[AutoIndian]

Hello friends, need some help. Today while riding with a friend I came to know about an MTB called Foxtor, I am hearning this brand for the first time. The bike was just one month old MRP of 23,000/- but my friend got it at a discounted price of 18,000/-. The bike has Shimano derailleurs. Does anyone here know about this bike? Is it a quality product? Any feedback would be much appreciated. 18K or even 23K for that matter seems to be a lucrative price.


Today morning did a 75km ride to Tulapur. Those in Pune/Maharashtra might know about it, but those who don't below is some trivia, courtesy Wikipedia:

"Tulapur is about 40 Kilometres north-east of Pune. It is situated at the confluence of the Bhima and Indrayani rivers and was originally known as 'Nagargaon'. The Sangameshwar temple built on their banks is a popular site for tourists and devotees. The Samādhi at Vadhu was unattended to until recently. It is now being renovated. Kavi Kalash's samadhi is also present at Vadhu.

A Samadhi of Sambhaji is situated at Tulapur as well. It is disputed as to where exactly he was cremated, with a group of historians asserting that he was cremated at Tulapur itself and not at Vadhu. Nonetheless, both these places have their equal share in Maratha history."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tulapur

Started at 5am, along with a friend, went to Khadki, from where 3 more joined us. So we were a group of 5 riders. Took the route Khadki --> Vishrantwadi --> Dighi --> Charoli --> Markal --> Tulapur. Spent there around an hour, had breakfast and returned via Alandi --> Moshi --> Spine Road --> Akurdi (home). Sharing some pics below.

[ACFT]

Originally Posted by cogWheel

PS: Haven't ridden a roadie before. Returning to riding after several years.

I was also in similar situation but got to ride the Triban RC 100 road cycle in M size and it was the most joyful experience compared to Riverside 500. My doubts regarding too committed riding position of a road bike were put to rest after this experience. I have booked Triban RC100 road bike in L size as Iam 6' tall. Eagerly waiting for it

[ninjatalli]

Originally Posted by AutoIndian

Hello friends, need some help. Today while riding with a friend I came to know about an MTB called Foxtor, I am hearning this brand for the first time.

Absolutely no idea. And considering the lack of any proper reviews even on the first 2 pages of google, I'd recommend to stay away.

18 - 23k for unknown brands is a big no no. I wouldn't put even put 10k on brands which I can't get any information online.

Today morning did a 75km ride to Tulapur.

Beautiful! I remember Alandi has some nice stretch of roads, especially the portion between Alandi and Dighi.

[AutoIndian]

Originally Posted by ninjatalli

Absolutely no idea. And considering the lack of any proper reviews even on the first 2 pages of google, I'd recommend to stay away.

18 - 23k for unknown brands is a big no no. I wouldn't put even put 10k on brands which I can't get any information online.

Thanks for your feedback. I won't jump the gun just yet. May be I will wait for few more months to get the first hand feedback from my friend, who is using it daily for 20-25km rides.

Beautiful! I remember Alandi has some nice stretch of roads, especially the portion between Alandi and Dighi.

You are spot on. I had been to this place through Alandi last year and just within a year there has been a sea change of difference in the road's condition. They are well laid, very wide with clear markings. Today after Dighi we took a detour via Charoli and did not go through Alandi and then we had this beautiful river crossing over Indrayani where we got the first glimpse of rising sun.

[ringoism]

The Sangpu was given to me more or less as a gift from one of the scrap guys who I'd become pretty friendly with, and when I picked it up to take it away, I found it to be shockingly heavy (even without the wheels, which were missing) - "It was even heavier when I pulled it out of the river," he said, "it's less now" !





The brand is not one I'd ever heard of (though Sangpui/Sangpuia is a common given name among Mizos, in fact!), and the only place I could find one for sale online was in Kazakhstan. I didn't try to work out the exchange rate, but this is definitely not a high-end bike, and its presence here was a little mysterious.



One plausible theory would be that someone had actually toured overland on it and, having finally arrived at Manali all the way from Central Asia, was either so elated re: their accomplishment, or so disgusted with the machine - or both (!) that a toss into the river seemed somehow fitting. Come to think of it, I met a Kazakh tourist for the first time in a cafe here last year... hmmm...

Anyway, it had a big dent in the lower frame tube and the aluminum handle clamp was broken in two (both from the toss from the riverbank, I'd guess) - but otherwise the bike was pretty complete, with typical Shimano click shifters and all cable outers intact, a fat handle, grips, disc brake calipers, generic derailleurs, etc, all there. I had assumed the unusually heavy weight was a function of probably being made of low-grade Chinese steel that was kept thick to promote robustness over performance, and was debating for a long time whether to just strip it for parts since a) I didn't have much money in it, b) new wheels/ tyres were going to cost me quite a lot as a percentage of the total finished value, c) with that frame it was always going to be a tank, d) that big dent.

