[roy_libran]

Originally Posted by narayanang76

Introducing Van Rysel Ultra CF 105, with some custom mods, upgrades.
....... the planetary alignment happens and such things come true. ......

I envy you and congratulations!

I waited and waited for this bike to be available before finally running out of patience to pick up a RC500. Not that I regret the RC at all, but this was what my heart had wanted ever since I rode one from a friend here.

[dragntailonfire]

Originally Posted by narayanang76

Almost time to change my Signature.
Introducing Van Rysel Ultra CF 105, with some custom mods, upgrades.

Congratulations, that is one sweet ride. Is this the EDR (endurance) model? Did you source it from Decathlon? Please do share how you went about buying the bike.

From what I have read, Van Rysel gives a lot more bike for the price, and can hold its own, against other traditional brands. Also, they are pretty serious about this lineup, more so than the Triban models.

[narayanang76]

Originally Posted by ebonho

Do tell more about the custom mods and upgrades please.

Thanks, Doc.

Some key ones that was done currently:

• Upgraded cassette to 11-32, a better quality one, than OEM 11-28
• Upgraded to Spider Chain Ring 52-36 with 172.5mm 105 Crank sets, than OEM 170mm 105 crank. This is mainly to re-use my 172.5mm Stages Power Meter I was using
• Installed Stages power meter
• Installed my Velocity Quill wheelsets with Continental tires, OEM Mavic wheelset keeping as spare. OEM Yksion tires sucks!
• Supacaz ultralite water bottle holders

Saddle and handlebar tape decided to try OEM and then change it, if needed.

Need to find matching bottles, but my house is overcrowded with 3 bikes and old bottles, need to clear some existing stuff, before getting some more.

Originally Posted by roy_libran

I envy you and congratulations!

I waited and waited for this bike to be available before finally running out of patience to pick up a RC500. Not that I regret the RC at all, but this was what my heart had wanted ever since I rode one from a friend here.

Thanks! On the contrary, I was helping couple of friends with their new bike search (one was RC500) and came across this

Originally Posted by dragntailonfire

From what I have read, Van Rysel gives a lot more bike for the price, and can hold its own, against other traditional brands. Also, they are pretty serious about this lineup, more so than the Triban models.

Thanks! I wasnt looking for a new bike, or this particular one. However when I came across this, did some research and also some enquiry with other experts and received some very good review feedback on its frame and the overall package with price. Hope it stays that way with me too.

[narayanang76]

Originally Posted by vb-san

The alloy frame/carbon fork Émonda ALR5 comes with 25c tyres as stock and weighs around 9kg.

I found this matching with my Trek Madone 2.1 Aluminum bike that is couple of years old. During my recent Van Rysel purchase, I happened to check both my old bike's and new bike's weight, just to give me some clarity on the bike that I am using. And Found that the Trek Modaone's weight to be an Excellent one indeed.

This Trek Madone, with all stuff mounted, with Pedals, not-so-light Decathlon water bottle holders, double handlebar tapes, wahoo element bolt with the mount, with Continental 25C tires weighed 9.25Kgs in total

[vb-saan]

Originally Posted by narayanang76

Introducing Van Rysel Ultra CF 105, with some custom mods, upgrades.

That looks sweet! Congratulations

Originally Posted by narayanang76

Found that the Trek Modaone's weight to be an Excellent one indeed.

This Trek Madone, with all stuff mounted, with Pedals, not-so-light Decathlon water bottle holders, double handlebar tapes, wahoo element bolt with the mount, with Continental 25C tires weighed 9.25Kgs in total

Quite awesome!
I think the latest Madone bikes are only in full CF, and Emonda have just one model with alloy frame.

[Sachin Bhatt]

Has anyone used a Montague Paratrooper folding bike? If yes, any feedback? Was considering buying one. And am lost between the Cammy Green, Pro and Highline variants. Highline doesnt have the rack stand, which costs another 11k, hence will probably skip that. So am lost between the cammy green and the pro. Any recommendations will help.

