Where to buy mountain bike delhi

dashduff

Hi - im cycling to Leh and need to buy a bike in Delhi. can someone recommend a decent bike shop? What brands other than hero are there? thanks in advance

guy

praks

You could try Firefox.

http://www.firefoxbikes.com/station.htm

anindya911

The firefox shops also sells Trek bikes, you can go for Trek hardtrail models 3700, 4300, 4500 & 6000.

In the Firefox, Target or Vipers are have good reputations. However, the firefox bikes are not as good as the Trek ones.

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dashduff

thanks for the tips. i also found that merida have a new shop in delhi. it looks awesome. the manager has been really friendly. they are in A59A, Central Market, Lajpat Nagar II, New Delhi

trooooon

any idea on what kind of a gear shifter one would be looking for, on like a mountain trip? and does one need 21 gears? sounds a bait unreal!

sudiptodg

trooooon,

On any bicycle trip that would take you to places where there is no chance of replacing broken parts, it is best to have components that are least likely to fail. So, the best shifter on a long tour in the mountains would be an indexed shifter (preset positions for the different cogs in the freewheel) with options of shifting to friction mode (smooth movement of the lever) if the indexing mechanism fails. However, I do not think these are easily available here. I myself have used simple indexed thumb shifters and 'revoshifters'. None have failed - till now.

As for gears, unless you are VERY strong, and/or travelling very light, it is best to use a multi-geared bicycle. And if you are using multiple gears, 18 or 21 gears are probably best. The numbers might sound incredible after being used to the numbers for motorcycles and cars, the reason is that a bicycle needs a much wider range of gear ratios than a motorised vehicle. An engine can cover a wide range of r.p.m.s, but pedalling rate can not vary that much, so to generate a lot of torque without pedalling too slow, one needs very low gear ratios and similarly to go fast without pedalling too fast, one needs high gear ratios. Since the gear shifting in a bicycle is done by derailing the chain from one cog to the next, the gear ratio can not change very much on a single shift. So to cover the wide range necessary, there has to be a lot of shifts and that calls for a lot of cogs - 3 (most commonly if you are going to climb) rings on the chainset and 6 or 7 (or more) on the freewheel. 18 (3 x 6) or 21 (3 x 7) does not mean all combinations are used, but on mountains, you will need the whole range.

Hope this helps (and is understandable!)

Sudipto.

anindya911

sudiptodg, you covered it well!

Just to add my two cents...
The gear ratio (ratio of rotation of wheel per roation of pedal crank) in cycle generally vary from 0.75 to 3 or 4 depending upon road or mountain bike.
Now the number of gear does not affect the overall ratios much, a 15 gear may cover the same range. But in case of 21 gear the increment is smaller and it is more convenient to change gears. Some of the gears are not usable like large-large and small-small combinations and few other combinations may give you same gear ratios.

Hope we have managed to either throw some light on it or confused the things even more

Cheers

Anindya

solo_trekker

Whatz the right price to pay for an Indian-make MTB... Say, one with 21 gear combinations...

And how do the Indian MTBs compare with the ones imported from Thailand / China that are also available in the market...

Cheers...!

trooooon

that was really useful, i went and checked out the firefox and trek bikes at lajpat nagar . . . quite impressive, but now i'm full of questions. so say 21 ratios is it, with an index shifter, what do you guys say about dual shocks (i'm specially sceptical about the gas ones!)and they all seemed so heavy!

i'm quite used to biking in the hills, but my chosen ride has been a bullet. so i forsee myself having to carry my bike when the going gets tough, or is that overertly pessimistic?

there was this bike called edge (Rs.13,500) it quite caught my fancy, but i somehow needed to research more . . .



I've heard trek is better, but i couldn't seem to find a decent one, most are above 30,000 bucks! mrida was not represented at all, and that's all the makes i have heard of, so i think i'll trot across to the jhandewalan market tomorrow and see what the wholesalers have . . .

well let me let you in on the plan . . .
start at pathankot and work my way up to dalhousie to get the hang of things. then cross the sach pass and make it to udaipur (lahaul) then go across kunzum into spiti and finally make it out through kinnaur . . .
it does sound far fetched when i type it i must admit, but then why plan conservative . . . right?

peace

ps. what bikes do you guys have?

trooooon

checked out jhandewalan, the indian bikes (hero, atlas et all) are a bit tacky, heavy frames, no rotary gear shifts . . . though at 4500 or so quite a bargain.

then i found this in a59 lajpat!



at 25k its a bit steep, but disc brakes, 24 speed, shimano acera shifts, its quite a babe! there are a some cheaper ones, but when i check them out on the web i realise all of them in the showroom, including the one above are ladies bikes! how humiliating, to indians sell only the ladies bikes!

