I thought I'd write up a review of the B'Twin Rockrider 5.0 after riding my first 50 km to work (and back lately) on it.
Most reviews I've found have been written by experts and seasoned bicyclists.
Since I began cycling after a gap of about 10 years a month ago, I thought I'd aim this at newbies and for people who have long ago given up the saddle for a comfortable seat, replete with aircon and other creature comforts. And especially for those who are growing horizontally and weigh in excess of 115 kilos.
So after that verbose intro, let's begin.
I picked up the Rockrider online on sports365.in. Cost me 9400 rupees including shipping and delivery happened in about a week. Quick delivery, great customer support. Overall, superb experience.
Last Friday, a massive Decathlon box was waiting for me when I got home from work.
Before I even got out of my work clothes, I began tearing open the box. But the quality of the packaging had my scissors asking for mercy. It took me about ten minutes to open the box and remove the packaging materials and take out the bike itself. So big win on the package. Durable with not a single scratch on the box even.
The bicycle itself is wrapped up like a baby inside in plastic and corrugated paper, with the handlebars askew. All you need to do is straighten them and tighten them with Allen key (supplied). And you also have to screw on the pedals.
The little bag hanging from the top bar is the instruction sheet and the tools are in the box with the pedals.
Setup took no time at all (except for the tearing of the said plastic and paper wrapping) and I took her for a brisk ride around my building. Loved the speed and the crisp gear changes after my three weeks with my Hercules Atom 18 gear bike (that had a full suspension setup - yes. I didn't read the guidelines before I acquired the Hercules)
All set up:
The first day of riding to work was tough. After the upright seating position on the Hercules, the forward position on this was different. And felt uncomfortable. While the speed difference was apparent from the first minute, the riding position seemed a bit tiring on my shoulders, butt and thighs. My thighs were so sore by the time I reached office that I left the bicycle at work and took a cab home. The next day, I rode home after work and it still pained. Distance clocked was 14 km.
The next day, I drove to work. The xuv wasn't getting any Love and I thought I needed to rectify that.
A day later, I was ready to ride the bike to work. It didn't feel as tiring by the time I got to work. And riding back felt good. Went to sleep at 9 pm on a Friday, but that's another story.
Today, I rode to work and loved it. The seating position is a joy. Yes, my padded shorts helped but I like the riding position. Riding home from work back too was awesome. No fatigue, no back pain, no butt pain. Wee bit of soreness still on the thighs but I could go on for another couple of kilometers easily. So I did. Did a quick lap of Bandra and came home. Brought the odo upto to 50 kilometers.
ACCESSORIES:
Since I'm saving so much money on diesel, I obviously have to waste some of it. So I trawl the intertubes and look for gadgets and gizmos. In fact, it's become such a problem that the office reception bow just rings me when they see any courier person at the door. Maybe I need help.
Among the gadgets, that arrived in no particular order and continue to arrive every day, I've boughr:
Sundig wired speedometer - bought off eBay. 420 rupees.
B'Twin Kickstand (the bike doesn't come with one) - bought off flipkart.com, 599 rupees
B'Twin Front Vioo USB chargeable headlamp - flipkart.com, 799 rupees
B'Twin Bottle Cage - flipkart.com, 129 rupees
B'Twin SP5 - flipkart for 499 rupees
And then this nifty gadget - it creates a laser Lane as well as has a led light at the back. Extremely gimmicky but cool all the same. Cost me 900 bucks on snapdeal and it's rechargeable.
On order is a mobile phone holder and a horn, from playmore.in
NOW FOR THE NIGGLES:
The brakes were set too tight on the bike and so they were brushing when not pressed and we're making me do stoppies and wheelies (mainly stoppies) at every traffic light. After much experimenting, I discovered that the shoes could be eased up a bit by removing a single washer. So that's what I did and today, absolutely no wheelies or stoppies.
Initially I wanted to get a stem riser but after a few days, I'm OK with the handlebars. Maybe I'll have to get them if I want to do more than just 10k on a ride. But for now, I'm a happy camper.
Another niggle is that the gear markers don't line up with the actual gears. So you have to go to 3 and a half to get three on the front sprocket, 2 and a half for 2 and that sorta thing.
TOTAL EXPENSES SO FAR: about 14k (including 2 pairs of padded Btwin shorts)
Wow. That was the first time I totaled all those expenses up. Now that I've suddenly had a mini panic attack, maybe I'll refrain from further pimping up my ride. Let me know what you guys think.
Thanks for reading this long and verbose review.