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What Amitoj said. Lowering the saddle is not always the solution (unless its way too high). You might hurt knees while doing so. When you pedal make sure you knee is pretty much straight/perpendicular to ground when your leg reaches the lowest point (6 o clock position) without straining the angle. At this saddle height only your toes will touch the ground and that is okay, you don't want to rest your feet completely flat on the ground when coming to a stop.

It might take some time but keep at it. First few days are toughest. Wish you the luck!

I would like to get into cycling, but want to confine myself to a stationary bike to start with. Want to pursue cycling as an alternative to running on hot days or on days when I cant do my morning runs and want to do some cardio activity at home.

Request cycling masters to suggest a few options. I am tall (6' 3"). Flexible with the budget. Data fan, so need some of the IoT frills if possible.

Thank you.

This is possibly a non-answer but you might get hooked to cycling and want to ride outdoors :). So I would suggest also look at smart trainer (rather than full stationary bike) like Wahoo's own Kickr Core or many other options, Garmin TacX, Elite Suito etc. Then get a proper bike with wheels that you can ride outdoors too. Remove rear wheel and place it on trainer for rainy days. Attach rear wheel and ride out on sunny days. Those trainers will give you lot of data to play with. Attach a HRM and get even more data which I am sure already have.

I only look at indoor cycling as last option when I cannot absolutely ride outdoors. Gets pretty boring real quick.. this may be personal but I can crank out 50 km ride every day with ease but on the trainer I keep looking at the distance and timer to finish.

I've cycled a lot in my teens and now am 42 - want to start cycling again.

Have shortlisted 2 bikes:
1) Firefox Rapide 21s
2) Triban RC 100.

Firefox Rapid in Red looks stunning. I am inclined to go for it. + Its Indian.
The Handle bar height is adjustible.

But what attracts me to Triban is - 7 gears. That would be easier to maintain and also simpler to ride. Thats the reason its cheaper by Rs 2.5K Any thoughts?

If 21 Gears in FF Rapide isn't too much more maintenance than Triban and hassle free - i'll could go for it.

I had the Rapide and was pretty happy with it including the gearing. Sold it and went for an electric cycle.

My 2 cents - Get your cycle serviced annually or bi-annually depending on usage especially in dusty areas / or rainy times.

Cheers

What kind of terrain do you ride usually? There is high possibility 2 of those 3 front chainrings will lie unused after initial excitement has passed. I have Fuji Absolute with 3x chainrings and I don't recall ever using the smallest chainring (its too small, 24t) even the second chainring can be too small since I mostly ride on flat roads with minor inclination of 1-3 degrees. For serious climbs I use my road bike anyway with 2x chainrings + 11-32 cassette.

The problem with extremely small front chainrings is you spin out on pretty much any terrain except very very steep inclinations that are stretched over long distances. Spinning rapidly is fun for 1 minute and then gets boring at least for me. Besides after a while you build up strength and find the granny chainrings unnecessary.

Here is my anecdotal experience with Triban RC100 FB with 1x7 drivetrain. Its good enough for moderate climbs and blast on flat roads. The bike runs smooth, is comfortable and looks clean thanks to minimalist sticker job and simple colors. The wheels are a weak point but Decathlon supports their products very well. Apart from spokes breaking on rear wheel I didn't have problem with it and Deca eventually replaced the wheel free of cost.

Maintenance wise, the 2x or 3x drivetrains do need more cleaning and look "busy". Their setup is tricky too and indexing can be pain. The 1x drivetrains are inherently simple. There is a reason why 2x and 3x rings are all but gone from MTBs and replaced by 1x + large range cassettes. All that said if you like the Firefox more than Triban, go for it don't let 3x chainrings stop you.

The Rapide has an Indian frame but key components are imported.

The 21 speeds are nice on paper but as others have said, you end up using only 1 or 2 chain rings. The Triban spec of 1 x 7 is actually good enough of the terrain you ride is mostly flat with some gentle elevation.

The wider tyres of the Rapide are likely to be more comfortable over rough roads.

Whichever you decide to buy, make sure you get the right size frame. The wrong size could, at best, cause discomfort and at worst, cause injury. I suggest you look up various bike sizing guidelines on the internet before you proceed.

Good luck!

Nothing Indian about it; except the assembling of the imported parts and the ownership of the Firefox company (ref article). Even the biggest component in that cycle - the frame isn't Indian. Most mass produced cycle frames are manufactured in Taiwan (the higher ends) and China (the lower/cheaper ends).

Choose the bike based on what you feel comfortable while doing a test ride (as many as you can). Second factor would be the pricing (if a constraint).

If your riding is going to be around city areas and short distances then 21 gears is an overkill. If you plan to extend your riding to longer distances over time, then 21 gears could be the better option. But first priority is the comfort - which option did you enjoy riding.

My first post in this thread. Took out our cycles for water wash on new year eve at home.

Our first cycle entry into family, bought this one almost 7 years back for my kid.






