[joe1980]

Here is my new acquisition for the sport that I do - Downhill / Enduro Mountain biking! It is the Trek Remedy 8 2018 model.

[Ithaca]

Got the first video as a Whatsapp forward.
Second link is on searching on YouTube.

Interesting drivetrain concept.
No Derailleur or chain.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rgo-yEaXDzA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UFAQ6CzNm7s

Moderators, kindly delete this post if it has been shared before.
Thank you.

[yogi1771]

Got the Trek DS4



Company for Time

[nibedk]

Fellow BHPians - Need help on deciding my first cycle since my schooling days.

Need for a cycle - I am in my late thirties and still ride a motorbike to office. Around 50 kms both ways every day. Very rarely drive my car to office just in case the weather is not conducive to biking.

Work pressure in the last 4 years plus a young growing family has made sure that I completely stopped exercising. I have put on 16 kgs in the meantime and am close to touching a ton If that happens - it will mostly be a point of no return.

I have never felt unhealthier in my whole life than I have in the last 3 weeks.

It’s very difficult for me now to take out time exclusively for exercising. I have tried a couple of times and my body just isn't ready to do what I was able to do when I was exercising. I know that it will take a concentrated effort over a period of 2-3 years to get anywhere near to my fittest self.

It takes me around 2 hours daily on commute and it makes sense to utilize the time for some exercising. Since I love biking in general so I think taking the cycling option is the best bet before I can hit gym/yoga etc.

But I do not really want to buy a costly cycle and then lose interest in a couple of months.

So I am trying to figure out if I can commit to cycling long term. In case I can keep myself motivated and understand my biking needs better, I can plan for bigger investment after 8-12 months.

Need is to have a hybrid (pure city bike will not work as at least 20% of the roads that I will take daily is pathetic. Tried a few MTBs and didn't like any of the entry level ones at all. Nothing good until I stretch my budget beyond 20 K. Plus all MTBs have this shocks which I felt just slows you down especially on well paved city roads.

My needs are

• Geared cycle - Number doesn't matter. 7/8/9 would do as well as 21/24.
• Hybrid bike
• No shocks
• No discs

Went and checked in Track & Trail/Decathlon and below are the options I liked

1. Btwin Riverside 120
2. Mach city - I didn't even know about this brand and what it offers for the price is just pretty goods. Looks like a MTB but is actually more of city bike with slightly thicker tires than hybrids. Would suit me well as the roads I plan to take has some sections where the slightly thicker tires would provide better comfort. Around 5 kms of roads are pretty bad with pot holes, uneven untarred roads.

Montra I didn't like any of the bikes under 20 K for what they offer.

I am getting a 21 gear Mach city ibike. I think it’s an older model and is available on Flipkart for around 7 K. These had thumb shifters which are generally better than the wrist ones

The Riverside 120 is 12K and has a thumb shifter model with 8 gears. But they are not Shimanos but Microshift (which is from Btwin).

I tried reading some reviews and https://www.choosemybicycle.com/ is the only site where I found reviews for both.

Surprisingly they have rated the Mach City much better than the Riverside 120.

Please help on deciding as I want to close this by end of the week. I am open to other recommendations within 15 K.

I have looked at renting options but it would cost me a good 5-6 K for 2 months so I think it’s better putting that money to buy a new one.

Only advantage of Btwin is that it’s a unisex model so in worst case if I am not able to commit to cycling then I can pass it on to my daughter and will not have to take a hit while selling it.

But the Mach City is cheaper almost by 5K so it’s pretty even.

I plan to ride the geared Mach City by end of the week and decide on one of them. I rode the single speed one and didn't have much to complain. Any cycle that I have rode during the last 2 weeks of my search were way better than I had thought initially. Cycles have become so good that even a basic single speed one like Btwin mybike or Mach City ibike are way better than what I rode 20 years back.

Please help me select one of these bikes/and/or any other bike within 15 K.

[ebonho]

Originally Posted by nibedk

Please help me select one of these bikes/and/or any other bike within 15 K.

Montra Downtown, Montra Helicon, Firefox Rapide. The Helicon has the wider tyres you want. The Downtown and Rapide are narrower and built more for speed. They've all got rigid forks, and similar components, though the Rapide has a higher level rear derailleur.

Hope that helps.

I personally do not like the current series of BTwins. The BSA is a steel frame. The ones I've suggested are all alloy.

