Crank with ProCycle February 2016

India’s only lifestyle bicycle magazine

` 100/-

Issue 1 Volume 4 February 15th 2016

INSIDE

India’s first ProCyclist

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lusive M e Exc

ar tner aP di

Official a n

How to choose a bicycle trip?

Tested: Cronus Y 999

Cycling Federation of India

IN THIS ISSUE

Crank News Route

4 CFI News.................................... 6 Cronus launched in India...........10 Race Report : Track Nationals.....

Profiled

12 Italian Mare, Sofia Giordano.............................. 16 How to choose a bicycle trip, Gauri Jayaram.... 18

Naveen John, India’s first Procyclist..................

Coffee with Crank Upgrade to uncomfortable.......

20 CycTech Tested: Cronus Y 999..............

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Editor’s note The CRANK with ProCycle Team Managing Editor and Publisher Vikram K Limsay Invitee editor

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India North Bureau Ashish Sood

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Hello Readers, The international racing season has started off with the Tour Down Under in Australia. Another big thing happening at Australia is they are the ones to bag the first Indian rider to go fully professional in cycle racing.

Read our exclusive interview with current National Champion, Naveen John who is the first Indian to go Pro at international cycling to know more about him as a person and why you would not want to be in a race where you are competing against him.

The racing season in India also starts off this year with Track nationals and many of the locally organized races are starting their registrations. If you have been on a cycle long enough, you need to give amateur racing a shot now. Not to win or lose, but to know that there is always going to be a lot more to do with cycling.

I guarantee you that there will be no peak, no saturation if you are using cycling as your choice of exercise.

If you have not yet started working on your new year resolution fitness goals, here’s a tip. Start now, in these cold winter mornings and if you can make a habit out of it now, you will hold this habit for life. Get out and ride.

Vikram K Limsay Managing Editor and Publisher

CFI News

L-R Sh. Onkar Singh, Secretary General, CFI, Sh. D S Cheema, Education Minister, Govt. of Punjab, Sh. Satwinder Singh, Organising Secretary, 68th

Track Nationals 2015 Crank CFI Bureau

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he Cycling Hub of the country Ludhiana played host to the 68th Senior, 45th Junior & 31st Sub-Junior National Track Cycling Championship from 16th to 20th of Dec.’15 under the aegis of the Cycling Federation of India. A record number of participants of 475 athletes from 21 states, four Boards namely services, Railways, BSNL and PB Police took part in this five day event. The event under Mr. K. Dattatraya as the Chief Commissarie, supported by team of 30 National Technical Officials was conducted in utter perfection.

The championship was inaugurated by S.Daljeet Singh Cheema, Education Minister, Govt. of Punjab with great fun and fare and wonderful performance of Punjabi folk dancers. Mr. S.S Dhillon minister of Irrigation Punjab was the Chief Guest for the closing ceremony along with Sh. P.S Dhindsa President CFI and Finance Minister of Punjab, who was Guest of honor and gave away the trophies to the winners.

The five day event saw flurry of 11 new records which is unprecedented in the history of Indian cycling. The best feature was the record breaking performance by Ms. Deborah who was recently ranked 4th in the world for the 500 meter time trial event.

The young find of the tournament Mr. Essaw from A & N who created two records in Sub. Junior and Junior event of 500mtr individual time trial. Mr. Amarjeet Singh Nagi of the Railways excelled in the Senior events of Sprint-Men Elite and was declared the best cyclist of the championship while Deborah was best cyclist in the women Elite Section.

The overall championship in the men section was cornered by Services while in the women section it was won by the state of Kerala.

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Track cycling in India has been seeing a great level of advancements recently and the Nationals has delivered some new and promising talent to keep these advancements going.

L-R Sh. Rajinder Singh, Sh. Sameer Mehta, GM, Sales & Marketing, Kross Bikes, Sh. Onkar Singh, Secretary General, CFI, Sh. Parminder Singh Dhindsa

CFI News

India’s cycling stars head to Japan Crank India CFI Bureau

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he Asian Cycling Championship hosts races at the continental level for road and track cyclists. This year, the event unfolds in Tokyo, Japan. In the previous edition of the championship, countries like Thailand, Japan and Malaysia were ranking at the highest podium finishes.

