[sandeepmohan]

Originally Posted by vb-san

It felt wonderful to be back on the bike after two weeks

Do trains run on that bridge? If they do, how is that signaled to users of the bridge?

[vb-saan]

Originally Posted by sandeepmohan

Do trains run on that bridge? If they do, how is that signaled to users of the bridge?

It’s an old abandoned railway track, now part of what is called as the Rail Corridor - basically a well-maintained green track for walking/jogging/cycling. Years back there used to be train service from the city center to Malaysia; nowadays the trains start from the border town. It was interesting because of the uniqueness – you clear the immigration of the arriving country (Malaysia) first at the city center terminal, and then clear the departing country (Singapore) customs clearance at the border station.

[ebonho]

Super chilled NDA ride. Yesterday's soak and my gear cable cleaning and light lubing efforts found me without the top and bottom most rear cogs when I started out. By the time I reached Univ road (Meteorological Office) the gears magically cake back! Kept getting on and off to fine tune the gears almost till Pashan circle. After which I enjoyed the ride. There is some major road curring work off NDA road too. Going there after months. Slowly and steadily the city is devouring our cyclist and runner pretty spots. Progress .... c'est la vie!

Blue posing against the backdrop of the fabled Necklace. I've passed this spot 180 times in the past and this is the first time I actually stopped to smell the roses!







Cheers, Doc

[Ironhide]

Originally Posted by amol4184

Beautiful photo, second from the top!

Thank you Amol.

It was clicked beyond Char Dukan. In fact even beyond Prakash Stores / Bake House. This is one of the more remote areas of Mussoorie - rather desolate and its remoteness lends it a hauntingly serene air.

Just the perfect place to take an unhurried, leisurely walk, far from the madding crowd.

Cheers !

[Arnav612]

Yet another sunday morning 50 odd km round trip.

However, this one was a chilled out ride, no strava, no hurry - a good break from otherwise sprints!





Marine Drive is sure a hotspot for cyclists. You will never be abandoned here with a non functional cycle, there will always be someone to help!

[Mi10]

Clicked today ! This is a super fun machine ! I truly my enjoy rides in this.
S/M Size is just perfect for me
52/36 on 11-28 Gearing is lovely for the straights of Chennai
Stiff aero frame aids hard runs
Bike takes abuse well !

[ringoism]

Well, Doc was right about both the slimmer tyres and minimising weight...










So having taken a half hour (vs. the usual hour with family members) to the high point of my standard loop, thought I'd push a bit extra and go visit a customer/friend up in Solang.

He wasn't in town as it turned out, so figured the Ropeway a couple km's beyond would be a good destination...




...and having arrived there and checked my distance, saw it was a bit further to make an even 10km's...




It was almost entirely uphill to that milestone, and took me neatly to - not the Atal Tunnel, but a smaller one on the way...





Elevation gain was 1200ft (375m) - more if we include a couple brief uphill stretches on the return. It took me almost exactly an hour to the ropeway, from&to home I guess maybe 1:45 overall including that last stretch to the tunnel and several short photo/rest stops (plus had to stop once on account of some film shooting going on!).

I'm going to have to finally install an app one of these days

Anyway, it was a cool, misty morning after a night's rain, perfect for exertion. Rain started afresh just after heading back down, a bit chilling but not soaking. Was very glad to have that full (albeit lightweight) mudguard out back.

Felt good, no pain/ fatigue and surmise I could easily have gone higher - but am feeling the need to go easy on my knees.

The old (transgendered ) Decathlon ran well on its first outing; again I had been concerned about the gearing in light of the longer circumference 700c's and the minimum 24x28 ring/cog - This represents tallest effective 1st-gear of all my cycles but the low weight and rolling resistance must have helped, and it felt quite fine the whole way.

I really want to find an alloy handle for this and might go in for lighter tyres/tubes at some point, I think I can easily shave another kilo off it this way (which would take it to about 12.5kg). Not carefully fitted as yet but preliminarily it seems it'll work for me.

-Eric

[ebonho]

Originally Posted by Mi10

Clicked today ! This is a super fun machine ! I truly my enjoy rides in this.
S/M Size is just perfect for me
52/36 on 11-28 Gearing is lovely for the straights of Chennai
Stiff aero frame aids hard runs
Bike takes abuse well !

Attachment 2201926

So hot and sexy the Reacto is man. The "original" aero for me. Somehow the new design philosophy of Merida "Reacto-izing" the Scultura for 2022 does not gel with me.

A lightweight is a pure breed.

An aero is a pure breed. And never the Twain shall (should) meet ...

Manufacturers since the past two years (Specialized, Canyon, and now Merida) are mongrelizing the two. Not that I don't live mongrels. I have 5 Indies of my own and have always had Indies over tge years. Many argue now that the Indie itself is one of the world's oldest dog breeds, but I digress.

Is this your old bike or did you buy a new one?

Your Look 765 actually gets categorised under Endurance frames, I learned today morning.

Originally Posted by ringoism

Well, Doc was right about both the slimmer tyres and minimising weight...

The old (transgendered ) Decathlon ran well on its first outing; again I had been concerned about the gearing in light of the longer circumference 700c's and the minimum 24x28 ring/cog - This represents tallest effective 1st-gear of all my cycles but the low weight and rolling resistance must have helped, and it felt quite fine the whole way.

