Thread: Need suggestions for a New "Road" Bicycle around Rs.40-50,000

Hello friends,

I intend to buy a budget "Road" Bicycle around Rs. 40-50,000...

Age-34
Hieght-5'
Weight 57-60 Kg

Purpose:

I will be riding it on city and highways, so I need good Build quality, Ride Quality and more avg speed.

My Primary Needs: (Must-have)

Less weight as far as possible with essential requirements for very long rides in 200+ km...

Brands Preferred:

i don't know!

Primary needs in the Cycle:

want to participate in events. should be able to ride with less exhaustion for longer rides...

When I will get my Cycle:

Jan-Mar 2016

Carbon fiber frames???
no suspension to reduce weight?
rim brakes?!

Awaiting for your suggestions...

Thank you

Regards,
Amit

Query Approved

You have a few decent bikes in that budget. From Giant, KHS and all.

Speed will depend on your legs initially, not so much on the bike!

My suggestion is go check out a few bikes in your local cycling stores, take a few test rides, make sure you ride bikes which are meant for your height.
@Kaushik Iyer might be able to help you out with good cycle stores in Bombay and also with good road bikes.

Also check for uses bikes on a Facebook group called Cyclop. Good deals in Bombay

And you won't get a carbon bike in that price range AFAIK!

----consecutive posts auto-merged-----

Also you are looking for a bike with endurance geometry.

And if you haven't ridden a road bike before, it would be a good idea to borrow one from a friend to get a feel of things. To see if you are comfortable with roadies.

----consecutive posts auto-merged-----

Another brand i liked was Lapierre on which you can get good deals below MRP. If you were in Delhi i could point you out to good stores which give good deals, not so sure about Bombay though.

----consecutive posts auto-merged-----

Fuji and Scott are another couple of brands with good offerings in that range.

Originally Posted by The Monk

Query Approved

thank you for replying The Monk!

i don't have any friends who has a road bike,

where can i get a road bike to ride for a day at least in south mumbai?

is there any rental service in mumbai?

I quite agree with Monk suggestions here, its a good idea to ride one before hand, but since you're very clear about your requirements there's nothing further than a Roadbike which could accomplish those needs.

I'm an avid Roadie & have been into it for quite a long time. To be honest 50k might sound big money but sadly in Roadbike world they're the starting point of what one may call decent starter bikes, don't confuse them with the Roadbikes you see of many brands like firefox etc which go for 25-30k those are not even entry bikes.

I don't really know of any rentals of roadbikes as such but a good guy for Roadies is Prabodh Keny of Keny Cycles in Prabhadevi. Thing is he's a nice guy who will give you right advice rather than just sell what he has. He's a dealer for Scott Ridely etc.

To be honest there are only few options for you
a) if you don't wanna reinvest a sizable amount in the future then raise your budget atleast by another 20k something in range of 70-80k would get you pretty good on some of the Scott & Fuji endurance bikes; which may still be aluminium but with good components & wheels(one of the most imp aspects of a bikes). I'd suggest a Alloy bike with better components than a Carbon bike with entry level components & crappy wheels.

b) Go to dechathlon & try for a Btwin, they're quite good bikes & great when it comes to value & bang for bucks. What I like is their mid-range bikes comes with much better wheels & components than most bikes. So in about 70-80k you can get a very good higher-mid-range bike.

c) Get a used bike for 35-40k you can get a decent bike in that range. As is there's no problem with used bicycles coz they're pretty simple machines, I've 4 roadbikes & top 2 of them are Used Frames & rest I've built them on my own. Though till date I've owned total 6 road bikes so I know what I want & how I want, but my 1st bike was a 30yr old completely used bike & believe it or not it crashed but most of it's components & wheels I still in use today! And to top it my 2nd best bike is a Vintage Italian frame more than 40yrs old - though I have all new components on it. So I hope you can understand just how durable these things are, so don't shy away from a used road-bike at all.

