New Bike: Giant OCR 2

I really enjoy cycling.  I love the time spent on the bike, enjoying the quiet, thinking, feeling my body work, getting away from all of ones concerns, hearing the tires on the road, and lots of conversation with God.  Writers who are cyclists have been attempting to capture this feeling with words for years and can’t quiet seem to nail it down, I certainly cannot.  To say that I love it is a reasonable summary.

As I’ve noted several times, I am working on some serious weight loss.  Progress is good. Not fast though.  I’m kind of a “right now” sorta guy so watching the scale barely move is not my idea of motivation.  Nonetheless, it is now reporting 225 pounds.  Sounds like a lot, I know.  Eighteen months ago that very same scale reported 283 pounds.  That is FIFTY-EIGHT POUNDS or weight loss!!  THAT is motivating progress!!

I sorta promised myself a reward at the 220 pound mark. The best thing that I can think of is a road bike.  I love my mountain bike but have been wanting to try a smaller, lighter, and more nimble road bike.

I know, I know… I am a tad bit premature but I started looking anyway.  I figure it might take six months to find what I wanted…

I’m no different than any other male on the planet. The fastest, shiniest, sexiest, most expensive “thing” is what catches my eye.  I would love to have a $10,000 carbon race bike. I don’t need one though…  <pout>

Actually, I’m not sure “need” fits into this subject at all.  What I could “use” and would like to try is an inexpensive road bike. My goal is to spend some time on a road bike and determine if that type of cycling is for me.  My mountain bike does just fine on asphalt, I’m just a wee bit envious of the higher speeds of the road bikes.  Why?  Read the previous paragraph again please.  I’ve been telling myself that speed means nothing, I just need exercise that equates to time.  If I had a road bike, I would just have to pedal farther for the same amount of effort.  Yea, yea, yeah…  I love new stuff but I rarely buy anything big/expensive new – I’m a used guy, especially when experimenting.

My search started on Craigslist.  Of course, this turned up all sorts of options which required more research. What type of road bike, which components are good, what material, etc…

I decided that an aluminum frame was sufficient for my goal.  Carbon would be really neat and I understand the benefits (dampening and add lightness).  That said, a carbon fork was high on my list for the ride quality benefits.  This put me squarely in the low end “entry level enthusiast” category and narrowed the search significantly. It also kept the cost low, very low and that definitely is a “need”.

Surprisingly, a couple options presented themselves very quickly. What was I to do??  So, I bought.  Yes, I now own a 2006 Giant OCR2.  Nothing fancy – Shimano 105 group, Shimano pedals, carbon fork, aluminum wheel set.

She is a red and a real tease!!

I am amazed at the lightness and her desire to go fast.  I pedal hard, she rewards me with speed, and seems to beg for me, so I pedal harder.  The first half dozen rides were far more work than they should have been because she just kept teasing me to go faster!!

Getting the fit dialed in took quite a while – still ongoing, in fact.  Being new to road bikes, I’m still getting a feel for what is “right”.  Lots of little tweaks, go for another ride, and tweak a little more.  I’ve ordered a new stem as I believe the current one is just too long for my short little arms.  Hopefully that helps me get it dialed in.

Like most newlyweds, I have successfully worn myself raw and now need to go back to my mountain bike for a week or so to heal.  Getting new contact points into shape is kind of annoying!

The point of all this is to say that you can expect that I will begin posting some road experiences in addition to mountain rides.