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Old 8th September 2020, 10:31   #4786
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Re: The Bicycles thread

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Originally Posted by ninjatalli View Post
My problem with such views (and that’s why I stopped going to the weight loss thread) is the weight related metric seems to justify everything.

I have done the diets in the past, gone from 96 to 72 kilos over a year and bounced back to late 80s within a few months; the moment I got of the diet to healthy food (but minimal restrictions).

For me health and fitness go hand in hand - it’s more qualitative for me than a statistic (for eg waist to height ratio, total weight, etc)

- am I able to run a half marathon with less than a week’s practice
- can I cycle 100kms (or even a brevet) without feeling like I need to take the rest of the day off just to recuperate
- do I have the energy to climb a decent sized mountain (think Harishchandragad as a good eg)
- can I swim at least a few lengths of a normal sized pool
- can I go on full day hikes (treks) for many back to back days
- can I kayak at least a few hours in rivers or the ocean

and so on. For me, it’s important that I am able to truthfully answer yes to all such questions.

That’s being fit to me. I have been in mid 80s since past 2 years inspire of numerous marathons and long cycling and whatnot, and I have made my peace with it (except when I look at my naked body in the mirror )
Much as I would like to emulate @graaja and get a tiny waist and look like a total pro in a race fit jersey, the reality hits me every morning in front of the full length mirror after a bath. 😂

So after battling with Keto and IF both, I decided that I just did not like how I "felt" when I was in the midst of both. Not to mention my cycling performance dipping as well. And cycling is my primary sport, and I take it as a sport, as I do not consider myself to be a recreational cyclist. So my AIM is racing in the Masters and being somewhere mid pack or even in the front field. Who knows, even podium ...

Everything else is means to that aim. If I am stront on tge bike, my cardio pumping well, my legs feeling good, a 40-42 inch waist does not really matter to me at that point in time. It annoys me when I'm putting on my formal trousers though.

But I've always been a big guy. Even in my early 20s in college at the peak of my youth I was a 180 cm 75 kilo guy. In my 30s I led a very unhealthy lifestyl. In terms of duet and heavy smoking. Plus building my career and young family. I guess genes, athletic history of the first 20 years, and my hardcore motorcycling kept things steady.

I quit smoking just as I hit my 40s (after 20+ years of heavy smoking) and ballooned in weight in my early 40s. But I was feeling much healthier as my body repaired itself. When I was nudging the 100 kilo mark rhat was the breaking point and I started various fad diets and hitting the gym. I must admit gyming is addictive but gets stale really quickly. I'm a wheels guy. An outdoors guy.

That was around the time my best friend bought a Bergamot MTB and got serious about cycling. He used to drop in home often after his ride and his gear and bike and enthu were really infectious! I dusted and overhauled my old trusty Hercules Top Gear MTB at that time and came upon this thread too! The old posts and photos are still there. This was late 2016.

Once 8 started cycling the old muscle memory of my school cycling days just simply took over. As did the always present competitive edge. I got into BRMs with my then newly acquired ACT 110. I did a lot of cycling too soon and the sudden training and BRM volume overload of 3000+ kms in October to December of 2017 gave me a bad ITBS injury in my right knee. On the cusp of my 600 km SR ride in January 2018.

The major part of 2018 went in exercises, strength training, foam rolling, electric therapy and physio massages and manipulation, and stretching like a mad man. Just to get ready for the next (and last gor tge season) 600 in September.

I however made the mistake of listening to my friend against my instincts and ditched my ACT fir his brothers unused and better component Scott hybrid. Lighter. Mire gears. Better group set. Horrible geometry for me! I was never at ease on that bike. And I struggled through training rides on it, longer, and still longer. My speed a pale shadow of the previous year. And on the final day of the 600 I lined up, and 150 km into the ride, after getting over Khambatki and fighting across the Satara climbs I had a huge piece of sharp fiber rip into my rear tyre totally stranding me.

That was the end of my SR dreams for that season.

I dumped tge Scott in disgust. Got the ACT hub issues solved. And was back on her and feeling good and strong again after a year.

2019 came. I did many practice 200s and 300s. Registered for the BRM annual fee. Did the 200. Did the 300. I was on my CAAD now. Flying! Lined up for the 400. Had to go by car to Bombay the next morning for my Visa. Thought I would finish the 400 quick. Have a bath and jump onto the car with my file.

