Page 1 of 2

It's all your fault (almost)

Posted: Sat Feb 10, 2007 6:50 am
by Mulger bill
Was in the LBS yesterday getting a new pair of slicks for Princess when I saw an '07 OCR2 hanging up. Until I joined this community, I never thought of skinny tyres unless some lycra bandit blatted past me at warp factor 7, but this little girl looked so sweet I have to admit I was captivated.

I haven't thrown a leg across her yet, I'll do that on my next book off day, we'll see then if it's love or just lust :oops:

A bit of a browse gave me a retail of $1395-1430, but Tims having a sale to make room to redo his showroom, and he said he could prolly do it for me for about $800. The GLW also raised no problems :shock:

Anyhow, there's a few OCR2 peoples out there, would she make a good reintroduction to the road for a 41yo fart with a slightly dicky back who hasn't held the drops since friction shifting?

One last thing, carbon fibre, the idea of having the saddle held up by a plastic pipe is a bit scary to me, am I being silly, I don't have issues with carbon forks, but the seatpost? :?

Posted: Sat Feb 10, 2007 7:25 am
by mikesbytes
45year old 0CR2-04. No problems with the seat post.

Posted: Sat Feb 10, 2007 8:47 am
by Mr888
There shouldn't be a problem with carbon seat posts, but I have to admit seeing one shatter on a mate's bike.

He over tightened the collar (non-carbon compatible type) which resulted in it cracking a bit, then whilst on a ride he bounced on the saddle. The post just ruptured and fell off. You should have seen his face and reaction when he sat down and realised the saddle wasn't there :shock: :shock: :shock: OUCH!!!

Posted: Sat Feb 10, 2007 10:43 am
by tuco
44 year old also with a dickie back.

I don't ride an OCR but the main issue you have seems to be the drops.
I have them and hardly use them. I've used them only when going down hill and we don't have many hills in the area. Stream lining can make a surprisingly big difference.

How could you say no to $800?

Posted: Sat Feb 10, 2007 10:46 am
by europa
The OCR2 is a good bike - my son's got one. I've even been allowed to ride it and I'm 50. Didn't go too far though. Just don't let them cut off the steering tube, start with the bars high and lower them later if you want.

Is the post carbon or carbon coated aluminium? (ie, the cheap pretender)

Richard

Posted: Sat Feb 10, 2007 6:28 pm
by Mulger bill
Thanks for your help fellas :)

If it's not too personal Mike, what do you weigh? I float between 74-79 kg.

I've heard stories of carbon posts breaking and having bent an alloy post and snapped three seatpost bolts :oops: I'm just a little paranoid about a shattered post that close :cry:

FSA's site lists the SL-K post as carbon with alloy head, what sort of weight penalty is there in full alloy?

Specs from their site...

sizes XS:42, S:46.5, M:50, L:55.5, XL:58.5
colour Gloss Black
frame ALUXX alloy: butted, FluidFormed, smooth welded
fork Composite blade, 1 1/8th alloy ahead steerer
rear derailleur Shimano Tiagra 9 sp.
front derailleur Shimano Tiagra
shifters Shimano Tiagra STI 27 sp. w/reach adjust
crankset Shimano Tiagra 2 Piece 30/39/50T w/Octalink
bottom bracket Shimano Tiagra Octalink integrated, outboard
chain Shimano HG53 9 sp.
cassette SRAM PG950 9 sp. 12-26T
brakes Tektro alloy dual pivot
brake levers Shimano Tiagra w/reach adjust
Shimano R500 20/24H wheelset
tyres Vittoria Zaffiro 700 x 25c
pedals Shimano R540 SPD-SL clipless
h.bar/stem Alloy anatomic shallow drop/Giant Lite Alloy 4 bolt
seat Post FSA SL-K composite 27.2
saddle Velo w/composite base/gel/cut-out
grips Velo cork gel w/gel comfort inserts

I know nothing about road components except what I've read here, I've got a fair idea of where each group sits in the foodchain. Is there anything else on the list that would bear watching? Sooner or later the upgrade bug will bite :oops: I know the pedals will be swapped out for M505's before she leaves the shop.

I was really looking at taking my time on this lap of the ride, hunting, reading and the odd test as I got the free time, but as Tuco said How could you say no to $800? Speaking of... did you get a ride in today mate?

Thanks again all.

Shaun

Posted: Sat Feb 10, 2007 9:13 pm
by mikesbytes
Hi Shaun,

I weighed 82kg when I brought the OCR2 in 04, since then my weight dropped to 74kg in April 06 and back to 82kg in Dec 06 and is currently 80k. I have carried super heavy back packs that weigh more than the bike and regularly bunny hop a speed hump at around 45kmh thats on my route to work. So far I have broken one rear rim.

