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The ride I was part of consisted almost 200+ riders, this being my first attempt at a 50 Kms+ ride wanted to be a part of the group rather than do it alone.

Completed 85 Kms (started at 10:30 pm and finished at 4:30 am), and realised how pathetic our roads are:uncontrol every bump, every crack and those god awful joints between concrete roads. Don't get me started on the paver blocks on roads ( Who's idea was it anyways :deadhorse)

Interestingly, the point I observed (rather painfully) was that I wasn't tired after the ride, my legs where holding up pretty good, felt only a slight discomfort on the palms, but the only thing that affected me was the pain / discomfort while on the saddle.

Researched on the net for the same found out that the probable reasons could be an improper bike fit or poor saddle choice.

Any pointers, fellow cyclists? Dont want to be kept off the cycle if the same can be addressed.

Cheers,
Vinay

Hi Vinay. Were you riding a hybrid or an mtb?

If this assumption is correct, then what I would point out to you is that for longer rides, a road bike is more suitable. By road bike I mean a bicycle with drop handlebars. This offers two benefits.

One is that because you are leaning further forward compared to the posture on a hybrid or mtb, your rear does not have to carry as much of your weight, because some weight is shared by your hands. As your level of fitness increases and your core strength improves, your spine itself will support your body so that your hands also do not need to carry whatever weight is shifted forward. Because your rear is supporting less weight, it will hurt less.

Now you will think leaning forward and putting more weight on your palms will end up hurting your wrists more. The benefit of a drop handlebar is that you can change hand positions. You can place your hands on the horizontal portions at the top. You can place your hands on the curves where the bars turn forward. You can place your hands on the brake hoods (from where you can operate the brakes). You can also place your hands on the drops (also within reach of the brakes) for a more aerodynamic posture. As you shift hand positions, your back also shifts thereby alleviating any stiffness from holding one position.

Another action to alleviate pain in your rear is to stand up off the saddle now and then.

When a newcomer is mentioned road bike and drop handlebars, his first reaction is Oh! No! That is such a radically crouched posture! Must be hell. The truth is the handlebars of a touring bike are usually set up so that the top of the bars are level with or higher than the saddle. Things can be way different from the posture of a racing cyclist.

Hi,
Am planning to get into cycling for fitness reasons and am researching/finding out the brands available. Thinking of budget between 15k to 20k. Came across your post and checked the montra site, looks promising, though I will get a better idea if I have a look at it in person.
So how is the bike? Is it worth the cost? Any other brands competing this at the same cost?
Your inputs will be of good help in deciding as am new to cycling.
Also what are the factors one needs to check when buying a bike.

Wow...I started this thread more than 9 years ago and it is still going strong. My cycling has gone up over the years. Now I ride a road bike (Trek 2.1 bought in 2014 pre-worshipped 2011 model).

Cycling helped in multiple ways apart from fitness. Going out for a ride rejuvenates me completely. I feel freedom when pedaling. It also helped me get great friends who have different occupation and whom I wouldn't have met if not for the cycling. We are all like family. We go out on multi day cycling tours.

Thanks for the appreciation. I had put in a lot of my time and effort to get it restored. Removing the old paint etc without damaging the chrome was done by me with knowledge off the internet.

Actually when I first bought the cycle, it was a single speed one. Then a year later I got it retrofitted with 18 speed Shimano gears. (The Hercules Top Gear and Hero Ranger Swing, India's first mass market geared cycles were released around that time).

Found the gears were convenient but at the same time maintenance was troublesome with the derailleur often going out of alignment and the pedals becoming loose (some issue with the crank which was never rectified). Nevertheless was useful in a city like Trivandrum which has undulatung terrain.

Any way after a few years got the gears removed and reverted to single speed as the usage was less.

This time around however the mechanic (an old gentleman who took care of my first cycle with trainer wheels 25 years back) has put a larger sprocket at the rear (21 teeth I believe) so that pedalling will be less tiring. I am not lookin at higher speeds and distance for now. Just point A to B commuting.

Maybe in a year's time when I get used to cycling again I may look for an advanced cycle.

My expenses for the restoration

Parts - 2000 ( Includes tyres, tubes, rims, spokes, chain, seat, mud guards, brake cables, crank, pedals, brake pads, reflectors, lock, and rear sprocket)

Painting - 500

Mechanics Labour - 300

Total Rs. 2800. Yes cheap but personal relationship with the mechanic and painter helped.

Use this calculator. It will give you a rough idea of the frame size you need.

At the price, Montras are OK. However, I strongly urge you to try some bikes from Decathlon. I've put many miles on my Rockrider 5.0 and it has never given any problem. It's not fast, but steady, reliable and gets the job done.

If you can bump up your budget, you can get some pretty good stuff from international players.

This is correct. I have seen my friends purchasing MTB because the fat tires look cool to them. Also the disk brake is of no use for city riding. I tried to convince them without any success.


Thanks for starting this wonderful thread. Any idea why Thanks button is missing in this thread?

No doubt about your efforts. Any restoration gives lot of satisfaction and when you see the end result, the sense of achievement cannot be explained in words.
Rs. 2800 is not much.
Do keep the cycling bug alive :thumbs up

It was a Cyclists Reunion ride. I believe it was the second year when this was organized. We rode from Vashi to Bandra where we met up at California Pizza Kitchen in BKC at 5:45am. Ride started at 6am from there to NCPA. Almost 400 riders had turned up I was told. It was a total of 71 kms for me point to point. Excellent fun ride though as I always wanted to do the Peddar Road climb personally.

I agree and this is a great trend that the number of cyclists are going up.

Hi,
Around budget of 20K for an hybrid I can think of Firefox or Montra. Which do you think is better?
Any good shops in Bangalore apart from decathlon. Planning to visit few shops in the weekend.

Montra, in general, has better reviews, but Firefox offers a better warranty. If I was in your shoes, I would raise my budget a little and get a Schwinn Super Sport 3.

https://trackandtrail.in/index.php?o...t-3&Itemid=177

My recent (borrowed) acquisition. After my run in with a garbage truck, I stopped commuting to work on my cycle. That was a year ago. Now I'm ready to go back to cycling around Bandra.

Will still refrain from commuting to work on this, especially with the heat here in Bombay.

A quick question: why don't imported bikes come with a stand? It's a pain trying to find a lamppost to park it against and lock it up. Also, no bell. Need to order one off Flipkart.

Will definitely have a look at it. Firefox Momentum 700C is almost same price as Schwinn SS3. Which do you think is better? Since am new to cycling finding difficult to understand the specs :Frustrati

Schwinn any day! Go have a look at it. I'm sure that the Schwinn has a better frame. While the Firefox uses a better drivetrain, the SS3 will be lighter and better built with better components. You don't really need a front suspension, which the Momentum has. It will just slow you down. Again, I'm not sure about the Momentum's disc brakes either. Additionally, Firefox reviews have been a mixed bag.

Hi,
What do you think about UT bikes. Had a look at them yesterday and they look to be great value buy. Had a short test ride too and looked promising.
Saw few Merida bikes, looked very stylish but comes with a cost.
There are so many options in the market. Is the fact that "more you spend the better bike you get" is true? Or some are expensive just for their brand value?

If your bike is expensive, it will be more likely to attract thieves. So if you are going to leave it somewhere, leaving it on a stand is much riskier than locking it against a lamppost. Further, if you are riding in a group, a stand can cause trouble if someone riding behind catches his front wheel spokes in the stand.

To make theft difficult, for riding to the local grocer I use a fixed gear bike which if you are not prepared, can be very disconcerting to climb on and pedal away. My road bikes are never left out of sight. :D