Bianchi Eros Donna/Veloce or Giant TCR 3?

[roguedog]

Hey all,

1st post in the forum. I finally found a place for women. Cool. Cool.

I'm looking into pruchasing a bike for commuting and some weekend casual rides. Also might join a club just to keep the spirit up. Oh.. and ya.. I'm kinda a newb.

Have been looking at lots of bikes and have narrowed it down to the Bianchi Eros Donna 06 and the Giant TCR3.

Some helpful insight appreciated!

Bianchi
I just loved the ride. I love the color. Fast and zippy. I had so much fun which is exactly whatg I was looking for - a bike inspire me to go out.

Giant
Great ride. Had a nice lively feel to it not dead like the Trek 5000. Totally smoothes out the roads and just plain.. elegant. Plus I think I can get it at a good price cuz its on closeout.


I love the Eros but am concerned about the long term ownership.. like will I really like it in the long run on hills and roads? The Giant's CF frame I can see stayign with longer? since it smoothes out the road and maybe has less fatigue for longer rides and hills?

Hmmm... as I write this I see that my heart is with the Eros but the practical side is with the Giant.

Can folks who own either of these help or any insight will be appreciated! Sadly,.. I'm a newb and I can already see why folks have multiple bikes!

I also have spied a Veloce on sale and might go spy that out tomorrow.

Help! I haven't even bought a bike and I'm already upgrading. LOL

On the other hand, is the Giat TCR "out of my league"? Like is it a bike for someone who has committed to the sport?

[Selkie]

I have an '06 Eros Donna and I love it. So I'm biased. I say go with the Donna. I've ridden long rides on it and have had no issues.There's enough carbon on the bike to make it comfortable, and it powers up the hills just fine. Plus you can't beat the campy components ;-)
Can't comment on the Giant, as I've never ridden one. Does the Giant fit you better? If it does, I'd go with the Giant. You'll be more confident and comfortable on a bike that fits you better.

[salsabike]

I also have an 06 Eros Donna and love it completely. It is great for long rides, hills, whatever you need it to do. The steel gives it a smooth ride. Most bike makers will tell you that a good bike can be made from any of the major materials, so there's nothing magic about carbon. I'm guessing the other Bianchi owners on here will agree with all this. Go with the bike that feels good and fits well---I think the idea that somehow a carbon frame will "smooth out the road" better on long rides and somehow result in less fatigue is maybe a little on the mythical/marketing propaganda side.

[Bad JuJu]

Bianchi . . . I had so much fun which is exactly whatg I was looking for - a bike inspire me to go out.

This pretty much says it all, as far as I can see. I think that, other things being equal, you should go with the bike that makes you want to ride it. Doesn't matter which bike you get if it's just going to sit in your garage because you don't like it very much. So, within reason, go with your heart.

Having said that, I hasten to admit that I've got a Bianchi Veloce on layaway right now, so I'm biased. Also, I think there's a substantial number of Giant riders on these forums, so they're bound to chime in sooner or later.

[mimitabby]

I own a second hand bianchi veloce.
number one, this darn bike makes me go faster!! i can't figure it out.
My other bikes never did this... And UP HILL! and i haven't even used all the gears yet, i'm not strong enough to.
So what i'm saying is, it's better uphill than my other bikes, AND i still have a lot of the high speed gears that i am not using, this is a bike to grow into.
It just wants to kick a@@!
the other good thing about these Bianchis is they maintain their value..
kind of like the Honda Prelude..

I am thinking of starting a Bianchi club for TE gals who love their bianchis!

:)

[xeney]

I think you can't go wrong with either. I have a Veloce and my husband has a carbon fiber Giant (the OCR frame, though; he does wish he'd bought the TCR). I haven't ridden his Giant, but he's ridden mine, and he says the Giant is much smoother on long rides but the Veloce is springer and more fun on sprints. He has suggested that I get a carbon fiber seatpost to reduce some of the road vibration; he thinks that would make a big difference.

