[Turbo_asd]

Originally Posted by sudeep11787

I am using a RR 5.0. I have had gear issues and brakes touching the rim issue. It took a lotta adjustments but now it works well. Just try searching for some vids. You will defnlty fix it.

Fixed the brakes yesterday! No squeaking, no groaning. Tightened the brake cables as well since they were somewhat loose.
I am still trying to crack the gear issues. Can you recommend any videos that helped you fix your gears?

Can anyone tell me a good lubricant and degreaser for MTB's?

[Snehal Sekhar]

Not sure if this is the right place to post this, but I wanted to know if there is any bicycle rental shop in Pondicherry. I searched the web, but was not able to find any suitable sites. All I get is either motorcycles or scooters on rent. I am travelling to Pondi on the 23rd of this month and wanted to do some local sightseeing and what better way than on a bicycle. Any help on this is much appreciated.

[nareshov]

@Snehal_Sekhar: you'll find them once you hit the streets (such as Mission street.)

[mail4ajo]

Originally Posted by Snehal Sekhar

Not sure if this is the right place to post this, but I wanted to know if there is any bicycle rental shop in Pondicherry.

Aurovelo is a nice store I have heard of in Pondi. Try them:

AUROVELO EVFUTURE
Reve Auroville 605101,
Auroville, Pondicherry.
Contact No.: : 0413 2622380 /
+91 9443658128
Email : sukrit@auroville.org.in
Facebook page : www.facebook.com/aurovelo

[Snehal Sekhar]

Originally Posted by nareshov

@Snehal_Sekhar: you'll find them once you hit the streets (such as Mission street.)

Thanks nareshov!

Originally Posted by mail4ajo

Aurovelo is a nice store I have heard of in Pondi.

Thanks mail4ajo. I did contact Aurovelo today and the gentleman I spoke to said that they don't rent out bicycles. They asked me to go to Auroville instead and speak to someone at the visitor registration counter for bicycles and they should help me out with getting one. Anyway, the search still continues!

[phamilyman]

Did you folks know that Strava has a privacy mode? You can obfuscate your home area by just turning on the option in the website. It even figures out your potential address basis the start/stop areas.

Very neat.

[599gto]

Hello team,

I am 23, 5'8" and well above a 100 kilograms.
Looking at buying a bicycle primarily to increase my daily dose of physical activity, also running twice a day is really boring. So I plan to ride a bicycle in the mornings and go running/walking in the evening.

Now having visited a few bicycle dealers I am aware of the current pricing.
My budget initially was 20k but I can stretch upto 30k for now, anything more will be tight.

One bicycle that caught my eye was a Bergamont Helix 2.0 for 26k. Any reviews on Bergamont?!?!

I was looking at Hybrids but also wanted to know if switching to Hybrid tyres on an MTB would do the trick?!?!
Also going by simple logic I have a feeling that an MTB would be able to take my weight better that a Hybrid.

Also I am open to all brands, so please suggest a suitable bicycle for me, with in 30k!!

PS: I know they are not too much of an advantage but disc brakes are nice to have!

[FINTAIL]

Originally Posted by 599gto

One bicycle that caught my eye was a Bergamont Helix 2.0 for 26k. Any reviews on Bergamont?!?!

I was looking at Hybrids but also wanted to know if switching to Hybrid tyres on an MTB would do the trick?!?!
Also going by simple logic I have a feeling that an MTB would be able to take my weight better that a Hybrid.
PS: I know they are not too much of an advantage but disc brakes are nice to have!

Of course Hybrid slicks do the trick!

That's how some of us survive daily commuting on a bicycle!

Fixed Geax StreetRunner's on my 2012 Montra Rock 1 MTB in March '14; 3500km on......NO REGRETS.

For your kind of riding (which is purely on roads); I recommend the Montra Blues @ ~18k.

Go to Surinder Cycles; Karve Road or Baner- for a quote.

Check out the GT Agressor- Although; with time I've come to realise buying an MTB for city or road oriented use is useless. Even with slicks.

Better buy a proper hybrid. Kindly refer to ~30-60 previous pages of this thread for more inputs.

Last but not the least; if further assistance w.r.t cycling in Poona is required - PM me.

[ebonho]

Originally Posted by 599gto

Also going by simple logic I have a feeling that an MTB would be able to take my weight better that a Hybrid.

A friend of mine has a Bergamont and he is very happy. In fact he has been trying to get me into cycling (by making my home the mid rid pit stop at night).