Indian cyclist contingent participating at the Asian Cycling Championship, 2016.

Name

Gender

DOB

Alan Baby

Male

21.12.1995

With strong finishes at the Track Asia Cup held in Delhi in 2015 and meticulous training being provided at the newly inaugurated WCC Satellite Centre at Delhi, Indian cyclists pose a strong threat to the current champions.

Amarjeet Singh Nagi

Male

26.03.1993

Sinuraj Paul Sanandaraj

Male

09.07.1996

Emerson

Male 03.01.1998

Arkaprava Baul

Male

07.08.1998

India is fielding a 17 member cycling team to participate in the 36th Asian Cycling Championship scheduled from 19th to 31st Jan, 2016. The team includes top Indian cyclists Ms. Deborah, Mr. Amarjeet Singh Nagi, Mr. Emerson, who were the medals at the recently held Track Asia Cup 2015 held at New Delhi.

Sanuraj Paul Sanandaraj

Male

02.03.1998

Sahil Kumar

Male

07.04.1998

Deborah

Female 18.02.1995

Kezia Vargheese

Female

03.11.1991

Nayana P Rajesh

Female

28.07.1998

2016 being an Olympic year, the competition is expected to be tough in Men Elite and Women Elite, while athletes from the Juniors category of the Indian contingent are being favoured to fare well in the Track events.

Anu Chutia

Female

01.04.1998

Rajendra Kumar Sharma

Male

23.03.1966

Irungbam Gautamani Devi

Female

01.02.1983

Bhim Singh

Male

15.03.1965

Deepak Kumar Rahi

Male

01.07.1987

Harish

Male

12.07.1993

Arvind Panwar

Male

09.03.1990

Cycling Federation of India wishes the athletes, coaches all the best and are hopeful that our riders will perform well at this ten day event and will bring glory to the nation.

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Enroute the Western Ghats.

The Long Road

Closing a year Arun V and Shivakumar

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he whole of 2015 seems like a roller coaster ride. Many ups and downs and many new beginnings later, it was time to bid farewell and start fresh for a new year.

To rid all the insufficiencies of the past year, Arun V and his childhood friend, Shivakuar Yadav AKA Teenu decided to take a bicycle powered trip to the ends of the state of Karnataka. Arun narrates to Crank how it seemed like a futile idea to start with but is particularly happy that they decided to get out and ride.

The journey began in my head. I have always been a seeker of wanderlust. Trekking different hills and motorcycle touring to remote locations of India has kept me ticking. I had never considered cycling much until I hit the scenic Western Ghats on the route to Goa on my motorcycle and decided that the sights here deserve much mulling about and being on a bicycle would most certainly accommodate that mulling. A catalyst to brewing this idea was the story of Rama Krishna I read in an older edition of Crank who attempted Kashmir to Kanyakumari on a bicycle in two days to enter the Limca book of records.

Hoping that Teenu would join the trip was the last thing on my mind until I casually suggested the idea of the trip. As soon as he followed it up with a logistical question, I knew that I could confuse and trap him into coming along. He caught the bug and was soon pestering me for dates. His enthusiasm had me nail down bicycles on rent, touring hybrids with hydraulic disc brakes, suspension and what not. Judging by our fitness levels we had hoped that they came with mini solar powered motors. But all they had were pedals and chain powered wheels. The folks that we rented the bicycles

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A few back roads CRANK with ProCycle FEBRUARY 15TH, 2016

Can’t Complain About the View

Arun V

Shivakumar

from were the only ones supplying such bikes and they gave us a few tips, demonstrated how to carry about short fixes and sent us on our way. We had 620kms to ride and we did not have any other restrictions.

Our ride started from JP Nagar, South Bengaluru, the farthest corner of the city that connects us to the highway we want to be on. Considering how fresh we were to cycling, I thought we were going to reach the Bengaluru border, be dead tired and hail a cab home for us and a van for the bicycles. We weren’t sure if it was the bicycles or us, we just kept going onwards to Tumkur with our destination in mind.

