Your ticket to MTB Himachal

Feeling lucky? You could get yourself an all expense paid ticket(includes event entry, airfare, stay) to MTB Himachal. Interested? Heres what you need to do - Participate in the Hercules City Challenge.


So what's the event all about?

Its a treasure hunt. It's gonna take you around your city, on your bike, in search of clues. The event will end with you heading to the finish, after you have uncovered all the clues and collected your tokens from each location. The first 2 riders finish successfully will win a free trip for the first 2 days of MTB himachal.

Others Details as below :

Date : 10th October 2010
Venue : BSA Go Somajiguda
Time : 5.45 hrs
Registration Fee : Rs 200 ( includes some free accessories that would be given away at the event day)

Registration can be done at any of the following bike stores
1. The Bike Affair
2. BSA Go Somajiguda
3. BSA Go S.P. Road

More details in link below
http://hcc-hyd.doattend.com/
Note : Riders without helmets won't be allowed. Participants below 18 years aren't allowed.

The Schwinn Cutter

There's a new kid in the block . And unlike others in TBA, she is slightly different. She takes out the complexity from you life. No shifters, no derailleur to crib about the shift quality. Just get on an pedal away. And what do you do when you come across a steep hill? Stand up and pedal:). If that's not simple enough ,feel free to convert her to a fixie. For those who haven't yet been hit by the fixie wave yet, here's the definition from wiki.

'A fixed-gear bicycle (or fixed-wheel bicycle, commonly known in the USA as a fixie) is a bicycle that has no freewheel, meaning it cannot coast — the pedals are always in motion when the bicycle is moving.
The sprocket is screwed directly onto a fixed hub. When the rear wheel turns, the pedals turn in the same direction.[1] This allows a cyclist to stop without using a brake, by resisting the rotation of the cranks, and also to ride in reverse.'

Talking about the bike in question, the Schwinn cutter is not exactly light weight with its high-ten steel frame, doesn't have quick releases for the wheels, and isn't as glamorous as some of her other cousins. But still, she could just be enough to unleash the fixie man in you:)
Specs and pics below
http://www.schwinnbike.com/usa/eng/Products/Urban/Fixie/Details/1377-S10CUT-Cutter

The Btwin Hoptown 20

Recently , we received our new stocks of Btwin bikes. The stocks included a few first timers in TBA. But none is more interesting than the Btwin Hoptown 20 - a 7 speed folding bike with 20 inch wheel. Interesting , because of the promise it brings as a affordable no nonsense folding bike. The time of launch is interesting too , with Dahon set to launch in a month. Accessories like side stand, fenders,chain guard, rear racks, ergo grips, rear LED light(not a blinkie though) comes as standard along with the bike. Some innovative design means there are 2 small wheels on the rack, which are supposed to aid you roll the bike along while still folded. It is too early for me write a review of the bike based on a 2 min ride that I have taken, so just some pics for now.

The Hoptown20, folded and unfolded

The first fold is right at the top of the headset

The seat post slides down

Folds at the centre of the frame.


Pretty compact once folded


The pedal uses a press fold mechanism. Basically, you press the pedal in certain direction to release the lever, and fold it


The rear rack , the luggage strap, the LED non blinkie, fenders - all part of the package

The ergo grips are very comfortable, and looks much better than what you see in this pic. The 7 speed shifter feels different, but shifts smooth.

Plush saddle with nice graphics



The 20 x 1.75 Kenda Quest

Night Trails and the Sigma Karma Pro

Note : This ride was done in the May 2010. Somehow could get it posted only now.
_______________________________________________________

We have been dying to try out the Sigma Karma Pro that we received a week back. This is one of the high end Sigma Black Series lights. The website calls it 'The attractive night ride specialist'. Well, at 35 lux of light output, it has to be much brighter than anything that I have used till date.

The Tiny Sigma Karma Pro

The light came in an attractive box packing and contained the following

• A lithium ion battery pack that can be attached to the frame using a velcro attachment (included).
• A battery charger to charge the Li Ion battery.
• The Light itself, which is surprisingly tiny , and uses the patented click assembly mounting for attaching itself to the handlebar.

More details can be found at
http://www.thebikeaffair.com/Accessories.aspx?id=13&category=HeadLights
or
http://www.sigmasport.com/en/produkte/beleuchtung/powerlights/karma_pro/?flash=1

The least that a light like this can do is to open up an hitherto unexplored territory – Trails at Night. Karthik, Saravanan, Girish and Devraj were game. Devraj had a powerful enough light with him, and each of the other 3 bikes were set up with whatever other backup lights we had.. Plan was to ride to Osmansagar, taking the trails as much as possible.