I have a track record for breaking things, in particular frames and forkes. Never broken a seat post.

I should point out that a carbon seat post provides no weight benifit over an alloy one, this is one application where alloy seems to give little to carbon. There could be an argument for carbon seat posts on provide a small improvement in confort, as carbon tends to soak up the bumps and vibrations better than metals. However I'm not recommending that you change the seat post, as perhaps the replacement seat post wasn't designed for a sloping top tube compact frame. I've been happy with the seat post and have no intention of exchanging it.

I would assume that the shop will swap the pedals for you at no cost, as they will be able to sell those pedals.

Looking down the specs I see that the current OCR2 has lower gearing, mine came with 30/42/52 12-26, which when they wore out I swapped to 30/42/53 11-21 and when that wore out I swapped to 30/42/53 11-25. I perfer talling gearing as I'm a masher. Standard tyres are ok, no need to swap them.

Hope this helps.

Posted: Sat Feb 10, 2007 10:22 pm
by LuckyPierre
Ther's b*gger all weight penalty in an alloy post - carbon are said to be a bit more comfrtable. That said, Lance always used alloy!

Posted: Sat Feb 10, 2007 10:37 pm
by Mulger bill
Right then, I'll leave the carbon post in, the pedal swap is no problem with Tim.

Low geared :?: , my first thought was, 30-26 :shock: oh well it's back to pushing up hills :oops:

Ohhhh hell, this Tiagra stuff, it isn't rapid rise is it??

Posted: Wed Feb 14, 2007 2:40 pm
by Mulger bill
It's official, after a good 50 minutes today, it's love. :D
Boy was that fffaaaaaaaaaaassssttt, I'd forgotten just how well these things handle too. It felt good, not too hard on the back and I was still able to get into a tuck 8) Even managed to blow off a few smokeboxes :wink: Haven't those caliper brakes improved hugely over the years? I just gotta remember to unweight for the bumps, have to soak up the snotty bits without fat tyres to do it for me, oh well.

I'm gonna get me one, just one leetle problem, DAMN.
Tim quoted $800 when asked, pity he was looking at the OCR3 sheet at the time. :x He said $1000 with the pedal swap, bidon cage and 'puter, still a good deal? It just means waiting a while to scrounge up the other $200. I'll hit him with a deposit later.

Thanks to all who posted on this thread, and all the rest of you too of course :D I've learned a hell of a lot and had a great time here, now I might be able to sound (slightly) less thick discussing road lore.

Stay upright and rolling

Shaun

Posted: Wed Feb 14, 2007 3:08 pm
by tuco
Mulger bill wrote:I'm gonna get me one, just one leetle problem, DAMN.
Tim quoted $800 when asked, pity he was looking at the OCR3 sheet at the time. :x He said $1000 . . . .
Don't you hate that. I spent a couple of days thinking I was paying $749 (on sale $899 down to $749) then I decided I wanted the extra chain ring for the hills. "Oh, you have to go to the next model up, that'll be $999."

Posted: Wed Feb 14, 2007 3:28 pm
by LuckyPierre
Mulger bill wrote: ...... Boy was that fffaaaaaaaaaaassssttt .....
Of course it's still a good deal!

Posted: Wed Feb 14, 2007 4:35 pm
by Mulger bill
tuco wrote:Don't you hate that....
Yep, not fun but I'll suck it up and grin when I hit 60+ (speeding??? sorry ossifer, I was just keeping up, don't have a speedo :) ) *palms 'puter into the shorts*

I did have a look at the 3, seeing as that was what I got quoted on, hmmm. Maybe, but not on that dishwater coloured frame, even the GLW said ugly. Superficial? I dunno, it looks to my uneducated eyes like the jump from Sora to Tiagra more than makes up the $200 diff.

Now......just who can I mug for two hundred quid :lol:

And here She is!

Posted: Thu Feb 22, 2007 12:01 am
by Mulger bill
Image

Isn't she pretty? (not as pretty as Princess tho')

Image

Am I strange? the first thing I did when she got home was put her on the stand and have a bloody good fondle :oops: I know Tim and his offsider Jake are damn good wrenches, but still.......

Coupla things, no pump or 'puter yet, forgot the pump in my mad desire to get her home where nobody could see. Tims junior sold the bloody 'puter, Grrrr.

Thinking the seat post might be a little high, felt like I was bouncing a bit on the ride, with the legs just a little too straight, maybe get the setback checked again too, I know it's what the book says, should I try getting used to it first?