With the power of GPS and the fact that a cycle can be taken anywhere a pair of legs could navigate through, we sought out a few back roads to add some adventure to the trip. And boy was that a good idea! We enjoyed being lost and yet knowing exactly where we were going.

On our way we met a few riders who are seasoned at what we were doing for the first time. A quick heart to heart about their first time put us at ease that we were not the only ones who were doing silly things. There have been others before us who went through the same feelings and have gotten really good at it. As they trudged on ahead of us with swelling calf muscles on display, we laid under a tree arguing with each other trying to take credit for the idea of this ride.

At under a 100kms to go before we reach Jog falls is my friend Anand’s hometown of Matthur. He was kind enough to invite us to stay over at his quaint childhood home at his village. This stay brought us back to some kind of reality about how great a home cooked meal can be versus the hotel food and intense carbo-

loading we were doing while we were out on the road.

The hope of reaching Jog falls was what kept us going. We have both been up there before, but never had to endure the hills on bicycles. I think that is what made the sights that much more worthwhile.

The Jog is very dear to Karnataka. With its reference in many folk poems and even commercial songs, everyone knows of it. A popular song even questions one’s existence as a human being if one had not witnessed Jog falls in their lifetime. We were going to make ourselves very proud by having made the journey to this awesome sight with absolute human effort.

With only a third of our journey to finish, we were feeling more confident about finishing it. And the imposing hills of the Western Ghats that grow taller on the way to Honnavara were not a challenge anymore. In fact every hill we climbed gave us a better view from the previous one and that became our incentive to finish every single hill that came our way.

Having put in so much human effort, tons of endorphin release later and with the idea of getting a six pack soon becoming a reality, we decided to drop the revelry and intoxication intake that is expected once you enter Goa and returned homeward bound.

Investing in a good bicycle is not the only way one can experience such trips. We wanted this experience and we made sure we got it, we rented out good bicycles and it was the best thing to do for our souls and our pockets. For people contemplating if a cycling trip is even going to be worth all the effort, I want to let you in on a little less concealed secret that I weigh 95kgs and I managed to have the best time of my life on a bicycle. You should too.

CRANK with ProCycle FEBRUARY 15TH, 2016

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Avon’s MD and Directors Showcasing the Cronus bicycles

Industry News

Avon Cycles launches Cronus bicycles in India Crank India South Bureau

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ith the manner in which cycling is taking off as a lifestyle in India, the need for quality bicycles has also increased. Avon Cycles Ltd. has seen this need and introduced the high-end French pedigree bicycle brand Cronus to the Indian market.

The launch of Cronus was organized at Janpath Villas, in Ludhiana on 6th December , 2015. The occasion witnessed wide array of people from different walks of life and Avon themed the event with emphasizing the tangible benefits of cycling and showcasing the avant-garde technology and unique designs of the bicycles.

The Cronus bicycles were unveiled by Mr. Onkar Singh MD Avon Cycles Ltd and Directors Mr. Rishi Pahwa , Mr. Mandeep Pahwa. The Chief Guest of the launch event were Mr. Rajat Agarwal, Deputy Commissioner of Ludhiana and S Harcharan Singh Gohalwaria, Mayor of Ludhiana.

Moreover, Mr. Onkar Singh and S Ranjodh Singh, Patron of Ludhiana Peddler Club distributed the ‘Certificate of Brevet Race of France’, to the cyclists who completed 200kms within 13 hours.

Mr. Gurmeet Singh Kular President FICO, Mr. S S Bhogal President CII, Mr. Ravinder Arora Convener Industry Cell BJP Punjab, Mr. Sanjeev Pahwa MD Ralson Tyres Ltd, Dr. Dharam Singh Principal of Govt College for boys, Dr. Baldeep Singh, Dr. Parminder Singh Lotey, Dr. Harnish

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CRANK with ProCycle FEBRUARY 15TH, 2016

Bindra, Mr. Mohinder Goyal, Mr. Mahesh Goyal and other dignitaries were also present to grace the occasion.

Not forgetting to offer the visitors a personal experience, Avon offered Cronus bikes of different segments for test rides. Visitors appreciated taking individual rides and attaining personal experience of the machines on offer.

