Bike Review: Giant OCR A0

I visited 6 bike stores in Petoskey, Kalamazoo, Grand Rapids and Indianapolis before deciding on the Giant brand. I looked at Cannondale, Trek, Specialized and Schwinn.

The Giant OCR seemed to have the best value for features that I needed. I weighed 300 pounds at the time I purchased so I needed a sturdy and strong bike, but also one with racing attributes for my first triathlon in June.

The OCR A0 combined the forgiveness and lightness of carbon- with the rigidity of aluminum in the pedal area. I paid full retail at Latitude 45 bike shop in Petoskey, MI knowing that they were a full service bike store that would service and educate me. Trust me- I NEVER pay full retail and usually find cheap stuff on the net. But this time- I wanted to be covered with knowledgeable guys. Since this is the first time I have biked since I was in high school- I needed all the help I could get.

Since our snow melted I have ridden this bike 60-80 miles per week. My first overall impression was how LIGHT this bike seemed to me. It is 20 pounds which is by far the lightest bike have ever ridden and even lighter than my kids small little bikes! It rides very nicely and is seems to be a good combination of rigidity and forgiveness for my fat butt. Like I said before I weighted 315 pounds then but am in the process of loosing 100+ pounds over the net year. (As I write- I have lost 30 pounds).

The one thing I HATED about the stock configuration was the Crank Brothers Candy C pedals. With only two small screws holding my cleats to my shoes- they twisted with the slightest pressure. I am new to clipless pedals anyway which is a huge learning curve- but these stock pedals just aggravated the problem. So I sold those on eBay and bought new Shimano Ultegra pedals- which I absolutely LOVE. Because of the 3 screws on the cleats- they hold tight and feel very secure.
Gears: The bike comes with the Shimano Ultegra setup which is good. But since my expectations are “perfection” I have to complain slightly that occasionally when the front gear is in the small chainring and I try to shift back to the large ring, it doesn't shift unless I shift the rear gear to a smaller chainring. It has happened twice – just a minor annoyance when going up a hill.

The stock wheels (Mavic Aksium) are great, but too light for me and my heavy weight- so I purchased a set of training wheels with 36 spokes each for my everyday riding. They are great. I live on top of a large hill that descends 300 feet in all directions from my property. Which means that the final trip segment on the return home is grueling. Talk about increased lactate levels in the muscles!
I have spilled the bike twice- both relating to clipless pedals. Like I said before- I am still getting used to these pedals. Yesterday I stopped on my uphill driveway to get the mail thinking I could unclip one pedal and then keep riding up the hill. WRONG. I could not get the momentum to go forward and re-clip my pedal- so I fell over on the right side where my foot was still clipped. Ouch.

Lesson learned. One other thing is that I love how this bike handles at 40 MPH going down a long, extended curvy potholed road. There is a point on the descent that you simply loose control of the bike due to high speed while barely avoiding the potholes. There is a feeling of helplessness and I am glad the bike has held me securely.

Overall, I am very happy with this bike. It rides like a dream and I really don't think any other bike would be as nice for me as this one. Who knows- maybe when I am 100 pounds lighter, some other bike may fit me better, but for now I can't imagine it.
Apparently, this bike is now sold out nationwide (per the bike store owner). I guess I made a good choice.