ebay Chinese Giant TCR frames....hmmm

bigflangesmallsprocket

Not sure what to make of these!

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Giant-2009-TCR-Road-Frame-All-Color-Size-Carbon-Fork_W0QQitemZ270442967736QQcmdZViewItemQQptZRoad_Bikes?hash=item3ef7a832b8&_trksid=p3911.c0.m14

First off I thought they'll take your money and run, then I thought that maybe these would be cheap knock-off copies, then I thought to myself are Giant now using China and maybe these are spoiled frames that have got into private hands...judging by one feedback comment about a scratched frame. Mind you, for free shipping on lingerie how can i resist!

Anybody feel like buying one and telling me whether they got stung?

Wappygixer

Most frames these days are made in the far east so that wouldn't suprise me.
If they were seconds I'd be suprised if Giant would let them out with their name on.
I'd take a guess at cheapo knock offs or nicked.

bigflangesmallsprocket

I've just remembered that China is a next door neighbour to Taiwan (and every few years tries to lay claim to it). Could the economy be such that local distributors can get hold of them a hell of a lot cheaper over there than we can?

I know you can see where I'm going with this :arrow: I own an OCR and though I like it overall it's a tad hard ride especially as the one I own is an 04 with steel forks, I'm also pretty skint, so these APPEAR to be a bargain. My feral like cheapskate nature is having a big ole fistfight with itself looking at these frames from both sides of the fence: con vs bargain.

cougie

Until someone I know and trust buys one - i will put these firmly in the 'too good to be true' category.

Bikes and Lingerie - so obvious a pairing eh ? ;-)

tri-sexual

looks to be a good deal
bigflange i think u should buy it and tell us if u got stung

pottssteve

I like the 1 year warranty - Like you're going to post it back!

They may be OK. An associate of mine got his Defy through a work colleague in Taiwan. The Giant factory is there. He had it shipped to HK and saved a couple of hundred pounds on HK retail price. Could be that they can import to Shanghai and still make a reasonable cut. Why not email the seller and ask a couple of searching questions? Or email Giant to see if they know the seller - if someone's buying in bulk they should.

Steve

System_1

I'm not sure I'd chance it. Once you add the postage and the import duty and tax they're not even that cheap. £151+£41 postage +15% import duty + 15% VAT you're looking at about £250. And looking at the Giant site they don't look like the same TCR's that are available in Europe or America. The tube profiles are all wrong. If you look at the Asian version of the Giant site you'll see those tubing profiles, so they are maybe an Asian only version (whether that's good or bad I don't know), but judging by the paint jobs they don't even look like the 2009 model. It all looks a bit dodgy to me.

And if you're looking for something less harsh riding than your OCR are you sure that model TCR is the way to go? It has even more more agressive geometry and is still made of the same aluminium as your OCR. Apart from the carbon fork I can't see how it's going to be any more comfortable than your current bike. For £250 you could get a nice pair of carbon forks and a decent set of wheels for your OCR. Or even a new frame and fork from Ribble or Kinesis for not much more, with the benefit of a UK based guarantee/warranty.

nferrar

Doesn't even look that good of a deal without worrying about customs snagging it - it's a basic aluminium frame.

fast as fupp

they look well jarg- the geometry and tube diameters are nothing like on any giant ive ever seen!

youd be better buying some carbon forks and seatpost for your ocr- i did with mine and it now rides great

sonny73

I wouldn't touch them with a barge pole, any frame being sold with the following sentence involved alone can't be trusted, along with the other notes people have made.

Attention:if you also buy the sexy babydolls and other sexy lingeries which we list when you buy the TCR frame,the lingeries are for free shipping.

bigflangesmallsprocket

Well I spent too much time last night googling, and did finally find out what these are. They are indeed frames specifically for the Asian market. I did actually find an example of one of these in a European website, the price being quoted in dollars as $371. So not that much of a bargain anyway even as genuine, considering the import tax sting (which I don't think applies as such in EU countries, though I could be wrong).

Tis a TCR, but not as we know it Jim. It's SL 6011, rather than SL 6061 (a subtlety which I initially missed), so assuming an inferior grade ali which a quick check seemed to show Giant do use, but for mtb's rather than roadbikes. I'd guess tough for inferior roads (look at those upper stays), but obviously not a patch on TCR's that we know.

I did email the seller who was happy to confirm what I'd spent ages googling..should have just got some shut-eye. Still, now I know.

Fast and all, that's exactly what I was doing when I found the ad. I was specifically looking for some OCR/TCR forks and this came up in my search results. Carbon forks are 10 a penny on ebay but I wanted something in keeping with the current style. I found some at the weekend and the dealer is due to email me tonight after checking them out. Carbon seatpost is on the list, and I'll be fitting 25c's on the back at least,a nd a total resetting of position. I'm just getting back on the bike after a combination of finicky health issues and looking to get my bikes as comfy as reasonably possible. I had read previously that the ali TCR was a slightly more comfy ride than the OCR, but I am on a very tight budget so every penny spent has to count. The main plan is to do a few minor comfort specific upgrades to the OCR and my singlespeed, but I have had a little side-trip to look at other frame options, basically watching Ebay, but nothing has caught my eye that's inside my budget.

acidstrato

is ocr just the new name for my 08 scr?

my scr 1.5 came with carbon forks and seat post anyway, intrieged to check what grade ali the frame is now

i uite like the design of the tubes on that tcr, i find my scr quite bland to look at

bigflangesmallsprocket

I think originally you just had the OCR and then a step up to the TCR. Both bikes came with two or three choices of kit. Then they started to get a bit clever and there were different versions of both. I think there are also basic and better versions of the SCR (and the Defy), which is a more recent addition to the Giant stable. I don't follow them closely but you should be able to find out more by going to the Giant website itself and having a good dig around.