regarding rr cycles and btwin

[Debamitro Chakraborti]

Today a very senior colleague from my office (in fact, our director of engineering) went with me to RR cycles and bought a rockrider 5.2 (L)
I think it is good that an old and trusted shop like RR has started selling Trek/Merida/Btwin, but some observations

1. they are giving the bicycles at a very comptetitive price, e.g., rockrider 5.2 costs 14k (whereas even its wholesale price is higher than 14k)
but I noticed that the 5.2 had sram shifters and derailleurs whereas decathlon.in site says the bike has shimano altus -- this is strange
are they not giving the latest version of the bike?
although I think it hardly will make a difference!
2. they are stocking only large size, and are not advising taking any other size. i don't know the reason -- the guy told me since hybrid bikes come in large size, the size is comfortable for most people. From the chart here http://www.decathlon.in/find_size.html?osCsid=tt97nk0bpdh3ps1dd8svjkl3k7#top I see that my size is medium since my height is approximately 66 inches (167 cm).
I recommend anyone going to RR to make sure of the bike and size before he/she goes there.

Debamitro

[వినయ్ రాజ్ డి]

@debamitro - the store guy may had changed the shifters & derailleurs, as most of the folks don't look into it, they don't get into the technical stuff or brands of the spares, just checks the number of gears it has

these retailers just stocks the standard sizes to make place for all brands & models, so required size other than the standard is difficult to get @ these generic cycle stores

every one who's willing to buy a cycle is need to do a bit of research on the cycles, this help to select correct size & right model, and also in maintenance/basic repairs of the cycle

[Rohan Kini]

shifters and derailleurs (on MTBs atleast) are not that expensive .. so unless this guy 'upgraded' some other customer, by taking parts from this bike these might have come stock with the bicycle.

Have been noticing a trend where folks pick up a stock bike and upgrade stuff immediately - just be careful. Many bike manufacturers void their warranty if you do this (Trek does).
Some time folks want to convert presta to schrader - by drilling holes ... just does not make sense.

Most of the bike manufacturers would have done a ton of research (more than the couch surfing most of us tend to do). The bike has been designed such for a particular reason .. let it be.

2009/9/21 వినయ్ రాజ్ డి <dvin...@gmail.com>

[Rajaram]

Think that sram is what rockriders have not shimanos.... Sriram over
to you

Yes, as bikes r assembled I have been getting doubts on what goes in
the bike (they could be genuine too no offense meant as the new
players r trying to establish themselves). There is a small shop opp
Jayant in Jayanagr which sells Indian bikes much cheaper than RR after
discount ! Right now going by thumb rule that they r here for a long
time and may not get into something which spoils their name.

On Sep 21, 12:25 am, Rohan Kini <rohan.k...@gmail.com> wrote:
> shifters and derailleurs (on MTBs atleast) are not that expensive .. so
> unless this guy 'upgraded' some other customer, by taking parts from this
> bike these might have come stock with the bicycle.
>
> Have been noticing a trend where folks pick up a stock bike and upgrade
> stuff immediately - just be careful. Many bike manufacturers void their

> warranty if you do this (*Trek does*).

> Some time folks want to convert presta to schrader - by drilling holes ...
> just does not make sense.
>
> Most of the bike manufacturers would have done a ton of research (more than
> the couch surfing most of us tend to do). The bike has been designed such
> for a particular reason .. let it be.
>

> 2009/9/21 వినయ్ రాజ్ డి <dvinay...@gmail.com>

[Pankaj C]

Two of my friends got Rockrider 5.2 from Decathlon in the last 2
months and they have got SRAM and not Shimano.
I am not sure why the website shows it as Shimano.
And it is rather surprising that RR cycles is selling it for 14K which
is less than the wholesale price at Decathlon.
Anyways, if it is good for the customers then why not...

The size could be a problem but then I guess if insisted then RR
cycles can get the correct sized bike that fits you.

Cheers
Pankaj

On Sep 20, 1:27 pm, Debamitro Chakraborti <debami...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Today a very senior colleague from my office (in fact, our director of
> engineering) went with me to RR cycles and bought a rockrider 5.2 (L)
> I think it is good that an old and trusted shop like RR has started selling
> Trek/Merida/Btwin, but some observations
>
> 1. they are giving the bicycles at a very comptetitive price, e.g.,
> rockrider 5.2 costs 14k (whereas even its wholesale price is higher than
> 14k)
> but I noticed that the 5.2 had sram shifters and derailleurs whereas
> decathlon.in site says the bike has shimano altus -- this is strange
> are they not giving the latest version of the bike?
> although I think it hardly will make a difference!
> 2. they are stocking only large size, and are not advising taking any other
> size. i don't know the reason -- the guy told me since hybrid bikes come in

> large size, the size is comfortable for most people. From the chart herehttp://www.decathlon.in/find_size.html?osCsid=tt97nk0bpdh3ps1dd8svjkl...

[Mallik]

I have few bad experience at RR cycles Madiwala. they hike the prices
many times. quality is substandard and mechanics are not at all
skilled.

Mallik

[Srinivas]

hi rajaram

Can u tell me where exactly the shop in Jayanagar?

> > > maintenance/basic repairs of the cycle- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -

[sriram.bmsce]

yes,

      coming to the gear component specification,the shimano which is shown on the the website is for the other markets across the world(think europe),but for india it is the SRAM which  is made available on 5.2s. Our website needs to updated  with this info and is currently underway.

currently in delhi,getting excited for the race in himachal which starts on the 26th in shimla..

Best

Sriram

[R. Venkatachalam]

I bought a LA-Sovereign Spectrum Alloy (26'') Gold 4 months back in RR
Cycle mart - Ulsoor. Though the guy there talks a little too much (and
beyond a point, you can figure out he is shallow), he does have an
impressive collection of bykes. The mechanic there is also helpful.

I have done one long distance (if Nandi, 150 Kms does qualify as a
long distance) and the bike has responded well so far, though there is
some slippage while changing the gears and the pedals are becoming a
little loose off late. (Fault is mine, I havent been maintaining it
properly).

Overall, i feel it is ok to buy from RR, but - BARGAIN HARD !!!

PS: I have bought a DC 4W from Decathlon recently for my friend, but
now he had got it through someone else. Anyone interested to buy it
(it is new, havent opened the box yet), please mail me. Will give it
to the price for which i bought.
http://www.decathlon.in/Cycling-Bike-Computers-DC-4W-p-541.html?osCsid=dlgqngsl2d2trte01vmf8o7pr3

[deepakvrao]

RR cycles is a cheat - please be very wary of this retailer. Thats the
worst but on a secondary note, his knowledge of bicycles is ZERO.

[rushi]

> RR cycles is a cheat - please be very wary of this retailer. Thats the
> worst but on a secondary note, his knowledge of bicycles is ZERO.

That bad! What did he do to you, poor guy :-)

> Overall, i feel it is ok to buy from RR, but - BARGAIN HARD !!!

Why not support the good shops all along, instead? I'm sure they exist
in Bangalore. And it ends up being much less hassle in the long run.

[deepakvrao]

Charged me double for an item just because I did not bargain. Later
found out that you are expected to bargain here. I hate shops with
this bargaining thing and in the end somehow you still feel that you
somehow paid more than what you should have.

I can understand a 10-20% variation in price but double is absurd. I
refuse to buy from him again. My rant ...

[Amar Harolikar]

It's unfortunate that some of us have had not so good experience with
RR Cycles, but my experieces till date with RR cycles (madiwala) has
been beyond excellent. And I have no hesitation in recommending them
to other bikers.

I can only talk about RR cycles madiwala (contact - Rakesh), since
that's the only branch I have dealt with. I guess each branch is
different.

My experiences
------------------------

I have bought a couple of bikes from him and his and found his service
levels to be excellent.

- For one of my bikes (Thunder Racer), I had to itierate a lot to get
the right saddle, for which he was very supportive.

-The saddle rod for the thunder racer kept slipping down as the
saddle bolt could not be tightened any further. Finally I gave him the
exact saddle height I wanted and requested him to get me a saddle rod
of that exact height, which he did very cheerfully.

- My firefox roadpro's bottom crank has gotten worn and loose and the
right way is to get a replacement. I had not been able to do so for a
long time. Finally I requested Rakesh to repair it the local way - put
a steel strip and hammer it down - told him that I'll take the risk
if the cycle gets damaged. He did a great job with that. In fact he
had to iterate and test out at his end a few times before he got it
right.

- For some of my other bikes, I had to get the rear derailleurs
replaced / new ones fitted / get gear adjustments done. He has been
doing a fantastic job around it.

I keep going to him to get my bikes 'customized' in some very specific
way that i have in mind and he does that very enthusiastically and
with great care. In fact, he is also very ok to send the mechanic to
my place on a weekday ! Unfortunately that's not very convenient for
me personally given my work timings.

Pricing
----------
I found his pricing to be fairly competitive since I have always taken
a few quotes from other retailers for the bikes that i bought from
him. But I am sure he would have some 'bargaining buffer' built into
his price as do nearly all retailers. I personally don't negotiate on
price with him since I have been so happy with his service quality
that I would actually prefer if he charges me a little extra.