[Red Liner]

Originally Posted by Sachin Bhatt

Has anyone used a Montague Paratrooper folding bike? If yes, any feedback? Was considering buying one. And am lost between the Cammy Green, Pro and Highline variants. Highline doesnt have the rack stand, which costs another 11k, hence will probably skip that. So am lost between the cammy green and the pro. Any recommendations will help.

I did some research on this early on when I was looking for one. And the overwhelming response on Reddit was, it’s not worth the money, unless you are taking the metro, subway, to work every day and absolutely NEED a folding bike to carry into work etc.

I initially looked at the folding bike because it looked cool, and I figured can haul it to places in the hills and bike around. Figured that a proper hybrid or road bike can also be easily carted around to a vacation spot in the back of the car.

However if you have other bikes, and just need a folding bike to add to the collection, it might work.

Ps: also the whole folding complexity added to the overall “maintenance” requirement of the bike, and I was done with it.

[ringoism]

Originally Posted by ebonho

You might like to give oldshovel a checkout too.

https://Youtu.be/Fg_E5pNAyb8

Cheers, Doc

This is great stuff... I didn't realize there was so much out there actually, and find it fascinating how the interest in bicycles and restoring them seems to have arisen at some level in the "collective global mind" as of late. Even in me, while quite unaware that others out there were also keen and doing the same things. A quieter, simpler, more eco-friendly extension of all kinds of other vehicle resto endeavors, I suppose - it was bound to happen eventually.

One cool thing is that there don't seem to be as many shrill "purists" out there as we find with other machines. With cycles it was generally understood that components would be subject to upgrading or customization as and when owners could afford to do so. Less strict emphasis on originality, apart from the hard-core collectors. It allows people to feel freer to be creative, I think, to modernize and improve and practically personalize without worrying about destroying value or irritating the naysayers.

I've been away from the U.S. for a long time, but I hear these bicycle libraries / collectives / co-ops - whatever variations and what one wants to call them - are really super. Just imagine being able to sift through shelves / piles of donated frames / forks / gearing components / wheels / tires & whatever, and more or less take what you need... High-quality chrome-moly frames, vintage 3-speed hub gears, all shapes / sizes of handlebars, whatever... Wow! I so wish there had been enough good cycles and hobbyist culture around in India for long enough that we could have that kind of thing here.

Having said that, I'm sure a lot of the decent early alloy-framed Indian stuff is near to being disposed and/or has already seen the (final) scrap-pile. I saved a couple from that fate, saw a couple others that I didn't manage to rescue, and have heard of many more, just around here locally. Not that much of it would have been extremely high-quality like you sometimes find being abandoned / disposed abroad, but still... good enough for resto-modding. I'd bet that quite a lot of it passed through our scrapyards up here over the years before I got into it - personally imported units of good branding left over from Himalayan tours, temporary foreign settlers who abandoned when they moved on, etc. That was almost surely the story of my old Riverside.

One guy I know here picked up a Surly (not a cheap brand) for free that had been damaged in a local barn fire. He builds / fabricates custom Royal Enfields and was more than up to the task of fixing that one up nice.

I'm going to keep looking.

-Eric

[ebonho]

Originally Posted by ringoism

This is great stuff... I didn't realize there was so much out there actually, and find it fascinating how the interest in bicycles and restoring them seems to have arisen at some level in the "collective global mind" as of late. Even in me, while quite unaware that others out there were also keen and doing the same things. A quieter, simpler, more eco-friendly extension of all kinds of other vehicle resto endeavors, I suppose - it was bound to happen eventually.

I'm going to keep looking.

-Eric

You Tube videos on cycles and cycling (and stand up comedians and satirists in India) have been my find of the pandemic. I spend a lot more time now on you tube than on the TV.

If and when you find a nice light classic steel road bike geometry rolling frame, you know whom to give a holler to!

Cheers, Doc

[rajshenoy]

Friends, I am looking for some recommendations on a sub-20K MTB (can stretch few extra) for my teenager kid. I do not intend to spend more because it will be prone to rough handling.

