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Does anyone in BLR have a spare medium sized saddle ? The saddle on my Decathlon is a small size, and I am trying to figure out which one would be comfortable.

Note - I did check out the gel pads, but I feel I should look at the saddle itself first.

Similar situation for me, but slightly different reasons. Am not able to get myself on the bike again - am completely hooked to running. Got the running calendar all setup with several races throughout Q1 & Q2 with no clear plans for the bike.

For me every day it's the same story. It takes atleast 10-15 mins to get the bike and gear setup; it takes only a min to put on the shoes; the fight is won at that stage itself :)

That is when you should start planning for a duathlon or a triathlon :)

I started running last year (I am a very slow runner though compared to your pace :) ), and my cycling mileage went down drastically compared to 2014. This year, I am planning to balance the activities by training for either a Duathlon or a Triathlon that happens every year at Thonnur lake near Mysore. Hope to get back on the saddle soon!

Dear Friends,

Its been more than two months since I took up cycling. I was not at all confident whether I would be able to continue.

But now the things have changed totally! And I am daily going for morning rides as well as commuting for office. The total distance I am doing is around 20 Kms a day including all the rides.

Now I am facing a new problem. As I was not sure about my cycling activity I didn't do any research and bought a basic geared cycle My Bike 7s from Decathlon, so that I don't lose money in case the cycle is not used by me in future. Now the problem is my cycle is good cycle but I feel I need an upgrade. I need more gears and I need Aluminium frame or lighter cycle. Now the research has started for me. I want to buy a Hybrid. I am not sure about the brands which I should be looking for. Decathlon Bikes seems to be decent but they don't have wider range. I visited Firefox and Giant showrooms and found them to be expensive. But they really have got a wider range too.

So my question to my fellow cyclists is:

Is it too early for me to think for an upgrade?

Which Hybrid I should be looking for in the of Rs 15k to 25K. I am not interested in having suspensions. So I can get good deal I suppose!

@zaheer5776,

1. If you feel you need more gears you can always go for an after market fitment of any shimano three gear setup up front.

2. I would strongly recommend going for hybrid tyres and you probably won't feel the need for a lighter frame with your kind of riding.

3. For better ergonomics, you can go for a longer seat stem and an adjustable stem for the handlebar.

These upgrades won't cost too much. As a first just change over to slimmer tyres. You might not even need more gears for a road ride of 20km.

All the best.

I cant see thanks button here on this thread! Thanks for your reply. In fact I was having doubts about after market fitments that's why I thought for new cycle. But the points you mentioned are quite convincing. I checked for the gears and it will cost me around 3k.

I will definitely think about it now. Also the thought of owning two cycles was looking very attractive. Like keeping current cycle for daily commute as I have seen that cycles are stolen very commonly everywhere and as a coincidence I just got a message on whatsapp about an expensive cycle of our group member got stolen. So I think for morning rides one can have a little bit expensive cycle.

Wish you happy riding.

Like I'd said, the first upgrade I would recommend (even before the gears) is the tyres. Pick a thinner tyre which is not knobby in the centre and for daily commuting you will be very comfortable.
Later, you can buy a second bike specifically for the kind of hobby riding you wish to do.

The last couple of pages have BTwin bicycles mentioned, so here is a photo of my BTwin MyBike 7s (7-speed). On a ride in Goa.

For my comfort, I have changed the handlebar to a flat bar, added a 90mm stem (after taking out the old quill stem). Also added is a BTwin carrier, to which I can attach a BTwin child seat.

Next upgrade, if you can call it that, is a Sturmey Archer AW 3-speed internal gear hub.

A year has gone by, and had my first major upgrade. Fitted a 7 speed gear. The benefits are immense. And to try our the new gears, had a nice 50km ride today morning. The last 7-8km were tough, but managed it in good time. This was my first 50km ride. Great experience with like minded people.

The sturmey archer is a brilliant piece of engineering. My cousin's Brompton has one. The best part, other than the reliability, is the fact that you can shift gears while standing still. That's a big plus when riding in stop and go conditions.

Where are you getting it from and how much are you paying for it?

Yes, the Sturmey Archer hub is a masterpiece. I had fitted one to my Hind Cycles Speedking aeons ago, and then, regrettably, sold the bike.

Recently, I felt like getting an internal gear hub again, and found the Sturmey Archer AW on eBay (US$100). I haven't fitted it yet, as I thought I will wait till I am thoroughly bored with the 7-speed derailleur mechanism currently fitted on my bike.

Here is a photo of the parts I have lovingly accumulated :)

So the cycling bug hit me after all these years. The last time I had pedalled seriously was during graduation days. After that I have rarely, if ever, been on a bicycle. Though in 2010 I did get a little excited after a friend gifted me his 'geared' Hercules Thriller, but the lazy bum in me hardly ever took it for a spin - max being an easy 8-10 km ride on weekends!

In Delhi I had the opportunity to visit the Jhandewalan Cycle Market to purchase a bicycle - not for me though. There I got talking with one of the shopkeepers and one thing led to another. He revealed that there was a talented 'mechanic' who restored regular geared bikes - even old ones! That led to the germination of an idea. I went and met him - Irfan was his name. I asked him if he could 'upgrade' my Hercules Thriller which has gears only in the rear to one that that had gears in both front sprocket and rear and he said why not?! He then very enthusiastically went on to explain what all he could do with the bicycle (though I honestly didn't get half the jargon that he belted out) but I was convinced that the humble old Hercules could be given a turnaround.

