Going Green with .... a bicycle(!)

my Schwinn Sporterra Sport - as on DayOne: 25Sep2011

Finally my search for a bicycle ended on last Sunday, on a high note. I bought a Schwinn Sporterra Sport 2011. The bike comes with 24-speed gearing, quick release on both the wheels, a lever for quick saddle height adjustment, and good components overall. The bike is very light-weight, runs mighty smooth and is a pleasure to ride. I rode it for around 12km, all the way from Shivram Sales to Kothrud, and deliberately chose non-traffic route with some serious ups and downs. It was 12pm in the afternoon that I started back to home and it was hot like anything. Still, I wasnt exhausted when I got back home. In fact, and I dont mean to drum it up, but I was still feeling quite fresh after the ride. That was a bit surprising since I was riding a bicycle almost after 6-7years.

Along the way that I had chosen, there were few testing inclines. But the gearing turned out to be very helpful while negotiating those inclines. My first time riding a geared bicycle, and I can already see why people actually love cycling.

It was not all rosy though. The front derailleur was out of adjustment it seemed since it kept faltering while shifting between 1st and 2nd chainrings. Next morning, I could fix it after a few turns of barrel-adjuster along with couple of high-low settings on the dérailleur.

Apart from that, two of my body parts were quite uncomfortable with this change in vehicle. First were my wrists and lower palms. And second - were my bums. After couple of rides, the soreness in palm and wrist started to recede. The bums on the other hand, were so sore that even sitting on a highly cushioned chair felt like sitting on a pair of spears. The saddle, like any other performance bicycle saddle, is a hard one and makes for uncomfortable riding. The pain has receded after a couple of rides, but it's still quite uncomfortable. So it looks like, as people recommend, a lycra bib or at least a short with chamois reinforcement is a must for riding such cycles.


Gearing: Gear Inches and Shifting

Gearing Chart

The cycle has 24-speed gearing (8 cogs in the rear and 3 chainrings in the front) with Shimano Alivio as the important rear-derailleur. Before I decided upon buying Sporterra Sport, I went through the drive-train setup of various cycles, including road-bikes. I felt that the sporterra sport's teeth configuration of 48/38/28 on the chainrings and 11-30 on the rear cogs made perfect sense for a beginner like me. I didnt count individual teeth on each of the rear cogs, but assumed a standard configuration as - 11-13-15-17-20-23-26-30. And then with Sheldon Brown's gear calulator, got an idea of what the gear inches will be for each of the gear and how they will change from gear to gear. Here is the chart that I got there, and I have highlighted what gears I will be using while shifting up and down.

As can be seen, even though the cycle is 24-speed, one can hardly use more than 10-12 gears out of those 24. Using the non-highlighted gears can quickly wear out the chain/chainrings/cassette.


Experience with Dealers

There are quite a few cycle dealers in Pune. Some are old timers, selling cycles for ages. Some are new comers, trying to tap into the booming market of enthusiasts with deep pockets (thanks in part to the IT industry). I initially went to the Track-n-Trail dealer - Surendar Cycles on Karve Road. In my couple of visits there one thing I strongly realized that this guy is all about sales and marketing talk. He tried to upsell, he tried to patronize me, he tried to be smart, he bragged, he berated other dealers, and even tried the classic FUD when I mentioned I might consider other dealers if I don't get a fair deal there. This blog is not a place to go in details about bits and pieces of the conversation, but suffice to say that - by the time I left his shop, I was disgusted with him, had not even an iota of trust in that guy, and had decided I wouldn't buy from him, come what may.

I went to Shivram Sales, on Satara Road, one of the dealers he had berated and had tried FUD on. Within half an hour I was out with a brand new Schwinn Sporterra Sport 2011 model, at a much lower price-point, with complementary basic accessories like stand, bottle-cage, lock and a bell; and as per regular practice - 2-free-maintainances and 1-year guarantee on the frame, handle and fork. All of which, this Surendar Cycle owner had written-off as "absolutely-not-possible" in a kind of virtual chest-thumping.

Moral of the story, stay away from such upsellers, and crooks while buying a bicycle in Pune. Look for a better deal with other dealers. These cycles are from international brands, and are not supposed to fail on you. Besides, these other dealers also offer the same maintainance and gurantee that these branded stores will offer. So dont fall for the FUD that these crooks are intent on spreading.

Lifecycle mall, by the way, also offers similar high prices, but they seem to have some ethics. They at least dont brag and berate other dealers, or brand of cycles that they dont keep. I had enquired about Fomas Roadking Deluxe and was told that they dont keep Fomas, but pleasantly enough, upon probing about the bicycle, I was told that apart from the weight issue, roadking deluxe is not a bad cycle for that price. The Surendar Cycle guy, upon enquiry, had told me snobbishly "we dont sell junk". I should have crossed him off my list at that point itself.


Way Ahead

I had thought about quite a few intersting plans around cycling, before taking the plunge and buying this Sporterra Sport. God-willing, if my left knee (which I had hurt during the Katraj-Sihagad trek last year) holds up, I will hopefully be able to realise those plans. Let's see how it all goes. Exciting times ahead.