Cycling In Sri Lanka

[knightowl]

For the last couple of years i have become a cyclist. I started it as an exercise. Getting older very fast my knees are not very happy on jogging. So I bought a cheapo bike { not that cheap. Cost me £500]. Then the Bike bug bit me. So I ended up buying a £899 bike and the few months back a £1000 bike. All three bikes are with me now. I do about 20 to 30 miles about three times a week.

It is a fantastic sport where you get addicted to. Esp in the Europe the law protect the cyclists and generally motorists respect them. But it is a completely different scenario in Sri Lanka. I am planning to bring my bikes to sri lanka. I am planing to ride them very early in the morning before it heats up. But I am worried about the parts and service. Anybody have any idea about Shimano, Tiagra and SRAM components in Sri Lanka? Or any cycling Clubs.

[Ripper]

not sure of cycling clubs but things like shimano parts can be found.

I bought a used "jeep" bike...basically a rebranded shimano with loads of shimano components.

The place i got the bike had most of the shimano parts. Not cheap but they were there.

however...that place is in delgoda

I too ride about 3 times a week about 20km's at full throttle.

Hit the gym early, get back and cycle...I'm on the roads after 6.30 and the roads are not so bad in terms of traffic.

But you'd definitely need a bell if you don't have one on now

also a some sort of lighting if you plan on riding really realy or after dark

ANother forum member with good bikes are JDnet

[knightowl]

Thanks Ripper, I got all the gear to go with. Most of the stuff are for winter riding. High visibility jackets, winter gloves, over shoe covers, wind protectors etc. The bells of course are in a bottom of a box somewhere. Good that you told me I need to fix it back.

I think cycling is like Foot Ball in sri Lanka. A poor mans sport. But in Europe and US it is the new Golf. It has become a multi billion market where most of the buyers are middle age well to do clients. If you cycle to work you are very well respected. Its a fantastic sport. If you cycle about 20miles you burn more than 1000Kcal. You can easily do 20m in 1 hour. Think about burning that much in a Gym!

And the cycle collection is your pride. State of the art bikes with precision components. They are absolutely beautiful to look at. My latest acquisition is a full carbon bike which weighs less than 8Kg.

[Muditha420]

Thanks Ripper, I got all the gear to go with. Most of the stuff are for winter riding. High visibility jackets, winter gloves, over shoe covers, wind protectors etc. The bells of course are in a bottom of a box somewhere. Good that you told me I need to fix it back.

I think cycling is like Foot Ball in sri Lanka. A poor mans sport. But in Europe and US it is the new Golf. It has become a multi billion market where most of the buyers are middle age well to do clients. If you cycle to work you are very well respected. Its a fantastic sport. If you cycle about 20miles you burn more than 1000Kcal. You can easily do 20m in 1 hour. Think about burning that much in a Gym!

And the cycle collection is your pride. State of the art bikes with precision components. They are absolutely beautiful to look at. My latest acquisition is a full carbon bike which weighs less than 8Kg.

Bl**dy hell i cant even afford a carbon tooth brush even

[Ripper]

Thanks Ripper, I got all the gear to go with. Most of the stuff are for winter riding. High visibility jackets, winter gloves, over shoe covers, wind protectors etc. The bells of course are in a bottom of a box somewhere. Good that you told me I need to fix it back.

I think cycling is like Foot Ball in sri Lanka. A poor mans sport. But in Europe and US it is the new Golf. It has become a multi billion market where most of the buyers are middle age well to do clients. If you cycle to work you are very well respected. Its a fantastic sport. If you cycle about 20miles you burn more than 1000Kcal. You can easily do 20m in 1 hour. Think about burning that much in a Gym!

And the cycle collection is your pride. State of the art bikes with precision components. They are absolutely beautiful to look at. My latest acquisition is a full carbon bike which weighs less than 8Kg.

well to me..gym is a must. that's to build strength, bulk up etc.

cycling is for cardio cos i hate to do cardio in a gym. running on a threadmill etc is a little too gay for my taste

also..cycling is not easy in sl with our legendary roads. everything from tuk tuks to bulls to what not have the least respect for cyclists.

And with our climate, it's tough to ride often.

i of course ride only early morning hours. less heat, less traffic and it's the time i usually sleep so "effective time" is not wasted.

my bike of course is nothing fancy it's got cheap full suspension, alloy frame....dunno how much it weighs..

don't ride competitively so don't really care

this is my rig

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.408144397343.188764.607877343&l=8673bef65c

[knightowl]

Thats a cool bike esp with an Allu frame.

[jdnet]

For the last couple of years i have become a cyclist. I started it as an exercise. Getting older very fast my knees are not very happy on jogging. So I bought a cheapo bike { not that cheap. Cost me £500]. Then the Bike bug bit me. So I ended up buying a £899 bike and the few months back a £1000 bike. All three bikes are with me now. I do about 20 to 30 miles about three times a week.