How do you feel about Campy versus Shimano? That would be part of the equation, too. The Eros has Mirage, right? That felt really cheap to me in comparison to Veloce. My husband's bike has 105, which he likes fine, but I know you have options with the Giant, although those change the price range pretty dramatically.

Basically, I think they are both great bikes (clearly I am biased!) and you aren't going to make a bad decision either way.

[roguedog]

Xeney,

Uh.. not to tempt your husband and Castro Valley is a bit of a ways for you but they're having a 20% off Giants At Eden Cycles.. so I think they're pretty good deals if he's looking for a TCR :)

I looked around quickly and basically the price i even lower than ebay and you get a pretty good lbs (or so I'm tolde from the roadbikereview forums) behind you.

I went to them cuz they carry Bianchi.. but they don't have the Eros Donna and put me on the Giant. But they did have an 05 Giro for like 1k?!

It's weird.. I always thought a bike shop was a bike shop but I'm learning that there are camps... Steel and then other people.

I don't have a preference for Shimano or Campy per se. Shimano's always seemed to cramp my hands and then someone put me on a Bianchi Eros to try out the Campy.. much better (This was a mean person btw cuz it was more than I wanted to spend :)).

So I like Campy in that they are nicer for smaller hands but I've also been reading that Shimano has levers that are for smaller hands. I do like that Campy seems more adjustable. But they are more expensive and harder to find people to service them well (is that a true statement?).

Ya, the main reason I'm looking at the Veloce even though I love the Donna color and I think the frame is just about perfect, is for the upgraded componentry. But I figure I can always upgrade even though it'll cost $$$

Going now to SF to go check out the Veloce. They also have the Giant there so I can ride them side by side which will be nice.
p

[roguedog]

Mimi - what other bikes have you had that you're comparing the Veloce to? Just curious.

Tks everyone for the qucik replies! I think I'm going to be hangin out here a bit.

[Mags...]

Well I'll chime in to vote for the Giant. I've had 2 Giant road bikes, the TCR1 (alloy frame) and later upgraded to the TCRc Zero... I checked the Giant website and can't see a model named TCR 3. Maybe they do a different range in Australia. Is it alloy or carbon?

I went from alloy to full carbon, and I can say that it is definitely smoother. But it was an upgrade on wheels & pretty much everything except the saddle, seatpost and pedals, so yeah, a bit of a difference in the overall feel. I find it really comfortable, I'm on an XS (43"), I don't have the short reach on the Dura-Ace levers...I have no problems with the reach. I got mine with a 12/25 cassette, and later changed over to a Shimano compact double crankset, it works really well for me.

In Australia at the moment, you can pick up a Giant at very good prices, due to end-of-year model runouts. On the whole, Giant are very good value-for-money bikes, you get a top quality bike fitted out with high quality components for a very fair price.

[mimitabby]

Xeney,


So I like Campy in that they are nicer for smaller hands but I've also been reading that Shimano has levers that are for smaller hands. I do like that Campy seems more adjustable. But they are more expensive and harder to find people to service them well (is that a true statement?).

Ya, the main reason I'm looking at the Veloce even though I love the Donna color and I think the frame is just about perfect, is for the upgraded componentry. But I figure I can always upgrade even though it'll cost $$$

Going now to SF to go check out the Veloce. They also have the Giant there so I can ride them side by side which will be nice.
p

hey there. Not only is Campy more adjustable, but they are rebuildable. with shimanos, they just throw them away when they need service and sell you new ones.

I am comparing my veloce to a raleigh and a trek. This bike LOVES TO GO!!
You might look around this forum (for an older thread) it sounds stupid, but color DOES matter, a lot of us
have been unsatisfied because the bikes they are looking at or even the ones they
own are colors they themselves do not appreciate...
m

[7rider]

Well, I must say roguedog, you have some great taste in bikes!!!
As a former Eros ower, I have a soft spot in my heart for those, and say you can't go wrong with a classic.
...so...have you decided?? What did you get??

