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Firefox is the only one which is not increasing prices.

Was out helping a friend pick her bike yesterday. She intends to do Brevets and is looking for a drop bar road bike. She is about5'1" and needs a S or 50/51 size. Selected the Trek 1.1 road bike as that's the only available in that size.

What else would you suggest. Budget is about 30-32K.

Cheers

Firefox is quite clear - they will increase prices with the April import lot only. Kudos to them.

At the moment, its the only option besides GT GTR4. At the moment, better pick up something than wait and then pay *much* more for the same stuff.

I started off on a BSA Champ which was then stolen, then got myself a BSA SLR, again stolen from the compound. Finally a Hero Ranger which was given to the maid's kid after I moved onto a Kinetic Honda..

sarita?

anyways - look around if the Fuji 2010 series are still available. tiagra was 35 or something last i heard. call pankaj malresha in mumbai if u cant find someone in hyd with it.

Yes.

Seems Trek prices have also gone up. Let's see what's available.

Cheers

F50, Last weekend I picked up the Schwinn Sporterra 2012 from Jalaram Stores Goregaon for 18,500/- vis a vis the list price of 18,895/-. Due to the 20% price hike in the budget he was not prepared to give any further discount. Apparently they have some stocks still left with them for both the Sporterra and Searcher.
Kohinoor Bandra "are not" carrying any stocks of the same. About a week back they had some stocks. I have ridden about 50 km so far around Andheri - Juhu and Santacruz and am quite satisfied with the bike. My dealer had mentioned 1 year warranty on the same. I 'll cross check with the booklet received with the bike.

Hi, Thanks for the comment and pointing me to the link. Yes, I was aware of the cons of rear suspensions. It was consciously made decision because I wanted to slow down my 2nd kid as he is still not learned to use brakes. This bike will serve him for only next one or one and half year.

The rear suspensions normally takes twice the effort to push you on the road and if you don't pedal the bike won't move hence suited well for small kids. Unless a adult who is in adventure trip and needs burn less energy to cross obstacles on the trail.

They are, as mentioned in the reply above Adhava (2nd one) uses the suspension bike until he learns how to use brakes. My first son is pretty good about this and he learn to ride the bike without anyone teaching him that too without training wheels. So he got the Razor bike with brakes.

Both of them were thrilled and enjoying their rides, just waiting for the climate to change so I will get them into to biking trails, its currently too cold to go on trails and they are riding on the walk path in the apartment complex.

Most probably zeroed on GT Transeo 4. I read the article posted by phamilyman and it says there is no need for front suspension for city riding. Whereas GT has Suntour 63mm travel fork but it can be tightened or loosed when needed, this feature is not there in Schwinn Searcher. Both the cycles don't sport lockout.
The only advantage GT has over Searcher is that GT has Shimano Acera 8 whereas Searcher has Shimano Altus. Few searches here and there says Acera > Altus.

GT Transeos are selling like hot cakes over Schwinn.

GT - <20k
Schwinn Searcher - 20-22k
Schwinn Sporterra - 19.5k - 21.1k

Last bit of advice?

Friends, request one help.

I am about to get a bicycle in a week or two. Here's my criteria:

1. The bicycle would be primarily for 45-60 minute rides, 3-4 times a week, primarily for exercise.
2. For me, sturdiness/reliability and longevity are more important that fancy/stylish/delicate. Having said that, the possibility of me taking the bicycle to office exists. So the bicycle should look at least decent.
3. Life is tough as it is, do not want to add new items to 'maintenance' list. So something that needs minimum maintenance is a must. Should not have complex mechanics, which can be failure point as well as maintenance nightmare.
4. The bicycle would be parked in the building premises, most likely in the sun. I am a bit worried about the colour lightening as well as the plastics becoming dull and brittle due to harsh sun.
5. Not much interested in imported bicycles. I don't think I would be able to afford the imported ones, at this point of time. Also they attract a lot of eyes and the possibility of vandalism/theft is a concern. Parts/maintenance are additional concerns.
6. Budget - Not more than 7-8 thousand INR.

