In Conclusion

Bike Problems

On-going brake problem

I was pleased with the overall performance of the bike but had serious problems with the brakes. I’d had problems with the disc brakes since I purchased the bike and I should have sorted the problem out with the shop, within the guarantee.

The discs wore out too quickly and seemed to stick, when I mentioned this to other cyclists in the UK and the few I met in India who had the disc brakes, they couldn’t praise them enough. They had no problems with them which strengthens my thinking of the problem is with the brakes setup and should have been looked at under the guarantee.

858 mls - 1380 km

One and only puncture - Picked up a puncture in the back tyre after going over a very long and really strong thorn. The thorn came from bushes being transported along the road.

2260 mls - 3638 km

On the back brake the plastic inner sheaf came through the metal stop cap at the brake handle. This made the back brake fairly useless, when the brake was pulled the cable and outer cable was pulled (they should have been stopped by the metal stop), which meant the inner cable was useless and so couldn’t pull the brake callipers. This is explained better in the diagram below. This problem along with the on-going brake disc problem shows that in general these brakes have been pretty useless right from the start.

2929 mls - 4715 km

Finally replaced back break cable (purchased from local shop, back and front cables, inner and outer, cost about 50 rupees). The new cables were adequate for a temporary fix but I felt it wouldn’t be long before they would need more attention, (you get what you pay for). Replaced back brake pads. Back brake works fine but disc slightly buckled, probably from the bus ride.

3723 mls - 5994 km

Changed front brake pads.

4144 mls - 6630 km

Fifth and sixth cogs on the cassette became badly worn making the chain slip and making the two cogs unusable. These two cogs were the main ones used in India for cruising along the flat coastal roads. This problem was part of the reason I finished cycling and gave the bike away.

Indian oil, (being very thick and picking up a lot of dust from the roads), will have had some effect on the cogs and chain.

Problem throughout the trip with the brake pads.

As already mentioned, the on-going brake pad problem; I had to tighten the fixed pad on the disc brakes after using the brakes when going down hill. Regularly rode the bike with little or no brakes. Other cyclists I met who had similar brakes and said they had no problems with them.

Pannier bottom bracket

Problem throughout the trip with the pannier bottom bracket, it kept jumping off the stays on the rack due to the rough roads. Needs some sort of clip to hold it in place. Otherwise I cannot fault the panniers and would recommend them.

The bike suffered train travel

I used the train twice and on both occasions lost the bike, put off at the wrong stations. When they make the bike ready for travel it was wrapped in sacking and tied with a lot of string. On one occasion this string became wrapped around the outer cones, and spindle, I didn’t notice the problem for a few days. When I finally noticed I untwined a very big length of string. Luckily this didn’t seem to have any effect on the bike. The packaging or wrapping of the bike far exceeds what is needed for travelling on a train and you should be aware and check what’s been done.

I also used a bus for part of the journey and although the bike wasn’t packaged for travel, I think it was lay flat in the luggage compartment and items lay on top of the bike. This resulted in the back brake disc being slightly buckled. It wasn’t that bad, it didn’t interfere with the brake operation (when the discs allowed them to work), or wheel spin or wasn’t that noticeable.

Cycle security

I had two fairly ordinary, lightish cable locks which proved enough, although I don’t believe I had any serious attempts to steal the bike. It was very rare that I was allowed to keep the bike in my hotel room. I usually left it locked to some object near the front door. Most hotels have security on the front door and they always looked after the bike, of course they expected a tip for their troubles.

The bike was constantly touched while I was with it and more so when I wasn’t. People will press, pull, wiggle any part of the bike that looked like it moved. I constantly came down in the morning and tried to ride the bike but found the gears, (click gears), were in top gear. Other than this they usually treated the bike quite nicely.

Conclusion

Overall I liked the bike, it performed well. I should have sorted the brake disc problem back in the UK. Maybe changing the brakes to the normal centre-pull type. The Ortlieb panniers were excellent apart from the bottom bracket which could have been sorted, but wished I’d had the hindsight to do this in the UK. The tyres were excellent with just one puncture and the tread on the back tyre starting to show a little wear at the end 4,000 miles - 6,437 km.