[graaja]

Originally Posted by 99octane

Hey guys! I'm on the lookout to purchase a new bicycle and have a budget of around 15,000 give or take and want the best one I can get. I basically want to ride it in and around my neighborhood for a good exercise.

I live in Kolkata and there are majorly car free by-lanes behind my house which give me a good couple of kilometers in total to cycle in.

I think even for a tall rider a regular bike with the right frame size is enough. Check out the options from Decathlon. They make some good "value for money" models. Check out both their MTB and hybrid options. Do a test ride and see which model feels comfortable.

Unless you are looking to go off-roading, a good hybrid bike should be good enough for rough roads. Hybrid bikes come with 28 or 32 section tires that can give you a comfortable ride. Also, in my experience, shock absorbers in cycles are needed only for off-roading. For regular roads (even with bad patches), shock absorbers are not needed and they tend to only reduce the efficiency of the bike. If you are planning to do really short rides, then this does not matter. But in case you get hooked into cycling and start doing longer rides, you will start feeling this disadvantage (this is from my own experience). So, consider this aspect as well for future-proofing your bike purchase.

Happy shopping!

[ghodlur]

Got my son a new bicycle recently in Bangalore from Shah bikes on the Airport road near Sahakarnagar. The cycle is from Fantombikes and model is Scorpion. 7 geared (rear) cycle with front shock absorbers. Costed me Rs 12500 including accessories. The store didnt budge much on negotiations.

[sharktale]

Originally Posted by 99octane

Hey guys! I'm on the lookout to purchase a new bicycle and have a budget of around 15,000 give or take and want the best one I can get. I basically want to ride it in and around my neighborhood for a good exercise.

Decathlon is a good option. You can also try out Bike Studio (Link). They have their Kolkata showroom in Salt Lake area. My colleague is the franchise owner (also a cycling-buff) for the Kolkata store and he may help you out in terms of their product range.

Disclaimer: The franchise owner of Kolkata is my present colleague. Mods may delete this post if it breaks any rules at Team-BHP.

[boniver]

In January this year, I decided to start working on improving my fitness. I started walking, and soon it got pretty boring for me. I walked about 150 kms in the first 15 days, and I had pretty much seen everything in a 5 km radius around my house.

In the meantime, I came across BHPian Aditya's Strava profile and was greatly inspired by him. BHPian 2himanshu was also of immense help, with his threads and his guidance over WhatsApp.

My 5th semester exams started on 18th January. While coming back home from the exam centre, I bought a bicycle on an impulse and sent my entire family into shock by doing so! I had never been allowed to ride a bicycle in my childhood, so my parents' unhappiness was pretty natural.

Since 19th January, I've covered exactly 1000 kms on the bicycle (500 in February itself). The longest ride I've done is 40 kms, and I average about 15-20 kms per ride, with 3-4 rides a week. It's pretty fun, and it gives me a good workout. My highest average speed till date has been 20 kmph over a distance of 20 kms, while my daily average is somewhere around the 16-17 kmph mark. I ride on mostly flat city roads.

Now onto the bike itself. It is a Hercules StreetCat Pro 3.0 single speed MTB with fixed forks. Being an MTB, it's kind of hard to use over long distances so I'll probably shift to slicks soon. I'm also looking at a multi-speed conversion next. Yes, I know that it's easier to sell this bike and just buy a geared one, but I want to do it for the DIY experience. Like my car and my motorbike, I've now removed all the decals from the bike, thereby completely blacking it out.

The only things I dislike are:
-The seat post. It's just too short, and it doesn't even stay at the highest setting. I've asked my neighbourhood shop to arrange for a longer seat post, so will get that installed soon.
-The saddle is just uncomfortable, and there are no two ways about it. I did buy a memory foam seat cover to make it more comfortable, but I read about its disadvantages on this very thread, so I've now taken it off. Must get a new saddle soon.
-The interiors of the bell rattle too much on concrete roads. This really got my goat and I even ended up taking the bell off. A few rides later though, the bell was screwed back on, since I think it's better to listen to rattles than crashing into jaywalkers. Looking for a better bell now.

Oh, and I paid Rs. 5000 for the cycle (Rs. 4850+Rs. 150 labour charges for assembling it). I got a bicycle stand, a bell and a lock free. I then bought a speedometer, a bottle holder and a seat cushion from Amazon. Now onto some pictures:


First ride at 5am on 19th January.


