I have decided to write on this topic mainly because i feel its something which has been blown out of proportion.
People who want to start cycling pay too much of attention towards which bike they should start with, so much of attention, that it sometime leads to not taking a decision at all (This is a perfect example of a proverb: Too much of analysis leads to paralysis of decision making ability).
Since it involves taking a monitory decision, we generally want to be extremely cautious about it.
This article might help, but should be taken as a pinch of salt, and don't come looking for me, if you end up with a wrong bike after making a decision based upon my write up. :)
If you are in the market to buy your first serious bike, chances are that you have never done any kind of long distance riding.
So inorder to take an informed decision, you approach people who have been active in cycling.
Now here comes the problem, if anyone approaches me for a bike suggestion, i will always be tilted more towards road bike - why because i love it i know most new users wont start straight away with off road biking, and its just so exciting.
But if this new biker approaches a guy who has a MTB, might recommend an MTB, and ask the new fellow to stay away from road bikes as they are very fragile, prone to punctures, high on maintenance blah, blah, blah ...!!!
So the user is now confused decides to select either a MTB or a hybrid.
Few more people come into picture, and his decision making capability goes absolutely hay wire.
This was actually my condition last year, before taking a final call, and finally i bought btwin sport 1.
We need to understand one thing, these bike categories come into picture only when we know what we want.
If i take my example, from day one i always knew i am never going to do any kind of off road biking, so i bought a road bike( i want to say road bikes are no where as fragile or delicate as they are projected).
I am using it almost daily, and it serves good.
I know people who have ridden more than 600KM on a MTB.
Forget MTB, a guy completed 600KM brevet 4 times in Pune on a Hero Hawk single speed.
I know this guy, who travelled all the way from Ahmedabad to Pune on a Hybrid.
And have read somewhere that a guy from mysore has done a cross country on an MTB.
And a Chartered Accountant from Kolkata who has done cross country on a Atlas Goldline !!!.
The point is, you can do all of this on any bike, but the degree of comfort will vary accordingly.
If you like MTB styling, go for it. If you like those skinny tyres, and awesome looking roadies, go for it, or if you like the decent look of a hybrid bike, go for it !!!
If deep down you know that you are never going to attempt a down hill, don't go for an MTB. If speed doesn't thrill you much, or if you don't like to feel every grain, or pebble present on road on your palm, and need a comfortable ride always then stay from road bike.
Now this should be the actual criteria before making a purchase decision, and not what people say.
Listen to you heart-mind first.
If after making a decision, you feel to upgrade then there is nothing wrong in having two bikes.
Believe me, i have many friends who started with MTB, just because they were a tad cheaper than a road bike, and other so called experts have suggested to stay away from road bikes, but after riding some serious distances, ended up with a high end carbon road bikes.
Usage should be the criteria, there are people who have done stunts on a road bike, and people with MTB riding at crazy speeds, and be first one to finish the brevet well before time.
Recently a friend approached me, wanted me to suggest him a good bike.
He wanted to use it just for city rides.
I tried convincing him a lot to go for a decent hybrid which costs 16k.
But he was reluctant, as he believed this is too much for a bike.
I asked him to test ride to understand the difference, but he was unable to get over his mind set, that cycles should be cheap.
Understanding his dilemma, i just asked him select the bike which you like, but keep in mind, lighter the weight, peppier will be the ride, so go for an alloy framed bike, and atleast try to get decent gears with in it.
He bought some hercules bike for 9k, and was way way happy.
I can understand his feeling, he started riding with me, distances started to increase from a few kilometers to few hundred's on weekends.
Putting decent mileage on his cyclocomp, he tried a friends MTB. That's when he understood what i was trying to make him feel at the first place.
Without much a delay, he went ahead and got himself a MTB.
My point is start is necessary, get into details later on.
No one bike will fit for all the purpose, its similar to keeping Pants/Trousers/Jeans. They are all different, it depends what you like to wear the most.
One more point, please stay away as much as possible from cheap bikes atleast to start with, coz right if at the beginning you are tormented, you will never experience the real joy of biking. Quality comes at a cost.
People might have different views, i have just put mine to help you to go ahead and start biking !!!
