Giant SCR1
So I have a slightly obssessive relationship with my bike and it turns out that I have a similar thing for my blog’s stats. And the thing that the two have in common is that quite a lot of my (piffling) traffic stems from people searching for the Giant SCR1 bike. So now that I’ve ridden over 250 miles on it, I feel I am in a position to comment on/review it. So if you are here from Google or wherever else, I hope this is of some use to you. Read on…
My starting position pre-bike was that I knew I had a budget of around £850 for the bike and £150 for accessories so I could make the most of the £1000 limit on Cyclescheme which my company has signed up for. My main motivation for getting the bike was to use it to ride to work, but where time allows, I’ve been getting out on it at the weekends too.
My boss has been a club cyclist for over 20 years and imparted the following pieces of advice to me as I prepared to upgrade from a borrowed commuter bike to a proper road bike:
1. Get Shimano 105 gears
2. Put mountain bike cleats on as they are slightly more forgiving and the shoes are warmer in winter
3. Get a pair of Specialized Armadillo tyres
4. Buy it from a local shop so you don’t have to go far for servicing, parts, maintence etc.
Armed with these pointers, I set out to see what I could find and my local dealers (who were cyclescheme affiliated) were essentially Giant and/or Specialized dealers. I did find that Evans cycles had quite a few other brands, but they weren’t on Cyclescheme (although they have their own variation) and the guy in the shop was so condecending that they were never going to get my business anyway.
As you can see, my choices of bike were now narrowing quite fast and bearing in mind my frame of reference with road bikes (i.e. none), I was more or less left with a straight choice between the SCR1 or the Specialized Allez. Both have aluminium frame/carbon forks, although the Specialized also has carbon seat stays I think. In the end, vanity pushed my decision and I decided I liked the look of the SCR1 considerably more than that of the Allez. So I took the SCR1 for a test ride and have never looked back. When I get my next bike (there will be another) I’ll be more aware of what I want and therefore will test a few, but in the first instance, if the heart says “buy it”, then I figure, do it. After all as someone who was looking to get into riding, it is more important to get a bike that I would be excited to own rather than something that might be technically better.
In terms of sizing, I am a relatively short 171cm (5’7″), have got the medium size frame and found it to be a comfortable fit. I can reach the handlebars in all positions although you should note that I’ve got unusually long arms for my height.
In terms of the ride, it is difficult to comment as my frame of reference is so limited, but my 5¾ mile ride to work went from 28 minutes on the commuter bike to around 21 minutes on the road bike, so besdies me getting fitter, the bike definitely makes a difference. The 105 gears run awesomely smoothly, clicking sharply into place and the whole bike generally, is very well sorted.
I should also perhaps mention the 20 speed gears, which have 10 on the rear cassette and two on the front, a 34 and a 50 tooth. There is a little bit of getting used to due to the difference in ratios, but you don’t need any more, 20 is plenty.
If you’ve got any questions then post a comment and I’ll see if I can help.
[...] EDIT: 27 July 2008 – My mini-review of the SCR1 here. [...]
Glad you like the SCR1. I had a similar choice two years ago although my budget was less and I didn’t know about cyclescheme then. My choice was the SCR2 or the Specialized Allez, I went for the Allez. It’s been great although it’s not stopped me wondering whether the Giant would have been better. Incidentally I also did 3 of the 4 things you got as advice. The one piece of advice I didn’t get was about the 105 gears, I have Sora which are frankly dodgy but I get by. Now I’m plotting my next bike, it’ll be an all carbon frame and will probably cost around £1500, if only they’d increase the cyclescheme budget. Once you get your first road bike, it’s a slippery slope I’m afraid…
Don’t… “next bike disease” appears to be incurable. As the boss pointed out, the next bike will be the “dry weather bike” for special occasions. So that will no doubt be some carbon fibre monster, although not for a couple of years. For reasons I can’t fathom either, I really fancy a single speed bike too, although I certainly haven’t got the strength or stamina for that yet. It also turns out you can get over £1000 on cyclescheme, but your employer needs a consumer credit licence and I don’t think the amount you can save is so great. I didn’t even look into that to be honest though.
Had my scr1 for a couple of months now,can’t praise the bike enough.The 105′s are smooth and look great and the frame is so comefortable.I tend to do long distance riding on my days off,just about to do Lichfield to Abrysywyth for help for heroes…….the bike is great for these kind of rides.
123 miles according to Google Maps… And this is the direct route including the motorways. Best of luck!
I think we need more than luck…….a miracle maybee!!!!
[...] I found the blog eep! where a similar story of bike joy has recently played out. There’s a mini review of the SCR 1 there. Truth be told, I was suffering from bike and blog envy, so here I am correcting [...]
Hello. Just received my shiny new SCR 1 on Thursday. New bike! New bike! New bike! New bike! New bike! New bike! New bike! Yay!
It came from Ash Cycles http://www.ashcycles.com/power/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=829 who have a really good deal at £639.99. Hurry, there was 12 units in stock when I ordered last week and now there’s only 10.
Three miles into its first ride out on Friday, the front shift lever jammed. So that was a bit of a downer. Replacement has been ordered.
The second ride out today (stuck in bottom at the front) was a deliberately hilly route. Wow, I like this bike. I’m so enthused that I’ve finally got round to creating a blog http://ccgi.ambrosia.plus.com/blog so that I can enthuse to the rest of the world…
Steve.
I’m in the process of buying a SCR 1 as a second/winter bike (Litespeed Siena soon to go into hibernation) Having owned a Allez, which I was happy with, although Tiagra gears were a bit clunky, I wanted something similar. I have heard there have been some problems with Giant’s own rims. Anyone had any issues with them?
Hotblat – I’m 500 miles down and haven’t noticed problems, but am very much a road bike newbie, so until one actually fell off or dropped a spoke or whatever, I’d probably be none the wiser in all honesty.
Had no problems with my rims at all
I bought the SCR1 back in June as I was cycling the Manchester – Blackpool ride with my son and wanted something lighter and more comfortable than my old Raleigh Sprint to complete the 60 miles. Faced with a similar choice between the Specialized and the Giant, the SCR1 won my vote and has brought hours of riding pleasure ever since. I use the bike for a regular commute of 15 miles each way to work and have found it to be trouble free even after over 1200 miles of cycling.
I plan to use it for the C2C in the Spring but haven’t yet tried it with a rack and panniers. I have a horrible memory of breaking a rear fork on a Raleigh while carrying panniers so don’t know how the SCR1 would behave as a touring bike. Maybe someone out there might know???
thought you’d like to know that this page still comes up at about number 5 if you google ‘Giant SCR1′.
Cheers for the info.