(-:

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trooooon

so . . . what bike should i buy?
should i give up on the dual shocks and buy the merida?
or should i just settle for the firefox? both have index shifts, but the merida just feels so much sturdier!
and then i'll probably have to get panniers stiched . . . bhagwan singh at chirag dilli is all i can think of (ex dimensions)
any ideas?

sudiptodg

trooooon,

I cannot compare the Indian bicycle models with the new Trek / Merida / LA Sovereign entrants because I have only ever ridden Indian models. I have mostly used a Hercules Top-gear (slightly modified, but still heavy) for touring. One of the things that have stopped me from upgrading has been frame geometries etc. Basically none of the bicycles being introduced here, be they road bikes or MTBs, are ideally suited to touring. I would also prefer a rigid frame and fork. And, even though I have not ridden one, I can say quite confidently is that unless it is a high-end bicycle, it is best to avoid one with rear shock absorbers. By the way, I think the Merida bicycle you have shown is not a ladies one (does it matter even if it is?).

As for panniers, that is exactly what I have done. I made a drawing on a piece of paper and took it to a nearby bag maker and got it stitched. Not ideal, but it has worked very well for me.

The route you have chosen looks great, but it will also be very tough, especially for loaded touring. I have not covered the Sach Pass and Pangi valley, but from what I have read, it is extremely tough from the Pangi valley side. It would probably be even tougher the other way round. You may have a look at the page http://www.out-there-biking.com/gallery.html and go to the Sach pass gallery for fantastic photographs and also
http://otbiking.wordpress.com/2008/0...s-2007-photos/).
I have however covered the Spiti valley side and felt Kunzum Pass would be very tough (for me) from the Lahaul side. One benefit of starting from Shimla is that the gradients increase gradually and one has lesser chances of altitude related problems. Also, unless you are super fit to begin with, you gradually build up as you go along. So, I feel you could also keep open options of the route Shimla / Peo - Nako - Tabo - Kaza - Kunzum - Gramphoo - Udeypur - Sach Pass etc. You may also like to take a look at the accounts of my rides (covering parts of the route you are planning) http://sudipto.dg.googlepages.com

Sudipto

trooooon

"I got up at five in the morning. Off early to get as much of the climb done before the sun got too strong. I had not gone far when, with a great roar, 19 motorcycles and some cars passed me. Wonder how one enjoys traveling like this in such a peaceful place like this? "

really moving blog, well done! and that's the feeling i got when i went for my first major trek, just a month before your cycling escapade, kishtwar - padum - darcha . . . i felt we were moving so fast that there was no time to look around, and we were walking!

i think i'll buy the merida asap . . . there's one for 19k without disc brakes, and rear shocks . . . its also light!

i could do it reverse, but the thing is i have a house in dalhousie, so i envisioned it as a warm up week after which i would start the real thing. also sach is not that high, i have to cross it and then its pretty much slowly up the chandra bhaga to chandra taal as i see it. i did the spiti trip 5 years ago on my enfield, in january at that . . . never reached kunzum, that's the major driving force, i want to explore the pin and the lingti valleys too!

trooooon

got the merida
19,000 bucks
24 speed, alivio index shifter, front lockable shocks, easy release tyres, and the brakes are amazing too . . .
what a pleasure the ride back to saket from lajpat was, and i beat my friend in a car thanks to the brt corridor with its cycle lanes of course . . . now all i have to figure out is how to carry it over parang la . . . :-)

sudiptodg

Trooon,

Congratulations on the Merida! Which model is it? I would like to know how you arrange panniers, especially if you also use front ones as well, or a handlebar bag.

I am feeling jealous of the route you have planned, though I do not have the stamina to cover all that. I would really have liked to cover the Lingti and Pin valleys. I am looking forward to reading of your experiences on the Sach pass - that is also one of my dream rides. Do post when you do go on that route.

Wishing you a great trip.

Sudipto.