The 400 started. And I was off. Averaging 27+ till the 200 km turaround. Free massage chair by the organisers, some food, and started the return leg. Reached Satara. Just 110 km to go. And the speed I was driving at meant I had over 10 hours left to do that in.

But man proposes. God disposes! Waves of sleep were crashing and sweeping over me. And I started taking 5 min catnaps at points along the highway. Each time I thought I would feel refreshed, but it was getting increasingly hard keeping my eyes open. Finally I went to sleep on a deserted tandoor stand by the side of the highway.

The barking of dogs surrounding me woke me up. 3 hours later! Cold and muscles stiffened up. By that time I had some 80-90 kms and still 6 hours. But the kicker was that I would miss my car and the Visa interview appointment. A decision had to be made quickly and I took it. And finally got a tempo guy to stop in the dead of night. Loaded my bike on to it, and sat in front with him and was in Poona in the next couple of hours. The crushing experience of watching randonneurs strewn all along the road as I passed them. All of them who had been behind me the past day over the past 300 odd km and had passed me while I slept.

There was a fable we learned as kids that came to mind ... but at that time I was crushed with disappointment. And did not see the irony or humor in the situation.

So that was that of my shortlived randonneuring career. I decided that the Indian roads at night for something that at the end of the day is not a competition and everyone gets the same reward regardless of when he finishes was not for me. You can fight fatigue and pain. But as a biker I knew that you cannot and should never fight sleep.

Started looking at racing. And interval training. And that's what I did for the rest of the year, taking part in a few races. 2020 came. Big plans. Then COVID. And it's been indoor trainer since then, working on my aerobic base and threshold power since then. With 8 outdoor centuries on my ACT since August.

Somewhere along the way I hope I lose a few kilos. But I do not have the lifestyle and mental bandwidth to do a super involved diet anymore. I'll just go back to my old "Doc style" diet that worked for me in the past of cutting out or severely limiting roti, bread, rice, potatoes which are the bulk of a Parsi diet and stick to habing normal food "lukkha" without these staples.

Thanks for your patience, whoever has had the fortitude of reading through this rambling account of a middle aged amateur cyclist who is trying to get faster, not just slimmer!

Cheers, Doc
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Old 8th September 2020, 11:26   #4787
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Re: The Bicycles thread

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Originally Posted by greyhound82 View Post
Had a very bad hit and run during my daily morning cycling , helmet and luck avoided head injury but had to undergo a surgery to take care of a compound fracture . This results in a slight length difference in my left hand and confidence issues with cycling and accessing the traffic
Slowly started again . Hope I can enjoy those long rides again
Sorry to hear it. Now, virtual riding is very much possible. Just get a decent trainer and go zwifting. You might enjoy it much more than riding on the dangerous roads out there.
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Old 8th September 2020, 13:15   #4788
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ebonho View Post
Thanks for your patience, whoever has had the fortitude of reading through this rambling account of a middle aged amateur cyclist who is trying to get faster, not just slimmer!

Cheers, Doc
Extremely well compiled Doc ! And I have been following you (and also troubling you with infinite queries) since 2019, when I got my ACT 110 after hearing so many nice things about that bicycle from you and Ninjatalli. I didn't know if I really would take cycling up, so I even had a back-up plan of selling the ACT to Ninjatalli if things didn't go as expected. But thanks to this forum, and especially Doc, I learnt loads, sustained and kept pedaling through 2019. Knee injury reared its ugly head towards November, but with advice from Doc I improved my ergonomics, included stretching after rides in my schedule and slowly recovered from it after a 2 month break to cycling.

Got a Triban RC500 after discussing about a million different road bikes with Doc, and I am sure somewhere along the way Doc would have cursed himself for having shared his personal number with me Progress was slow, to avoid getting injured again, and I was way too slow after the almost 3 month gap, and again I set the bike ergonomics right by sharing so many pictures with Doc. I wanted to include an "ebonho" sticker on my bike as I felt it would be a small gesture from my side for all the help and kindness from him, but Doc asked me not to embarrass him like that.