Accordingly, the components had all been removed some months ago and subjected to a home-made vinegar bath (great way to remove rust without toxic/caustic elements); nothing was too badly worn, and all came up surprisingly well considering how long it must have been in the river... And how would I assume THAT???

At some point I decided to just go ahead and build it - mainly because it was a unique find and I kinda liked the color and graphics; But imagine my surprise when I discovered the true cause of its high mass - namely that all the frame tubes were packed with fine, dried river-sand! It took a couple hours of me tapping and poking and blowing compressed air through it to get what was probably a good couple liters worth out of there - leaving me, at last, with a reasonable steel MTB that was actually a bit lighter than a couple of the others, and making me glad that I hadn't just returned it to the scrap pile!

I'd had the good fortune earlier of finding a pair of dirty NOS Kendas of pretty unique tread blocks:



...and also a pair of HAYES MX5 brake calipers (freebie takeoffs), which while heavy, are a LOT more robust and better-performing than the originals; These go for nearly a hundred Euros abroad, which might be worth as much as the whole rest of the bike, but as their white powder-coat matches the bike nicely, they'll stay for now.



The very thin-section, suprisingly lightweight forged steel cranks shown in the first pic were removed and hung on my wife's old alloy Firefox in the interest of lightening that one, and something else I had around was put into service here.


Still needs a little touching-up of the paint, but overall a decent, functional build that proves the point that it's not always good to judge by first assessments - and also the old adage re: "It doesn't matter where you came from, so much as where you're going"!





-Eric

[ebonho]

Originally Posted by ringoism

The Sangpu was given to me more or less as a gift from one of the scrap guys who I'd become pretty friendly with, and when I picked it up to take it away, I found it to be shockingly heavy (even without the wheels, which were missing) - "It was even heavier when I pulled it out of the river," he said, "it's less now" !

-Eric

Eric I sincerely hope (and silently pray) that with the dent and all, the rider did not get tossed into the river along with the bike.

You are a grizzled mountain hand so you know that it happens.

Speaking of Kazakhstan, any rivers from there feeding into India. Would have been an epic journey if so!

Cheers, Doc

[amvj]

Today I rode 31+ KM. My longest ride so far.
Previously, I get very tired even for a 10 KM ride. Now my body is slowly getting used to this. Although the speed is very very less, especially it is basically a flat terrain.

I have one question:
For today's ride, I have used Apple watch and Strava + Chest heart rate strap. I find the calorie count difference between the two is quite huge. Any one find similar issue ?

I have heard that calorie burn differs between apps and the most accurate way to measure it is to use a power meter. However, I still find this difference quite huge.

Apple watch: 878 Cal (total)
Strava: 1560 Cal

[ringoism]

Originally Posted by ringoism

Next up is this one:

Attachment 2120097
Attachment 2120099

You wanna take a guess, Doc? (Hints: NOT my ACT108 Max - and saw the Thunder MTB mentioned in a couple reviews of this one...)

Originally Posted by ebonho

I'd like to but I don't have a clue. Lol

This was another scrapyard find - from Hercules' TI Cycles days - an April 2007 stamped ACT 105 Max. In full polish, now, of course... .

Later ones had a threadless fork spindle, but this one is the old type, which honestly, apart from fashion concerns, I see some real advantages to (single-screw adjustments for alignment and height, the latter generally in a much greater range than threadless setups typically offord). This one looked like it had been sitting around for a LONG time, after hardly having been used. Paint was flaking horribly, tyres were so badly dry-rotted that one of them pretty spectacularly exploded (literally like gunfire) when I put air in it and took it for a little spin down the road... All came together pretty okay in the end, though:





Thinking of the ACT/Hercules history that Doc alluded to earlier:

A local friend told me that a Chinese agent had come up here in 2007-2008 and provided him a fleet of 20+ aluminum-framed Hercules MTB's at no cost, the deal being that he had to arrange a certain number of mountain-biking events in the area and send photos back for promotional/marketing purposes - clearly for the mutual benefit of Hercules and the subcontracting manufacturer he apparently represented.

After a few years of this, the lack of skilled maintenance technicians in the area took its toll and the thing became unviable for my friend; The arrangement was transferred to another party, and possibly in the process, a few - like this one - slipped through the cracks. I have some doubts as to whether in those years it would have otherwise been found up here - I've been around since 2005, and at that time almost no local would have owned/ridden a bicycle, and there were no cycle shops or rentals back then.

