Last week I purchased a new bike for my training and the ride. I opted for the Giant OCR3 and so far I have been completely satisfied (Aggieland Cycling is a great shop by the way). I considered the Specialized Allez, a comparable bike that was a bit more in price and did not recieve as strong of reviews on the internet. People seemed to rave about what the Giant offered new riders.The Giant OCR3 is an entry level road bike and was recently voted best entry level bike for 2007 by Bicycling Magazine. This bike is very light by my standards as I used to ride a Raleigh Mojave 2.0 mountain bike that had to weight nearly 50 pounds.
So, in the past week or so I've put a fair number of miles on the bike learning its intricacies. It has combo shifters (you shift with a trigger and by rotating the front brake levers sideways) so that took a little getting used to. I'm also trying to get used to throwing my feet quickly in and out of the strapped petals. You do not clip into the these pedals like some high-end bikes, but you do have to get your feet into the straps quickly. Eventually this will be normal I'm sure, but right now I still look a little silly starting off.
Up next: Taking on Highway 47... Aggieland's premier road route.