[roguedog]

Regina,

Well.. I've test ridden many bikes in the last month or so. Anyone else find it hard to find bikes in your size? Seems like I've been all over the Bay Area just to find bikes to try...

Anyway.. well, after I test rode both bikes side by side, the LBS said that the (Eros owners cover your eyes) that Eros' frame wasn't really worth upgrading cuz it's a mid-end steel frame. He'd rather I put the money into a nicer frame, the Giant TCR C3, because the frame itself one I can grow into more..

So.. I walked away with more to think about. After some thought, I was leaning towards the Giant. After the test ride I found the 2 bikes pretty close. Just some minute differences.

Today I called a shop for pricing on the TCR C3 and they have a Vigorelli (05) at around the same price in my size. I didn't even ask about a Bianchi.. they brought it up.

Ugh...

Does anyone have any insight or advice? I will probably try to go take a ride on the Vigorelli this weekend and see how it feels next to the Giant.

<begin rant> (Giant owners cover your eyes) I do have to say.. what is UP with the Giant paint jobs.. though the Bianchi paint jobs aren't much better. Except for the Eros Donna the other piant jobs look dated or just gaudy or something. How much is it for a customer paint job?? Somebody get a woman on the design team, please!! And what is up with Trek and their pink wsd? <roll eyes> I know some women like the pink thing.. but I don't really want a Barbie bike (not that I EVER would be mistaken for Barbie) but at least give a choice of other colors if you're offering pink <end rant>

[mimitabby]

Regina,

So.. I walked away with more to think about. After some thought, I was leaning towards the Giant. After the test ride I found the 2 bikes pretty close. Just some minute differences.

Today I called a shop for pricing on the TCR C3 and they have a Vigorelli (05) at around the same price in my size. I didn't even ask about a Bianchi.. they brought it up.

Ugh...

Does anyone have any insight or advice? I will probably try to go take a ride on the Vigorelli this weekend and see how it feels next to the Giant.
Advice? Insight? Yeah, try out the Vigorelli! which Bianchi did they bring up? And then tell us about what you try!

Dumb question; how do you upgrade a frame?

[roguedog]

Sorry Mimi.. my bad phrasing..

What he meant was that the heart of the bike is the frame so if you think you're going to grow into the sport get a frame with decent components that you can upgrade later.

For instance, the TCR C3 is the bottom end of the series. At the top, they have Dura Ace with fancier Mavic wheels, etc going for like 4k.

The Vigorelli is simply the Eros' frame with Ultegra components and nicer wheels.

I dunno.. conflicted ... just when I thought I had made a decision :) Well at least I've narrowed it down to like 2-3 bikes rather than having the whole pantheon open to me.

[xeney]

Anyway.. well, after I test rode both bikes side by side, the LBS said that the (Eros owners cover your eyes) that Eros' frame wasn't really worth upgrading cuz it's a mid-end steel frame. He'd rather I put the money into a nicer frame, the Giant TCR C3, because the frame itself one I can grow into more..

Ugh, Roguedog, you got bad advice from that bike shop owner. At least, Bianchi doesn't agree with him. From this page (http://www.bianchiusa.com/06_eros.html):


The Eros has the same great Reynolds frame as the Veloce, Vigorelli and Imola, but with the more affordable 27-speed Campagnolo Mirage groupset.

So Bianchi certainly thinks it is a frame worthy of better components. The Vigorelli is the exact same frame. (And I am pretty sure that Sky Yaeger -- a woman! -- is still design director for Bianchi USA.)

I still say you should choose whichever one you like best, or keep looking. Maybe neither of these bikes is for you. But steel versus carbon fiber is just a preference thing; the idea that CF is a "better" material is kind of silly. It's better for some things, some people like it better. Lots of people prefer steel. Here's a counterpoint (http://www.rivbike.com/html/101_pureopinions.html) to bike shop guy's opinion.