And do remember, no matter which bike you purchase, Helmet and Blinker is a must.
People who want to start cycling pay too much of attention towards which bike they should start with, so much of attention, that it sometime leads to not taking a decision at all (This is a perfect example of a proverb: Too much of analysis leads to paralysis of decision making ability).
Since it involves taking a monitory decision, we generally want to be extremely cautious about it.
This article might help, but should be taken as a pinch of salt, and don't come looking for me, if you end up with a wrong bike after making a decision based upon my write up. :)
If you are in the market to buy your first serious bike, chances are that you have never done any kind of long distance riding.
So inorder to take an informed decision, you approach people who have been active in cycling.
Now here comes the problem, if anyone approaches me for a bike suggestion, i will always be tilted more towards road bike - why because i love it i know most new users wont start straight away with off road biking, and its just so exciting.
But if this new biker approaches a guy who has a MTB, might recommend an MTB, and ask the new fellow to stay away from road bikes as they are very fragile, prone to punctures, high on maintenance blah, blah, blah ...!!!
So the user is now confused decides to select either a MTB or a hybrid.
Few more people come into picture, and his decision making capability goes absolutely hay wire.
This was actually my condition last year, before taking a final call, and finally i bought btwin sport 1.
We need to understand one thing, these bike categories come into picture only when we know what we want.
If i take my example, from day one i always knew i am never going to do any kind of off road biking, so i bought a road bike( i want to say road bikes are no where as fragile or delicate as they are projected).
I am using it almost daily, and it serves good.
I know people who have ridden more than 600KM on a MTB.
Forget MTB, a guy completed 600KM brevet 4 times in Pune on a Hero Hawk single speed.
I know this guy, who travelled all the way from Ahmedabad to Pune on a Hybrid.
And have read somewhere that a guy from mysore has done a cross country on an MTB.
And a Chartered Accountant from Kolkata who has done cross country on a Atlas Goldline !!!.
The point is, you can do all of this on any bike, but the degree of comfort will vary accordingly.
If you like MTB styling, go for it. If you like those skinny tyres, and awesome looking roadies, go for it, or if you like the decent look of a hybrid bike, go for it !!!
If deep down you know that you are never going to attempt a down hill, don't go for an MTB. If speed doesn't thrill you much, or if you don't like to feel every grain, or pebble present on road on your palm, and need a comfortable ride always then stay from road bike.
Now this should be the actual criteria before making a purchase decision, and not what people say.
Listen to you heart-mind first.
If after making a decision, you feel to upgrade then there is nothing wrong in having two bikes.
Believe me, i have many friends who started with MTB, just because they were a tad cheaper than a road bike, and other so called experts have suggested to stay away from road bikes, but after riding some serious distances, ended up with a high end carbon road bikes.
Usage should be the criteria, there are people who have done stunts on a road bike, and people with MTB riding at crazy speeds, and be first one to finish the brevet well before time.
Recently a friend approached me, wanted me to suggest him a good bike.
He wanted to use it just for city rides.
I tried convincing him a lot to go for a decent hybrid which costs 16k.
But he was reluctant, as he believed this is too much for a bike.
I asked him to test ride to understand the difference, but he was unable to get over his mind set, that cycles should be cheap.
Understanding his dilemma, i just asked him select the bike which you like, but keep in mind, lighter the weight, peppier will be the ride, so go for an alloy framed bike, and atleast try to get decent gears with in it.
He bought some hercules bike for 9k, and was way way happy.
I can understand his feeling, he started riding with me, distances started to increase from a few kilometers to few hundred's on weekends.
Putting decent mileage on his cyclocomp, he tried a friends MTB. That's when he understood what i was trying to make him feel at the first place.
Without much a delay, he went ahead and got himself a MTB.
My point is start is necessary, get into details later on.
No one bike will fit for all the purpose, its similar to keeping Pants/Trousers/Jeans. They are all different, it depends what you like to wear the most.
One more point, please stay away as much as possible from cheap bikes atleast to start with, coz right if at the beginning you are tormented, you will never experience the real joy of biking. Quality comes at a cost.
People might have different views, i have just put mine to help you to go ahead and start biking !!!
And do remember, no matter which bike you purchase, Helmet and Blinker is a must.
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