[Axe77]

Guys. Sorry but I have a really stupid question that I’m unable to resolve.

Has anyone managed to get around making Zwift monthly payments post this silly RBI credit card rule change. I have tried the suggestion from Zwift FAQ but it simply keeps showing a failed result when I re-subscribe and put in my credit card details. I am using Citibank credit card (Mastercard) in case thats relevant.

As an alternative, is there any way I can move my Zwift subscription to my apple ecosystem? Even that will work since I have managed to use Apple Wallet to fund all recurring subscriptions on Apple. Currently though my Zwift is a direct payment subscription to Zwift - its not via Apple.

Any suggestions or assistance is welcome.

Thank you.

[vb-san]

The Selle Royal saddle that came with the BMC was quite hard and uncomfortable, especially on longer rides (probably because of the hard long nose). Thought I will get used to it but even after 400+ km, I was not getting that comfort/familiarity.

During the evening ride stopped at the LBS (Trek) to check options; came back home with a new saddle. Slightly expensive, need to see how this one bed in…

The new saddle (Bontrager Aeolus Comp)




The now-replaced Selle Royal

[ninjatalli]

Originally Posted by Axe77

Has anyone managed to get around making Zwift monthly payments post this silly RBI credit card rule change.

I remember @graaja toiling with this issue a while ago - suggest you get in touch with him if you already haven't.

Edit: Noticed back then he was having that conversation with you only - ah, never mind.

Originally Posted by vb-san

The replaced Selle Royal

Good call - that saddle doesn't look comfortable at all. Good call on the new saddle.

Btw you inadvertently seem to be heading towards a road bike with all the recent changes - the (racing road-bike oriented) frame of your BMC and now the aero road saddle. I wonder if a direct shift to a road bike would have been more apt.

[vb-san]

Originally Posted by ninjatalli

Good call - that saddle doesn't look comfortable at all. Good call on the new saddle.

Thank you!

Originally Posted by ninjatalli

Btw you inadvertently seem to be heading towards a road bike with all the recent changes - the (racing road-bike oriented) frame of your BMC and now the aero road saddle. I wonder if a direct shift to a road bike would have been more apt.

Yes, as I mentioned in my earlier post, I went to the BMC shop seeing a Teammachine ALR in stock, but it got sold off an hour before I reached the shop. Almost all the brands here are not expecting a shipment at least until March next year (for aluminium frame bikes); checked with Trek, Canyon, Scott, BMC, Giant, Orbea, Cannondale etc. The other option is to look at carbon models, which will increase the budget by at least 50-75K INR. There is a Trek Emonda SL5 in stock, and that cost SGD 1200 (INR 65K) more than the corresponding Emonda ALR5. Other than the frame, the groupset and other components are identical, and strangely the ALR weighs slightly less than the SL carbon. Tried the used-bike route as well but not many options.

Considering all these, when I saw the Alpenchallenge with the aggressive stance/ride, just got that – kind of an impulsive buy, but loved the way it rides and easily can stay as the second bike for family/neighbourhood rides. With 35c tyres it is quite comfortable for lazy rides as well.


Got a call yesterday from a shop that they have a Cervelo Caledonia 105 in stock, but at around SGD 5000 (INR 2.75 lakhs), it’s a bit too steep to bite (quite a compelling option though)

Hopefully will get a roadie by Q1 next year. If I decide on carbon route, Orbea M30 is another option I am tracking

[ebonho]

Originally Posted by vb-san

Hopefully will get a roadie by Q1 next year. If I decide on carbon route, Orbea M30 is another option I am tracking

Strangely roadies (high end ones too) seem to have started trickling in here in India.

Two new bike rides in a single day yesterday on Strava. One a beautiful Giant Propel carbon aero bike. Will be racing the team DC in a couple of weeks.

Cheers, Doc

[vb-san]

Originally Posted by ebonho

Strangely roadies (high end ones too) seem to have started trickling in here in India.

