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Old 19th October 2011, 17:04   #61
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Re: The Travails of a Cyclist in Indian Cities

I used to cycle a lot during high school and +2. We used to have a BSA green color cycle during that time and was fun to ride it, our first cycle was a BSA SLR.

After post-graduation, I was placed in one of the 'happening' companies in Bangalore and one of the first purchases I did was buying a cycle. We used to cycle between Domlur and Kormangala, it used to be real fun.

After couple of years parents started pushing for marriage and met a girl over coffee, arranged by parents. Was talking about work and life in general and mentioned to her that one of my first purchases was a cycle and used to commute to office on that. The look on her face was priceless, her face said she is sitting in front of miser number 1, no guess on the outcome of the meeting - I got a prompt rejection.

Almost a month back I got myself gifted with a RR5.2, but I am not at all regular on using it.
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Old 19th October 2011, 19:39   #62
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Re: The Travails of a Cyclist in Indian Cities

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Originally Posted by Limpid View Post
This is a good idea, I will try this tomorrow. I carry Full set of formal cloths in my backpack. Fortunately my office has a GYM and showers on the ground floor.

My reflector lights got flicked recently , any idea where I can get those in Bangalore and how much a pair (front and rear light) would cost? I've tried in Decathlon but it's out of stock there.
I cycle to work once or twice a week.(Office is 5 Kms away). I wear a cycling jacket over my office clothes, tuck my pants into the socks, and absolutely dont worry if someone is staring at me dressed up like that. I dont sweat that much and I always have a spare can of deo in my cabin. I leave my office shoes though at cabin and use sports shoes when riding. I am a sight to behold :-).

I reach office cycling in 15 minutes and takes 25 minutes by car.

What I would request from fellow bike and car drivers is some amount of consideration. I dont ride in the middle of the road or zig zag around or ride like I am in the TdF. If you can leave the strip of the road corner to me, I would appreciate it.
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Old 19th October 2011, 19:44   #63
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Re: The Travails of a Cyclist in Indian Cities

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Originally Posted by Limpid View Post

My reflector lights got flicked recently , any idea where I can get those in Bangalore and how much a pair (front and rear light) would cost? I've tried in Decathlon but it's out of stock there.
wear on on your backpack/helmet. so you don't have to leave them on the bike.
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Old 25th October 2011, 14:56   #64
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Re: The Travails of a Cyclist in Indian Cities

Stupid Viral Fever and I am back to using my bike-car combination to office.

While yesterday, I had a decent bike ride.
Today the car drive so damn boring. I could hardly wait to get out of the car on the way to office.

The thermometer showed less than 99F today morning.
So post diwali, back to my cycle.

Do you guys also find city driving as incredibly boring once you started cycling?
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Old 11th November 2011, 16:30   #65
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Re: The Travails of a Cyclist in Indian Cities

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This is more to do with experiences on cycles
This seemed the most appropriate thread to share these links:



A view from the cycle path: How the Dutch got their cycling infrastructure

A view from the cycle path

Something for us and our municipal corporations to learn from this....

Cheers,
Vikram
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Old 11th November 2011, 17:06   #66
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Re: The Travails of a Cyclist in Indian Cities

Volvo buses overtaking you!! oh yes! these red mammoths try overtaking almost everything on the road, even the cyclists are not spared! I cycle mostly in and around Sir C V Raman Nagar, Indiranagar and Marathally, I have felt jittery most of the times when these buses overtake me without honking! I remember doing small time stunts during school days but now, just riding a bicycle on the road is in itself a challenge! specially when you live near a tech park and the roads are infested with these Volvo buses!!
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Old 15th December 2011, 20:27   #67
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Re: The Travails of a Cyclist in Indian Cities

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Riding a cycle in Bangalore city gives rise to a lot of dangerous, funny and sometimes unexpected situations. Would like to hear from other cyclists around the country on their experiences.
Hey stopped cycling..? No updates on this thread for a while!
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Old 16th December 2011, 11:25   #68
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Re: The Travails of a Cyclist in Indian Cities

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Do you guys also find city driving as incredibly boring once you started cycling?
Yes, very much so. I hate taking out the bike/car unless i really have to and when i do, i start to get edgy at traffic jams; no such problems while cycling you see . And, i so like the stares that everybody gives while they are stuck at a long signal and i just pedal across, so, driving a bike/car is certainly not as engaging!
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Old 16th December 2011, 11:35   #69
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Re: The Travails of a Cyclist in Indian Cities

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The look on her face was priceless, her face said she is sitting in front of miser number 1, no guess on the outcome of the meeting - I got a prompt rejection.

Almost a month back I got myself gifted with a RR5.2, but I am not at all regular on using it.
Haha . I have a badly injured little finger ,but reading this made me laugh .

I too ride to work from Koramangala to Electronic City on my Cannondale Trail 6 on every Friday .The first reaction that my dad had to this was tell my wife" Make sure non of our relatives know that you go to work on a cycle ! "

Cycling is bliss.Broken little finger ,but still cycled to work .I complusorily do atleast 30 kms a day on Fridays and Saturdays . On other days its 10-15 kms on alternate days .