Next comes the 2nd one for the big guy (Me :)), bought this one home like 5 years back, a B-TWIN model, still feel like a new one, not a single problem till today.








As kid has grown, he has to bid adieu to his first ride and here comes a 2nd ride to him and a 3rd entrant into the family, bought this around 4 years back.






Kid cycle tales are never ending and now it's time for him to say bye to his 2nd ride also. This time he has upgraded to a B-Twin Rock Rider S30 gear cycle just a week before, a 4rth one into the family. This idea of getting a gear cycle came into his mind by seeing my cycle with gear, he almost believed that I'm able to pedal faster than him because mine is a gear cycle.

Here is the latest one..








The 1st & 2nd cycles of the Kid are just resting and collecting some dust, don't know when my home minister gets the idea of a giveaway or sell them, until that time these cycles will be with me as my memories.

After about 12 years, I have again bought a bicycle, my 5th cycle ever. The first two were simple Hero Jet bicycles of various sizes in early and mid 90s before I bought a Hero Ranger Swing (18 gears) in late 90s as a teenager after troubling my parents to get me a geared cycle.

The cycle that I bought in 2012 was used for less than 7 days and then sold after gathering dust for the next 7 months.

Thats why I wanted to keep the budget to a nominal amount in case I do the same again.

Bought a BTwin Rockrider ST30 model at a Decathlon store in Chandigarh while I was traveling almost 400km away to my work place on 31st December. So, kept the box in my car, brought the cycle home (work place home) and assembled it myself. Installing the pedals was a bit tricky but the rest of it was a breeze (I own a Bosch tool kit with allen keys, set of spanners, screwdrivers etc). The right and left pedals are installed differently as both the pedals are tightened by rotating the spanner towards the front (rather than fixed direction, say clockwise or anticlockwise).



Accessories added from decathlon store: foot pump, side stand, mudguards, bell, lock

Accessories bought from Decathlon online: under seat saddle bag, 90 degree seat, tyre levers and bar ends.

The default seat (60 degree seat) was too painful and small for me so today the 90 degree saddle (seat) arrived that I have just finished installing. See the photo to compare the difference in size between the two seats.



Apart from that, I have also bought tyre levers from Decathlon in case the tube needs to be removed for puncture repair as the village where I am living does not have much support and local mechanics damage paint. Also picked up front and rear lights from amazon.

Intended use: 2-4km daily cycling within the college campus where I live.



Pros:
- Reasonably budget option with reasonable weight at around 15.5kg for the XL size model.
- Reasonable build and quality.
- Suitable for kids as well as adults (does not look like a kids bike at 10k price point).

Cons:
- Handle can not be raised (its non adjustable) but can be brought down. Solution is to buy bar ends. They are in transit and will post about their experience soon.
- The default seat is made for 60 degree riding which is not good for a person like me who is not having very good fitness and is approaching 40. I dont want to risk back pain. The pain in bottom can be managed by installing the 90 degree seat.
- The chain is getting off if pedaling is stopped suddenly, could a problem with the alignment of the chain guide.
- The rear tyre lost air pressure after 24 hours and I checked the tyre for any puncture. This tyre came deflated in the box so I suspected some other issue with the air valve or the tube. Lets see. The air hasnt been lost to that alarming extent in the last 3 days.
- The underseat saddle bag is a joke. Did not know that it is so small. This was ordered through Decathlon online store.

For my indoor trainer, I used to use my Specialized Diverge, which unfortunately got wrecked back in July. Since then, I have been using my other bike, the Cannondale SuperSix Evo on the trainer. However, this had always been a bike that I used for outdoor rides only, and that too for not more than 2 hours because of the more aggressive geometry of the bike. Once I started using it on the trainer, I realized that there may be some scope for a better fit, although I had gotten a bike fit done at a local bike shop when I got the bike a couple of years ago.

This time, I asked my chiropractor for a bike fitter recommendation since he himself is a cyclist. He recommended John Vanderminden at PT Summit Performance who is also a trained, certified physical therapist and of course, a cyclist. So I called John and made an appointment to see him. When I met him, he spent a good 20-30 minutes assessing my range of motion, my stance, left leg-right leg balance and overall posture and flexibility. After that, he made me ride my bike for 20-30 minutes and then started taking several on-bike measurements. At the end of it, the only adjustment he made was move my saddle forward. In my mind I was like that's very little actual adjustment for $300! But once I got back, put the bike on the trainer and started riding, I realized it was totally worth it! Now my lower back was not as fatigued as it used to be at the end of an hour long ride and when I did my FTP test, I was happy to see it get a small boost as well.

But now another problem started happening. My nether regions started going numb within 30 minutes. To be honest, it was probably happening earlier also but I did not notice it because a) I was paying more attention to my lower back due to injury, b) I was riding indoors for short times only, and c) I used to ride out of the saddle a lot on this bike before the injury. Anyway, so I messaged John and he asked me to come back in. We met, he made a few adjustments that made things a little better but the numbness was still there. Finally he recommended that I should change my saddle to one with a cutout. Something like this:


So, I went home, looked up similar saddles on Amazon, and ended up ordering a similar one.


