Goodbye old friend...

Page may contain affiliate links. Please see terms for details.

wafter

I like steel bikes and I cannot lie..
Location
Oxford
I've previously banged on about my Giant OCR; an entry-level offering with 3x8 Sora groupset bought new in 2004 for about £400. The bike's been on borrowed time since I found the frame had cracked at the seatpost; having been maintained as a utility hack as a result.

I'd planned to keep using it until the frame failed completely, but having recently bought a CdF space has become an issue and my hand was forced a few days ago by some paint damage to my Boardman from the Giant's pedal :sad:

Given the current demand for bikes I thought I'd chance my arm at selling it whole and slung the bike on FB marketplace a few nights ago for a hundred quid. It got a lot of interest and has just been collected for the asking price by a guy who's planning to use the bits on a new frame..

In the past year I've spent about £50 on bits (new cassette, chain, tyre and some used compact bars) while the bike previously had some nicer (but now-old and not mind-bendingly expensive) parts fitted after I was hit by a car (R500 shifters, Mach1 wheels), it also had Tiagra 4400 (IIRC) calipers. I'd totted rough values of these bits in my head and thought tbh I'd be lucky to get anywhere near a ton for them all; was I mistaken? While mine's undoubtedly a better spec (cracked frame notwithstanding) I've seen apparently decent original examples of the same bike go on ebay for as little as £50-60 pre-Covid..

Either way I'm glad to regain the space and to have pulled back what I consider to be decent money without the hassle of having to strip the bike and flog off the components peacemeal.. while it's also great to know that the parts will hopefully be put to good use.

All that said I can't help but feel a tinge of sadness to say goodbye to the bike I'd owned for 16yrs and had pretty faithfully carted me around for the best part of 7k miles; much of which being when I was at uni.

Anyway, goodbye little Giant - thankyou for your many years of service :smile:

IMG_0182.JPG
 

Fab Foodie

hanging-on in quiet desperation ...
Location
Kirton, Devon.
I can’t believe you let a bike go....
 

a.twiddler

Veteran
I've previously banged on about my Giant OCR; an entry-level offering with 3x8 Sora groupset bought new in 2004 for about £400. The bike's been on borrowed time since I found the frame had cracked at the seatpost; having been maintained as a utility hack as a result.

I'd planned to keep using it until the frame failed completely, but having recently bought a CdF space has become an issue and my hand was forced a few days ago by some paint damage to my Boardman from the Giant's pedal :sad:

Given the current demand for bikes I thought I'd chance my arm at selling it whole and slung the bike on FB marketplace a few nights ago for a hundred quid. It got a lot of interest and has just been collected for the asking price by a guy who's planning to use the bits on a new frame..

In the past year I've spent about £50 on bits (new cassette, chain, tyre and some used compact bars) while the bike previously had some nicer (but now-old and not mind-bendingly expensive) parts fitted after I was hit by a car (R500 shifters, Mach1 wheels), it also had Tiagra 4400 (IIRC) calipers. I'd totted rough values of these bits in my head and thought tbh I'd be lucky to get anywhere near a ton for them all; was I mistaken? While mine's undoubtedly a better spec (cracked frame notwithstanding) I've seen apparently decent original examples of the same bike go on ebay for as little as £50-60 pre-Covid..

Either way I'm glad to regain the space and to have pulled back what I consider to be decent money without the hassle of having to strip the bike and flog off the components peacemeal.. while it's also great to know that the parts will hopefully be put to good use.

All that said I can't help but feel a tinge of sadness to say goodbye to the bike I'd owned for 16yrs and had pretty faithfully carted me around for the best part of 7k miles; much of which being when I was at uni.

Anyway, goodbye little Giant - thankyou for your many years of service :smile:

View attachment 522710
It's always sad when something that represents a part of your life goes away. It's the years that you'll never get back, and the experiences you uniquely have had with it. Just a collection of tubes and parts when it boils down to it, but the bits add up to more than the sum of its parts and they have been tailored to suit you, by you. Another identical model would not be the same, you have to remember it kindly but move on. You have a new one to enjoy! (And if you are like me, you won't be able to resist making changes to it, to suit you!)
 

12boy

Guru
Location
Casper WY USA
I tend to keep components if they work well and discard the frame. As a consequence my 2 bike sheds and 2 storage areas are full of parts. Someday I will get off my keister and purge this collection. Anyone need 20 drop bars, 30 old wheels and lots of old brakes, levers, kickstands, grips, cables, cable housing.......Aargh.
 