Since he is already comfortable on a 26" 18" frame, I am thinking of 27.5 this time(or may be 29) so that I too can have short spin near by.

I explored Btwin ST100 and few 91 cycles models(Krypton/Defeatr pro) and open to other options in similar price range.(comes with microshift/L-TWO etc !!)

Alternatively I am also ok with single speed Hybrids if that proves to be more reliable and easy to pedal as compared to MTB with entry level gear system.

[ebonho]

Originally Posted by ringoism

Having said that, I'm sure a lot of the decent early alloy-framed Indian stuff is near to being disposed and/or has already seen the (final) scrap-pile. I saved a couple from that fate, saw a couple others that I didn't manage to rescue, and have heard of many more, just around here locally. Not that much of it would have been extremely high-quality like you sometimes find being abandoned / disposed abroad, but still... good enough for resto-modding. I'd bet that quite a lot of it passed through our scrapyards up here over the years before I got into it - personally imported units of good branding left over from Himalayan tours, temporary foreign settlers who abandoned when they moved on, etc. That was almost surely the story of my old Riverside.

-Eric

Eric, most of the vintage bike restoration videos (the functional get it running, non purist non aesthetic ones that you and I appreciate more) are based around simple classic steel frames MTBs 9f the 90s. Quill stems. And 25.4 mm handlebars. Cantilever brakes. Rigid curved forks. 26 inch wheels. Square taper bottom brackets. And 6 or 7 speed drive-trains.

But the difference is that in the US a lot of these frames were high quality cromoly steel frames that were strong as well as light. I think India totally missed that era boat here. Yes we did have some classics like the Ranger and Top Gear and Street Cat etc. but while these bikes were similar to the above 90s MTBs on many ways, the componentry was at least 2 9rc3 levels lower for the most part (hubs, bearings, cranks, etc) and tge frames were really heavy 18-20 kilo monsters.

After seeing this video of oldshovel on exactly such a bike (a Fisher frame no less ... I'm wondering if this is the same as the iconic Gary Fisher frames?!) I'm beginning to wonder about wgat you said about my old school steel Hercules Top Gear MTB. Some sort of touring bike rebuild maybe? It is a slightly bigger (longer in the reach) frame than the ACT is, bike to bike when you hop on from one to the other.

I think the grip shift shifters might actually be easier to adapt to a drop bar (on either sides of the flat top) with independent brake levers with hoods extra?!

I also really like the quill stem to threadless stem adaptation. Not to mention the sealed bearings for the open bearing cup and cone old style bottom bracket axle. Which is wgat I too have on the Top Gear. Similar sealed bearings were used to refurbish the old gunked up new style cartridge type bottom bracket on my ACT (which I've described with photos in my ACT thread).

https://youtu.be/0pQggQ2qPx8

Cheers, Doc

P.S. Just saw the hashtags on the video. It IS a Gary Fisher! No wonder he did not mess with the paint.

[ebonho]

Originally Posted by ringoism

High-quality chrome-moly frames,

Having said that, I'm sure a lot of the decent early alloy-framed Indian stuff is near to being disposed and/or has already seen the (final) scrap-pile.
-Eric

Long post alert!

I'm kinda veering towards steel which explains my interest in old steel rigid fork hardtail MTBs from the late 80s, 90s and very early 2000s before the advent of cheap mass produced alloy bikes.

While I've been looking for a classic diamond shaped road bike lightweight steel frame and curved fork with a racy geometry, I've sort of lost track of what's been there and lying unused in front of my nose (well, actually in the small cubbyhole cycle room that my wife allows me in the children's study/wife's meditation room outside, the ACT and CAAD being the only ones that I insist live with us in the main house) - my steel frame Hercules Top Gear MTB.

However, a serious concern of course is the weight, with it weighing around 18.5 kilos or (with fenders and side stand and bar-ends). However, it does have an over sized tall quill stem that I replaced the original with to get a more upright stance in me less fit days years ago. But then I've replaced the mammoth sprung comfort wide saddle with the more modern one from my ACT (the ACT now with an even light Triban Sport 100 one from Decathlon).