Two new bike rides in a single day yesterday on Strava. One a beautiful Giant Propel carbon aero bike. Will be racing the team DC in a couple of weeks.

The Propel is an awesome-looking bike; saw one when I visited the Giant showroom here last month – costs 10K++ SGD

India, I feel is a huge market now with so many people taking up the sport. I was surprised to see so many Malayalam bike channels on YouTube.

[ebonho]

Originally Posted by vb-san

India, I feel is a huge market now with so many people taking up the sport. I was surprised to see so many Malayalam bike channels on YouTube.

That is true, but in terms of road bikes, in a very select band of say 60k to 1 lac rupees. Which per today's prices does not get you a 105 (Common Joe's entry level racing 11 speed group-set) but only an alloy bike between a Claris to a Sora or a Tiagra.

These are the bulk of road bike purchases, mainly upgraders from the vast bulk of existing cyclists who have gone past the chaddi hanger stage and have ridden their MTB or hybrid enough to now want something slicker and faster.

There are a smaller bunch of first time bike buyers who buy a road bike directly as their first bike, but even the cost value proposition perception meets an invisible road barrier at the 1 lac mark.

The higher end road bikes are nowhere close to the numbers of the above base and middle body of the pyramid.

Here you have the 105s and Ultegras in alloy and the carbon bikes. And this in the largest proportion stretches to 2 to 2.5 lacs. Beyond that you have the ultra specialized bikes (TT bikes, etc.) and the exotics which sell for obscene money.

The large bulk of these are bought by the very small existing population of road bike riders who want to upgrade to a lighter faster machine, but who will keep their original road bike as a training bike.

This market is so small that we will never see volumes (or big player interest) here. So high priced exports coming in dribs and drabs in terms of once in a year or two years container loads is what we have to go around the whole country (at least all the major metros and cycling hubs).

Eventually the 60k to 2.5 lac price range covers only a difference of less than 1500 grams. 7.8ish for the lightest mass production carbon bikes with OE wheelsets, to 9.2-9.3ish for the alloy Claris/Sora-s and Tiagras. Most of us eat more in a day. Or some of us in a single meal. LOL

Cheers, Doc

[vb-san]

Originally Posted by ebonho

Eventually the 60k to 2.5 lac price range covers only a difference of less than 1500 grams. 7.8ish for the lightest mass production carbon bikes with OE wheelsets, to 9.2-9.3ish for the alloy Claris/Sora-s and Tiagras. Most of us eat more in a day. Or some of us in a single meal. LOL

True, only after getting into biking I got to know that in the biking world each gram weigh in gold

This evening while cleaning the bike, saw another India connection (other than the rider)

Continentals made in India...

[ebonho]

Originally Posted by vb-san

True, only after getting into biking I got to know that in the biking world each gram weigh in gold

This evening while cleaning the bike, saw another India connection (other than the rider)

Continentals made in India...

Attachment 2231625

And we live here and get only Ralsons.

Any idea what the tyre price is? Do these Indian made Continentals come in 23/25c as well ?

[vb-san]

Originally Posted by ebonho

And we live here and get only Ralsons.

Any idea what the tyre price is? Do these Indian made Continentals come in 23/25c as well ?

The Contact Speeds should be around INR 1750 a piece, and I think this comes only in 32/35c. Some other options from the store which I got my bike - Bike Stop.

[vb-san]

Originally Posted by ninjatalli

Good call on the new saddle.

Around 75 kms done with the new saddle and the difference is quite massive compared to the old one. Feels like a good investment.


And today got a new set of platform pedals (Wellgo M20) - a bit more light and compact, good grip levels, and also aesthetically pleasing.

[Doge]

Hi guys,
anyone have a recommendation for a new saddle or additional cushioning? I need one for my Btwin MTB. Nothing pricey as the bike is entry level itself, just need something better than stock for casual biking 45 mins everyday.

