Giant TCR-3 Versus Fuji Roubaix

Question

Ok, so I'm a college student that goes to college in Portland Oregon, and I have fairly recently got into biking (about 2-1.5 months ago). Initially I bought a giant ocr 3 for about 650 bucks, and it has treated me very well. However, I have been riding it about 15 miles a day for 6 days a week, and when school starts up again, I'm going to try to ride it 20 miles a day 5/6 days a week, with the occasional long trip thrown in there (about 100 miles round trip).

So, basically, I realized that my current giant wasn't built to maintain the kind of use I want out of it, and I decided to upgrade. I looked around and initially thought that I wanted a Fuji Roubaix, but when I went to our local bike shop (excellent shop, excellent service www.dfccycles.com), the owner pointed me towards a giant tcr-3.

The deal is, the tcr-3 is going to be about 1800 bucks and I can get the Roubaix for about 1100. Here's links to the specs of each:

Roubaix: http://www.fujibikes.com/2007/bikes.asp?id=275&subcat=

TCR-3: http://www.giant-bicycles.com/en-IN/bikes/road/1456/29775/

or you can just google them.

I am not knowledgable enough about bikes to know if I should lay down the extra $$ for something that I might not need, so help me out, cycling experts.

I am planning on making this a long-term investment (I don't own a car and don't need one), and as I said, I will get a considerable amount of use out of it.

Thanks

Answer 1

Hello,

Well, i'm glad to hear you are becoming more involved in the sport. And yes, you are correct that the OCR 3 is not meant for anything competitive. If you are really stuck to these two brands, I wouldn't suggest the tcr3 at 1800$ (american dollars). I live in Canada, and the new 2008 TCR Alliance A1 model is only 1,600$ (canadian, so that's like 1400 or so american). The tcr3 that you pointed out is full aluminum with sora components (the same as on your ocr 3, which isn't really an upgrade). The Alliance A1 is half composite carbon fiber and have aluminum mated together to form the frame!! and it comes with 105 components. I'm not really a fan of Fuji, if you compare the two bikes you brought up, the fuji has better components although both will likely weight the same (21 to 22 with clips).

Depending on your budget, if you are looking at a span of 1800 to 1100, why not try you luck with a trek 2.1 or cannondale CAAD9 R5. Both are great bikes. the trek has carbon fiber fork and rear seat stays with 105 components and the cannondale as a top notch aluminum frame with 105/ultegra components.

just as an fyi the hierarchy of shimano component goes:

entry level: Sora, tiagra

Intermediate to advance: 105, ultegra, ultegra SL and Dura Ace.

Personally, I race with 105, full carbon bike, and the 105 hasn't let me down yet. It's actually lighter than the ultegra and shifts just fine.

Do a little more search before you purchase this bike; it's going to be an investment unlike the ocr 3 so choose wisely. Other brands will have the same price range. too me an tcr 3 for 1800 is a little high. I know that I could purchase a TCR C3 (full carbon) for around 1700 CND.

Hope this helps,

A.