[7rider]

It's common for bike lines to use the same frame, and just up-spec the components as you go up the line. For example, to use the Shimano line, Frame X with Taigra is entry level, Frame X with 105 is a step up (and a step up in price), Frame X with Ultegra and finally with Dura Ace. Major changes in frame (say from touring geometry to racing) will result in a new line.
I'm not familiar with the Giant line, but I'd venture that they do things similarly.
Fit and comfort and how it feels to you are the key things here.

[roguedog]

Thanks all.

I agree with you all. I think both bikes are good and I'll like them both. Which is probably the crux of my problem with deciding on which. They both have the ride qualities (lively, good road feeedback without road buzz, faaaast, zipeeee) I like but their personalities are just slightly different.

So.. from there you kinda have to break it down to the "little things" like components, the "right now" value and the potential upradeabbility.. don't you?

Speaking of.. does anyone know how "princess like" carbon is? Do you really have to baby it and all? Is it true that if you biff on it it's a goner? On the other hand, steel.. don't you have to worry bout rust and all?

[mimitabby]

You can rub steel clean to get the rust off.
Carbon fiber can't be fixed.
A bike friend was in an accident recently and his carbon fork shredded into a
million shards. Meanwhile, the steel in the rest of his bike bent.
the steel could be bent back, the carbon, well, he's lucky he didn't get stabbed with it.
I also have heard complaints about carbon parts just breaking under stress. The thing is, carbon is expensive. If your steel part breaks (which isn't going to happen) it's going to cost a lot less than the carbon part.
I am feeling very guilty for letting them talk me into buying a carbon fork
instead of a steel one.

[KnottedYet]

That is my fear with carbon forks. I hear too much about them disintegrating. Yeah, a good carbon fork is supposed to feel like steel. The benefit is the weight reduction. If I want to feel like steel, I'll ride on steel. Weight doesn't matter that much to me. After all, I weigh a whole lot more than the bike anyway.

Like Mr. Bontrager (can't remember his first name, sorry) says: "Cheap, strong, or light. You can have 2, but not all 3."

I'm more comfortable physically and mentally with a steel fork. (which my Kona has, and my Waterford has.)

My biking gurus at my LBS say steel can break, but it generally fails slowly enough that you can tell something is wrong and stop while aluminum and CF do "catastrophic failure". (these guys are crazy mountain bikers and really trash their bikes, your results may vary...)

[xeney]

In my house we have or have recently sold steel bikes from the 40s, 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s, and 2000s. The ones from the 40s and 60s do have some rust, but they were both clearly left outside for years and years. The one from the 70s has some surface rust that could be taken care of with a steel pad if anyone liked that bike enough to bother. The ones from the 80s and 90s are completely clean.

I asked my husband about this yesterday because his new bike is CF. He loves that bike but he says he expects to trade it out for a custom steel frame in four or five years. CF is a lot better than it used to be, but I don't think anyone really knows how long CF frames are going to last. Earlier generations of CF frames are pretty much no longer on the road ... you see those ten-year-old Specialized Epics around, but that's about it.

(He wrecked his Giant last night, not badly but enough to put a ding on chain stay, and I am now a little worried about his continuing to ride it. On the other hand, he got hit by a car on a 12-year-old steel Allez this spring, and the frame is bent and unfixable, so the permanence of steel is also possibly a little exaggerated in some quarters.)

[mimitabby]

On the other hand, he got hit by a car on a 12-year-old steel Allez this spring, and the frame is bent and unfixable, so the permanence of steel is also possibly a little exaggerated in some quarters.)

When the steel bends, it is absorbing some of the shock that would have gone right to the rider in a carbon fiber; it has to do with the physics of the density of the material. Carbon fiber won't protect you that way.

[xeney]

Oh, I am pretty sure he was no longer on the bike by the time it bent!

I love my steel frames, don't get me wrong, but I kind of think there are just as many ridiculous claims made about steel as there are about carbon fiber and aluminum and everything else. For one, the idea that if your steel frame gets broken or bent you can just have it fixed -- most frame shops are going to refuse to do that, and they will advise you to buy a new frame.

