there. Is it worth the
extra £60 or so to step up from a Giant OCR 3 to an OCR 2? As far as I can
tell, the only differences are having a 9-sprocket cassette instead of an
8-sprocket one and having Shimano Tiagra brake/gear levers instead of
Shimano Sora Sora shifters.

Dam, I should be on commission. You weren't even looking at that one when
you posted the other day!

I can only speak from my experience of the OCR3, and the bike shifts fine,
and goes pretty well. I thought it was light until I lifted someone's £2000
road bike.

Is the extra worth it? I'd probably say that if you can afford the extra £60
then yes. I'm not sure of the difference, but any extra spent on better
equipment will probably be worth it. Not sure what size frame you are
looking for, but a quick google for ocr2 showed one UK company offloading a
51" frame for £390 (although awaiting stock).

Brian said:

Quick question for all you knowledgeable people out there. Is it worth
the extra £60 or so to step up from a Giant OCR 3 to an OCR 2? As far as
I can tell, the only differences are having a 9-sprocket cassette
instead of an 8-sprocket one and having Shimano Tiagra brake/gear levers
instead of Shimano Sora Sora shifters.

Sora is different to the rest of the Shimano shifter range in that it
has a button on the side of the hood for downshifts which can't be
accessfrom the drops. Get into a bike shop and have a look for
comparison

best wishes
james

Quoted message said:

Sora is different to the rest of the Shimano shifter range in that it
has a button on the side of the hood for downshifts which can't be
accessfrom the drops.

Ah thank you - I guess that really does make a big difference! I just
assumed it was like most other shifters, with two separate levers for
up/down shifting.

Quoted message said:

Dam, I should be on commission. You weren't even looking at that one when
you posted the other day!

Yup, and although I've not decided for certain, it's current front
runner (having replaced the Bianchi Via Nirone).

Quoted message said:

Not sure what size frame you are
looking for, but a quick google for ocr2 showed one UK company offloading a
51" frame for £390 (although awaiting stock).

51"?! I'm guessing 51cm... which coincidentally happens to be my size
(o:. Where was that? The best I've found is £425 for an OCR2 or £365 for
an OCR3.

Thanks!

"Brian" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Dam, I should be on commission. You weren't even looking at that one when
you posted the other day!

Yup, and although I've not decided for certain, it's current front runner
(having replaced the Bianchi Via Nirone).

Quoted message said:

Not sure what size frame you are looking for, but a quick google for ocr2
showed one UK company offloading a 51" frame for £390 (although awaiting
stock).

51"?! I'm guessing 51cm... which coincidentally happens to be my size (o:.
Where was that? The best I've found is £425 for an OCR2 or £365 for an
OCR3.

Woops, yes 51cm!! I'm just used to talking about other things between ...
actually, won't go there.

Anyway, http://www.cyclesportsuk.co.uk/product_info.php?products_id=598

Never used them. Not a recommendation, just a pointer.

Nick

Brian said:

Quoted message said:

Sora is different to the rest of the Shimano shifter range in that it
has a button on the side of the hood for downshifts which can't be
accessfrom the drops.

Ah thank you - I guess that really does make a big difference! I just
assumed it was like most other shifters, with two separate levers for
up/down shifting.

Depends what you're used to though. Still a vast improvement over downtube
shifters! 99% of my riding seems to be done on the hoods anyway so it's not
a big problem.

Tim

"Tim Downie" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Brian said:

Quoted message said:

Sora is different to the rest of the Shimano shifter range in that it
has a button on the side of the hood for downshifts which can't be
accessfrom the drops.

Ah thank you - I guess that really does make a big difference! I just
assumed it was like most other shifters, with two separate levers for
up/down shifting.

Depends what you're used to though. Still a vast improvement over
downtube shifters! 99% of my riding seems to be done on the hoods anyway
so it's not a big problem.

You may help me with my question then. I bought an OCR3 last year and start
getting cramp when I'm on the hoods for two long. I keep moving my hands
about, but wondered if there was a way to speed up the training process. I
don't use the road bike as much as my MTB, so I guess the advice will be to
use it more regularly.

elyob said:

"Tim Downie" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Brian said:

> Sora is different to the rest of the Shimano shifter range in that
> it has a button on the side of the hood for downshifts which can't
> be accessfrom the drops.

Ah thank you - I guess that really does make a big difference! I
just assumed it was like most other shifters, with two separate
levers for up/down shifting.

Depends what you're used to though. Still a vast improvement over
downtube shifters! 99% of my riding seems to be done on the hoods
anyway so it's not a big problem.

You may help me with my question then. I bought an OCR3 last year and
start getting cramp when I'm on the hoods for two long. I keep moving
my hands about, but wondered if there was a way to speed up the
training process. I don't use the road bike as much as my MTB, so I
guess the advice will be to use it more regularly.

I don't have an Giant OCR, just a cheapie Halfords jobbie that has the Sora
shifters (which I love but then I've never tried fancier ones). Other than
fine tuning your riding position (maybe moving your saddle back a smidgen to
reduce the weight on your wrists) and adjusting the angle of your bars, I
think you just need to move your hands around periodically.

I'm sure someone more experienced can add more.

Tim

Brian said:

Quick question for all you knowledgeable people out there. Is it worth
the extra £60 or so to step up from a Giant OCR 3 to an OCR 2? As far as
I can tell, the only differences are having a 9-sprocket cassette
instead of an 8-sprocket one and having Shimano Tiagra brake/gear levers
instead of Shimano Sora Sora shifters.

I was very impressed with the Sora levers on my tourer and still am. A
few months ago, though, I also got an OCR2 and find the Tiagra's are
quite an improvement. For a bike that you're probably going to spend a
lot of time on, I'd say the extra will be worth it. I'm dead chuffed
with the bike in general BTW.

Cheers,
MikeF

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

You may help me with my question then. I bought an OCR3 last year and
start getting cramp when I'm on the hoods for two long. I keep moving
my hands about, but wondered if there was a way to speed up the
training process. I don't use the road bike as much as my MTB, so I
guess the advice will be to use it more regularly.

Er, use it more regularly. On a more serious point many people with road
bikes have the bars rotated forwards perhaps too much:

<url:http://www.psu.edu/courses/its_training/extended_seminars/InDesign_B
asics/Catalog/Road%20Bike.jpg>

which can mean a bit of a stretch to the hoods. Rotating them back like
this:

<url:http://www.moots.com/images/mootour.jpg>

might make things a bit nicer. Less weight on hands, not as far to
stretch. I've a long body compared to my legs yet much prefer the second
setup to the first. Good for gibbons thobut.

Quoted message said:

I'm sure someone more experienced can add more.

s/someone more experienced/someone.

Mark Thompson said:

On a more serious point many people with road
bikes have the bars rotated forwards perhaps too much:

<url:http://www.psu.edu/courses/its_training/extended_seminars/InDesign_B
asics/Catalog/Road%20Bike.jpg>

which can mean a bit of a stretch to the hoods. Rotating them back like
this:

<url:http://www.moots.com/images/mootour.jpg>

might make things a bit nicer. Less weight on hands, not as far to
stretch. I've a long body compared to my legs yet much prefer the second
setup to the first. Good for gibbons thobut.

I just like the look of the second setup, and with Ergo levers the first
setup looks even sillier.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

I'm sure someone more experienced can add more.

s/someone more experienced/someone.

Happy to oblige!

--

JimP

" " - John Cage