The afternoon saw me lugging the Hercules contorted in an unimaginable position in the back of the Zen to Irfan. He saw the bike and passed a verdict that the bike was in fine fettle and some spirited TLC would put it at par with the Firefoxes and Giants. I took this with a (large) pinch of salt and thought that he was just bandying about big names in order to impress me.

After a day I went to collect the bike. Here's a summary of the things he did

• Put in new 3-sprocket crankset along with a new derailleur in front
• Service rear cassette and derailleur
• Put in new ball bearings in both the wheels
• Replace defective spokes
• Changed the thumb push type gear lever to the grip type gear lever for controlling both the front and rear derailleurs
• Removed the 'horns' (seeng/ सींग - that's what he called them)
• Changed the rear tyre to a less knobbly one (on my insistence)
• Added a front light as well as a back light
• Added a Bottle carrier/ cage and a bottle
• Replaced the stock seat with an 'imported' one
• Replaced the ball bearings in headset and head tube with better ones
• Repaired the brakes , replace brake pads/ shoes all around
• Replaced the screw type seatpost clamp with a flip type one
• Replaced all cables (four of them)
• Replaced both brake levers

I got chatting with him and he revealed that he often used to go on expeditions with फिरंगी people on these organised bicycle expeditions to Uttarakhand/ Spiti/ Ladakh as the head mechanic and he has worked on bikes that cost upward of Rs 5L !

The total damage for the repair/ transformation was 24xx while the labour was Rs 400. I paid him Rs 3K. The bike runs smooth like butter now, though the grip type gear levers are a little hard at the moment. I expect it to get comfortable with time.

Here are the pictures

Hercules Thriller - Representational image - courtesy Google



New front 'imported' derailleur and cassette



Rear cassette and derailleur 'serviced'



Stock seat replaced with an 'imported' one, screw type seatpost clamp replaced with a flip type one



Water Bottle Holder / Clamp with bottle



Grip type gear lever - left



Grip type gear lever - right



Irfan - Mechanic par excellence, Jhandewalan, New Delhi - +919873181063



All in all, it's been a pleasant experience. The bike runs smoothly and the experience has left me cycling more than what I used to, which, considering the fee, is great !:).

Irfan claims that he can turn non-geared bicycles into geared ones and make them comparable to some of the big names in the business (Well he did a good job with mine - so far!). He said he routinely works with the imported bikes which the various shops in the Jhandewalan Cycle Market send to him to fit derailleurs and cassettes and look at the niggles that crop up once in a while. He has sorted my bicycle and it really runs smoothly. People in Delhi who are looking for adding gears to their bikes can look at him for advice and repair I guess.

Here are his contact details

Irfan - Jhandewalan Bicycle Market, New Delhi - +919873181063

Pros

• Knowledgeable and conscientious
• Quality of work
• Price

Cons

• You have to lug your bicycle to him

Cheers !

Dear Friends,
It gives me immense pleasure to announce completion of 3 months of cycling! clap: I bought cycle on 28th Nov 15 and began cycling for daily commute and morning rides. So far I have lost more than 3 kgs in 3 months and the experience is great.

I would like the promote cycling as mode of transport which I am already doing it offline and online by sharing my experiences and encouraging people who want to do cycling.

Also I would like to thank friends here who gave me valuable advise. I hope I will complete one year of cycling! First three months were really important for me as I was not at all confident about continuing it.

My use of car and bike has become minimum. In fact nowadays I have to take them out of fear that battery trouble may arise if I keep them out of use! So mostly I am driving car on weekends or whenever I get chance to do so. Bike has been completely locked. Would love to post pics of my locked motorcycle n scooter :)

I am going to post more on this thread but quickly will give you a brief introduction of my introduction into cycling just 7 months back.

I used to cycle back in School around the year 1995 - 1998. A good 4 years of riding my cycle for almost 20 km's every school attending day. After which I got myself a motorcycle.

Other than the usual cycle machine in the gym I never climbed atop a cycle as far as I can remember between the years 1998 - 2015,

I am overweight and I needed to exercise badly and this one day back In August last year I spoke to someone close and over a casual meeting he mentioned that how he cycles and how I should also get one and I told him if there was one available in Agra as I always somehow had a picture of a nice expensive mountain bike which I thought I would buy some day ( never knew when but just knew some day ! ). He said he knew someone in the city who stocks from every possible bike I could think of ranging from as little as 15k to upwards of 1 Lac and I was surprised but I did not believe him.

An hour later I started getting whatsapp images of bikes and prices and I must have received 20 - Giant to Scott to Trek etc.

I showed some interest in the Giant Rincon Disc - a dark blue colored one. It was nearly 35k and with accessories - a bottle holder, 2 lights - a front and rear and a speedometer and a cycle stand and a seat cover it cost me about 37k. It was home delivered and it was a beauty. I rode it for 2 kms the very same evening and I started riding slowly and averaged about 50km's a week.

After a gap in the winter cold months I have restarted and do about 20 km's in the mornings in just over an hour including some 50 - 60m incline total.

I can proudly say that I have lost 12 kg's in around 6 months and cycling would contribute to more than 50% of this reduction. I walk and have changed my diet to a more disciplined one.

Cycling is one of the best exercises one can do and its a fun way of doing. I am lucky enough to have some good trails and routes near my house including a fantastic 2.5 km winding parkway that allows and has a cycle path.

I see more and more people riding the bike these days and it has become an exercise that everyone admires.

Cycling is coming back and its coming back with a bang.

I will post a few pictures of an article we featured in TOI and also will post a picture of my bike.

I shall regularly contribute to this thread.

The photo in the newspaper.

My Trek 3700 has seen 2 punctures in the last 2 months that too without too much of a ride.
Planning to change the tubes since tyre treads look fine - what brands should l be looking at ?