The introduction of Cronus offers the Indian cyclist a technologically superior global product at a more pocket friendly pricing.

Cronus merchandise being launched.

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Fastest Indian Cyclist

FEATURE

India’s first Pro Cyclist aniSh, Additional photo credit : Nishad KS

F

or how long I have been what most people call journalism and I call ‘the best awesome job ever.’ I have interviewed a few personalities, photographed some amazing equipment and test ridden some awesome bicycles. When Crank got wind that current National Time Trial champion has bagged a contract with the number one Australian domestic cycle racing team, I had to chase his story down and get to know what makes the most powerful resource in Indian cycling to tick and how he got to this position.

Naveen John, 28 was fat and nerdy at a point when he was in studying in the USA and what started as a way to live a fitter lifestyle

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has now brought him to the highest position any Indian cyclist has ever reached. We asked him some more question to know what got him here.

Did you go undercover after winning the Nationals and National Games?

Nah! I just took a week off from training and out some serious riding miles into my training regime while I also pondered what could possibly be done next. I had reached the highest level of cycling possible in the country, out bound racing was the thing to do, but ‘where’ was the question.

NJ at the National Games 2015

Chatting up

century, riders have been going to Belgium to see if they make the cut for processional racing. The racing here is also cheap and more importantly continuous.

One gets to race against the top amateur racers from around the world.

The British track team, Ukranians and the US teams train here in Belgium to make sure that they can be pitted against the riders in world championships.

The two months I spent in Belgium, all we did was living, breathing and racing. A Kermess race in Belgium starts with a pace of about 40kmph and stays at that point and only builds up. There is some serious aggravation and sense of competition in the racers that show up here and that is what keeps you on your cleats right from the start of every race.

What kind of preparation did you put in for the Kermess racing?

Before getting to Belgium there was a lot of research that needed to be done in terms of food, accommodation and stay. With respect to training all one could do was prepare in advance, getting to Belgium and the training for a race was not an option at all. I was joined by three more riders, Loki, Sarvesh and Aman Punjaani who is the youngest at 18 years. We carried our own individual goals and baggage in terms of what our goals were to achieve from the trip there.

In India, where the support for cycling as a sport is only picked up in recent times, getting Visa approvals was a hassle to deal with, but being the National champion helped a lot and the support of the Sports authorities also helped us a lot.

What did you take away from your time there?

With funding being a serious concern, our team narrowed it down to racing in South East Asia. But after much contemplation, we decided that racing in Asia will be some serious achievement, a few trophies and medals will be under our belts, but we didn’t see an opportunity for any serious learning to be done.

And so, with whatever support we managed to find, we decided to put in some more finds of our own and go big or go home and began looking at racing in Belgium for the sheer amount of international talent that has been honed on the Kermess racing track of Belgium.

Belgium is a serious climb from Indian Nationals. What pushed you to take this leap?

Belgium is the pathway to redemption for cyclists who want to go professional. Belgium feeds you the entire culture of racing. For a

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CRANK with ProCycle FEBRUARY 15TH, 2016

The first few races there were seriously challenging.

I was not even able to finish them. But observing the dedication that the other riders had towards winning and what they did for it, gave me the push I needed. We had paralympic National Champion from Ukraine there and the manner in which he conducted himself and disciplined his performance routine just showed me and my team that deliverance in all this gruesome riding is in fact possible.

With arms rubbing, handles tangling and swears being hurled around during the race, we just had to bite hard and perform and I managed to get it into my head that there is no taking it slow and went from not finishing the races to finishing in the top 20 by the end of the season.

Climbing up this ladder only helped me unleash my true potential and gave me the confidence to believe that there is a lot more to achieve that being the fastest Indian cyclist and I came back with the hope of beating my record for fastest Time Trial by a lot more than I earned it last year?

Altus 8 speed RD

India’s first Procyclist

How did the idea of going international come about?

After we got back from the racing Mecca of Belgium, I got in to training for the Nationals to set a harder record to break and I continued providing support to some of the youngsters I had begun coaching. In the meanwhile I had gotten the flavour for international racing and wanted to see where it could go. But was hesitant to face rejections after having peaked. But on the other hand knowing that being on an international team had its own benefits like an entire professional team watching and guiding my every move made me consider it a better choice for my racing career.

All through November I was applying to different teams and waiting for answers and a dear friend of mine was the one who pushed me to send out the application and just wait it out to see what could come out of it and is nothing came out of it, then we still would have tried it out. Around the same time is when I was suffering with piriformis syndrome and did not really know what was happening as a diagnosis was not possible. After a month of suffering through it, I went to a physiotherapist in Bengaluru who stretched out my muscles for about 15 minutes and rid me of the pain I was facing. That is when I realized the importance of a professional racing team and my friend’s words always kept coming back to me about giving it a shot which in essence made me apply to more places to see what could be on offer for me.

Why did you choose the Australian team?

The program they offered was simply irresistible. There was no salary on offer, but a lot of support and money was going to be spent on getting me to race and learn from there. The program included training, diet, physio, recovery support and basic amenities. I have raced in the US and Europe and getting a chance to race in Australia was almost like a dream come true. But mostly, the program and its offering is what made me choose it.

How soon can we see you on the TDF? Pretty soon. It is definitely on y list of targets. And this step is getting me closer to achieving it. Having raced in Belgium at the amateur level and taking my racing to professional levels here in Australia will definitely help me get on the radar of Pro- Continental teams and build my way up to the elusive Tour de France.

What are the things you are leaving behind in India?

That is the most hardest part about leaving. I am leaving behind my entire support system in India. My team that helped me in every step to get to where I am at will be the most missed. I will however remain in touch with them and also the younger riders that I am coaching, so I really will not be missing out on much. On the other hand, it feels good to know that I will be building a much stronger and experienced support system for myself and I can in some way or the other impart the same knowledge back to where I came from.

You are famous now, do you think they should make action figures of you now?

Haha! Not really no. I don’t think I’m that famous outside of the cycling or even the sporting community. But no action figures yet. I will be grateful if more people just got to know my story and learnt of the hardships I have had to go through and perhaps just lend some support to many more to follow.

CRANK with ProCycle FEBRUARY 15TH, 2016

15

Young Turk

Sofia Giordano, Italian Mare Images by: H Visual & Giulia Filippi Different styles of MTB riding has always given spectators a thrilling experience. The skills that the riders hold are of the highest levels and their equipment never fails to attract our fancy.

Crank caught up with the a new Italian Mare to hit the DH, BMX and pump track scenes with a promising career ahead. Sofia Giordano, 20 is a university student and has her goals set to achieving success at Italian national downhill championship.

When she is not at university, she spends her time as an assistant at the Bike Park Ride where she also spends her time honing her skills and bike safety methods. While she does earn some money from assisting at the Bike Park Ride, her family is supportive and funds her to gather the latest equipment. Noticing her skills and ability to quickly climb the rungs of the ladder of skilled riding, she has managed to bag sponsorships from Pianeta Bike Sovizzo and Bike Park Ride for her training and equipment and now rides for a team called Slopers Crew.

Sofia’s training involves riding BMX and dirt three times a week at the Bike Park Ride and religiously training for Downhill over the weekends at different bike parks and secretive trails that she can manage to get access to. Some of her favourite riding tracks are Serfaus Fiss Ladis and San Martino Bike Arena. The other training grounds that are familiar with the tread pattern of her bikes are Paganella Bike park, Sestola Bike Park and Lavarone bike Park.

While on the track she performs with all her might, she does it with much control and technique gotten from her coach Manuel Schiavo who is a six time Italian Champion BMX rider.

She is using this coaching at the many local pump track races where she has won every one of them in the recent season and is soon

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Italian Mare

Prepping for a race

getting noticed at higher levels of racing where she will be competing from this year onwards.

Her three beloved machines are a SCOTT Voltage for Downhill riding, a Commencal for dirt riding and perhaps her favourite, a GT Slammer for BMX riding. She tells us that nothing is possible without the support of people in your life. Her friends support her by riding with her and challenging her to improve her skills while her team members from Slopers Crew help her by teaching her new ways of handling the bike around various track sections.

Perhaps the most of all her support comes from her boyfriend Carlo in being understanding of her passion.