A picture at the same spot, 5 months later to show how the bike looks now.


My first highway ride a couple of days after getting the bike home.


Took the same route a couple of days back, covering the same distance at a relatively faster pace.

Will appreciate more guidance and tips on riding and maintenance from the seniors here. Also need your thoughts on the multi-speed conversion I'm aiming for.

Regards.

[99octane]

Folks, how is FROG CYCLES as a company? Are they manufacturing good quality cycles? I'm interested in ordering one online since the current covid situation isn't optimum to go out to shops to purchase.

I'm looking at the Frog viper x 101 27.5, panther 29, leopard 29 and the FAT tyre vantage x 27.5.
Their price range is 15-18k for these cycles.

Please give me your learned recommendations!

I have attached the specs sheets down below..

[premjit]

Originally Posted by boniver

In January this year, I decided to start working on improving my fitness. I started walking, and soon it got pretty boring for me. I walked about 150 kms in the first 15 days, and I had pretty much seen everything in a 5 km radius around my house.

In the meantime, I came across BHPian Aditya's Strava profile and was greatly inspired by him. BHPian 2himanshu was also of immense help, with his threads and his guidance over WhatsApp.

My 5th semester exams started on 18th January. While coming back home from the exam centre, I bought a bicycle on an impulse and sent my entire family into shock by doing so! I had never been allowed to ride a bicycle in my childhood, so my parents' unhappiness was pretty natural.

Since 19th January, I've covered exactly 1000 kms on the bicycle (500 in February itself). The longest ride I've done is 40 kms, and I average about 15-20 kms per ride, with 3-4 rides a week. It's pretty fun, and it gives me a good workout. My highest average speed till date has been 20 kmph over a distance of 20 kms, while my daily average is somewhere around the 16-17 kmph mark. I ride on mostly flat city roads.

Now onto the bike itself. It is a Hercules StreetCat Pro 3.0 single speed MTB with fixed forks. Being an MTB, it's kind of hard to use over long distances so I'll probably shift to slicks soon. I'm also looking at a multi-speed conversion next. Yes, I know that it's easier to sell this bike and just buy a geared one, but I want to do it for the DIY experience. Like my car and my motorbike, I've now removed all the decals from the bike, thereby completely blacking it out.

The only things I dislike are:
-The seat post. It's just too short, and it doesn't even stay at the highest setting. I've asked my neighbourhood shop to arrange for a longer seat post, so will get that installed soon.
-The saddle is just uncomfortable, and there are no two ways about it. I did buy a memory foam seat cover to make it more comfortable, but I read about its disadvantages on this very thread, so I've now taken it off. Must get a new saddle soon.
-The interiors of the bell rattle too much on concrete roads. This really got my goat and I even ended up taking the bell off. A few rides later though, the bell was screwed back on, since I think it's better to listen to rattles than crashing into jaywalkers. Looking for a better bell now.

Oh, and I paid Rs. 5000 for the cycle (Rs. 4850+Rs. 150 labour charges for assembling it). I got a bicycle stand, a bell and a lock free. I then bought a speedometer, a bottle holder and a seat cushion from Amazon. Now onto some pictures:

Attachment 2017002
First ride at 5am on 19th January.

Attachment 2017005
A picture at the same spot, 5 months later to show how the bike looks now.

Attachment 2017007
My first highway ride a couple of days after getting the bike home.

Attachment 2017006
Took the same route a couple of days back, covering the same distance at a relatively faster pace.

Will appreciate more guidance and tips on riding and maintenance from the seniors here. Also need your thoughts on the multi-speed conversion I'm aiming for.

Regards.

Hi Boniver, We have a lovely riding group which rides around Kolkata. We should connect sometime for a joint ride.

[premjit]

Originally Posted by 99octane

Hey guys! I'm on the lookout to purchase a new bicycle and have a budget of around 15,000 give or take and want the best one I can get. I basically want to ride it in and around my neighborhood for a good exercise.

I live in Kolkata and there are majorly car free by-lanes behind my house which give me a good couple of kilometers in total to cycle in.

The road is filled with potholes and bumpers and I'd personally prefer an MTB with Suspension, in the front, definitely, rear too if possible and gears 7x3 21sp and front and rear disc breaks.