The Li-Ion battery pack

9 pm : Ride started from The Bike Affair store, and in no time Saravana was guiding us through some pitch dark trails towards gachibowli, which I had no idea of. This part of the trail started around 500 metres from TBA store , and was dusty at times. We soon reached gachibowli and went the Microsoft way. Once passed Microsoft, we took the trail again. It felt very different riding a bike under the stars. It wasn't one of the full moon nights and there were a bit of cloud cover too, meaning you can't see much apart from the areas lit by your light. That intern added to the fun.

The Sigma Karma Pro was doing its job splendidly. A few observations on the Light.
1. The beam pattern consists of a very bright spot at the centre, followed by a dimmer and bigger circle encompassing the central one. The bigger circle was lightning up the edges of the trail.

Karthik's rockrider lit by the Sigma Karma Pro (high power mode)

2. Although the eco mode is just about enough on half decent to decent tarmac, the trails need one of the other 2 modes.
3. In the high power mode, the light was very bright and was lighting up the unevenness of the trails pretty well from a distance. Meaning one can maintain a decent speed and still ride with confidence.
4. The light tends to get heated up if kept in the ‘Power’ mode( the high output mode) for long time. But this was generally less of an issue because based on the terrain I was switching between the different modes.

By 10.20 pm we were at Osman sagar. In between though, we had stopped quite a few times for snaps, and Devraj was the voluntary cameraman. At Osmansagar, we were the only souls. We enjoyed the cool breeze for some time and then reluctantly headed back. It was a Sunday night, and everybody had to go to work the next day.

The group lit by Karma Pro from around 10 metres

This time, Karthik guided us through a slightly different trail, and this was one of the nicer parts of the ride (sadly on one of our follow up rides we discovered the trail is about to give away to a nice tarred road). This part of the trails, although rocky, was firm, and we enjoyed zooming through it. Some places it had sharp turns, and I would by instinct look towards the turn only to realise the light is not following my vision :). That’s when I realised the need of a helmet light.
We were back at the starting point little after midnight. It was a great ride, and we hoped the next one wasn't far away.

Fresh arrival of accessories and spares

Have been getting enquiries on accessories, and since it is taking a bit of time to update the website with the details, I am taking a short cut here. Recent stock includes lot of new accessories like shoes, clipless pedals , bike hangers, map holder different kind of helmets, etc. .Meanwhile , we are working on updating the site with details of the acccessories


Btwin Comp Racing Helmet White Black - Rs 2499

Btwin Women's helmet White Pink - Rs 1499

Btwin Rockrider 5 Helmet : Rs 1699

Btwin Pannier Rack : Rs 1599

Rockrider 6 MTB shoes (SPD) : Rs 2999 Sport 5 shoes (SPD) : Rs 1999

SPD with cleat Pedals : Rs 1399

Pedal - Duble Function : Rs 1199MTB pedals aluminium : Rs 499

MAP Holder : Rs 199

Wall support bike Hanger for 2 bikes : Rs 799Bike Hook (Roof/Wall) to hang bike by rim : Rs 249

Brake and gear cable kits : Rs 599

Handle bar gel tape black : Rs 399

Handle bar grip 123 mm : Rs 349

Kickstand seatstay : Rs 399

Choosing the right bike

This blog is dedicated to those who are on the lookout for their first bike. Hope it will be useful.

1. See what type of bikes suit your need : Primarily 3 kinds :
a )Mountain bikes (called MTBs) : Designed and built for off road riding. Characterised by fat knobby tires for grips on off road conditions . Example, Cannondale F9, F8, Fe, etc or our own Hercules Act105, Hero Thunder MTB, etc
b) Road bikes : Designed for speed and distance. Comes with drop bars and sleek tires . Eg, cannondale CAAD series or our own hero hawk.
c) Hybrids (also called city bikes) : Falls somewhere between Mountain bikes and road bikes. Designed for city usage. If you are looking to buy a bike primarily for commuting or long distance weeknd rides, but might also want to do an occasional trail riding( easy ones), this would be the bike. Eg, Cannondale Quick 5, Merida crossway 20V, Schwin sporterra, or hercules act110.

If you are new to cycling and finding it difficult to decide what kind of bike will suit your need, it will be a good idea to ask the sales person to let you try the different kinds.

2. Fitment: Once you know the type of bike suiting your needs, next step is Bike Fit and Size. Most important thing here is the FRAME SIZE. For a rough estimate refer the following link.
http://www.evanscycles.com/help/

Most Indian bike comes with the standard frame size which might suit somebody between 5’5”-5’11”. So if you do not fall in the range, you should be more concerned about the size of your frame. All international brands available in India, like schwinn, cannondale, trek, merida, kona, giant etc comes in different frame sizes though.