I am not really serious but based on my previous experience I would stay away from MTBs or even Hybrids (I see them essentially as fixed tail MTBs with thin tyres) and be looking at pure road bikes (drop handles, though the bull horns look pretty comfortable as well).

So my question is why do you think a Hybrid cannot take your weight? I ask with a degree of concern because I myself am a pretty healthy 90 kilos, though I'm 4 inches taller than you.

[ninjatalli]

Originally Posted by phamilyman

Did you folks know that Strava has a privacy mode? You can obfuscate your home area by just turning on the option in the website. It even figures out your potential address basis the start/stop areas.

Very neat.

Yup already using it.

But the reason for that option is to do with cities like London and NY where bike theft is a serious problem and the thieves are getting innovative to figure out places to steal.

Originally Posted by 599gto

I was looking at Hybrids but also wanted to know if switching to Hybrid tyres on an MTB would do the trick?!?!
Also going by simple logic I have a feeling that an MTB would be able to take my weight better that a Hybrid.

Yup slicks work well on MTB; however I don't see any reason why a hybrid wouldn't do the job.

The frames of both MTB and Hybrids are strong enough to take the weight. Instead you should try them all and decide which bike works for you - don't go pre-decided.

[599gto]

Originally Posted by FINTAIL

For your kind of riding (which is purely on roads); I recommend the Montra Blues @ ~18k.

Go to Surinder Cycles; Karve Road...

Thanks for the suggestion FINTAIL, I will definitely go to Surinder cycles, have only heard good things about them!

Originally Posted by ebonho

So my question is why do you think a Hybrid cannot take your weight? I ask with a degree of concern because I myself am a pretty healthy 90 kilos, though I'm 4 inches taller than you.

Come on Doc, you've seen me, the only reason for my apprehension is my weight, however, I think I have made up my mind to get a Hybrid.

You shouldn't even think of getting into bicycling, because there is no known method to test what a bicycle tops out at, will be difficult to decide right!

Originally Posted by ninjatalli

The frames of both MTB and Hybrids are strong enough to take the weight. Instead you should try them all and decide which bike works for you - don't go pre-decided.

Thanks ninjatalli, have read up about bicycles, and have almost made up my mind to get a Hybrid, but will definitely check out the MTBs, for they look badass!
Any particular Hybrid you would suggest in the budget of around 30k?!?!

, yours is the most outrageous handle i've come across on the forum, after superbhikari. Good one! Hahahhaa

[ninjatalli]

Originally Posted by 599gto

Thanks ninjatalli, have read up about bicycles, and have almost made up my mind to get a Hybrid, but will definitely check out the MTBs, for they look badass!
Any particular Hybrid you would suggest in the budget of around 30k?!?!

Bikes are like the concept of wands in Harry Potter - the bike chooses you and not the other way

Jokes apart, I would not go by the price limit but keep a 50% upward movement. And then try out the options in that extended range. Test ride all of them, and then decide if the costlier option(s) are better to risk the additional moolah.

No idea about the price point, but Trek 7.2 FX and Cannondale Quick 5/6 are pretty awesome hybrids. I owned the latter one, at a time when my weight was ~95. Giant Cypress and Sedona are also decent commuter bikes for city roads - but haven't ridden them.

Also look at Fuji bikes if you want to play the VFM angle - they have pretty decent (and cheaper) options.

, yours is the most outrageous handle i've come across on the forum, after superbhikari. Good one! Hahahhaa

lol - don't read too much into it!

Edit: Having owned a hybrid and MTB, I'd recommend the former. You get cheaper MTBs in the market, but they have a purpose. And that's not city riding.

[ebonho]

Actually I have rethought the decision of getting a new bike as I am very uncertain about whether I will stick to this cycling fad or after a month the cycle will be gather dust and rust and/or be up for sale.

So the way I look at it the better option will be to get my old 18 speed Hercules Top Gear refurbished and try my hand at it and if the bug bites, then get a new better bike.

First things would be a better saddle and hybrid slicks.

Wondering whether all the cables would need replacing as well.

Maybe the pedals as well (on of them does not rotate freely).

Lastly, the rims are pretty rusty now, so should I replace to the stock rims or go in for alloys. How much would cheap alloy rims cost?

Experts (phamilyman, fintail) please give me suggestions on the saddle, tyres, cables, pedals and rims options.