Time to start working towards a century, methinks :D

Posted: Thu Feb 22, 2007 12:14 am
by reparto corse
nice bikes there mulger, congrats on your new machine.

Posted: Thu Feb 22, 2007 12:16 am
by europa
I hate to tell you this, but the shed door isn't 'cream' coloured. Sorry, your photos don't count :D

Funny, it looks just like my son's OCR2 :roll: Hope you have as much fun on her as he has on his :D

Richard

Posted: Thu Feb 22, 2007 1:01 am
by Mulger bill
europa wrote:I hate to tell you this, but the shed door isn't 'cream' coloured. Sorry, your photos don't count :D
Give my daughter five minutes with Photoshop, we'll see about that :twisted:
europa wrote:Funny, it looks just like my son's OCR2 :roll: Hope you have as much fun on her as he has on his :D
Does he let you ride it? Those brake levers might be a bit complicated for blokes used to a 1x1 with no freewheel :wink:

Fun's what it's all about :D

Thanks to all who've answered my stupid questions (why didn't you answer the intelligent ones?)
RIGHT! WHO SAID "WE'RE STILL WAITING FOR ONE"???

Gotta send huge kudos to the GLW too. I ummed and ahhed for a while, this bike is an indulgence after all, but she gave the OK straight away. I wish she rode :(

Posted: Thu Feb 22, 2007 8:12 am
by tuco
Mulger bill wrote: Gotta send huge kudos to the GLW too. I ummed and ahhed for a while, this bike is an indulgence after all, but she gave the OK straight away. I wish she rode :(
I wish my wife rode too . . . then she'd understand why I have to spend money on these things.

Maybe she's not happy I've found a hobby that'll keep me around a lot longer than she hoped.

Seriously though, she doesn't really care. Months after I bought my bike and realised I was serious about racing say said, "Maybe you should have spend a bit more and got a really good bike."

When I told her I was going to replace my old crappy, rescued from a friends tip run, bike she expected I was only going to buy from Big W. "Have you checked Big W yet?", "No, they don't sell real bikes at Big W."

She has her antique china cups and plates, I have my bike. We're both happy.

Posted: Thu Feb 22, 2007 8:27 am
by sogood
Congratulations!

Don't forget to pop one or more spacers over on top of the stem. :wink:

Posted: Thu Feb 22, 2007 9:52 am
by Mulger bill
I've actually thought of flipping the stem for a bit more height :P

Gotta get the back used to crouching over the drops again. Said hello yesterday to a few muscle groups I'd forgotten existed. :o

Posted: Thu Feb 22, 2007 9:59 am
by sogood
Mulger bill wrote:I've actually thought of flipping the stem for a bit more height :P
You are now a roadie. Doing the reverse flip is a sacrilege! :wink:

Seriously, putting one spacer above (even just a 5mm one) is desirable as it prevents the stem from clamping the end of the steerer as well as provides maximal clamp contact. It all makes perfect mechanical sense. This issue has been said to be particularly relevant to CF steerers. IIRC, Trek or Giant has a specific recommendation on this.

Posted: Thu Feb 22, 2007 10:12 am
by Mulger bill
sogood wrote:You are now a roadie. Doing the reverse flip is a sacrilege! :wink:
Oh no yer don't! I's a loud and proud fat tyre fanatic. :D
I's just got a new plaything for those "Top Gun" moments in life 8)
sogood wrote:Seriously, putting one spacer above (even just a 5mm one) is desirable as it prevents the stem from clamping the end of the steerer as well as provides maximal clamp contact. It all makes perfect mechanical sense. This issue has been said to be particularly relevant to CF steerers. IIRC, Trek or Giant has a specific recommendation on this.
Thanks for the tip there mate, I gotta admit it does make sense :shock:
Will look further into it. Anyone else heard of it?

Shaun

Posted: Thu Feb 22, 2007 10:25 am
by MichaelB
Is it me, or is that seat post extended a looooooooooong way ?

Is there a guide as to how much should be left in the frame ?

Cheers

Michael B
(jealous)

Posted: Thu Feb 22, 2007 10:30 am
by mikesbytes
On Giants, there is markings on the seat post. so you know you haven't gone too far.

Posted: Thu Feb 22, 2007 10:34 am
by Mulger bill
OK, you got me :oops: The photo was taken after I'd taken her out of the workstand and hadn't yet repositioned the post.

Most posts have a minimum insertion mark to give a guide. My personal preference is to have the post extend at least 40mm below the bottom of the top tube/seatstay junction as it helps strengthen the area. Knowing me, it's prolly wrong tho' :roll: