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)
13 comments ↓
[...] Namit Nangia of Lifemojo [...]
Good basic report of the Rockrider, regarding the cost in india is it still15.4K? or less?
@Arun
I am not sure if the prices are the same. Have a look at http://www.decathlon.in/ . Probably, the best thing would be to call up and check the price.
I have to add a shitty thing to this bike, that drives me nuts: the rubber handles are simply sliding off the metal pipe !!!
@paul, Thanks I had missed out this one out…
[...] good is the Bike? Here is a review that I wrote after a month of riding and I still feel the same way about the [...]
namit,
how do you compare firefox target with rockrider 5.2
I too am considering the RR 5.2 v/s the 2009 Merida Sub 20V with Disc brakes (clearance stock) for 20.5 k odd. Which one would you suggest?
I like the RR more!
@Glifford I have never tried Merida Sub 20V, but I know a few friends who have this bike and they love it !
I love my RR 5.2, so I guess my judgement would be partial and would tend towards 5.2
I would say try both of them out and decide.
(Disk breaks is a nice to have for office commute, but great to have for serious mountain biking)
I love this cycle i have the same cycle
Im looking at buying the rockrider with the Aluminium frames, How good is it and how is its pricing when compared to the others??
I have had RR 5.2 for more than 18 months, and I am quite happy with it. I could be happier though (see below). I had Firefox Reloaded before I got RR. RR feels better.
This bike is not ideally suited for road ride as the riding posture gives pain in the wrists. Handle bar can be raised but I have not been able to get the required collars both from Decathelon and the local cycle shop. I end up taking my hands off ones in a while to ease the pain.
The V-brakes are quite effective, and have kept me away from many potential accident scenarios. Saddle is small but one gets used to it even for long road trips.
I must have finished 2000 km on this cycle so far, covering less traveled roads in North Bangalore, and there are plenty of those in and around Hoskote, Devanhalli, Nandi hills (top), Chikballapur, Dodballapur, Nelmangala, Magadhi, Ramnagarm, Banyan tree. I ride alone, and I have not taken repair patch kit with me on any of these occasions. I got flat tyre on one occasion when I went through a forest with no trail! I write all this in support of the confidence that this cycle inspires now. Although wide tyres are not meant for road riding, I have somehow started believing, based on the feedback from others having road cycles, that Indian country side roads are best covered using Mountain Bikes, and wide tyres. Although, I initially thought of shifting to a road cycle to avoid wrist pain, I have now abandoned this idea due to the ruggedness of MTB’s. The fact that pain goes away soon after the trip ends is also one of the reasons for continuing with RR.
I would like to hear from the more experience users on the last comment.
I forgot to add in my previous post that taking this cycle to the top of Nandi Hills with toe clips on (plastic ones that came with the cycle) was a breeze. This was my first attempt to climb Nandi Hills, and I could do it easily, without stopping in between, except for taking a few pictures! Toe clips also offer great relaxation when one is dead tired. Instead of pushing pedals down, one can start lifting them on a level road and let the regular muscles relax!
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