[papr23]

Originally Posted by Doge

Hi guys,
anyone have a recommendation for a new saddle or additional cushioning? I need one for my Btwin MTB. Nothing pricey as the bike is entry level itself, just need something better than stock for casual biking 45 mins everyday.

If you are OK with the current saddle dimension wise, try using the Decathlon's foam saddle cover on it if you plan to ride only few minutes per ride.

[ebonho]

Originally Posted by Doge

Hi guys,
anyone have a recommendation for a new saddle or additional cushioning? I need one for my Btwin MTB. Nothing pricey as the bike is entry level itself, just need something better than stock for casual biking 45 mins everyday.

I you're going to be riding 45 minutes daily, that is not insignificant. Buy a decent pair of padded shorts. You can use the same one everyday. They dry quickly after washing. Especially in the sun outdoors. Otherwise, in front of a table fan.

The cheapest black foam ones from Decathlon. Or the MTB shorts (same black foam - I quite like their "normal" informal look for my ACT, on which I often wear my stretch jeans with gathered elasticated hems and knee panels). Both are well under a thousand bucks.

Alternatively, if you ride long enough, your bum will get used to your short 45 min daily rides without any extraneous padding. But it might not be very comfortable leading up to that stage.

That's where the shorts come in.

Cheers, Doc

[wolfsnare24]

I had been looking out for a bike to handle my hyperlocal needs in Mumbai over the past few weeks, however the challenges and situations I faced were quite unique!

I’m 6’2”/200 pounds, which means my hopes of buying pretty much any regular/cheap cycles go out the window. I checked out a few 29” models, but felt uninspired by the generic designs and stances on most of them, so in a moment of genius/insanity, I decided that the best pair of wheels for me would be a…roadster!

Now in my head, my logic and planning was bulletproof. I would buy a roadster and turn it into a retro ride, with an inbuilt safety measure of a doodhwala cycle being less attractive to thieves. The laid-back seating almost made me think of a Harley hog, and there’s really nothing much that can go wrong with the wear-and-tear reliability of a desi roadster.

I planned to finely sand down the paint, sticker bomb the entire frame of the bike to give it that 80’s pop of hotchpotch colour, affix a mechanical odometer from the front wheel to the stem, put in a dynamo to run a pair of vintage front-and-back lights, and enjoy my ride. Once a few months would pass and I needed a new project, I’d go about converting this to an e-bike by shelling out maybe 15k for the battery and conversion kit.

Life however, had other plans!

I had asked for a Neelam roadster (INR 6500) to be kept aside for me to try on, and when I rode the bike with the seat at max height, my knees kept hitting the curved handlebars every time the pedals were on their upward journey. The only way to actually ride was with my knees flailed out wide for every pedal with my crotch spread open for display. There was no way I could ride this in a pair of jeans or trousers, let alone shorts.

This particular model from Neelam is probably the most expensive roadster there is. It has the widest handlebars, highest seat height adjustment, and there was really nowhere left for me to upgrade to. Raising the stem always poses it’s own risks that don’t seem wise to me, so the only other option left was to install a bent bar to mount the seat on, pushing the seat further back to increase the distance between seat/pedal/handlebar.

It was at this point that I had a sinking feeling in my heart that this just wasn’t going to work out the way I wanted it to. I’ve had previous experiences with bent bars, and the physics eventually wins out by creating a tilted seating that’s a nightmare for the spine.

Back to square one, I had no other choice except to go for a 29”. I’d almost settled on choosing something generic until I spotted a flash of beautiful blue wires at the back of the shop. On asking for it, it turned out to be a beautiful 29” Schnell Metta! 21-Speed Shimanos, Dual Disk brakes, front RMX shockers, this bike was something I could really see myself on!

A quick test drive was all it took for me to know that I’d found what I was looking for. Sure, all of my planning would go to waste but there’s always the future to look forward to. I paid INR 16,500 for it, 10k more than what I’d set out to spend, and bought her home.

Meet Metta!


Shifter, and the nordic-style font in the background:


The branding


The RMX Shockers


The coy pose, with the blue wires in full display