Crank wishes this young rider all the best for life and her riding career.

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17

Biking in the suburbs

Partner Connect

How to choose a cycling holiday Gauri Jayaram

W

Gauri Jayaram

ith the holiday season around the corner, cyclists can choose to combine their passion of cycling with exploring a new destination. Bicycle tours can transform the way you see your destination. You can soak in the scenery, challenge yourself and best of all, go to the heart of the destination to explore the cultural aspects in a way ordinary tours cannot deliver. The thrill is yours to plan – whether you want to go solo or take things as they come, take advantage of the local knowledge or make it tougher for yourself.

just a specific group of friends are the ones that the self guided trips are tailored for.

These unrestricted cycling tours offer you the freedom to set your own pace during the trip and write your own adventure stories. Tour operators merely manage your accommodation, bike rentals, luggage transfers and offer you with detailed route maps and if you ever find yourself in a sticky situation, the emergency service comes in handy. That way although you are on your own, you do have someone to rely on.

These trips are best done in Europe.

BIKE & BOAT So, how does one plan out the right kind of a cycling trip? Here is a list of few categories and what they involve to help you understand which kind suits your personality best.

GUIDED Guided trips are for people who are new to cycling trips and are mostly exploring their options and do not want to leave their comfort zone yet. On a guided cycling trip, you explore with a qualified guide. Guides are carefully chosen for their calibre and knowledge of routes and more importantly stops along the route and to suit this need,

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they are usually someone native to the region. A support vehicle keeps pace with the cyclists during the trip. Since guides and support service comes at a cost, these trips are on the expensive side. They are best for destinations in Asia and Africa.

SELF GUIDED Wanderlust seekers and riders who know and choose to change bicycle tubes themselves and people who want to share their holiday only with their loved ones or

On a Bike & Boat Trips, the boat is your home and the bike your adventure tool.

Partially guided, these trips offer the best of both worlds with a fabulous mix of independence and convenience. Spend your nights sailing on the famous European rivers and explore on land on your bicycle during the day. You save the hassle of everyday packing and unpacking. These convenient & easy trips come with different cycling distances and you can choose the one that’s your cup of tea.

FAMILY CYCLING ADVENTURE Family cycling trips are the perfect soft

adventure getaways for families. These trips are planned with short cycling distances that are easy on children as you bike through roads and trails with less traffic and on flat terrains. Most tour operators usually offer a specific ‘minimum child age’ to help you choose the one best suited for your child. All family trips are designed keeping in mind that most young adults want a little more challenge whereas younger kids want to just have fun. As always logistics are looked after even when you choose a self-guided trip but most travellers prefer guided family cycling adventures.

SMALL GROUP CYCLING TOURS

Group Cycle Touring Unguided Cycle Tours

On an average, these fixed departure group trips are made up of six to a dozen like-minded travellers who come together for their love of exploring a destination differently. These trips are ‘just right’ when it comes to group size, economy to scale prices, inclusions and of course fun! These trips give you an opportunity to mingle with people who share your passion for travel and are willing to share their adventure stories as you cycle along a lake, river or paddy fields. All Active Holiday Company small group tours in Asia are guided by local experts giving you an insight into the local way of living whereas the self-guided Europe ones are typically opportunities for you to make new friends.

MULTI-ACTIVE

Active Holiday Company, a specialist in guided and self-guided adventure travel is known for their cycling tours across Asia & Europe. Whether you are thinking of France or Vietnam or a ride through cultural Bali their choice of holidays is unparalleled. To know more please visit ActiveHolidayCompany.com or call us on 91 98866 81381

If you are looking for something that cycling on a holiday with other activities then a multi active trip is just perfect.

These trips are designed to give you an overview of the destination by including various activities that help you explore the place differently. These could include hiking, food walks, water sports or even wildlife safaris. The activities are well paced throughout the itinerary giving you enough time to soak in the experience before you move on to the next activity. You will have at least a day or two of cycling experiences on a trip and this is your chance to get behind the scenes and explore what’s not visible to the run of the mill tourist.