[BulZire]

I am Planning to buy a 24 or 26 inch bicycle for my daughter with a budget of 5 to 8K. I had considered BSA ladybird and looked at few models in this already. can you please share if there are any other better options that I can consider ?. She is riding a 22 inch B-Twin now, which is too small for her.

[Aditya]

Originally Posted by yogi1771

Got the Trek DS4

Lovely bike. Hope to see you on rides more often. I've not ridden much since June, but come September, I expect the km count to shoot up.

[yogi1771]

Originally Posted by Aditya

Lovely bike. Hope to see you on rides more often. I've not ridden much since June, but come September, I expect the km count to shoot up.

Same here have not ridden the whole monsoon season. Roadie I don't ride in the rains mtb had sold it off a few months back,hopefully whatever rains remaining can enjoy with the DS4 then back to the roadie

[ninjatalli]

Originally Posted by Aditya

I've not ridden much since June, but come September, I expect the km count to shoot up.

Originally Posted by yogi1771

Same here have not ridden the whole monsoon season. Roadie I don't ride in the rains mtb had sold it off a few months back,hopefully whatever rains remaining can enjoy with the DS4 then back to the roadie

Interesting - my kms actually go up during the rain. I absolutely love riding and running in the rains.

[ebonho]

Originally Posted by ninjatalli

Interesting - my kms actually go up during the rain. I absolutely love riding and running in the rains.

Averaged around 900 km last month and this one. I love riding IN the rain too. The only caveat being that I REALLY do not like stepping out of the warm early morning stupor of my house into cold heavy drops of rain. As long as it's relatively dry or max Poona-piddling (pardon the French) then I don't mind at all if it starts raining in the next 5 to 10 Kms once I'm nicely warmed up and worked up a sheen of sweat. After that it's open season. Though recently I discovered that if you ride long and hard enough in real driving pelting rain then in addition to washing clean the roads and your bike and even you (especially your mid caked lowers), what it also does is washes clean your entire drivetrain of every last drop of lube. Once the rain stops and things start drying out, so does your chain. And the rest of the ride home you hear some lovely cheee chooooo rhythmic melodies from there.

Cheers, Doc

[yogi1771]

Yes I enjoy riding in the rains,only this season was off it the reason as stated above.

[ebonho]

Originally Posted by yogi1771

Yes I enjoy riding in the rains,only this season was off it the reason as stated above.

Is there a reason why guys don't use their roadies in the rains besides the bad roads?

Cheers, Doc

[Aditya]

I don't stop in the rains either. It's just that too many things have happened in July and August that kept me busy.

Originally Posted by ebonho

Is there a reason why guys don't use their roadies in the rains besides the bad roads?

Cheers, Doc

The three reasons why I don't ride my roadie in the rains are:

1. Potholes. You never know how big a pothole will be under standing water. There might have been be no pothole yesterday, but today one might be there. Chances of crashing are higher on the thin-tyred roadie than on the MTB

2. The hydraulic disc brakes on my MTB are way better at stopping the bike safely in the wet than the rim brakes of any roadie. A couple of scares at high speed were enough to convince me to keep the roadie home in the rains.

3. I hate to see my roadie lying dirty. Cleaning it after every ride is just too time consuming. On the other hand, the MTB looks cool after a mud bath

[ninjatalli]

Originally Posted by ebonho

I love riding IN the rain too.

Originally Posted by yogi1771

Yes I enjoy riding in the rains,only this season was off it the reason as stated above.

Originally Posted by Aditya

The three reasons why I don't ride my roadie in the rains are:

Hahaha - then the fact that I put my Colnago to this pain might actually offend a few bike enthusiasts
I agree with @aditya's reasons; also the additional advantage anytime a MTB allows to go on a slush based route vs a roadie is paramount; atleast in the hills around Mumbai.


Btw this's been on my mind; enough of auto meets; we should do a bike tbhp meetup on a day with some or lots of rain forecasted

Say for e.g. mid-way of Bhor ghat. Mumbai folks can ride from the city and climb half way; Pune guys the opposite. I think give or take a few kms; the distance should be equal both sides (~140-160 kms)

[yogi1771]

Originally Posted by Aditya

I don't stop in the rains either. It's just that too many things have happened in July and August that kept me busy.

All the above points & upon that have carbon wheels, so can't take the risk of crashing into our famous Mumbai potholes & risk cracking it