I really need a larger size cycle since I'm 6ft tall and have large feet. 27.5 or 29 inch tyres are going to be my preference along with a larger size frame.

I have shortlisted the following:

1. Frog viper x 101 27.5 Rs 16,500
2. Montra madrock 27.5 2019 17,000/ 29 2018 17,000/ 29 1019 19,000
3. Frog leopard 29 Rs 16,000
4. Frog panther 29 Rs 19,000
5. Firefox Creed 27.5 17,500
6. Hercules Roadeo fugitive or hardliner 27.5/29 all models around 14,000

Hoping on your learned suggestions to help me out!

Regards,
99octane

Hi, for your budget, you can get some super mid range bikes (Albeit used) in Kolkata. Most cyclists do take excellent care of their bikes with clean drive trains, chains and regular servicing. A better mid range bike like a Fuji, Giant will be far more enjoyable.

[99octane]

Originally Posted by premjit

Hi, for your budget, you can get some super mid range bikes (Albeit used) in Kolkata. Most cyclists do take excellent care of their bikes with clean drive trains, chains and regular servicing. A better mid range bike like a Fuji, Giant will be far more enjoyable.

Please connect me with them and also give me new bike options. I'd kinda prefer getting new ones cos I want them to run and dealing with customer sellers is a hell of a task.

[goandude]

Mybike from Btwin
Hi all,

Since Feb I had been off running due to injury so I decided to pick up a simple bicycle to keep up my aerobic fitness. Settled on a single speed basic bike from Decathlon and have been quite happy with it. I do 18 to 22 kms on alternate days at an average speed of 22 kmph. My area to ride is around Old airport, HAL, Marathahalli and CV Raman Nagar and I generally ride early in the morning.

I have a question for the knowledgeable here. I want to change the gearing from 44/18 to 44/16 as i find i am spinning a lot on the flats. Decathlon doesn't have this cog but it's available on Amazon. So my question is
Are the rear cogs of a standard size so that most would fit?

Here are some pics of the bicycle, I have had the handle bar raised and the seat adjusted to my leg length.



Notice the small extension for the rear mudguard which I have made to save my back from the dirt thrown up from the wet roads.

[Gryph0n]

Originally Posted by boniver

I've now removed all the decals from the bike, thereby completely blacking it out.

It does look a lot more elegant. The only drawback would be that your cycle becomes invisible to other motorists in the evening/night, unless you are having some rear light or reflectors.

[boniver]

Originally Posted by Gryph0n

It does look a lot more elegant. The only drawback would be that your cycle becomes invisible to other motorists in the evening/night, unless you are having some rear light or reflectors.

Thanks! When I bought this, my only promise (to myself) was that I wouldn't ride it after sunset/before sunrise. Been 5 months and I haven't broken my promise yet. That being said, I do have a blinking rear LED that I had purchased since I used to ride early in the morning in winter, in foggy conditions.

[itisravi]

Originally Posted by goandude

Mybike from Btwin
I want to change the gearing from 44/18 to 44/16 as i find i am spinning a lot on the flats. Decathlon doesn't have this cog but it's available on Amazon. So my question is
Are the rear cogs of a standard size so that most would fit?

Yes it would fit, although it would be easier on your knees to spin rather than grind, especially since you are off from running due to injury. HAL climb from Marathahalli towards Domlur is kinda steep . But the swap is worth a try since the freewheel is not that expensive.

[Sebring]

Picked up a great Road Bike from Decathlon (this was the last piece). Aluminium bike, Carbon fork, 16 speed. Plan to take up a new fitness regime, from 5am-7am, (feeling that Gyms may never open considering the burgeoning Covid cases around me)

[procrj]

Originally Posted by Sebring

Picked up a great Road Bike from Decathlon (this was the last piece). Aluminium bike, Carbon fork, 16 speed. Plan to take up a new fitness regime, from 5am-7am, (feeling that Gyms may never open considering the burgeoning Covid cases around me)

Do post a detailed review after a few weeks of usage. I finally dusted off my 9 year old schwinn and started riding after a long long time. Need to get myself a handle bar riser and a good set of gloves.



P.S: Can join you on a ride after a few weeks if you are open to it

[Sebring]

Of course, let's do it. Fitness is important. Please PM me where you reside

Originally Posted by procrj

P.S: Can join you on a ride after a few weeks if you are open to it