Originally Posted by Kaushik Iyer

I quite agree with Monk suggestions here...

thank you for replying, I don't have a sound knowledge of repairing a bike, so buying a second hand and repairing it time to time won't be possible for me... I don't even know how to fix a flat!!! I just get it checked at local shop before going for a long ride.

As you mentioned, I am not going to invest again once i buy so i may increase budget now only...

I have AVON Atlantus, never had any issue with it...

but i am not getting more avg speed (>16 km) on it, also it is really exhausting to ride on graded roads... so I am doubtful to take it on BRM events...

speed does depend on type of bike and not solely on legs, I think so....

so with a "little" increased budget, which brands of bicycle will be a good deal, how about Trek bikes, read a lot about them...

Originally Posted by amit01

thank you for replying, I don't have a sound knowledge of repairing a bike, so buying a second hand and repairing it time to time won't be possible for me... I don't even know how to fix a flat!!! I just get it checked at local shop before going for a long ride.

As you mentioned, I am not going to invest again once i buy so i may increase budget now only...

I have AVON Atlantus, never had any issue with it...

but i am not getting more avg speed (>16 km) on it, also it is really exhausting to ride on graded roads... so I am doubtful to take it on BRM events...

speed does depend on type of bike and not solely on legs, I think so....

so with a "little" increased budget, which brands of bicycle will be a good deal, how about Trek bikes, read a lot about them...

A used bicycle has little or no 'repairing' to be done vis-a-vis a brand new cycle. Whatever regular maintenance that is required on a new bike will be required on a used bike as well.

This is not a motorcycle in which things get spoilt very easily. This is a cycle, an extremely simple machine. The beauty of a cycle lies in its simplicity

I have two bikes, both of which i bought used. And in my case, both bikes were bought on 'online trust' without having actually seen the bikes. I regret neither of the two decisions.

How many kilometres do you clock in a week on an average?

After the Atlantus, pretty much any cycle will see you averaging 20+kmph. (*Depending on terrain etc) You are right compared to the Avon, your speed will be significantly higher on a road bike.

I 'upgraded' from a Hero Jet to a hardtail MTB and at that time i felt like i was floating in heaven

I guess you mis-read the 2nd hand bit of the thread, If you read again I've never mentioned any repairing, infact what I wanted to emphasize to you is even 2nd hand bikes are really really good & lasts for a very long time.

Also not be rude but honestly no amount of money can get you faster on your bicycle! No amount of money spent on the lightest of bike is going to make climbing grades any easier - yes a stiffer bike will give better power-transfer & hence make you feel it's going up faster, but it'll be equally exhausting (the total watts required by a particular weight cyclist to get over a particular hill is always constant). Same holds true for riding at a specific speed on a flat road.

So in reality a better bike is only helping transfer you energy better & wasting lesser but the required energy spent will always be the same, it's only the rider who needs to get more efficient at spending & generating that energy.

So to be plain blunt - If you're thinking that having a better bike is simply gonna give you higher avg speed then you'll be wasting your money, Yes coming from a Avon bike you'll probably get much better speed but then it'll simply plateau, coz it's not gonna make you faster by any big margin maybe 1 or 2 kmph difference that's all. To give you a perspective one of my friends has a brand new Specialized Allez which costed him about 1.2lks but no matter how much he tries he'll not be able to beat me even on a hero-hawk! the same will hold true for me if I try to race with a guy called Dhiren, he once beat everybody in a local Road-race on him MTB!!! Why ----- Fitness!!!

What I'm trying to say is if you get yourself fitter you'll be much faster on your present bike itself rather than spending money to buy speed. And to be honest at this level of fitness you should not be looking at Brevets. I know a lot of people will say nothing happens, participation is important etc but all that is nonsence. It's no point riding a 200km brevet in 13hrs by dragging yourself.

