Sedentary corporate job, odd hours, nice food, corporate pickups / drops, no exercise, nice sleep, weekend parties, hangovers, pizzas, booze, stress, pressure, traffic!
Typical of most 20 - 40 yr olds in our country. No time to sweat out, no time to exercise, no time to even check email! You enter the corporate world dreaming of growing in your career. And in 2 years’ time you become - THE BROILER CHICKEN! Seriously guys, most of us in corporate circles have little difference to a broiler. First we come to work on corporate transport. We huddle up in our cubicles all day. And get the choice of fattening food without exercise.
Thinking in those lines was what made me start cycling again. Since I had a decent bike as well as a good car, I was a bit apprehensive at first, but I needed to get into shape!
DISCLAIMER: This review is too long, but goes in-depth into cycling.
What cycle to buy?
I last cycled to school and for the first year of college. That was more than 10 years back - before biking! Seeing the modern day cycles on the road, the most common brand was "Hercules". I could see a few of the legendary "Thatha cycle"(the big green ones). So I did an internet search.
I couldn’t at first believe it when I found that three of "our old school cycles" were still available in the market! Been a long time but precious little had changed. I narrowed down to three of them that reminded me of the past - the Hero Hawk, BSA Mach 1 and BSA Photon. The initial choice was the Hero Hawk. I just loved that handle bar, and that name. So the first stop was the cycle shop at Madiwala, Bangalore.
There were 2 variants of the Hawk. Both in only silver colour. And with THAT handle bar. One hawk was priced at 3, 400. It had no gears. But it was way too tall for me! Legs weren’t reaching down. But somewhat manageable. I mean, I am a long-distance biker, so shouldn’t be a problem. What I liked about it was that nothing had changed from the original hawk of the’80s and the’90s.
The other hawk was of a much better height. This was comfortable. Priced at 7, 000 it had gears. Now I didn’t want to go for gears, since chain keeps slipping out on geared cycles. The next thing to do was to call up my 10-yr old cousin. He is a walking-talking encyclopedia on bicycles. Everything about bicycles, and this call went on for more than an hour, about all the major brands. So it was decided to get a Hercules.
New shop opens
A new shop opened near home. BSA. And I found myself walking in to that shop. Not to buy a bicycle, but just to window-shop. Saw the BSA Mach 1 there, and it was like, love at first sight. So I made enquiries to the fellow at the shop. He didn’t know much about cycles. But definitely a thing or two about marketing! His first job was to deter me from getting the Mach. He showed me several other cycles and talked about their advantages. His attitude was like "let’s not be resposible for uncle getting hurt!". But one look at the nice black / red theme and it was decided I would either buy this or no cycle at all. The height was the same as the Hero Hawk. In fact the only difference is the colour. Hawk is silver, Mach is black / red.
It was priced more at 3, 600. But the advantage was, closer to home. I can walk in, ride out. Unlike for the hawk for which I need to take an auto. Also after riding the BSA Champ(school) and the BSA SLR(school & college), it was natural to upgrade to the Mach 1. Though this review is for the Mach 1, it could
also be considered as a review for the Hero Hawk, since it is almost the same.
Riding the monster
Two days later, I bought it. It was a nice feeling taking this creature slowly on the roads. The first thing I had to get used to was the attitude! Just yesterday I could whizz past autos, buses, most bikes, cars etc in my RX100, and here I am, in the back end of all the traffic, letting them go past me! Now the drawback of this handle bar is - if you haven’t got used to it before, you would need some time to get used to it! There are 3 styles to ride it.
1 The conventional style is to rest on the actual handlebar - your backbone bent towards the front side, stomach parallel to the bar. Best to use when cycling on level ground. Need to be careful while steering. Unlike a convential bicycle - the steering is in a circular movement. I heard someone say it was
to prevent wind resistance.
2 Upright. Your backbone is pointed upwards. The brakes have an extension to allow you use them even at this position. I personally prefer this when going uphill.
3 Elbows on the handlebar. In this position, you lean forward. There are two cushions on the handlebar where you could rest your elbows. The handlebar has an extension forward where you can deposit you forearms. Use this position only when there is NO ONE ON THE ROAD!
There is one more position that is not mentioned, but that I use.
4 Slanting backwards. You rest your hands on the "elbow-rests". The position is like the Royal Enfield Thunderbird. But the risk is - you are far away from the brakes.
I am posting the remainder of the review under "Comments" since Max 7500 characters only. Sorry for the inconvenience!