18.5 kilos is around 41 pounds, while the 80s and 90s MTBs that are usually sought after for cheap gravel/touring bike conversions weigh only 24-25 pounds, which is 7 kilos less at 11.5 kilos. Yes, I have a heavy steel triple crank to their alloy ones. And as you said, tyres and tubes could save some more. Maybe I could remove the fenders as well (I have misplaced or lost or someone at home has sold as scrap the beautiful steel original carrier that came with the bike brand new. That's really pissing me off for some time now ).

Some things that this bike really has going for it as a tourer/gravel bike are its steel frame that feels really great on all terrain, its chunky MTB style curved rigid fork, eyelets galore for racks and fenders, relaxed stretched out frame and long chain-stays, strong steel rimmed 26 inch wheels with stainless steel spokes and beautiful rolling high end thin wide hubs, and the lowest gear inches of my 3 bikes for fully laden touring (21 versus 23 for my ACT and 30 for my CAAD). With a MTB style triple crank with a smallest ring of 26 or even 24, this can come down further to 20 or even 18. With 26 inch wheels I can go either with 1.95 gravel type tyres, or 2.1 full MTB style knobbies.

The idea of a Ladakh mountain tour bike is forming in my head. And the above churn is a result of that.

I can go the butterfly handle route like Papr here.

Or I can got the drop bar route, which I favour. I believe its important how a bike looks, and not shallow at all. If you like how it looks, you will want to and like to ride it as well. That black bar-taped drop bar with 2.1 MTB Nylon knobbies in light tan wall form (the original tyres that this bike actually came with!) on the metallic green frame will look pretty sick!

Sharing a nice article along the same lines here :

https://wheretheroadforks.com/how-to...-touring-bike/

Cheers, Doc

[ringoism]

Originally Posted by ebonho

But the difference is that in the US a lot of these frames were high quality cromoly steel frames that were strong as well as light. I think India totally missed that era boat here.

P.S. Just saw the hashtags on the video. It IS a Gary Fisher! No wonder he did not mess with the paint.

Interestingly enough, I'd just watched that vid yesterday - really lovely bike.

Probably the thing to do is to strip down your Top Gear to the bare frame&fork and see what that weighs, that would give some idea what's possible as a final weight, assuming better components.

If that figure for.the frame seems feasible (I don't know that you'd want more than 5-6kg in that), then proceed, it not, you've still got a really nice classic worth holding onto and showing off and enjoying for what it is. If it's any encouragement, my Riverside is at around 13.7kg right now, and that's non Chrome-Moly and has heavy desi tyres/tubes and a very low-grade generic front wheel, also.

As discussed earlier, in India-market stuff, my Rockrider300's show 15-16kgs (one with Kendas and the other with Hartex), and that's with everything steel but the wheels basically, so I'm sure something like that could be brought down to 14.5 or less without much trouble, as one other potential option. Nice old-school rigid steel mtb.

Besides the components I mentioned earlier, steel rims are pretty heavy, so you might save a bunch there.

Ladakh, as you know, is pretty demanding since any extra weight creates that much more strain when you're climbing miles and miles vertically. I hope you can make it work, 'cause it's a really cool design and seems well-sized; But if it doesn't end up being suitable, you can probably pick up a very light older disposal Trek/Merida or even Raleigh (Terrain 10, etc) alloy MTB frame to build up. Plenty strong/ robust, and with all the new-fangled gearing setups, disc brakes, and carbon coming in, those 10+ year-olds are starting to look pretty antiquated; I've seen some pretty badly scratched up units up here with bad forks, etc, that I doubt anyone would demand more than ₹4-5,000 for complete, maybe even less. Could be a good starting point for a robust tourer.

-Eric

[ebonho]

Originally Posted by ringoism

Interestingly enough, I'd just watched that vid yesterday - really lovely bike.

