So, my hunt for a good commuter started sometime in Feb when I felt I need to give my faithful ride for 6 years Hercules Ultima.. a well deserved rest. Not that it was intended to be scrapped or given away, but I felt I could do much longer commutes and weekend rides with lesser effort than compared to the older one.
Since used to rising a heavy, steel bike for so long, my inclination was again towards a tough bike, weight dint matter for me.
Instinctively liked the Konas for their battle tank build. I loved both Kona Dew Plus and Kona Smoke for their ability to act tough. Had ridden Balu's Smoke and loved the feel of it. Searched in many shops Bangalore (even in Pune), however due to lack of availability for such an extended period, patience started to wane after a futile wait of more than 2 months. In the mean time, a friend of mine pointed me to a friend of his.. and friend of his.. ohh.. finally spoke to the entrepreneur named Aswin Apte in Pune who imported Bergamont cycles.
He suggested me to have look at Bergamont Transmit http://www.bergamont.de/cms/de/02__bikes/cross_bikes/detail/transmit/version/rahmen/1 (which he felt would suit my kind of riding)
I knew that Bergamonts made good MTBs but was wary of their performance on 700c segment. And to make things worse, the forums and the net gave no reviews on most of the models they sell.
But what the heck, I liked the looks, liked the geometry and the specs and instantly booked for one.
Got confirmed that he had a 52 cm frame in stock in Pune (He had got a lot of 25 cycles from Germany), paid him in full even without the slightest knowledge on that bike and got it delivered at home in 3 days flat.
The boxing was impressive, which was very easy to read (All German !!), the front wheel was neatly packed to the left of the frame, the handle bar was tied to the right of the frame (with the wiring in place) and the wellgo pedals were neatly boxed in a separate container with some additional bolts.
Ripped off all the protective coverings and was able to get it up and running in 20-25 mins time.
The front and RD had to be tuned ever so slightly, which needed abt half an hour or so.
During the course of my hunt, i had tried the Trek 7.1, Trek 7100, Merida Crossway, but this guy felt more assured than others.The frame is 6061 alloy, the downward tube is pretty fat compared to others. The top tube doesn't slope much towards the saddle which is OK with me. The paint finish is really good. Can feel the quality in it. The white color of the bike seems unique and stands out from the crowd.
Found that the Rigida double walled rims pretty tough to handle the bad roads around my home, could simply cruise over the potholes thanks to the 700c rims and the fat 622*40 tires. Tried a few wheelies to test the impact.
The website said Schwalbes would be the stock tires but I got "Trax" tires of the same specs. Anyway, nothing to regret about these tires. It grips well and rolling resistance is manageable for such a fat tire.
Lets not discuss much about the Gears since the Shimano Alivio RD's performance is pretty well known to many. The RD shifting is slick and its more than apt for me for now. However the basic Shimano SIS FD feels cheap, the shifting is quite irritant and is not eager to shift to the bigger cranks unlike the Deores. I am planning to replace the gear train assembly to Deore / Deore XT in the future (may be 5k kms down the line), since I feel that's the weakest component (quality wise) in the entire assembly.
Talking of the other components, most of the other visible components in the cycle (Stem, SeatPost, Saddle, Handlebar) are made of Tattoo Brand which I later found that they are Bergamont Subsidiaries. I am not able to comment much on them coz, except the Saddle, all others are static components and their worth can be justified only on impact or severe crash.
The saddle contour is quite good, feels quite good to stand 100 km ride days. (I may replace the saddle if I get hold on Brooks B17 some how).
The 550 - 600 kms that I have rode over the past 12 days or so, I have found the bike more assuring than some of the peers under the same category (This is just my view, I am no expert in saying Pros / Cons about any brand).
I have cruised close to 45 kmph on certain flat stretches, and the bike goes whoooosh. Simply flying my "White Horse" :)
http://picasaweb.google.com/muralidharan.ramamurthy/WhiteHorse#
