Bicycle on Bengaluru (Bangalore) roads

While roaming on the terrace, I was looking to do something new in life (as usual). This time I aimed for a bicycle. So I did some basic googling and without much exposure to this field I went to Arcot Srinivasachar street, City Market, Bangalore.

The bicycle Market here: I feel that this is basically a selling market and dealers do not care much about servicing. They have got old shops and may not be able to give you demo because most of the cycles are packed and disassembled. But I asked them and they gave me 4 demos by taking the pain of assembling the bicycles. The roads are jammed so one cannot think of test ride. I got the demos because I was going to spend good amount. This market is definitely cheaper than the fancy and exotic showrooms which might be available in Bangalore.

I got this model, AVON Jockey. A short review of it follows.

http://www.avoncycles.com/boys-bicycle-display.asp?id=285

I paid INR 6300/- for it.

It has aluminum body which makes it very easy to carry in elevator to my flat at seventh floor. It is very handy to carry in hands during traffic jams, red lights, country side etc. Whenever I go to M. G. Road, whole of the road is blocked by the Metro Rail Project and rest by long cars. I was very comfortable to carry my bicycle in hands and then to walk on footpath. There was another model from Hero with almost same specification but with Iron Body. That was 2000 less in cost. I think I made the right decision to pay more to the seller.

It has got front and rear shockers. I feel that this makes ride very comfortable and won't hurt you at wrong places. At this time I can not say about the longevity of these shockers. May be I will add that after a year.

It has got 18 gears. I strongly suggest to get a bicycle with gears if you want to make the ride a fun and not a burden. Gears will make your ride little bit easier on ups and make you fast on downs. But, frankly speaking, I do not see a need of 18 gears(at least in city). May be 6 or 12 are enough. I got 18 because because it is not possible to customize this machine according to your need. :)

Personal Experience:
# It is good(not great) bicycle.
# The ride is smooth and the shockers are good.
# Gear transition is smooth and they never got stuck.
# It has got front and rear long metal mud-guards. These days most of the geared cycles are having either no or short mud-guards. These are made up of plastic. In city , you won't be doing the stunts as a mountain biker. So when the roads are wet, these long mud-guards save you from the road dirt that flies off with the rotating wheel. This was the unique feature in all the models that I considered.
# The pedal has very good metal grip. Due to this your feet will never slip from it when you are applying break or crossing a bumper in speed.
# The rod under the seat is not long. So, if we want to raise the seat to a higher level, you may need to change the whole section.
# Brakes are cantilever type with rubber shoes. I would prefer disc brakes. But for that, one has to put in more money.

Recently, I got a speedometer/odometer installed. It cost me 350/- bucks. I purchased this from Raja Cycle Mart. There is a good mechanic, Lalloo. I got the reference from another blogger. I went there and the experience was good.

Directions for Raja Cycle Mart: Reach to townhall and start moving to City Market. Hardly moving 20 meters, on left you can see this shop.

Check out wikimapia. I marked this there
http://www.wikimapia.org/#lat=12.9633878&lon=77.5843763&z=17&l=0&m=h&v=2


Many times people ask me about my experience on Bangalore roads. They say that the traffic is terrific and how safe is it? For all of these people, I have following words:

I use Cab to commute to office and I felt that two wheeler drivers are quite unsafe on roads. After roaming around on bicycle, I realized that the condition was not that bad which I *assumed* earlier. I noticed that people are sort of good to bicycle riders. Then one day I went to Office on my bicycle. I stay at Koramangala and Office is 11 KMs from my home. The route is (Sony World-Jagsandhara-Agara-Sarjapur Junction-Marattahalli). I leave my home around 7 in morning and leave office at 4 in evening.

My view got changed when I tried it myself. I know, the safest bet is to get in side a car. But except that I think bicycles are good to move around the city.

While raining, its very tough to ride bicycle because there is no motor inside and its all your muscles. I prefer to wait at some place. This can be treated as a limitation. :)

I still use Cabs but jump over to my bicycle around 2-3 days a week depending upon weather and schedule. :) Believe me, the time difference is just of 10 minutes one way!!!

So this is how I had a view some time back and now it got changed when I tried it on my own. :)

Points for getting on bicycle:
1. Fun
2. Healthy
3. Cheap
4. No Pollution

So, believe me. Borrow a bicycle from a kid around your place for some time and give it a try. For the first few times, you will feel strong pain in your knees. If this pain disappears and the riding becomes fun for you, go and grab your own bike.

Happy Cycling!!!