I have done Mumbai ( mulund) to Vajreshwari and back on my BSA SLR single geared bike way back in 1992

Last edited by speedsatya : 16th December 2011 at 11:43.
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Old 16th December 2011, 11:37   #70
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Re: The Travails of a Cyclist in Indian Cities

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Yes, very much so. I hate taking out the bike/car unless i really have to and when i do, i start to get edgy at traffic jams; no such problems while cycling you see . And, i so like the stares that everybody gives while they are stuck at a long signal and i just pedal across, so, driving a bike/car is certainly not as engaging!
I don't walk on pavements or cross the road (99% of the time).
Instead I stand there and sometimes end up talking with strangers. Usually get some very interesting comments and discussion.

For instance a couple of days back, waiting at a signal. I am behind and to the left of a bus. There is some space to cross it. Couple of bikers immediately seize the opportunity and squeeze into the gap between my cycle and the bus. Idiots did not even think for a moment why I am not moving forward.

There was a nasty bottom scrapping ditch, which as a cyclist, I could avoid. But all those bikes ended up scrapping the underside.

They see a bike scrape. But the lure of the gap is so strong it drags them in like a black hole.

I did not cross because that would have needed me to get down and walk very close to the bus. I don't like that kind of closeness.

I am not able to control my laughter seeing these idiots. A scooterist comes beside me and says, "Aap Kaataar main hain". (You are in Q)
I tell him he is more than welcome to go ahead and get the bottom of his scooter cleaned up.

We start talking. He notices the gears on my bike. He wants to know if they are automatic. I show the levers.

Then he asks if I need to pedal the cycle. I tell him, not at all. I wear a loose T-Shirt so I just stand up and let the wind carry me.

All this discussion in Hindi and was extremely funny.

Last edited by bblost : 16th December 2011 at 11:38.
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Old 16th December 2011, 14:27   #71
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Re: The Travails of a Cyclist in Indian Cities

Hello cyclist bhpians! I love cycling since my school days just like anyone out here. Every weekend I used go around exploring new routes and go off the roads many times on my Hercules MTB back then. I now have two Hercules Flash 6 SPs, one for me and the other for my brother. We both had cycled to office once to a distance of 24 kms (to & fro) on it, which was really cool. Felt really hungry that day after the workout

But I face a chronic problem with both these cycles wherein the air from the tyres doesn't last more than 3 days. I have got it checked many times at the cycle shops and every time they just do a puncture check and change the valve tube, but the problem still persists. This is keeping me off the cycle off late and I don't want it to just lie around and catch rust! I do keep oiling it every now and then though.

Any solution for the problem with air guys? Will changing the entire tube help?
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Old 16th December 2011, 14:57   #72
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Re: The Travails of a Cyclist in Indian Cities

I wonder how I missed this thread all these days. It was roughly an year ago that I bought a Hercules act110 and started commuting to office on it.It was a good 13 km distance one way.
By car it usually took about 40 mins. Same used to take about 50 min on bicycle.
But odd hours of work and other reasons quickly put me off the habit and now it has been many months since I have cycled.
I even thought of selling it off since I didn't use it. But for some reason , I didn't get enough time actively dispose it off. So I decided to keep it and these days though my work hours permit commuting on cycle, my weight doesn't.
I started exercising to loose weight and gain some fitness to start cycling again. These days , after to changing to new job, even distance got cut off to 8 km one way.I wish and prepare to revive the habit by the turn of the new year.

Last edited by deetee : 16th December 2011 at 14:59.
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Old 16th December 2011, 15:13   #73
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Re: The Travails of a Cyclist in Indian Cities

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But I face a chronic problem with both these cycles wherein the air from the tyres doesn't last more than 3 days. I have got it checked many times at the cycle shops and every time they just do a puncture check and change the valve tube, but the problem still persists. Any solution for the problem with air guys? Will changing the entire tube help?
Yes .Its a no-brainer .Just change the tube .
BTW are you sure that this isnt someone playing dirty with you . I never park my bike in the parking lot,I always carry it up all the way to the 4th floor .

Last edited by speedsatya : 16th December 2011 at 15:23.
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Old 16th December 2011, 15:16   #74
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Re: The Travails of a Cyclist in Indian Cities

Inspect the tire very carefully.

My last puncture was due to a piece of metal that was as thin as hair and not even a centimeter long.
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Old 16th December 2011, 15:38   #75
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Re: The Travails of a Cyclist in Indian Cities

@speedsatya: Although there are some naughty kids in our society, but I am sure they're not messing around with these two cycles in particular as they are parked right in front of my apartment and have been so for more than 3 years now - don't think any kid or any one else will keep doing it for so long time??

Also, I had changed a tube in one of them after a puncture, but still the air leak problem is there so i'm even more confused.

@bblost - Yup! Everything's been checked - many times rather!
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