But yes, a big thanks to this forum and such wonderful souls that keep the spirits high and help so many people get going with their journey on cycling and fitness 😄
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Old 8th September 2020, 13:24   #4789
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Re: The Bicycles thread

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Originally Posted by aravind.anand View Post
But yes, a big thanks to this forum and such wonderful souls that keep the spirits high and help so many people get going with their journey on cycling and fitness 😄
Thanks Aravind! You are too kind man. For a Chennai boy to take the effort to meet up with a Poona boy on a zoom in and out visit is what Team BHP and personal friendships are about. Its what makes us continue to come back here and share.

Plus I am bike crazy and talking about bikes non stop is not work for me, its an opportunity of a ready audience!

Cheers, Doc
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Old 9th September 2020, 19:00   #4790
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Re: The Bicycles thread

Hello all. I intend to replace the Schwalbe Road Cruiser tires on my hybrid since they're beginning to form cracks and I've faced too many minute punctures recently. Does anyone have any experience with Panaracer brand of tires? I see that they have 700c tires with puncture-protection layer (similar to the much revered Schwalbe Marathon tires). I believe the layer could help battling the punctures (as the road cruisers tires have no such layer).

All inputs welcome. Please help. TIA.
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Old 9th September 2020, 19:21   #4791
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Re: The Bicycles thread

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Originally Posted by RishikeshK View Post
Hello all. I intend to replace the Schwalbe Road Cruiser tires on my hybrid since they're beginning to form cracks and I've faced too many minute punctures recently. Does anyone have any experience with Panaracer brand of tires?
No idea - but seems like Roadbikereview and other biking sites are giving decent reviews so give it a try and let us know

Btw personally I can vouch for Vittoria Randonneur (700X32C) and Schwalbe Duranos (700X25C). The former has done about ~1000 kms and the latter 2000+ kms.

Quote:
Originally Posted by aravind.anand View Post
I didn't know if I really would take cycling up, so I even had a back-up plan of selling the ACT to Ninjatalli if things didn't go as expected.
I'm happy to buy the ACT110 if you are selling around the price that you (and I were asked) back then

Good to hear about the upgrade!
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Old 9th September 2020, 20:04   #4792
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Re: The Bicycles thread

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I'm happy to buy the ACT110 if you are selling around the price that you (and I were asked) back then
You already have so many bikes man! What will you do with one more? Especially since you have two very cool hybrids.

It set me wondering. What is it about the ACT that continues to hold the attention of riders long after they are new entrants and have racked up a sizable number of kilometers and bike upgrades?

It's not light.

The stock wheels are dicey at best, especially the rear one for heavy riders like us.

Bolted solid axle at the rear and not a hollow axle quick release either.

It comes in just one size.

It's got a rudimentary Tourney 3x7 entry level groupset.

That too with a threaded freewheel and not a cassette.

What makes bikers keep these babies and continue to spend on them. A lot more cumulatively than the price of the bike (new or used) eventually?!!!!

Any pointers?

Cheers, Doc

Last edited by ebonho : 9th September 2020 at 20:07.
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Old 9th September 2020, 20:26   #4793
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Re: The Bicycles thread

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Originally Posted by ebonho View Post
You already have so many bikes man! What will you do with one more? Especially since you have two very cool hybrids.


Cheers, Doc
You didn’t get the catch I offered to buy it at the absolutely bargain price Aravind and I were offered back then. Iirc it was 2000?
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Old 10th September 2020, 10:35   #4794
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Re: The Bicycles thread

Quote:
Originally Posted by RishikeshK View Post
Hello all. I intend to replace the Schwalbe Road Cruiser tires on my hybrid since they're beginning to form cracks and I've faced too many minute punctures recently. Does anyone have any experience with Panaracer brand of tires? I see that they have 700c tires with puncture-protection layer (similar to the much revered Schwalbe Marathon tires). I believe the layer could help battling the punctures (as the road cruisers tires have no such layer).