The other option would be to buy a BSA Mach or Hero Hawk and put on gears and make a cheap road bike out of it. But I've been asking around and a half decent gear set costs around 5K, so with the 5K for the basic bike, the total would be around 10K, and in 10K (or a bit more) there are proper ready-made road bike options which I have shortlisted as the proper road bike (when and if I feel its something I can get into and continue, not just as a 1 month fad).

The low cost road bike options are:

1) Suncross Racer Star (MS) - Alloy frame (55) and fork, 14 speed - costs 14.5K

2) Raleigh Clubman (sold by Suncross only) - Steel frame (53?) and fork, 14 speed - costs 13.5-14K

3) Fomas Road King Deluxe - Steel frame (53?, some claim newer ones are alloy frame) and fork, 14 speed - costs about 12K (but with discounts you could pick one up at under 10K as well)

4) Schnell Speed Rom - Steel frame and fork, 18 speed - around 12K (not heard good things about this one compared to the above three)

[nareshov]

Why not get a bTwin rockrider 5.0 from decathlon?

[FINTAIL]

Originally Posted by ebonho

Actually I have rethought the decision of getting a new bike as I am very uncertain about whether I will stick to this cycling fad or after a month the cycle will be gather dust and rust and/or be up for sale.


Lastly, the rims are pretty rusty now, so should I replace to the stock rims or go in for alloys. How much would cheap alloy rims cost?

Experts (phamilyman, fintail) please give me suggestions on the saddle, tyres, cables, pedals and rims options.

The other option would be to buy a BSA Mach or Hero Hawk and put on gears and make a cheap road bike out of it. But I've been asking around and a half decent gear set costs around 5K, so with the 5K for the basic bike, the total would be around 10K, and in 10K (or a bit more) there are proper ready-made road bike options which I have shortlisted as the proper road bike (when and if I feel its something I can get into and continue, not just as a 1 month fad).

The low cost road bike options are:

NEVER BUY A CHEAP ROAD BIKE.

Cheap MTB's are manageable- but a cheap roadie? Never. There's more than enough horror stories floating around as it is. Brakes pop off. The gears never work right.

And; I tend to look at the welds on the bicycle frame. The *quality* of the welds truly defines the *quality* of the frame itself.

These cheaper bikes generally have useless welds. God forbid; if one of those welds come apart at ~60KMPH.

After all; if it is *extremely* cheap- it must be so for a reason, no?

They HAVE cut costs; and have compromised on quality. Somewhere. It may be useless components; it even may be a compromise on the frame welds...

Tell you what; try and restore your older cycle. Cables; Pedals etc. Rims - ask the bloke at Surinder. 700c (which might not fit); or even MTB rims (26 inch); shod with Geax StreetRunner's will do.

Surinder had a large stock of 'em StreetRunner's- Last I checked.

The second option; Vistaspji; is-

Speak to Surinder. About your requirements. Tell him- That you want a road bike ONLY. But you're unsure about it.

Surinder can loan you a cycle- I've seen him do so for others. So; request him. Lend a roadie for a month or thereabouts.

And then; if you like it; well.....Buy it!

He is a genuine person. 'Explains why I buy ONLY from him.

EDIT :

Originally Posted by 599gto

Thanks for the suggestion FINTAIL, I will definitely go to Surinder cycles, have only heard good things

He might appear to be a bit strict. He's shouted on me umpteen times....When I had screwed up my Montra's gearshift; I still remember him. Strict. That lecture.....How to take genuine care of your cycle.....Goodness!

But; the scolding that day won him a repeat customer. He was the most genuine person around.

And he made me appreciate cycling. And ensured that it became a hobby for me. And ensured that he got a repeat customer...

After all; their family has been selling cycles in Poona for generations.

Here's my complete list of cycles bought from him :

2004 : 2003 BSA. Scrapped.

2009 : La Soverign Ozone . 26". (This bike rusted out in one monsoon season)

2010 : BSA Mach. Scrapped. Parts were cannibalized for my Montra. But I threw 'em away. Never really liked the BSA. Quality was missing.

I had the frame until 2013. Gave it away.

2012 : Montra Rock - I. MTB. Size - M. 26" . My most memorable cycle to date. Really made me cycle a lot. Now @ ~9,000 Kilometers.

Still clocking on.....

2015 : 2014 Bianchi Via Nirone 7 Coast2Coast Reparto Course. Celeste. 52cm. 700C x 23.

Paid a bomb for this one. My road bike + long distance tourer. It has carbon fibre forks, to boot! Review on previous pages of this very thread. My current flagship. And the best cycle I've owned yet.


~