Where to buy mountainbike for trip between Manali and Leh

gmarius

Hi guys!
In roughly a month I am going to bike between Manali and Leh.. For this I need a bicycle.. I wonder what the best way of getting one is..

Rumor has it there's a Hero MTB that costs around 6000rps and is decent enough for the trip.. Is that so?

Is it best to rent a bike in Manali or buy one and then resell it? How hard is it to resell a bike?

Since I am passing through Ludhiana on the way, maybe I should get it there? Can I save alott of money by doing this?

thanks for any help!

/ Mark

dragon

You should be taking bike from Sweden. The bikes in India have no gears!!

For my private thinking, I say you are mad anyway. That road is just terrible to even drive on! You should do the trip in the jeep first time - I do not think you will wish to bike after seeing this!! The altitude can leave you gasping even when walking, but on a bike you must climb many 1000s metres!!

Dragon

GoanCanuck

You should buy the mountain bike in your home country. Although there are a few places in India that sell mountain bikes the selection is very poor and for the demanding terrain of Leh you should not take any chances. Trying to save money and risking your life is totally insane in my opinion.

himadventures

Dragon and Goan are correct-think seriously about this. And further more I think you should do reccee as Dragon said...it is no joke to handle 14,000 + feet and then 15,000 + feet and then 17,000 + feet high passes.

Wishing you good luck !

BRING BIKES FROM THERE !

landoormama

Hero Cycles make Aluminium Bikes as well , I bought one two years ago for RS 4500/- , I am not sure how these would perform on a terrain like the Manali-Leh highway.
From Leh would you be follwing the leh -srinagar highway or u plan to fly out of Leh?
I dont think you would get a good price for the bike if you plan to sell it in India and also if you plan to buy a bike in India ,its better to buy it in Delhi than going to Ludhiana to save a few hundred Rupees.
Cheers and have fun.
( Its been two weeks now the road to Leh is through from Manali and the going is good @ the moment )

anindya911

Hi gmarius,

I guess you haven't given up on the idea b'cause of previous posts. If you know what you are talking about (crossing 2nd highest road in the world on bike) and have reasonable experiance on bike you can definately do it.
The best option will be to carry your own (mountain) bike from Sweden (and if don't own a bike in Sweden, maybe you should listen to the dragon), believe me its worth the trouble of carrying the bike through the flight, customs and all that.
If you hellbent on doing it by buying bike here, then Hero Thunder, with all alluminum frame is your option at 6.5K, people have done the route on the same bike, so its do-able. You have to buy it at Delhi, it will be easier and sure way to find it.
If you have some extra bucks you can try one of the Firefox bikes.
You can always sell the bike at end of your tour but don't expect good price (around 50% of the original).

Best of luck & let us know about your trip

Anindya

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Antrek

No body rents out mountain bicycles in Manali. I serve 20 people from Italy for 20 days Spiti - Kinnaur cycling trip. They bring their own bikes and take them back. I think its like a cricket bat, the Indian team can not hire bats to play in Pakistan can they ?? every player has to have his own bat. Samething for the bicycles. How can you depend on non dependable bicycle for serious route like this ?

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Naushad

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When they end, so do we.

gmarius

Hi guys!
Thanks for all the advise..

Just wanted to drop in and say that I did it.. 22 days, 14th of Maj to the 5th of June, apparently I was the first cyclist of the year.. I started in Manali and went south to Kinnaur and then through Spiti, Lahoul and onwards to Leh. I rented a firefox bike from a guy named Raju Sharma of www.magicmountainadventures.co m. It was my first time biking longer than to the grocery store so it took some getting used to..

And yes, the bike broke down a couple of times, but as usual everything can be fixed with string, glue and a good hammer..

"Just do it"!!

Take care!

Mark

bijapuri

congratulations! I love that you did it- it sounds awesome. I got heat exhaustion after just 23 miles of mild coastal hills this weekend in temperatures around 25 degrees, so I am in awe!!!

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anindya911

Hi gmarius,

Congrats on your accomplishment!
You have proved that if you want to do it, you can surely do it.

Bye

Anindya

dooms

Oh! Thats awesome gmarius!

For me hiking at that height itself is great enough, didnt know people could do such things. So how many kms did you cover? Please do post your pics and travelogue, would love to go through them.

Anna_N

Awesome Mark!

I am facing a similar problem of not having a moutain bike but planning a long bike ride in September. Was the ride comfortable enough - it didn't take away from the experience?

Did you do it supported with Magic Mountain? Would you recommend them?

Cheers
Anna

gmarius

It's not the most comfortable experience, but I like it that way...

I did it unsupported from magic mountain, I just rented equipment from them...

But I'm sure they would give great support, if you want to pay the price...

Anna_N

Did you have any problems with getting lost? I am wondering if all these single tracks are easy to find and to follow? Do you really need some local guidance to not get lost?

Did you do homestays or camp or guesthouse it?

It is a hefty price that all these company's ask for. It's pretty prohibitive... but is it unavoidable for amatuers?

dhananjay

Hi,

As long as you keep on the main road which is more of a doubletrack you wont get lost. Try and find these singletracks it could be a hassle. Anyways in Spiti a recommended trail is the Lingti valley trail Very nice. Also Kiato - Hanse thats a good route. Magic Mountain is a good company. The guy Raju is perhaps the only avid Mountain Biker in all of Kullu valley and knows the routes and trials on the back of his hand. Was there at the MTB last year. And Firefox bikes are decent if not m,eeting international quality of a trek/Marin/Canondale ... Its alright for the particular route. Do carry extra spares though. And if you want to buy a bike I guess Adventure 18 Store in SatyaNiketan Delhi is importing Trek Bikes. The going proce is about18,000/- Rups. Hercules and Heroes are alright to the route. 22 Students Of IIT kanpur did it on Heroes ,Hercules and Firefox early this year in May.

Cheers,
Dhananjay