The saddle kept sitting in the box for a week while I took a break from workouts in the last week of December.

After the break, I installed the saddle and played around with the fit. John had already agreed to see me again with the new saddle so that the fit could be re-dialed in. So, I went to him again and got the saddle adjusted.

The saddle and the fit: Game changer! No more numbness and I feel I can ride sitting in the saddle for hours!

Btw, I did not have to pay anything for the extra visits. John made it clear that it was all part of fine tuning the fit.

While there, I found that he does lactate threshold testing as well and has recently purchased equipment to perform VO2 Max testing! I may go see him again some time later this year about that. I will definitely be going to him once I get my new bike in a couple of months.

In other news, last week I got a DEXA scan and Resting Metabolic Rate measured at a lab in Boston. Will post that in another, more suitable thread that is not cycling specific.

So finally I've got my new Bicycle - FireFox Rapide 21s.

Its Medium Size since am 5' 8".

Thanks ninjatalli, pareshraheja, Motard_Blr for you inputs


The other contender was Triban RC 100 FB.

Bought it on 31st Dec evening. Wanted to start the new year with an early morning ride - which i did

2 things tilted the decision in favour of FF - although it was pricier by Rs 2500/-

1 - The handlebar is height adjustable. Very important for me given i have Cervical Spondylosis. Even a long test ride can't tell you if a handle bar is going to cause a problem. So an adjustable one was a better option - just in case i feel the need. + Wanted something which my wife (occassional rider) and son (a small kid now but whenever he grows up) too could ride. I do maintain my stuff well and buy long term really. Also the frame is unisex as compared to Triban RC 100 FB - makes it easy for my wife

2 - The handlebar on FF is broader than on Triban. At least that's what i felt. I found the broader handle bar more stable and easy to maneuver.


Not very good with bargaining but i paid Rs 22k/- and got mud-guards, a bell, a bottle holder and a chain lock complimentary.

Been riding 5-7 Kms since day 1. Will gradually increase to 10-15 kms. All well so far. The seat is comfortable. This is my first geared cycle. So far the gear shifts have been smooth. I read in a post by Passatman https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/bicyc...ml#post5517451 - is to change the gears at the bottom of the paddle stroke and that works wonderfully.

The same post also says - One rule of thumb to ensure smooth shifts is to ensure no load while shifting ( shift at the bottom of your pedal stroke) and keeping the chain as straight as possible. Use Gear 1 on Front derailleur restricted to Gear 1-3 on Rear, Gear 2 on FD to Gears 3-5 on RD and Gear 3 on FD for Gears 5-7/8 . This way chain remains straighter and lessens chances of snapping.


I assume this means - the large sprocket in front with the 3 smallest sprockets in the back. Someone pls correct me if I am wrong.
In FF - the front gears are numbered 1-3 with 1 being the smallest and 3 the biggest. The 7 in the rear are numbered 1-7 but here No 7 is the smallest and 1 is the biggest.
So far i've only been using No 3 in the front with 5,6,7 in the rear, and No 2 in the front with 4,5 in the rear.
Its working fine for me - but i hope technically its correct - as in - it won't damage the chain and gear teeths.






Purchased this helmet (Starburg) for Rs 1200/- a couple of days back from the same dealer. The quality and finish is top notch. Its moulded with a nice ring for adjustment. Its well ventilated.
I checked out the helmets in Decathalon but felt they weren't worth the money. This in comparison seems VFM.



Will keep posting as i progress. And thanks again everyone for the tonnes of information you put in. Helps a lot.

That's correct.
Large chainring up front + small cogs on the rear. Small chainrings on front + big cogs on the rear.

The goal is to reduce the chain angle and keep it straight. Ideally.

Although some chain angle is inevitable. You can't avoid it. There's no need to follow this practice like a regime either, your chain and cassette can handle occasional cross chaining. Just keep the drive train tuned and well lubed.

Congrats!

Just ensure you find some solution for the rear mud guard unless of course you have the best of washing machines for your lowers!

My experience with all these crappy rear mud guards is the muck the tire will throw at your rear. Still looking for a full proof solution!

Cheers

Been riding my ST30 for a week now. I am happy with it although its weight of 15.89kg is on higher side and the handle is non adjustable. The Decathlon bar ends arrived but I could not install them as cutting the outer edges of the handle grip will reduce the area on right side tgat houses the grip shifter.

Two problems so far:
1. Air in rear tyre is reducing. I believe that the inner valve stem of the Shrader type valve is loose. Have purchased a Shrondinger valve stem screwdriver from amazon (2 pc at Rs170). Will report back with the outcome.

2. The chain gets mildly stuck and also has been derailing from the crankset (front gear) a few times (2-3 times). I am adding a GIF of a small video below. Can anyone suggest the probable cause for this? There is no cycle shop nearby where I can take this for rectification.



Any pointers would be much appreciated.