Smudge

Veteran
Location
Somerset
Deffo the time to sell atm. I also sold a Giant road bike (my most unused bike) this week. The phone went mental with calls & texts within minutes of it going online. Guy came all the way from Bath for it.
 

12boy

Guru
Location
Casper WY USA
I've only sold bikes to friends or given them to relatives. Since I don't have many friends I have a lot of bikes. In this town if it ain't a mountain bike it ain't doodley squat, so my collection of single speeds, mutated BMX bikes, small wheel folders and other oddities have little value.
 

Gunk

Guru
Location
Oxford
I've previously banged on about my Giant OCR; an entry-level offering with 3x8 Sora groupset bought new in 2004 for about £400. The bike's been on borrowed time since I found the frame had cracked at the seatpost; having been maintained as a utility hack as a result.

I'd planned to keep using it until the frame failed completely, but having recently bought a CdF space has become an issue and my hand was forced a few days ago by some paint damage to my Boardman from the Giant's pedal :sad:

Given the current demand for bikes I thought I'd chance my arm at selling it whole and slung the bike on FB marketplace a few nights ago for a hundred quid. It got a lot of interest and has just been collected for the asking price by a guy who's planning to use the bits on a new frame..

In the past year I've spent about £50 on bits (new cassette, chain, tyre and some used compact bars) while the bike previously had some nicer (but now-old and not mind-bendingly expensive) parts fitted after I was hit by a car (R500 shifters, Mach1 wheels), it also had Tiagra 4400 (IIRC) calipers. I'd totted rough values of these bits in my head and thought tbh I'd be lucky to get anywhere near a ton for them all; was I mistaken? While mine's undoubtedly a better spec (cracked frame notwithstanding) I've seen apparently decent original examples of the same bike go on ebay for as little as £50-60 pre-Covid..

Either way I'm glad to regain the space and to have pulled back what I consider to be decent money without the hassle of having to strip the bike and flog off the components peacemeal.. while it's also great to know that the parts will hopefully be put to good use.

All that said I can't help but feel a tinge of sadness to say goodbye to the bike I'd owned for 16yrs and had pretty faithfully carted me around for the best part of 7k miles; much of which being when I was at uni.

Anyway, goodbye little Giant - thankyou for your many years of service :smile:

View attachment 522710

I wish I’d have known, I would have bought that.
 
OP
OP
wafter

wafter

I like steel bikes and I cannot lie..
Location
Oxford
Thanks guys :smile:

Funnily enough I took it out for a ride some days ago when I was feeling particularly morose; not helped by the music youtube was selecting on my behalf no doubt. Before leaving I had a profound sense of finality / impending doom - as if expecting something significant to end (be this getting hit by a bus or the frame finally failing).

Thankfully neither happened, however this did turn out to be the last time I rode the bike - yet at that point I'd not consciously considered selling it before the frame failed. Spooky!

I wish I’d have known, I would have bought that.
You'd have been welcome had I known; didn't bother advertising it on here as I've not had a huge amount of luck in the past and didn't think anyone would be bothered at the asking tbh!
 
Last edited:

Banjo

Fuelled with Jelly Babies
Location
South Wales
Not so many triples about now.

Took me a while to get used to a compact double after I sold my Scott triple.

Kept pulling out into traffic in a silly low gear for a while , pedals going round at crazy rpm bike crawling across the road turning right in front of oncoming traffic ,drivers swearing at me ,all good fun :-)
 
OP
OP
wafter

wafter

I like steel bikes and I cannot lie..
Location
Oxford
Not so many triples about now.

Took me a while to get used to a compact double after I sold my Scott triple.

Kept pulling out into traffic in a silly low gear for a while , pedals going round at crazy rpm bike crawling across the road turning right in front of oncoming traffic ,drivers swearing at me ,all good fun :-)
Indeed.. tbh there's still a little bit of me that's yet to be convinced by doubles and it pleases me to see a lot of tourers still equipped with triples; even if Shimano only offer this format in Tiagra and below now.

I get the arguments for simplicity / relaibility / weight, but did like the nice close spacing and wide overall range offered by mine. I also prefer the idea of having a "native" middle chain ring that you're typically in all the time unless climbing or going silly-fast. Sometimes with the double I find myself constantly bothering the front derailleur as I'm caught just on the changeover point between the two chainrings..
 
Top Bottom