Originally Posted by Kaushik Iyer

What I'm trying to say is if you get yourself fitter you'll be much faster on your present bike itself rather than spending money to buy speed. And to be honest at this level of fitness you should not be looking at Brevets. I know a lot of people will say nothing happens, participation is important etc but all that is nonsence. It's no point riding a 200km brevet in 13hrs by dragging yourself.

how will i come to know, i am fit enough to participate brevet events like BRM 200,300,400,600 ??? I can ride around 100 km on Avon without much fatigue (mostly flat road), also I was able to ride 40km without break (other than traffic stops)...

I also have AVON WILDFIRE bike, simple bike, on which I used to get avg speed of 14-15 km... so I agree AVON Atlantus could only increase couple of km to avg speed...

so, if I concentrate on fitness and not new bike, will i be able to participate in BRM events with same bike i.e. AVON Atlantus ?

----consecutive posts auto-merged-----

Originally Posted by The Monk

How many kilometres do you clock in a week on an average?

I am not very regular rider, may be 20-25 km a week, but can ride upto 50-100 km on a single day so far...

Originally Posted by amit01

how will i come to know, i am fit enough to participate brevet events like BRM 200,300,400,600 ??? I can ride around 100 km on Avon without much fatigue (mostly flat road), also I was able to ride 40km without break (other than traffic stops)...

Your question has answer in itself. When you are able to ride 100 without much fatigue, you are definitely ready for 200. You can stretch it to 300 also. you need more practise for 400 and 600.

Originally Posted by amit01

so, if I concentrate on fitness and not new bike, will i be able to participate in BRM events with same bike i.e. AVON Atlantus ?

Definitely yes, but in the long run this bike may not suit the needs of randonnuering unless you customize it a lot. You can give a try for any 200 at least. Need not be a brevet, go on your own ride to know. But in the end, as already discussed in above posts... it all depends in the rider. If you think you can, you can !

Originally Posted by amit01

I am not very regular rider, may be 20-25 km a week, but can ride upto 50-100 km on a single day so far...

I'm sorry but 20-25 per week is too less to aim for 300 and above brevets unless you are already very fit with running or any other activities. You should ride atelast 30km perday to for atleast 3-4 weeks for thinking about 300 and above comfortably. (I'm assuming that you can finish 200 as you already mentioned that you can do 100 without any problems)

well my take on this is very different...

You say you can ride a 100 without much fatigue... but in how much total time? coz to be a good brevet rider you must be able to ride a 100 in total of atleast 5hrs bare minimum. Yes I've seen loads of people who participate in brevets who are not hitting that mark but then I dont' see their happy faces at the finish, they just drag themselves up somehow, thinking it's all in the mind but that's not true. 200 brevet is about 13hrs so count only 11hrs as time to ride coz 2hrs will go for your breaks & lunch/breakfast. To be even simpler if you can complete a 100 in 5hrs total & then feel energetic enough to ride another 100km then you are fit for 200.

But I honestly feel you're jumping the gun big time, firstly 25-30km a week is not even recreational, your sunday rides should be atleast 60kms. And that too in say about 2.5hrs or so i.e. 25-27kmph avg without pushing yourself much & be energetic still throughout the day. Then You are ready to get a 100 in possibly 4-5hrs. From your fitness level you should start to ride 25-30km rides every 2-3days a week & push for finish within 1.5hrs max, progress upto finishing within an hour. Then move to 50kms & try for 2hrs ... this way you can progress upto 100 then 150 then 200. Never increase your distance more than 20% of what you have done earlier.

Yes what I do agree is you will need a better bike than this once you start pushing yourself coz it'll be much more fun on a better bike. But I still urge you to start pushing for those 25km ride 3 days a week & see how you progress & whether you even like it, since for many cycling is about relaxing & having a good time than pushing it up!! So check it out only then take the plunge. I also suggest you to check out used bikes before getting into serious stuff.

All the above are purely my personal opinions & is based on what I have experienced in the last 9+yrs of serious cycling & may totally differ from many.