CRANK with ProCycle FEBRUARY 15TH, 2016

19

Coffee with Crank

Upgrade to Uncomfortable aniSh

T

he very sight of drop handle bars and minimalist saddles on road bicycles make most people croon in discomfort about taking up cycling. Who do these superior design factors appeal to then? It appeals to riders who know what the worth of a road bike is.

Let us understand what the purpose of road bikes are. Let me clarify that they are not meant only for racing or professional cycling alone. A road bike is meant for a traveller who prefers only a bicycle for transport.

Choosing a bicycle itself has slowed you down in comparison to a motorcycle, car, train, plane, helicopter or even a space ship.

To make up for that lost time, you choose to get on a road bike. Road bike rides are often synonymous with ‘stopwatch.’

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CRANK with ProCycle FEBRUARY 15TH, 2016

A road bike is simply fast because of its frame design and the skinny tires. Yes, the same skinny tires that you think won’t be stable enough on roads. These tires are used in international road races and they have never been known to randomly defy gravity. Speaking from personal experience, they are what get you to your destination on time.

The other apparent discomfort is posed by the drop handlebars. What people fail to realize is that riding a hundred kilometres with you wrist gripping the handle in one position is what poses discomfort. A drop handle bar has multiple gripping positions that relax your wrist and shoulders over long rides. The positions also offer you superior aerodynamics on that wide open highway with head winds which usually ends up

knocking the wind out of you on any upright positioned bicycle.

Yes, there is a certain level of skill that is required to stay on a road bicycle and like all skills, they can be easily gained through practise. For someone who has finished long rides on supersized steel frames road bikes that the Indian manufacturers offered up until a decade go on, l will still stand by a road bike and say they are not uncomfortable and if any of you MTB riders out there are considering upgrading to a road bike, then you have in reality already made up your mind. It is now only up to you to get out and ride a road bike to know that you truly deserve that fast and light a bicycle for your next bike trip, even if it is just that quick ride on a Saturday morning.

Tested

Cronus Y 999 Crank Technical Bureau

F

Maxxis Trail Tires

ollowing the launch of the new range of performance pedigree bicycles from Cronus that is being exclusively marketed in India by Avon Cycles, we hunted down one for a testing out what the big deal was.

We received a brand new Cronus Y 999 and straight out of the freight van, our entire team was ogling at the bicycle. Since it came to us around the Christmas time, one of us even shouted out saying, “My Christmas present is here!”

At a price point of under Rs. 30,000/- we were noticing a lot of big names on the components used on the bicycle. The bike felt very pocket friendly for the Indian consumer. We kept the bicycle under wraps for a few days until the holidays were over and decided to take it out for some light trail riding followed by some street riding too.

The bicycle is so well suited to the Indian cyclist. The right hand brake lever controls the front brake, like a lot of us Indians are used to on bicycles. The provision of 26” wheels which is a popular wheel size makes it easy to find and afford spare tyres and tubes. The choice to offer a Schrader valve which is used for automobiles on the tubes also make it easier to fill air at all fuel pumps . At a max tyre pressure of 55 PSI, a high pressure Presta valve would not have become an absolute requirement either.

Going back to the list of high end components on the bicycle, first to grab attention are the Mavic wheels. Mavic is a brand known for producing some of the finest performance wheels for bicycles on this planet and is a popular choice for wheels on most race bicycles.

High quality Maxxis off road tires are next on the list and Maxxis

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Mavic wheels

160 mm Disc Rotor

Comfortable wide saddle

8 Speed Altus RD

is famous for making off road tires across all segments of motor vehicles irrespective of the number of wheels on them. With Tektro HDC 300 Hydraulic disc brakes, the Y 999 means serious business when it comes to stopping power and manoeuvrability.

The front wheel has XCT suspension from SR Suntour, which normally comes OEM on bicycles that are at least above Rs. 35,000/- The groupset used is a 8 speed Altus RD (rear derailleur) and a 3 speed SIS FD with Shimano cassette at the rear and a Prowheel Crank set at the front. We would have been happier if the Crankset was from any other brand than Prowheel.

The Y 999 comes fitted with bar ends. Like most people we were not sure how to feel about this until we started riding the bicycle.