Ladakh, as you know, is pretty demanding since any extra weight creates that much more strain when you're climbing miles and miles vertically. I hope you can make it work, 'cause it's a really cool design and seems well-sized; But if it doesn't end up being suitable, you can probably pick up a very light older disposal Trek/Merida or even Raleigh alloy MTB frame to build up. Plenty strong/ robust, and with all the new-fangled gearing setups, disc brakes, and carbon coming in, those 10+ year-olds are starting to look pretty antiquated; I've seen some pretty badly scratched up units up here with bad forks, etc, that I doubt anyone would demand more than ₹4-5,000 for complete, maybe even less. Could be a good starting point for a robust tourer.

-Eric

Exactly my thoughts Eric. Once I came back home and got busy with the measuring tape I confirmed my seat of the pants suspicion (impression) owning and riding both bikes.

The Top Gear is longer than the ACT (all Top Tube measurements in a horizontal parallel to floor plane, and not along the actual length of the top tube; similarly center of bottom bracket to top of seat tube measured to the point on the seat tube where a horizontal line drawn backwards from the top of the head tube would intersect the seat tube) but also shorter (or the bottom bracket is higher off the ground) -

Top Gear - Center of BB to Top of Seat Tube 17", Top Tube 22"

ACT - Center of BB to Top of Seat Tube 19", Top Tube 20.5"

As far as I know, MTBs and Hybrids are sized by the first measurement, and road bikes by the second. So the ACT is actually at 19" one size larger than the Top Gear. Which explains why I need an over tall quill stem to make the Top Gear work for me.

CAAD - Center of BB to Top of Seat Tube 21.25", Top Tube 21.25" (both lengths exactly the same at 54 cm - the frame size of the bike).

I'm shelving the day old idea of modding the Top Gear. Yes she will eventually be a Classic. But more importantly, more than the limited gear range, the weight trumps all for what I want from a steel (or alloy) touring bike.

Thanks as always for your clarity of thought!

Cheers, Doc

[vb-saan]

Managed to spend around hour in the bike shop yesterday, browsing through and trying out the Trek Domane and Emonda for quite a few rounds on the road bikes floor. They did not have the AL versions in stock, so the trials were on the respective Carbon models.

Trek Domane: Tested on SL6, size 58, Shimano Ultegra groupset, 700x32c tyres

• Positives: This was an extremely comfortable bike, like a smooth luxury sedan in the bike world. Not sure if its due to the isospeed decoupler thing or the carbon wheels with 32c tyres, the ride was extremely cushiony and the whole riding position is extremely comfort oriented. The AL5 won’t have the same level of comfort but got a good gauge of the geometry and riding position. Really felt like a comfortable long-distance cruiser.
• Negatives: Not sure if it’s a negative, but other than drop bar the bike felt very similar to my FX3. And the bike somehow looked massive.

Trek Émonda: Tested on SL5, size 58, Shimano 105 groupset, 700x28c tyres

• Positives: An extremely mean looking machine, jumping on the bike the difference (with the Domane was immediately felt). Riding position is much more aggressive, needed a bit more familiarization. The difference in weight was immediately felt and this is not as forgiving as the Domane, but somehow I liked the way the bike behaved. It really gave that nice sports car feel, and the bike had that sense of connection. And it looked the part – mean and lightweight!
• Negatives: This will have a slightly higher learning curve compared to the Domane, the friendly sales guy is of the opinion that the Domane could be a better fit for me.

The Émonda SL5’s handlebar was narrower (42mm) compared to the Domane (44mm), but I was told that the ALR5 version comes with 44mm handlebar, and the tyres go to 25c. From the test rides, I feel either of these bikes (respective AL versions) will work for me. Though the Domane is touted as a long-distance endurance model I feel sporty Émonda will be equally enjoyable. But at this point they are not sure when the stocks will come in – could be in the next couple of months, or early next year.

Couple of pictures of the test bikes:

Domane SL6 in Satin Dark Aquatic/Black color




Émonda SL5 in Quicksilver/Brushed Chrome color




And the initial consideration – Checkpoint with the beefy tyres