The friendly neighbourhood bicycle repair-shop guy (who does not sell bicycles) highly recommended Hercules. He advised against models with Aluminium/alloy frames citing cracking issues. He was also not particularly excited about models with front and/or rear shox/springs citing failure/maintenance concerns.

Any tips/suggestions/recommendations from your own experiences?

PS: Have not gone though this thread. Just discovered it today. Planning to read-up in detail over the weekend. Any help in the mean time would be highly appreciated.

Based on your budget, you should look at either Hercules or Hero cycles. And what your neighborhood cycle repair guy told you about Aluminum bikes is not true. These bikes are light and are strong. I have couple of them for last two years and they are quite good.

6 months back I started in the market for a decent bike with the similar budget and slowly realised how inadequate it is. Today even Hercules ACT110 is above 10k, k10/k12 is about 12K. What you'll get for 7-8K is not worth it and once you start riding you'll soon upgrade. So why waste money. Might as well start with a decent budget.
What the FNBRSG told you about the aluminium or alloy bikes is absolutely bollocks! May be he would have seen the absolute lower end Chinese Bikes. But I would agree to a certain degree on the shock absorber part. Since you are looking at going to work as well on the bike, what you need is a Hybrid or even a road bike. You don't need a MTB.
+1

I think the bikes that suit your need are as per my order of preference would be:

1. Canondale Q5
2. Schwinn Sporterra
3. Schwinn Searcher
4. Firefox Hybrids

Bianchi, Trek and others will be out of your budget. Try riding the above bikes and then ride the Hercules models I mentioned above. You'll know the difference instantly.

Cheers

Cannondale Q5 - 24k
Schwinn - 21k and 22k respectively
Bianchi - 22k
GT - 20k

All above are Hybrids.

I would suggest have a look at GT Transeo and Traffic too. They are better than Schwinn, apparently.

SDP, im sailing in the same boat. Prices are going to rise by another 20% odd in next 3 days. Don't wait for 2 weeks if you are thinking of buying imported cycles. Im sealing my deal tomorrow itself.

Got a Sigma cyclometer a few days back.Need to input the wheel size into the cyclometer,a bit confused regarding that.Should we take the rim size or the the tyre size.
On my cycle rim this is printed (722 700c etrto 622*19c) whereas on the tyre it is (700*870 37-622)

F50,

get yourself the trek 7.1 or the SS

Firefox Bikes » Trek 7.1 FX

should be around 21 post discount and quite VFM.

MC, thanks for the inputs. Would like to share a slightly different perspective and get more inputs. We all know that you can't really compare a 30 lakh sedan/SUV with a 4 lakh hatch. The 30L vehicle would perform better in most if not all parameters as compared to the 4L one. The question is does the 4L vehicle deliver 'minimum acceptable performance'? Now I understand that what is minimum acceptable performance would change from person to person and their individual needs. I have spelled my requirements in the post above and would like to understand what problems would I face with a bicycle in the <10K range.
The costlier bicycles would obviously be mechanically better, more comfortable etc. But wouldn't something <10K not even deliver 'minimum acceptable performance' for me?
Hope you get what I am trying to say.


Thanks for the recommendations. Did a quick check on the Schwinns. They are 20+ K INR. Not that I can't afford them, but keeping a fund ready for the next car upgrade (XUV5OO :D) is of higher priority at this point of time. I strongly dislike huge debts/EMIs as they rob my happiness. So planning on putting a good amount as downpayment. There is another high priority commitment which if going to put me back by ~3-4L around June-July timeframe. Keeping all this in mind, I genuinely doubt I can stretch to 20+K INR now.
How about used Schwinns? Any reliable source where I can try? Would any 2-3 year old be available around 10K, any idea?
Thanks again!