Here comes my new bike – Schwinn Sporterra!

I recently started my third innings of cycling on a Hercules Arrow cycle, and you know how much you can trust these Indian bike shaped objects for some serious cycling. It was a single speed bike which I geared it for a better experience, ended up with some DIY experience. Anyways, I still keep that bike and my wife uses it for casual rides and for shopping.

Today, I went ahead and brought home a Schwinn Sporterra, the bike I shortlisted after doing enough of research and reading revious and ownership experiences at the BikesZone forums.

It’s currently a bare body bike, without a bell even 🙂 The only addition I have is a bottle cage. I plan to add fenders (SKS most probably) a lengthy BTwin lock, and the front and rear lights I already have which I bought earlier and used on my Arrow.

Here are some of the snaps!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ramkumar-kr/sets/72157629651435709/

Comments plz!

Gearing up my single speed Bike(cycle) – and some problems

This post has been moved to http://cycling.ramkumarkr.com/?p=25

My third innings with cycling

I am grown up in a village where for anything and everything you either need to walk or use cycle (the first two options) before even thinking of hiring an auto rickshaw or get into a public transport. My dad had a Raleigh roadster which he bought a couple of years after I was born (yes, it was almost closest to my age 🙂 ). He paid under 1k Rs to get hold of a fresh one from an outlet at Pollachi in Tamil Nadu and rode it home which is many Km away in Palakkad.

My uncle (father’s brother) made me and his son learn cycling through the rented cycles when we were in primary school but I still had to wait till I reached High School to get hold of my dad’s cycle. So that was the first cycle I used for a longer duration initially. I used to take this cycle for tutions and to the nearby market. I never rode it for longer distances, and always my limits were constrained (by parents of course).

When I went ahead for my Degree course and while I was in Hostel, I never needed to use any cycle as I stayed in college campus itself (I am not referring to an IIT or REC here, many people in those institutions use cycles to commute within the campus). Still the climb to my hostel from the classes which are down in the valley kept me fit, I was even underweight when I completed my graduation.

When I got into my first job in Bangalore, I was staying in my relative’s house. My work place was hardly 2km away and there was a Hero roadster similar to what my dad had was lying unused. So there was my second innings in cycles. I cycled thrice everyday to and fro – morning, lunch and evening and thus made a good use of the cycle and helped my selves with some exercise.I also used to do some occasional long distance rides of about 10 km and I never had to struggle on the ups and downs of Bangalore.

Then I almost forgot what cycling is ..

My second innings with cycles ended when I changed my job (from a Mechanical Engineering route to IT) and moved to another part of Bangalore. There was a need registered on my mind that I need a motorcycle. I bought a Hero Honda Super Splendor bike and totally forgot what was cycling.

I started to put on weight as I switched to motorcycle from a (motor-less)cycle. My weight increased exponentially, I was 55Kg while completing my graduation and before not time within a couple of years after shifting my career path to IT, I weighed 85Kg.

My own cycle!

Post marriage, my eating habits changed. I initially thought that this might be beneficial in cutting down my weight, but the effect was opposite! My weight further increased and I touched the 95Kg in the first year of marriage. Increased weight also started to give symptoms of bad health. I started to develop breathing problems. I decided to cut down my weight and also improve my health. Having my own cycle was a childhood dream for me and when I discussed buying a cycle at this time (I was 3o years old at that moment), my wife quickly agreed to the idea of buying a cycle.

Initial idea was to get a unisex bicycle which me and my wife could use together. I realized that it was a bad idea later. Again, I didn’t make enough research before my purchase decision (which I usually do a lot otherwise), I ended up buying Hercules Arrow cycle for us.

The future

So, here I am with my third innings in cycling. I will be using this cycle before I go for a better cycle. I also did some modification of this single speed cycle and ended up in some trouble with that. That’s another part of the story.

I have started cycling a bit longer now, and I am aiming at a better imported cycle for me soon (I am eying a Schwinn Hybrid one 🙂 ).

So stay tuned.