Advisory Vs. Purchase
---------------------------------------

On a different note, I typically prefer to keep 'advisory' and
'purchasing' separate and that's what I recommend to family and
friends.

For advisory I usually suggest reaching out to Rohan Kini / Nikhil
Eldurkar / BBC group discussions and Bikezone.com

For purchasing I suggest - BOTS , RR Cycles Madiwala and Decathalon
(through card holder) . BOTS is the only place common for both - good
advise + good purchase !

Now, before folks take an exception to the fairly limited list above ,
let me clarify that this is not the exhaustive list of good advisors /
dealers :-) I have seen good advice coming from lot of bikers who post
on the forums and also good words being spoken about some specific
dealers. But from among those I have personally dealt with, these are
the one's with whom I have had great experience and have no hesitation
in recommending.

[Brijnair]

I second what Amar said. I too have an excellent experience with RR
madiwala; I always got bikes and components at exceptional price. I
think it's all about establishing a relation; I have seen Rakesh
dealing with other customers and I have never seen him charging more
than the MRP.( Which is fair)

Regarding Decathlon products the retailers buy it in bulk from them
and when they do that they get a huge discount even on wholesale rates
and this helps them to sell it much below the unit prices given by
Decathlon (RR buys it in huge quantities for their 3 shops). I got
this fact confirmed from Decathlon. Since last 2 years or so I am
dealing with RR cycles and I strongly feel that we as bikers should
promote such old traditional bike shops (another one is Madras cycles
near town hall) because...

1. These are the guys who make biking reach the grassroots level
2. If we don’t encourage such small shops biking as a sport will soon
become something which a few people can afford and will distance
itself from the "have to bike" guys
3. Agree that these shops have limited knowledge about biking but what
we must appreciate is these shops are changing with times effectively;
for example 2 years back Rakesh didn’t even know how to sell a high-
end bike; they are learning and they will be there soon...
4. The most important point: If we think these traditional shops are
cheating; I would like to know what you all think about the Trek shops
in town. I personally had a very bad experience with Jayant cycles
(Jayanagar) also when I was there at their premises I have seen them
literally robbing the customers left right and centre mercilessly!
Regards,
Brijesh

[Rajat Agrawal]

The bad reviews I believe (at least mine) are for RR Ulsoor, not RR Madiwala.
In fact I have heard good stuff about RR Madiwala and will be heading there soon.

-Rajat

[Mayank Rungta]

I have mixed experiences with RR Madiwala - in general he is nice and
helpful in my case as he knows I can get him customers. Last year I took
a thunder MTB from him and its tyre wobbles. A friend told me that it is
the fire grove tyres that are defected and need replacement. It is
always been in bad shape. He told it will heal itself...

Another instance the gear wire was broken and he identified the problem
in 2 mins and fixed got it fixed in under 10 minutes. I was impressed by
the fact that he found the problem and helped his mechanic - a very
simple issue but I appreciate his interest. It's much like people
selling comps without knowing much about them so give them the benefit
of doubt.

Bottomline - if you are buying regular bikes u need to be prepared for a
typical tarkari conversation! :) For the high end bikes u know where to
go...

--
MAnY thANKs

http://rideacycle.org/
http://www.tourofnilgiris.com/
http://ngopost.org/story.php?title=Ride_a_Cycle_Foundation_-_RAC-F
o__
_> /__
(_) \(_)... Burn fat not fuel - Byke along to a healthier lyfe and cleaner world! :)

[deepakvrao]

So RR 'robs' me and I should support it as he is 'old and traditional'
but we should boycott Jayant cycles because you have seen him 'rob'
others 'mercilessly'.

Sure - will do.

[Poovaiah MP]

I happened to go to RR cycles a lot of times... Not because i like the service, but because there is no one better around my area (IISc)... Given an option i would like to change for sure. I also totally agree that he overprices everything and expects you to bargain.

