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Not old enough to get my driving license yet, so my primary means of commute is still a bicycle! My first cycle as far as I remember was a BSA champ. It did not last very long before I graduated to a Firefox Raider which was my first geared bicycle. It came with 6 gears and with insanely powerful brakes compared to the BSA. I distinctly remember that I almost did a nose dive into the pavement on a downward slope after pulling the front brakes with the same force as for the BSAstupid:. The Raider did a good job and after a while I had to upgrade to a bigger bike as I was growing fast. The Decathlon stores intrigued me and after paying them a visit, I was really impressed with the quality of Btwin bikes. Got a Btwin Rockrider 5.1 which was an amazing choice. It had 21 gears and nothing too fancy. Came with a solid frame, lifetime warranty and peace of mind. Only caveat was that it had gripshifters which I changed to paddles later. It served for a good 8 years with no issues whatsoever. And now(about 6 months back), I decided to go for a proper mountain bike which feels like an upgrade even from the Btwin.

Narrowed it down to a few bikes, like the Trek Marlin 5, some models from Polygon, Giant etc. Budget was around 30k and what I found was that these models offer the most basic of components and the only good part about them is possibly the frame. They are exorbitantly priced for what they offer. Some components were the exact same as my Rockrider 5.1 which costed 12k:Frustrati. I then decided to check out what Decathlon has in store for a price of 30k. I checked out the Rockrider 520(26k)and the Rockrider 540(32k). Ride quality is significantly better on the 540 owing to the 100mm hydraulic fork with lockout, as well as the hydraulic disk brakes which made a world of difference. 520 comes with an 80mm coil fork and regular disc brakes, as well as a 24 gear setup while the 540 has 27. The geometry of both however, are the exact same. I decided to go for the 540 as I was really impressed with the suspension setup and the hydraulic brakes. Stand and bell had to be fitted at an additional cost à la decathlon. Chose the large size frame as it fit me rather well(5.1 was a small frame). However stuffing it into my Ertiga even after folding the last 2 rows was not an easy task.

This bike comes with 27.5” tyres by Btwin which offer good grip and comfort, 160mm hydraulic disc brakes(Rebranded Btwin by Tektro), A 3 speed Microshift front derailleur, 9 speed Shimano Altus rear derailleur(for a total of 27 years) and a set of Shimano Altus paddle shifters. The suspension fork is the Suntour XCR which offers 100mm of travel and being hydraulic, they are extremely smooth. They offer a hydraulic lockout function as well to use on flat roads to achieve higher speeds and avoid loss of energy while pedaling hard. This component list was matched only by bikes in the range of 40-50k atleast from the other so called premium brands. I have always had a good experience with decathlon and not to mention this bike comes with a lifetime warranty as well, so it was a no brainer.

I had a great first week with this before I ran into an issue where the front disc brake had leaked its mineral oil completely and puddled on the floor where I had parked it. I contacted Decathlon and they asked me to bring it in to have a look. They confirmed that this was a manufacturing defect and does not usually happen. The brakes cannot be fixed as the oil chamber is sealed from the factory. At the time, they did not have stock of the same brakes, so they offered to change the front brakes to a better model from Tektro. I agreed to it, however after a few days I felt that both the brakes had to be the same and I did not like the feeling of having different lever travel and brake bite on the front and rear. I called them up and asked for a solution to this, and they said that it would be hard for them to source just the original brakes and that only the new ones were available. A short while later the manager called up and told me that the entire bicycle can be replaced. They even sent a truck to pick up the old one and an hour later the new bicycle was delivered with the same accessories fitted. That is impressive customer service! +1 to Decathlon for this experience. The best part is, there was never a mention of the bill or any additional charges for fitting or replacing the brakes or anything. As it was understood that this was a serious issue and they were only focused on fixing it. Everything was done free of cost. 6 months and 1000km later I have not run into any issues with the new bike whatsoever. The ride quality really impressed me even over the pathetic Bangalore roads. It picks up speed rather quickly for a heavy mountain bike and is a comfortable commuter! We shall see how it fares in the coming years!

Indeed. There is no other sports vendor in India that provides as impressive a customer service for their products as Decathlon.

Thanks both. Any opinion on how to build conditioning and also things to consider to get used to road bike.

Honestly? Just put in the saddle time. It'll come on its own.

+1 to Axe77. Just start riding and put in the miles. Your body will get conditioned to the new bike.

One key thing to remember while riding the road bike is to engage your core to hold your position rather than leaning on your hands and supporting your weight with the hands. For very long rides, this can lead to numbness in hands. You can also keep switching the riding position between the hood, bar and the drops.

Fantastic customer service from Decathlonclap: Another company that offers similar customer service is Bigbasket. Amazon was great initially but now nearly in the league of third rate customer practice by most e-commerce companies in India.

So far my experience with them is very good, just the mobile number is enough for returns, exchanges and no third rate treatments. My only concern is demanding my handbag to be stored with the security or get it locked with a loop tag which is insulting but they point the frequent shoplifting cases in India. Shoplifting is prevalent even in Western countries but they don't do such practice.

I avoid visiting malls, theatres mainly due to the body checks by means of patting down and checking my bags. And the women are exempt from patting! Stupid practices.
Sorry for the slight:OT

Hi All,

Can someone please advice on suitable pollution masks that can be used during cycling. Due to metro construction in Bangalore the air quality is turning bad with particulate matter. Also since traffic is getting choked the exhaust from vehicles also make matter worse. I tried Decathlon mask but the fit is not right for me. I quickly turn breathless using it.

Regards,
babayaga

Kids Cycle:

I went ahead and ordered 16" Cycle in Cyan color. We liked retro look in the pictures. Apart from this the only other bikes I liked were the frog ones. My daughter and i are both eagerly waiting for the cycle to Land:).

Though the cycle looks really different in each of the picture I have seen:

Did Bangalore to Mysore Cycling last Saturday 23 November 2019.

140.9 KM done having riding time 5 hours and 20 minutes. Started from Bangalore at 5:45 AM and reached Mysore in the afternoon, had lunch at Mysore. Took some good amount of breaks for breakfast and hydration during the ride.

Regards,
narayanang76

That is a good pace.:thumbs up What about the return journey? Did you transport the bike in a vehicle?

Thanks Ravi.

There was a friend who is basically from Mysore who was also riding with me, we stayed at his home there and returned back on Sunday in a car. Transported the bikes inside the car, back to Bangalore.

regards,
narayanang76

:thumbs up:thumbs up Good stuff, narayanang76.
How safe did you feel cycling on the highway, considering the pace of vehicles around you?

Thanks Ben. How have you been doing?

Some folks have advised us earlier regarding Mysore road traffic, however we didn't have any issues whatsoever. Road widening is underway on the Bangalore-Mysore highway and we need to be careful definitely.

I also ride on the Old Madras Road till Kolar - these days the route I ride on weekends. So I am now used to ride my bicycle on highways.

regards,
narayanang76

Need a suggestion
I am looking for a second hand bicycle for office commute and daily errands. This will be about 7kms on weekdays. I will also use it for occasional weekend tours with office friends, which will be about 40-50kms.
I am 5'9" and 72kgs.
Will Bergamont Revox 2.5i be good for my purpose? Anyone has some experience with this bike? What should be a fair price for a 2017 model?

No personal experience with the brand but I understand a new one will set you back by 35 grand, so a 2017 model should be 10 grand cheaper. This model is not available anymore. I think you could look at Specialized as well. That bike is very reliable (BOTS New Year Sale should be coming, so expect discounts)