Please note there is much more to bike fitment than frame size. It’s not the last thing as far as bike fitment is considered. Refer the links below for more on bike fitment and why you need to consider things beyond the frame size.
http://www.peterwhitecycles.com/fitting.htm
http://www.sheldonbrown.com/frame-sizing.html
The geometry of the frame varies with models and brands, even for the same size of frame. For example, the top tube can be longer in one, meaning you might need to lean forward a bit more than one with a shorter top tube. For more accurate fitment, you can refer one of the fit calculators available online. One of them is
http://www.competitivecyclist.com/za/CCY?PAGE=FIT_CALCULATOR_INTRO

So it makes sense to consider the whole geometry of the bike rather than just the frame size. Also, it’s always a good idea to test ride the bike to see if you like the fit before buying the bike.

3. Above 2 points taken care of, you now need to select bikes based on quality of frame and components. Few pointers here to so your first bike do not turn out to be a junk bike.
Note that the points mentioned below are generally standard features for any decent bikes. But worth checking out if you want to go for something cheaper.

• Alloy frame and alloy components: Aluminium alloy will not let your bike rust. And they are much lighter than the steel framed bikes. Ensure the handle bar and the seat post is also of aluminium alloy which are generally compromised for steel stuffs in lower end bikes. Again, there are some high quality steel bikes that aren’t too heavy, and they generally also come with an excellent paint job to avoid rusting. However, those wouldn’t be any cheaper than any good aluminium frame.
• Aluminium alloy rims - avoid steel or chrome plated steel rims. This will translate into very poor braking power under wet condition. Even under normal dry condition, braking power is considerably lower when compared to aluminium rims. Even 4-5 times.
• Brakes levers: Make sure the levers aren't plastic as they flex badly. With regular use, they will just snap very soon
• Cartridge bottom bracket: Old adjustable cup and cone bottom brackets are poorly sealed and are prone to coming loose.
• Hubs: While riding a better bike, the bearings in the wheels will allow to coast while others have to pedal to keep up.
• Aheadset or thread less headset: Much better bearings and more reliable than the older quill stem and threaded headset.
• Disc brakes: Disc brakes stop better in the wet but usually add cost. Don't go for discs over other essential features (like alloy frame, alloy rims,etc). And a decent rim brake is much better than cheap disk brakes, as the later will keep annoying you to no end. If you can’t do without discs, ensure they come from one of the established brands like Avids, hayes, shimano, etc.
• Full Suspension bike : Avoid, unless you are ready to spend. Full suspension at the lower end of the market (at the least below 25k) is heavily compromised. They are very heavy, undamped, and pulls down the more essential specs elsewhere.
• Beware of cheap bikes: Good bikes mostly come with components from Shimano, SRAM, Compagnalo, or other established brands. But the important thing to note is these components comes in various models/versions. So it’s not whether it is Shimano, but whether it is Shimano Tourney or Shimano Alivio or Shimano Deore and so on. If the bike says, "shimano equipped", that’s a crap bike, because it doesn't mean anything. These kind of bikes tend to thrive on the customers ignorance. Good bikes don’t have any stickers saying "shimano equipped".

References:
Bikeszone has an excellent article on bike selection and fitment, written by vandit. Perhaps one of the best you will ever come across. Please refer the link below
http://bikeszone.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=3268

Tips on selecting an LED blinky

We all know that an LED rear blinker can be life Savior. Here goes some tips to help you choose the right one

1. Quality matters: Its not the number of LEDs, but more to do with the quality of the LEDs, how they are positioned, the quality of the lens and reflectors used. I have seen some lights with 5 LEDS that doesn't have even half the visibility or brightness that some others with lesser number of LEDs .

2. Visibility: Is the light bright enough to be visible from a distance? At least from a couple of hundred metres? This is very important as you would want the car and truck drivers to notice you from a distance, and not when they are right behind you.

3. Side Visibility: Does the light have side visibility? This is useful when you are at a street intersection.

4. Waterproofing: Will the light be able to withstand rains and an occasional splash of water?

5. Mounting Options: Does it provide multiple options for mounting? Say on the seat post, on the seat stay and on your rear rack? Can it be clipped on to your saddle bag or on your shirt? You may not need all of them, but still worth considering based on your requirements.
6. Mounting mechanism: Is the mounting mechanism good enough to withstand the rigours of the toughest off road ride that you might be doing? There are numerous cases where people have lost their lights on a ride.

7 Battery life: This is generally not a constraint for LED rear light, but still worth checking .