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V brakes are any day better than disc brakes. Schwinn is better than Merida as Merida has a very low reliability rate as compared to the other brands in this price range. Buy the schwinn.

Go for the Schwinn, you wont regret. I myself have been riding a schwinn(Schwinn Sporterra Sport) for the last 1.5 years now. I have seen atleast 7-8 schwinns in my friend circle and none of them complain. Easy to maintain and a no-nonsense bike.

You will love the ride.

planning to buy a cost effective bike for local run around , saw firefox road runner 21 spd & btwin rockrider man 5.0 .any suggestions pls.

Disc brakes are better than V brakes. Another thing that 99% of guys here don't need disc brakes.

I think Merida as a brand in general is better than Schwinn. When you say low reliability, what exactly do you think fails?

the best saddles are the hardest saddles.

Yes, mirrors is a great idea for Indian traffic.

Anything that has contact with you fails, it could be the seat, the paddles, the front shock or the rims. In delhi most of the merida dealers have closed down because they ere fed up with the complaints. Now most of them are selling bianchis, treks, schwinns and even gt.

disc brakes may be better performers but they are definitely not better overall. Reasons :

1) More frequent maintenance required
2) costly
3) heavy
4) expensive sub parts
5) not required unless you are into downhill racing etc.

These are the reasons that even the most expensive road bikes like the pinarellos and the most expensive treks do NOT have disc brakes.

I beg to disagree that is complete nonsense and patently untrue.

I own a 3 year old Merida 20V. Its done 6000km under me, and then 1000+ under other relatives who are being converted into cyclists :p

Nothing of that sort has happened.

And FYI - Merida is a huge bike manufacturer based out of Taiwan. They own 49% of Specialized btw !!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merida_Bikes
http://cyclingiq.com/2012/03/14/meri...ance-ambition/

FYI - most of the parts you mention are standard Shimano / SRAM / other OEM components. Most manufacturers only make frames and forks these days (and even that is outsourced for almost all non-carbon frames).

^^Thats great to know. So they are pretty reliable :) Are they fast enough? Because personally i liked the Merida bikes a little more for the lockable suspension ability and longer travel(and the epicly easy ability to do wheelies :D) I was looking at the 40v and the 20v. Is the 40v much better? Does your bike also have a lockable suspension?

Guys,

Its been about 5 weeks now and I'm happy that I took the decision. I cycle to work twice a week and little bit of cycling around my layout in the week, I'm yet to get a cyclometer or something of that sort to figure how much I'm riding.

My goal is fitness and some fun rides for now. I chose to go for MTB keeping the alternate route to my work which is not that great (Bellandur lake > Yamlur Road > EGL) the main route is good too, but I'm just trying to avoid too much of traffic and pollution. Some of the things I think could have been better.

1> Safety is the biggest concern to me here, I started respecting other traffic on the road more when I'm driving a big vehicle. Frequently, I keep watching for speeding vehicles on my back and not being caught at a point when there is an oncoming vehicle crossing at the same time and one of them pushing me off the road, cabbies are the worst, they don't care, if I'm late in the night while returning back, I hook up a blinker on the rear of the bike, I find some stretches where front light is needed but holding on to it yet
2> I don't travel long distance, its just 11kms (one way), but gives good feeling/exercise to the muscles, I have been ignorant to my leg muscles and happy that I have some small activity for them, I used to work out once or twice a week, now I do that on my cycle days
3> Need to work on some maintenance schedule/guide to maintain my bike, I heard from a friend to carry a tube and I can replace the tube in case of puncture within 12-15 minutes time, also need to get a lubricant that can be used twice a week after a wash, will start working on maintenance now, since that's going to be one of the key areas

I'll get some better pictures, for now this one from the phone camera.

Good for you but you should learn some manners first (using words like nonsense to my response). Just because your bike did not have problems, does not mean that the reliability is awesome. Minor Failure occurring on even 1 out 10 bikes is considered to be a reliability issue. I used to have a Merida about 2 yrs back and it gave me no problems but a couple of my friends had to sell their meridas because of repeated small niggles and then moved on to other brands.

Also most of the shops in delhi have stopped stocking Merida. I think there is only one dealer left. This was again because of repeated niggles reported by users.

Anyone using a bicycle trip computer here?
If we lose the magnetic sensor attached to spokes,can we use any basic magnet in its place?

yes i got bike trip meter, its a Btwin make. But i doubt you can use a basic magnet.

The bike looks fantastic Ketan, Safety while biking is of prime importance. Get a proper rear blinker(with LED) and front beam light and also try and get hold of reflective jacket, also make sure to ride on the extreme left of the road.try and get hold of Btwing biking trip meter(wired) it costs around 550/- and makes the ride more interesting as you know how much have u ridden.Finish line wet lube is pretty decent and you can get it off flipkart.

I think it should work. Hold the other magnet in your hand and move it (preferably in a circular motion) near the sensor and see if the meter shows any reading. Even if it works, I think it would be difficult to clip it to the spokes. If you have actually lost yours and you are going to try this out, please let us know what happened. I will try too, in the mean time.

I actually mounted a bike trip computer on a Royal enfield 500:D
Since the sensor is meant for cycle spokes,i have somehow managed to fix it on the thick motorcycle spokes,so i was just wondering in case it falls off,if i could use a normal magnet.