All inputs welcome. Please help. TIA.
Heard about the brand during my short visit to Japan. 80% of the cycles I saw there ran those tires. Even their road bike tires were quite costly compared to equivalent tires from Conti/Schwalbe and all, so I assume they should be good enough.
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Old 10th September 2020, 10:45   #4795
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Re: The Bicycles thread

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Originally Posted by jsrakkar View Post
[*][*]The riding posture seems too bent down; the reach to pedals seems okay, but I think I need to go for a longer stem. I have a very small neck and in the current position, visibility of the road becomes a problem. What do you guys suggest?
Jaspreet Singh
I have a RC 120 and am loving every bit of it. So the other day a friend and I rode around the base of Nandi Hills a short ride from Bangalore. And he shot a video of me while riding alongside. In this video I change my posture from hands on tops, to hoods, to drops. Then I found a valuable resource on the net Motionysis.com where I uploaded the video and measured all relevant angles of my body posture, like knee angles, torso arm angle, torso angle with horizontal, knee over the pedal spindle etc and compared them with published figures for comfort. I found that my seat was too far back but all other parameters were within normal. It also has a tool for measurement of length.

So I suggest you could do the same to sort out your ergonomic issues.

Unfortunately the free version has a limit of 3 video uploads of 10 secs each but the paid version has no limitations and is 5$ a month.
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Old 10th September 2020, 11:27   #4796
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Re: The Bicycles thread

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Originally Posted by ninjatalli View Post
No idea - but seems like Roadbikereview and other biking sites are giving decent reviews so give it a try and let us know
Yes, the reviews in general are decent. I'll definitely post the feedback here after giving them a try.

Quote:
Originally Posted by ninjatalli View Post
Btw personally I can vouch for Vittoria Randonneur (700X32C) and Schwalbe Duranos (700X25C). The former has done about ~1000 kms and the latter 2000+ kms.
I was looking for Vittoria Randonneur too, but in the current COVID-19 situation, stocks have depleted almost everywhere. Hence this unusual consideration. Thanks.
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Old 11th September 2020, 12:19   #4797
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Re: The Bicycles thread

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I am looking for a helmet under 2k, any suggestions?
I got Van Rysel RoadR 500 from Decathlon. I placed order online on 22-Aug and received it on 9-Sept due to ongoing Corona related delivery issues. I have a an entry level Btwin mybike and is using it for short runs (2-5 km).
Decathlon online order fulfillment and customer support is really bad. Try to go to the store instead of ordering online. I have placed 2 orders and faced issues with both. Third order is on the way (delivery by India Post), let me see how it goes.

1st order - Package missing tool kit, customer service did not help. I had to buy tools from amazon to assemble my bike.
2nd order - They took 18 days to deliver it.

Last edited by Latheesh : 11th September 2020 at 12:27.
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Old 11th September 2020, 14:40   #4798
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Re: The Bicycles thread

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I got Van Rysel RoadR 500 from Decathlon.
That's one heck of a roadie you've got there. Do share some pics when you are done assembling it, or does it comes fully assembled? what made you sway to this model. Thanks!
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Old 11th September 2020, 17:44   #4799
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Re: The Bicycles thread

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Originally Posted by Latheesh View Post
I am looking for a helmet under 2k, any suggestions?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Latheesh View Post
I got Van Rysel RoadR 500 from Decathlon.
Quote:
Originally Posted by drive_angry View Post
That's one heck of a roadie you've got there. Do share some pics when you are done assembling it, or does it comes fully assembled? what made you sway to this model. Thanks!
I think he bought the helmet only of Van Rysel brand and not the bike.
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Old 11th September 2020, 19:32   #4800
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Re: The Bicycles thread

Looking for a hybrid bike currently, on a limited budget. My search yielded Triban 100 (with flat handle bar), Triad X3 and Montra Downtown and one more Montra whose name evades me currently.

The Triban seems to be quite popular but seems to be sold out. I trust Btwin as a brand. But since its OOS, looks like Triad and Montra are my only options - any idea how are these brands and if they make good bikes? Its nigh impossible to find any reviews of Triad. Makes me believe its a brand new brand. Their IG has 200 followers and did not respond to my queries. However if there are any reviews from members here I am ready to jump.
Some random quips and responses here and there across the interweb made me believe Montra is a slightly "premium" Indian brand that makes quality bikes. I have never heard of that brand but then I have been out of country for 10 years almost. I know only Hercules and Hero and BSA from back in the day.

Any other suggestions apart from these brands are also welcome under 20k INR or thereabouts.
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