It is a fantastic sport where you get addicted to. Esp in the Europe the law protect the cyclists and generally motorists respect them. But it is a completely different scenario in Sri Lanka. I am planning to bring my bikes to sri lanka. I am planing to ride them very early in the morning before it heats up. But I am worried about the parts and service. Anybody have any idea about Shimano, Tiagra and SRAM components in Sri Lanka? Or any cycling Clubs.

ahh I missed an interesting bicycle thread. Any here's the information I have to offer.

You should consider getting a cyclocross bike. The bigger tires would make it much better riding over potholes and such. If you plan on riding a mountain bike then your fine.

If you do decide on getting either a cyclocross or road bike and will be riding uphill then you should consider buying a "mountain road" drop bar. WTB makes them and there shoul be cheaper makes of them too. Trust me these bars cut down the fatigue going uphill by quite a bit.

If you are planning on a road bike then get some bigger tires with plenty of grip. A lot of our roads call for a good grip. I haven't ridden out here as I don't ride bikes anymore due to a few injuries while DH/FR ad a car accident.

As for maintanence. Ir really depends on the bike and how far you plan on pushing it. I used to destroy a set of rims every other weekend while mountain biking and have blown out plenty of forks. Since you are riding mainly for exercise components should not be a problem. If you are bringing a mountain bike and it has a front suspension make sure the fork is decent. If you have disk brakes then bringing an extra set of calipers and disks would be helpful.

Just to save some time I would bring some extra brake and shifter cables too. Other than that there isn't much to do. If you are keen on building up your own bike and doing your own repairs, then you should bring a bike tools set. Park tools (on amazon uk) has a set for over a hundred pounds, there are cheaper sets to be had though.

I would really not worry about the parts since this isn't a car. You could always get them on amazon or jensenusa for cheap and have them shipped here.

Oh yeah I almost forgot. A good saddle would be really helpfull too. For a road bike a selle italia gel saddle would be good since it's light weight and everything. For mountain, the best I've had was a serfas RX which has a channel in the middle to reduce pressure on the crotch (trust me slamming pot holes and such really makes you numb in your private areas).

You could also ignore all my advice and just buy a bike and ride it. I used to be adicted to building up bikes and have easily spent over a thousand dollars on a single bike.

The best thing for you to do if you want to ride here is find a good route. Find one that lets you avoid all the traffic and such.

Oh yeah and this should be common sense; Always wear a helmet and never re-use one if you smash it!

Can't tell you how many times I've smashed my helmet.

Let us know if you need any other info.

Good luck.

[SeanD]

Anybody recommend riding on the traditional Raleigh bike? Or is this not suitable for the task of getting a workout?

[SeanD]

Anybody recommend riding on the traditional Raleigh bike? Or is this not suitable for the task of getting a workout?

[jdnet]

Anybody recommend riding on the traditional Raleigh bike? Or is this not suitable for the task of getting a workout?

any bike is fine for a good work out. Like cars; there's the one that goes from point A to B and the one that goes from A to B and looks and handles a lot nicer. Eitherway you are getting a pretty good workout while peddling.

[milindu]

For the last couple of years i have become a cyclist. I started it as an exercise. Getting older very fast my knees are not very happy on jogging. So I bought a cheapo bike { not that cheap. Cost me £500]. Then the Bike bug bit me. So I ended up buying a £899 bike and the few months back a £1000 bike. All three bikes are with me now. I do about 20 to 30 miles about three times a week.

It is a fantastic sport where you get addicted to. Esp in the Europe the law protect the cyclists and generally motorists respect them. But it is a completely different scenario in Sri Lanka. I am planning to bring my bikes to sri lanka. I am planing to ride them very early in the morning before it heats up. But I am worried about the parts and service. Anybody have any idea about Shimano, Tiagra and SRAM components in Sri Lanka? Or any cycling Clubs.

Cycling for leisure is picking up in SL with quite a few soft and hardcore groups all over town. Most groups ride early morning on weekends.

You can pick up new and used Shimano spares here.

PM me if you need any details.

[knightowl]

Anybody recommend riding on the traditional Raleigh bike? Or is this not suitable for the task of getting a workout?

That is fine as long as you ride it long and hard enough to give you a good exercise. But the catch is you get bored soon and you quit. Going on a proper bike has its advantages such as,

1. Modern bikes are beautiful, cute, sexy etc. You keep admiring them all the time. Attention to every little detail.

2. They are lighter. Made of alloy or carbon fibre. So you don't carry an unnecessary load. Easy to pedal.

3. More efficient in terms of aero dynamics, efficient gear shifting etc so faster and quick.

4. You feel good. Put on some bib shorts, sexy top, helmet and sport sun glasses! You feel like Lance Armstrong in Tour de France! You want to act like one.

5. There are nice apps for Iphone and android phones which tracks your route, speed, distance, elevation and calories you burnt. Soon you will competing against you yesterday. Also against some guy on the other side of the world. Check 'endomondo' on the web. Its free.

Believe me its very addictive. But a good one.