June 7th: I went on to climb Nandi Hills on my bike. I had read a lot about how great it is to ride uphill and then how divine it is when you go around 60 Km/hr downhill.
I am not your usually Adventure Junkie who would just pull up his socks and hop on the saddle when he reads that. In fact my first reaction was “Nandi Hills, yeh I have been there once or twice. I don’t remember it to be that steep a climb. Why do people love it so much?”. The reason was, I had been to Nandi Hills before but at 3 AM on usually Saturday nights after enjoying “somras” with a couple of close friends. So I was reconstructing the feeling of being at Nandi Hills with the glimpses of what I remember
This Sunday, I decided to give it a shot. It was a group riding session that a few people from the BBC (Bangalore Biking Club) were organizing. I couldn’t locate the way to Hebbal Flyover and at some place, I guess at Makeri Circle, I took a left and went 30 Kms towards Tumkur. Anyways cutting the long story short… I reached the assembly point 1.5 hrs late. There was no point turning back now so I thought I would climb the Nandi alone and If I meet someone on the way it would be great.
I reached the Idli Point and then got together with 3 more bikers to ride nandi. I parked my car there and we starting riding up hill. It was kinda boring flat road till the Bull Statue around 4 Km from the Idli Point, but it got way more interesting after that.
From the Statue to the top is a 8 Km uphill climb. I usually ride 22Kms daily in around 1.5 hours in the city, so I thought 8 K uphill should not be that tough. But I found myself breathless at the 4 Km mark and I knew it would only go steeper.
I saw a few riders coming downhill at what I guess was above 60 Km/hr. The smile on their face made me do the full 8 Km climb. One of them even stopped and asked me if everything was ok and if I needed any help. That was amazing, a complete stranger, stopping and asking if I needed any help! – I haven’t seen people doing that too often. I guess like Runners, Riders are a close community as well.
From the 4 Km mark, I would have stopped at every Km mark and stretched my legs, had water, enjoyed the view and then thought “This is nice! I can do this!” I finally reached the top and we posed for a few photographs and then started downhill.
The ride downhill is indeed really awesome – I can’t describe it in words, you have to do it to feel it.
I wanted to wait for a month and ride it before I write a review on my bike. It has been close a month now and I have ridden close to 300 Km on it till now.
The Lot: Before buying this bike I had considered Trek 3700 and 4300, Marida Sub V10 and V20, Cannondale F9 (All around INR 17 – 23 K) and finally settled on RockRider 5.2 because of the following reasons.
What’s good?
Suspension – it is better than most of the bikes I tried out.
Cost – it costs least amongst the lot I was considering.
Brakes – better than the rest.
Frame – I have absolutely no idea how people judge the quality of the frame. I guess you have to take manufacturer’s word for it. Decathlon claims to have same quality of frame as others.
Gear Shifters – I have seen trigger shifters, wrist shifters and thumb (push) shifters on a MTB till now. Of these 3 I personally prefer the thumb shifters because the fingers are busy braking, wrist is busy supporting me and thumbs are free, so it is great that 5.2 has thumb shifters.
Looks - If this is something that matters to you, 5.2 comes in a rocking grey and black and looks slick!
Chain Stay cover – 5.2 is the only bike of the lot to have a rubber + form covers over the chain stay to prevent scratches on the frame. To me this shows they have cared enough to bundle this essential but most often overlooked accessory along with the bike.
What’s not so great?
Gears – I tried playing with them and I think I screwed them a bit, but overall, I think the entire gear assembly could have been a bit better. It is a bit noisy.
Weight – it weighs around 13.5Kg and is a bit heavier than some in the lot but when I look at how much I weigh, I can’t complain
Everything else I guess is similar to the other bikes in the same range.
Overall: Great value for money (In Bangalore, India it costs INR 15.5K if you are a reseller)
I have tried Landing on Heals, Mid Foot and Front Foot. When I try and land on Front-Mid Foot, I feel that I run faster, but then I go breathless very soon
Need to find a comfortable running stride and style for myself…
Here is a video that made me think about Front and Mid foot landing while running.
We had added Profile Pages to LifeMojo a while back. I was a bit busy with some personal stuff so couldn’t update my personal profile on LifeMojo earlier, but here it is now
LifeMojo was covered in the “high flier” section of the Economic Times on this Tuesday, 3rd March 2009. Here is a link to the article on the e version of Economic Times. Click on the image below to view the Article (as an image).
