Newbie needing bike advice

Good choices....which one is *RED*

Good choices....which one is *RED*
I would think Giant, but what do I know...(Schwinn has been moving mainstream, so their quality has probably decreased in view of their higher volumes)

take each for a 10 minute ride (after the bike shop guys have fitted it for you) and see how you feel. if they're about the same price range and specs, go for fit, definitely. i've ridden a giant before, and it was a nice bike but it just didn't fit me personally in terms of torso/leg proportions and whatnot, so i bought a trek. but giant does make decent bikes for not a lot of bucks, i don't know about schwinn.

I have a Giant OCR. It's a great bike. It's as comfortable as my much more expensive Marin Treviso. Frankly, I can't tell much difference when I'm out riding, except that the OCR doesn't fit me as well as the Treviso. Try to get the OCR with the Shimano 105 components, if you can afford it. And most importantly, make sure it fits.

Edited by CougarFromUtah 2005-03-29 11:52 PM

Thanks for the suggestions everyone.

I went to a bike shop tonight and was also recommended to look at the Trek 1000. Apparently there is also a girl version which takes into account the short torso etc.... They have the Trek and the Giant so I could get fitted for both and see which I like. Is it a good idea to throw Trek into the mix too?

Thanks again for all the help everyone.

YES! i have a trek 1500 WSD (couldn't tell from your screen name that you're a lady, otherwise i would have recommended it). i love it, it fits me perfectly, i bought that one over the giant OCR 2/3. they just came out with the 1000 WSD, which i would have loved to try if they had it last year. but i highly recommend their WSD designs, the handlebars are narrower for our shoulders, and the proportions of my legs and everything just fit right. plus they come with lady saddles, which are very important for the comfort of your nether regions .

Thanks for the thoughts on the Trek 1000 WSD... I am leaning in this direction... specifically because of the things you mentioned.... narrow bars etc. Thanks again!!!!

i do ebay searches every day on:

trek wsd
specialized sequoia
specialized dolce

because I have been on those three for test rides at shops, and I have been fitted, and there are some GREAT deals-- the sequoia is not a women's bike, but it is a bit diff in geometry which is very comfortable for me. I just haven't found the PEREFCT size yet, and the one I thought would be perfect was by a seller with no feedback who wouldn;t answer my email Q's... But I have a lot of faith that my dream ride will appear and it will be affordable...

possum, you can have ebay do the search for you every day and just email you whenever they come up, so you don't have to do it yourself every day. unless, like me, you have a procrastination tendency and a love of browsing ebay....

to do what i mentioned, in MyEbay on the left side there is a thing for my favorite searches, and from there you can set up your search, click add to my favorites, and whammo, it will email you results for the next 180 days or something.