Anyway, as for this bike & model: The triangulated front downtube sets it off a bit from the crowd, as do the slender old-school neck, handle, and seatpost - if I can find aluminum ones to replace those, as I did for the wife's old F.Fox, and maybe a lighter fork (the original seems heavier than the rest of the frame, in truth) I think I'll be able to get the weight down pretty noticeably, at which point it would make a nice hybrid.

For now, it's got Kendas and some surprisingly strong V-brakes:



I don't see this style made anymore, basically a thin steel arm molded into rigid plastic. Would be more complicated to manufacture than the ubiquitous stamped steel ones that seem to have replaced them on all low-end stuff, but from an engineering standpoint, they make good sense - very lightweight / strong - but the proof's in the pudding: and these bikes were said to stop a good bit better than some competitors' models (like the Thunder MTB) of its day... I can lock the rear wheel very easily whenever desired, and could probably manage a stoppie if I had the nerve/skill...





I like these style of click-shifters best, they just seem to be very precise and fall readily to hand. And a lot of low-end bikes are coming with them now.



I'd had in mind to sell this one off, but not too sure now. Might let go of the Merida, if anything, and hold onto this and the ACT108.


Apart from the Thunder MTB, a really clean 24" Starkenn MTB, and a very odd suspended Hero "Bronco" (which I can't find any online history of), I'm getting near the bottom of the pile now; The scrap guys haven't brought me anything lately, and I'm starting to get worried...


-Eric

[ebonho]

Eric don't you ever get a scrapped road bike?

That would be lovely!

Today morning on Kamshet top



Cheers, Doc

[Neel]

A friend of mine had a bicycle accident with his new Giant; the realization was that the front brakes on a Giant are operated on the left; a city rider who uses both brakes may not notice but we know how risky it is @ high speed.

Apparently, he is going back to the dealer to have them swapped on the handle. I have to change it on my bike as well.

[ringoism]

Originally Posted by Neel

A friend of mine had a bicycle accident with his new Giant; the realization was that the front brakes on a Giant are operated on the left; a city rider who uses both brakes may not notice but we know how risky it is @ high speed.

Apparently, he is going back to the dealer to have them swapped on the handle. I have to change it on my bike as well.

Higher-end stuff is probably going to be moving in that direction; Shimano pre-assembled hydraulic sets don't even come in the Indian (right-front, left-rear) configuration, so for anyone who wants it that way, lines have to be opened up and re-bled...

Till I came to India I always rode bicycles with right-rear braking, and it still comes most naturally to me, such that I set up my personal bike as such. Not sure how many nations of the world do it in each way, but a universal standard would seem appropriate.

Originally Posted by ebonho

Eric don't you ever get a scrapped road bike? That would be lovely!
Attachment 2121640

Roads around here have improved in some (but not all) places, and an American friend here had an imported roadie a few years ago with which he came near the Strava time record for Rohtang Top... I think it only weighed something like 9kg's, and he sold it off locally when he left for 30k, to one of the more serious enthusiasts here as I recall.

But apart from that one I basically never see road-bikes up here. Propietor of one local shop (who sells mostly Trek/Scott/Firefox and who competes in downhill) recently got himself a really sweet Carbon-fiber gravel bike for road use... and that is usually as close as we get to roadies here in MTB country...

If I find one, I'll happily refurb it like the rest... but as far as rentals/sales go, people are after a sturdier bike and more rugged image... and for me personally, I'm only after fun & exercise - absolutely zero interest in getting anywhere faster, and a strong preference for trails and link roads, where roadies would struggle.

-Eric

[computer]

Is it advisable to get a 2018 or 2019 new high end cycle ? Or wait and get a 2021 Model ?

[PhantomLord]

My Hardtail MTB, built on 2014 Specialized Pitch Sport frame, mostly used to kill myself in lake beds.

[BaCkSeAtDrIVeR]

Originally Posted by computer

Is it advisable to get a 2018 or 2019 new high end cycle ? Or wait and get a 2021 Model ?

Unless you are into racing, where a few fractions of a second count, it may not matter. A Claris from 2018 will be different from a claris of 2021, assuming the manufacturer actually uses the latest from drive trains. But there is not revolution in the things, only evolution in design. See if the serial numbers are different. Look at the brakes.

And ensure that grease has not dried up. Sometimes, stinginess delivers great VFM.

[ebonho]

Originally Posted by PhantomLord

My Hardtail MTB, built on 2014 Specialized Pitch Sport frame, mostly used to kill myself in lake beds.

Nice bike! Love those forks.

Cheers, Doc