My Bike: Btwin Riverside 500 > Roadside

So, my first bike in IISc, I bought in Sept 2010, BSA SLR Photon is completing its 5th year and had been a light and steady bike. Its still in a good condition now, I made it lighter by stripping off its rear carrier, and its quite fast on flat roads, going about 30 km/hr. I did travel all over Bangalore roads on my Photon.

My first one: BSA SLR Photon: still with me:)

But, its brakes were not so efficient and being non-gear its slow during the climbs. So, IISc having a good biking community, I have been thinking to buy a geared road bike last three years. After much thinking and analysis, I decided to get a good hybrid bike, after finishing my first Triathlon. Now, deciding on the model was little confusing, and as I decided my budget between Rs. 15-25k, there were not many options, one was Montra and other Btwin Riverside and few other models, finally decided on Btwin Riverside 500 due to excellent service and convenience of Dectahlon stores in Bangalore.

I previously thought of selling my old BSA Photon but then decided against it, as it had been with me for past 4.5 years and its very rugged, simple and useful for rough use like in rain, and no worry of getting stolen which is not so with higher end bikes in India.

BTWIN Riverside 500

So, on 29th March, went to Decathlon Anubhava but they did not have the Riverside model even though they confirmed having it 2 days back, it was sold one day back only which showed its demand in the market. After few calls by the Sales guy to other branches, they found it available in stock in the Sarjapur branch, the main branch of Decathlon. As I decided to buy the same day, covered a long 2.5 hours journey and reach the Sarjapur branch. The patience payed off and there were 5 pieces of Riverside in stock. I had a smooth test ride, and found that it comes with battery operated front and rear light free. The only accessories I needed was stand, bottle holder and lock for time being. The total costed me around Rs. 20,700. After all the fittings and adjustments, I again had a test ride and it was super smooth and fast. The brakes also were very sensitive. As you can see below, its a beauty in its looks and has a attractively light blue green color. In the end, I found it to be a very good deal, along with free servicing within 3 months, 2 years warranty on some parts and lifetime warranty on frame. I came out of the store and had to drive 24 kms to IISc. I switched on my GPS navigation and had a smooth ride along with heavy Bangalore traffic. Even on a sunday, traffic was moving at a snail's pace and it took me 100 minutes to reach IISc, would have taken much longer had I taken a bus. There was too much pollution due to motorized vehicles, how nice it will be if the govt. encourages cycles in the city.

The frame 

BTWIN Riverside 500 in my room

Awareness

The awareness about good quality cycles is very less in our country. We should learn from bicycle-friendly large cities in the world like Amsterdam which has 400 km of bike lanes and nearly 40% of all commutes in Amsterdam are done on bike. Look at the article listing the top cycle friendly countries. Some other links on cycling are Cycling Gyan and Bikeszone.

Even a well to do people owning cars in India think that bicycles should not be priced above Rs. 5000 even if they spend 10-20 lakhs on posh cars. I feel its so disgusting when people, even well to do and educated people question me why am I buying a cycle for such a high price. Suppose I buy a motor bike or a car for the same price, lets say a second hand one for Rs. 20k, the same people will highly appreciate it even though its of a low quality, I will have to spend heavily on the petrol/ diesel, it pollutes the atmosphere and makes us lazy and unfit. They should understand that cycles can have a high price range: similar to other vehicles and  good quality cycles can be bought at high prices.

Whereas a good quality cycle is a one time investment, they are light weight, BTWIN bikes have excellent service from any Decathlon store in India, occupies minimum amount of road and parking space, makes us self dependent and improves our fitness, and is the most environment friendly commute. Also those who think that good quality cycles are expensive, they are totally wrong, when they use it for around 10 years and look back, they will come come to know how much they have saved, in terms of fuel, time and money. Even travelling by local buses is much more costly in the long run than commuting on a good cycle, apart from being inconvenient and dependent in terms of timeliness and location.

I am not telling that people should not own motor bikes and cars, they should have it but use it only sparingly. Most people in the city commute daily to their workplace, and using a cycle not only saves money but also keeps them fit and healthy. In this busy world, many people are constrained by time and cycling is an excellent way to both save time and keep ourselves fit simultaneously. Some people think that motor vehicles are fast, but good quality gear cycles are equally quite fast on roads, and the faster you ride the more time you save and more fitness you gain.  I agree that our roads are not cycle friendly at present, and there is no separate parking space for cycles. The initiative should be taken by the govt. by restricting usage of motor vehicles, separate cycle lanes whereever possible, and forcing all public places like malls etc to have secured cycle parking space.

I hope India will soon be listed in the top cycle friendly countries.