The flat handle bar makes for pretty good handling and the implied usage of the bar ends to offer protection to the hand when in traffic and tight trails made us start falling in love with bar ends altogether.

What we could not digest however was the provision of an RD guard. We have come to learn over the years of riding that it does next to nothing when providing protection to the RD cage and in fact can become reason for cage damage in the event of a crash.

To ride the Y999 in the city was fun. Lot of people took notice of the bicycle for being new and never known of previously. Despite being an MTB, it handles great on open roads, but squeezing

through traffic is a task best left to hybrid bicycles. With all the great components on it that were meant for trail riding, we had to test it out on some light trails. We hauled the bicycle to the nearest one and set it down on some fine dust at the start to test the Maxxis tires. The climbs were handled really well by the tires, the riding position however needs little getting used to because of which learning to control this bicycle on off road sections takes some attention.

We cannot talk enough about the pedals that come with this bicycle. They are almost what we would upgrade to from stock to serve our off roading and stunt techniques. On the Y 999 we will only have to consider an upgrade after we have worn these out.

The saddle however outdated the design may look, turned out to be comfortable at both city rides and when we were out in the trail thrashing the bicycle about.

We cannot say enough about how this bike excels at its price point.

With its origins in France, the cycling capital, one should not be astonished at the choice of components that are on the bicycle either. We now want to see what are the offerings from Cronus in other cycling segments.

Crank gives the Cronus Y 999 an AHT (Average Head Turning) factor of 8.5 out of 10

CRANK with ProCycle FEBRUARY 15TH, 2016

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Skylock on a bike

Shop Talk

Skylock Images by Velo Labs

W

e have featured many bike security products in this segment before, but none as smart as this one.

Its smartness starts at its proprietary dual-locking design- making it twice as safe as a traditional u-lock. In addition to robust mechanics, a theft alert system sends a message to your phone when someone touches your lock for an extended period. It includes a crash alert system that is first of its kind in a locking device. Using Bluetooth Low-Energy, and an accelerometer, Skylock pairs itself with a smartphone to be contextually aware of change in riding pace. If a severe impact is sensed, it sends a push notification to the paired device and if the rider fails to acknowledge this within a set number of seconds , Skylock will then automatically determine that the rider is seriously hurt and alert emergency services.

Skylock also makes bike sharing a smooth operation.

With the Skylock app, users can arrange to lend out their bike to anyone in their trusted network or the Skylock community while keeping track of it via the app. We guess the real smartness of this device lies in its power management. It is solar powered and does not require the user to tend to its charging requirements. Skylock is the first device that utilizes a combined solar panel and rechargeable battery system. Just one hour of sunlight provides enough power for a week and a fully charged battery lasts up to a month for average users.

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CRANK with ProCycle FEBRUARY 15TH, 2016

The device is conceptualized and built by former Boeing engineer Jack Al-Kahwati, founder of Velo Labs who has developed other systems for planes helicopters and tanks but thought that bike security was severely outdated. Meticulously figuring out the challenges that everyday cyclists faced and finding solutions for them led to the creation of the Skylock a versatile device that just doesn’t seem to stop at being a lock.

With the smartphone falling short only at delivering toasted bread, and more such smart devices being made available in the market, there is no escaping what technology can deliver for everyday cyclists and the Skylock is the perfect example of technology making life simpler.

Skylock

Boys’ Toys

Elite Custom Bottle Cage Rs. 930/Get your game face on. Bottle cages for the performance rider. Easy in, easy off and sharp design holds your bottle in place across all kinds of riding terrains. Available in matte black with a choice of colours for highlights, it blends with the paint schemes of some of the most popular race and performance bicycles. At its price point, it is a worthy performance level accessory that you can add to your bicycle no matter what level of riding you engage in.

Sigma Stereo Rear Light Rs. 1816/As far as tail lights go, They are meant to make people look at you and let them know that you are around. The Sigma Stereo is that one light that makes you look cool too. It is got two bright LED’s surrounded by a halo of light that shapes a form of a chain link.

This light is meant for those riders who are taking back the streets one commute at a time. The light also includes rechargeable battery that can be charged via an included USB cable.

GET OUT & RIDE!

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