--
Poovaiah MP

[Hash]

I concur with Mayank. Though I'm an absolute newbie to cycling /
cycles, I did check out RR Madiwala and met Rakesh - thanks to Mayank.
What i liked about him was his honesty that he didn't know a lot of
tech details (comparing bikes) but he offered me a lot of test rides.
I've seen a lot of sales pitches and not for once i saw malice here.
The 2 reasons why i didn't buy from him were:

1) he didn't have the model i was looking for (b'twin 5.1) thought he
said he'll arrange in a few days.
2) based on several posts on this forum abt RR, i was apprehensive
about the workmanship of his mechanics. From what i saw (and it made
me even more skeptitcal) - they seemed to be hammering their way
through eveything. Be it a hero hawk, hercules (some model i didnt pay
much attention to), act 109, and a b'twin 5.2. But again, I wouldn't
know if that was the best or the only way to fix those bikes ;-)

Hash

On Sep 29, 9:46 am, Mayank Rungta <mr.m...@gmail.com> wrote:
> I have mixed experiences with RR Madiwala - in general he is nice and
> helpful in my case as he knows I can get him customers. Last year I took
> a thunder MTB from him and its tyre wobbles. A friend told me that it is
> the fire grove tyres that are defected and need replacement. It is
> always been in bad shape. He told it will heal itself...
>
> Another instance the gear wire was broken and he identified the problem
> in 2 mins and fixed got it fixed in under 10 minutes. I was impressed by
> the fact that he found the problem and helped his mechanic - a very
> simple issue but I appreciate his interest. It's much like people
> selling comps without knowing much about them so give them the benefit
> of doubt.
>
> Bottomline - if you are buying regular bikes u need to be prepared for a
> typical tarkari conversation! :) For the high end bikes u know where to
> go...
>
> --
> MAnY thANKs
>

> http://rideacycle.org/http://www.tourofnilgiris.com/http://ngopost.org/story.php?title=Ride_a_Cycle_Foundation_-_RAC-F

[Brijnair]

@Deepak,
Extremely sorry I didnt mean that, I wanted to say in these small
shops if you go and speak to them and they realise you are aware about
cycling they won't try to cheat. I think probabaly my case is also
like Mayank as RR got to sell 10 bikes and lots and lots of
componenets because of me.
Regards,
Brijesh

[deepakvrao]

No issues Brij, but thats exactly what I mean - you and Mayank may
have got great service if you have fed them significant business. On
the other hand a true test of service is if a walk n customer walks
out happy.

FWIW, I dislike Jayant Cycles too [he actually told me that Trek road
bikes only come in a single size - the one he had in stock of course],
and given a choice would deal only with BOTS and Wheelsports. Both are
run by great guys. Not that I am dissing Track and Trail but I have
had no experience with them. Of course if you need to buy locally made
bikes you have not much choice. Its sad but true.

[Manish Sharma]

Let me add my experience - i was out shopping for a bike for my younger son, settled for a bsa bike from rr at ulsoor. Same afternoon i happen to go to commercial street and accidently landed in bsa go shop. To my rude shock, same bike was going for 1.5 K less than what I got him at RR, less than a couple hours back. I checked with bsa go guys, and they confirmed that the deal is from company and should be honored by all. In addition to that go folks were giving away good quality accessories.

I called back rr and confronted him. After some debate, got remaining sum back. If this deal was going on for all bsa cycles, then w

Thanks,
Manish

Sent from my E75-----Original Message-----
From: Brijnair
Sent: 30/09/2009, 8:37 am
To: Bangalore Bikers Club
Subject: [BBC] Re: regarding rr cycles and btwin

[Go Green Rao]

Hi Guys
Good to see this long trail going on & on about RR cycles, I would
suggest we need to do a small survey much before settling on to this
place however if u r confident about the price then u can always
bargain for best price. if nothing works then pls do call me, will
help u on the discount part..

Regards.. Rao
Go Green & for a better tomorrow Go Cycling..
98450 65950

[Teddy]

The jerk at RR sold me a Mach 1 for Rs. 4500. Price at Commercial
street Rs. 3200. Live and learn!!

On Sep 20, 1:27 pm, Debamitro Chakraborti <debami...@gmail.com> wrote:

> Today a very senior colleague from my office (in fact, our director of
> engineering) went with me to RR cycles and bought a rockrider 5.2 (L)
> I think it is good that an old and trusted shop like RR has started selling
> Trek/Merida/Btwin, but some observations
>
> 1. they are giving the bicycles at a very comptetitive price, e.g.,
> rockrider 5.2 costs 14k (whereas even its wholesale price is higher than
> 14k)
> but I noticed that the 5.2 had sram shifters and derailleurs whereas
> decathlon.in site says the bike has shimano altus -- this is strange
> are they not giving the latest version of the bike?
> although I think it hardly will make a difference!
> 2. they are stocking only large size, and are not advising taking any other
> size. i don't know the reason -- the guy told me since hybrid bikes come in

> large size, the size is comfortable for most people. From the chart herehttp://www.decathlon.in/find_size.html?osCsid=tt97nk0bpdh3ps1dd8svjkl...

[Teddy]

Jerk at RR sold me a Mach 1 for Rs 4500. Price at Commercial street

Rs. 3200. Live and learn!!