And we've had two steel forks fail.

[7rider]

Anything made by man (or woman) can fail.
To not buy a bike because something *could* happen means you won't buy a bike. Steel can fail (there's a thread on roadbikereview.com about a very expensive steel Soma that failed at a chainstay right now). Aluminum can fail. Carbon can fail. Even titanium - if you run it into a car hard enough, as my LBS found out, can fail.
Life takes a leap of faith. Have a little faith in the R&D department of your favorite bike manufacturer. They don't *want* to send out anything that isn't safe. They won't do it. It's generally regarded as bad for business.
So..rougedog, if the lively feel of a carbon bike suits your taste, go for it. If the compliant ride of a steel bike suits your taste, go for it. Chances are very good that either of those bikes will see you through many happy years of cycling.

[mimitabby]

well, it depends.
someone I know had a whole "stable" of bikes in his garage and there was a fire.
when he got back in there there was only one bike standing, his titanium.
well, it wasn't standing; the frame was still intact. he rebuilt it and called it smokey. his aluminum and carbon fiber bikes were literally toast.

[Trekhawk]

well, it depends.
someone I know had a whole "stable" of bikes in his garage and there was a fire.
when he got back in there there was only one bike standing, his titanium.
well, it wasn't standing; the frame was still intact. he rebuilt it and called it smokey. his aluminum and carbon fiber bikes were literally toast.

I love my carbon bikes so I think I will risk the possibility of it being destroyed by fire. If a fire gets to my bikes (they live inside) then I think I have far greater worries than the loss of my bikes.

[SouthernBelle]

I think you need to look to the warranty. I know the giant carbon frame and fork has a lifetime warranty. Plus good insurance is a plus.

I think if you wreck hard enough it doesn't matter what material you are riding.
;)

[KnottedYet]

I've never ridden a titanium bike. How does titanium feel? I mean, for someone who just likes to ride, not race.

I keep going to the Bianchi pictures.... man, those really are pretty bikes! And Campy...

I'm hoping to get a Campy Veloce compact double (on sale at Nashbar for $140) and use the Bikejournal coupon (15% off) next week. Pay day is a'coming and I've already spent my check!:eek:

[7rider]

I've never ridden a titanium bike. How does titanium feel? I mean, for someone who just likes to ride, not race.

I keep going to the Bianchi pictures.... man, those really are pretty bikes! And Campy...

I'm hoping to get a Campy Veloce compact double (on sale at Nashbar for $140) and use the Bikejournal coupon (15% off) next week. Pay day is a'coming and I've already spent my check!:eek:

Please excuse the hijack, but roguedog, you've really got us going all over the place! :D

I sort of fell into a titanium Seven Axiom. I don't race, I just ride for fitness. My Seven is off the shelf, not custom - although you can customize it to give any sort of ride you like. The Seven is SWEET! I say it rides like silk on the road. Mine is smoooooth. Compliant, quick, responsive, but never harsh. It knows where I want to go before I do.
Two words: Love. It.
Check it out at www.sevencycles.com
BTW, I have a FSA SLK-compact crank on it, and I like that, too.
I do have a soft spot for Bianchis. They are sweet, too. The wheelbase of the Eros I had was much longer than my current bike, so it had a very different ride. Not better, not worse. Just different.

[roguedog]

No worries bout hijack.. always interesting and informative..! hijack away.

[Bad JuJu]

I sort of fell into a titanium Seven Axiom.
Wow, wish I could engineer a "fall" like that!:D

[Sheesh]

I've never ridden a steel bike, so I can't comment on the steel versus CF. However, I did buy a Giant TCR C3 less than a month ago, and I love it! I now use it for me long weekend rides, and use my older Specialized Allez for commuting.

Mr. Sheesh has a TCR C1 and two days ago he bought a TCX, the Giant Cross version. He loves them both! I guess we're now a Giant family. :)