What beginner road bike to buy?

[7smurfs]

I'm very keen to get into cycling... was so keen that last weekend I impulse bought two bikes:
- Reid Griffon (single speed fixie road bike)
- Giant Cypress (hybrid)

Issue was, after riding both them I did not like either one quite as well as the other..

For example, the Giant was very comfortable however I felt that it didn't go fast enough whereas the Reid went fast however the seat was very uncomfortable (can be changed) and being a fixie it was disappointing when going uphill.
So now I am selling both of these bikes and looking to buy a road bike with gears.

All i know upon the advice of friends is to buy a road bike with shimano 105 gears. Otherwise I have been searching on gumtree for a second cheapie and have come across the OCR2/3.
Any thoughts on the Giant OCR2/3? Any other options I should look at?

Have also considered the Reid Condor at it's super cheap price of $250

[open roader]

Over and above all else, buy something that fits you. As you ride longer distances, incorrect bike size is going to bite you on the bum. Be sure of what size range you are looking at before lashing out again.

Yep - a Giant frame with Shimano 105 all round is a very good start.

Another piece of advice from someone who has spent waaaay too much $$ on bikes (and not a cent wasted thankyou very much ) if you are going to make impulsive purchases for the hell of trying something new - and there is nothing wrong with that - buy 2nd hand so you don't get slugged so much instant depreciation compared to new purchases.

[rodneycc]

Don't buy the Reid Condor. You have been warned... Super cheap for a reason. Just walk away...
Giant OCR's on the other hand are a great bike (just ask Duck!). Its the predecessor to the Defy which are very nice bikes indeed. Go with that one if it fits and rides ok.

[Duck!]

Reids range from utterly dreadful to kinda reasonable. The Condor is deep in the utterly dreadful category.

The OCR (Defy since 2009 model year) series is a pretty safe bet; my commuter is a 10-year-old OCR3 that's still going gangbusters. That "105 minimum" is outdated bunkum, even the lower groups work very well. The only thing is that pre-2012 Sora and 2200/2300 have the dicky thumb shifter for cable release, which is virtually impossible to reach from the drops. Giant rarely specced complete groupsets on any of the OCR/Defy series. Shifters & derailleurs come from one set, but cranks are typically Truvativ or FSA rather than Shimano, and brakes are usually Tektro, which are OK but nothing amazing.

[m@]

That "105 minimum" is outdated bunkum, even the lower groups work very well.

Amazing how persistent it is, considering today's Sora is virtually indistinguishable from the 5600 105 on my roadie!