I really want to find an alloy handle for this and might go in for lighter tyres/tubes at some point, I think I can easily shave another kilo off it this way (which would take it to about 12.5kg). Not carefully fitted as yet but preliminarily it seems it'll work for me.

-Eric

Or maybe you are just getting more conditioned and stronger now that you have started riding the hills regularly.

I did however suspect that you would like the modded old school steel Riverside more.

If you are going to change the handle, try a flat bar this time. Totally changes the feel of the bike, especially on high speed descents and cornering. Even straight-line powering, but you won't get much of that up there.

Your inputs and perspectives on how much weight there is to be saved even on our low budget bikes and components and parts was a revelation. I'm almost tempted to buy a weighing scale (platform type) myself, but without an extensive parts bin of alternatives, I don't know what that would achieve.

I have a steel flat bar on my ACT , and that really chunky (heavy) adjustable stem, but steel under the hands feels a lot better than alloy. Just as for the forks.

By the look of it, your Riverside has a nice classic curved slim tip steel fork, while your Thunder has an alloy one. You will feel the difference over rough sections.

Cheers, Doc

[Mi10]

Originally Posted by ebonho

So hot and sexy the Reacto is man. The "original" aero for me. Somehow the new design philosophy of Merida "Reacto-izing" the Scultura for 2022 does not gel with me.

A lightweight is a pure breed.

An aero is a pure breed. And never the Twain shall (should) meet ...

Is this your old bike or did you buy a new one?

Thanks Doc, Yes, most new models try to do everything and end up being jack of all. This is my old 2017 Merida Reacto 400 that came with 105 5800 groupset. It is actually on the heavier side (10.1 kgs with pedals) but i think it is still pretty decent since it is an alloy bike with heavy rims.

Originally Posted by ebonho

Your Look 765 actually gets categorised under Endurance frames, I learned today morning.

My model is Blade 795 RS which again is a pure Aero frame. But lighter than the reacto with some modern niceties.

Somehow prefer the Reacto over Look, although the look is faster, pretty good at climbs and is also more comfortable. The Reacto gives that feeling of complete fussfree freedom. I always feel i am in total control of this bike...Almost like an extension of my own self! Hard to describe the rationale though !

[ringoism]

Originally Posted by ebonho

If you are going to change the handle, try a flat bar this time. Totally changes the feel of the bike, especially on high speed descents and cornering. Even straight-line powering, but you won't get much of that up there.

Your inputs and perspectives on how much weight there is to be saved even on our low budget bikes and components and parts was a revelation. I'm almost tempted to buy a weighing scale (platform type) myself, but without an extensive parts bin of alternatives, I don't know what that would achieve.

By the look of it, your Riverside has a nice classic curved slim tip steel fork, while your Thunder has an alloy one. You will feel the difference over rough sections.

Actually both have steel forks, Hero's is painted to look aluminum. I feel the bumps a lot more with both vs. my suspended bikes, and will have to at least go in for some thicker foam motorbike grips... it's fairly brutal on my rough usual descent.

I've got a very light aluminum flat-bar on my wife's previous Firefox, so think I'll grab that and give it a try. Concern being that with my seat set so high to accommodate my height + the lower handle, I'll be excessively crouched to feel confident on the steeper downhills. Probably need some simple/light bar-end extensions, if I can find them anywhere...

Come to think of it, I've got an imported Presta'd 700C tube I can extract from that other bike, too.

Any predictions on whether Decathlon will start selling tyres in India again? Saw that their 700x38C gravel tyre was only something like 413g (despite being cheap), so vs. mine at 700g+, a 35C on those lines could prove pretty advantageous, tyres and tubes alone would reduce bike weight by nearly a kg!

I've just got a simple household food-scale, btw...



Parts bin aside, I'm sure you could reduce your ACT's weight considerably if you felt it important.

-Eric

[amol4184]

Originally Posted by Ironhide

Thank you Amol.

It was clicked beyond Char Dukan. In fact even beyond Prakash Stores / Bake House. This is one of the more remote areas of Mussoorie - rather desolate and its remoteness lends it a hauntingly serene air.

Just the perfect place to take an unhurried, leisurely walk, far from the madding crowd.

Cheers !

While I am unaware of any of the landmarks having never been so up northwards, I absolutely agree with the second part of the comment. It does look haunting and perfect for a leisurely ride. I much prefer places like these than the fast paced bustling highways. Keep sharing more such pics!

[narayanang76]

Originally Posted by ebonho

That leaves the biggest rolling component, the wheels. But those, whatever you do or replace with, is not going to be cheap.

Please list down your ideas!

Cheers, Doc

Wheelsets - the most practical upgrade to any bike, in my view. A good quality hubs (novatec or ABC hubs kinds), and an Alloy wheelset with quality spokes and tires would do, no need to go for fancy carbon wheels and all. A simple hubs upgrade to current wheels itself would be good start in my view.

And the best thing is you can keep your wheelset even if we upgrade our bikes in future, unlike those other upgraded bike components.

[Aditya]

Clicked about 10 days ago at Nariman Point.

[vb-saan]

A short evening ride yesterday. The usual Saturday morning trip moved to tomorrow (subjected to waking up early morning)



Through the frame...

[amol4184]

Tried a different route today. Barring a trucks traffic patch I see it becoming my favorite route.
The new bag is performing well. No sag or tilt. And since it's small, contents inside don't rattle much on the rough roads.