Schwinn Searcher Sport for Rs. 17k -- Is is worth the price? -- versus Hercules ACT 110 Plus at Rs. 10.5k

[locutus83]

Hi all cycle masters and apprentices,

Please help me out!

After a long and tiring love affair with my Hero Thunder MTB "IRON
HULK", I have decided to sadly part ways and go for a sleeker, faster,
sexier HYBRID cycle. (I want to commute around the Bangalore roads
primarily at a fast pace without breaking too much sweat, and
occasionally venture out to the small towns for weekend rides if
possible.)

After doing some brainstorming and asking around which left me even
more confused, I went to RR Cycles in Ulsoor and checked out some
cycles in the Rs. 10-15k range.

I instantly liked Hercules ACT 110 Plus, but I had heard a lot about
this new 'hot in town' Schwinn so I decided to check those out too..
unfortunately Schwinn Searcher and Schwinn Spoterra (Medium frame)
were totally out of stock. The only models left were Schwinn Searcher
Sport (Medium) and Schwinn Spoterra Sport (Large). (Since I am 5' 9",
the Large frame is too large for me unfortunately.)

The Schwinn cycles seemed somewhat lighter/sleeker compared to the
Hercules ACT 110 Plus. Also, the dealer said that the ACT 110+ was
made of "Alloy", whereas the Schwinn Searcher Sport was made of
Aluminium. And, being a foreign model, the components were supposedly
of better quality.

Now, my main question is -- buying a Searcher Sport paying Rs. 6k
extra over ACT 110+ -- is it worth it??
How many people have ridden ACT 110+? How has the experience been? And
what about Schwinn Searcher Sport? Is it really that good?

And any other recommended decent Hybrids in this range?

If I really have to shell out more, it better be worth it!!

Cheers,
Locutus83

[anilk...@gmail.com]

I use Firefox 700c road runner, a hybrid, find it as a good one.

Anil s kadsur

Sent on my BlackBerry® from Vodafone

--
biking conversations on the world famous "Bangalore Bikers Club" :)

are you a part of the bicycle racing scene?
Visit www.bangalorebicyclechampionships.com for more details

[Sudarshan]

I choose Schwinn Searcher  over act 110. The former is way better in more than many ways and I am extremely happy with it. Have done 1500k in 4 months and there hasn't been a time that I have complained of my bike...

[Sreepathi Pai]

On Sun, Mar 13, 2011 at 12:32 PM, locutus83 <iluvat...@gmail.com> wrote:

>

> The Schwinn cycles seemed somewhat lighter/sleeker compared to the
> Hercules ACT 110 Plus. Also, the dealer said that the ACT 110+ was
> made of "Alloy", whereas the Schwinn Searcher Sport was made of
> Aluminium.

He's a dolt. The bicycle business, for some other doltish reason,
calls Aluminium as "alloy". Both are aluminium. I remember talking to
a very earnest fellow who was insistent that my Aluminium Thunder MTB
was inferior to the "alloy" ACT 105.

> And, being a foreign model, the components were supposedly
> of better quality.

Schwinn (even after all the sales) has far more experience in
producing modern bicycles than TI has. And sadly, TI doesn't seem to
be interested in learning.

> Locutus83

ST /and/ LOTR reference? I like!

--
Sreepathi Pai

[aman mohla]

Was caught in the same dilemma 2 months back: Firefox/Hercules. But i
don't know what came in my mind and i ended up buying a Schwinn
Sporterra Sport 2011, maybe love at first sight. 15th March my Schwinn
will complete two months and in these two months i have been to
Airport, Maddur, Nandi and Tumkur and during all these rides i never
even once felt that i had spent extra money on my bike. It's so light
and comfortable that i feel that every penny i spent on it is worth
it!

Although i am sure that Hercules and firefox both are great bikes with
great value of money, but i am just in love with Schwinn!

What i can suggest is to take a test ride of both the bikes. Although
I'm afraid if dealers will allow you a test ride so its better to find
out a friend who owns a hercules and then take a call.


ps: for my schwinn test ride you are always welcome :)

On Mar 13, 2:25 pm, Sreepathi Pai <sree...@gmail.com> wrote:

[Smokiefog]

Hi Guys,

I have Hercules Act 110+. It's nice and light.
The best part is those quick fire shifters.( 8 >< 3 )
The V-brakes are also good.
In addition, as compared to the plastic ones in Roadrunner, 110+ has
metallic pedals.
Finally the rim. I don't know what are they called but they are not
flat, somewhat like a perpendicular on the tyres :)
(Please name the rim guys.. :P)

It's a good deal guys. It's India made so it's economical. Otherwise,
the same shit from Trek would cost nothing less than a 20-22.

*It has been 1 and half months.

Turn the page.
Amit.

[locutus83]

Hi all,

Confusion has been resolved! I am now the happy rider of a sleek,
black Schwinn Sporterra Sport 2011 model.

The RR Ulsoor dealer (nice guy!) fished out a medium frame Schwinn
Sporterra Sport from somewhere. After a lot of deliberation (between
Sporterra Sport and Searcher Sport), decided to go for Sporterra since
this was lighter and had a better colour (I prefer black, not white);
plus I felt that I really did not need shock absorbers since I would
ride on paved roads 95% of the time. Had to shell out Rs. 16k for
this; a tad wee bit above my budget.

The new cycle feels great. It just rips noiselessly across the roads
at high speeds. This is a welcome change from the days when I used to
work out my thigh muscles rigorously on the "iron hulk", heaving,
creaking and sweating at medium speeds.

Let's hope this initial euphoria lasts for a long time. And let's hope
for as few punctures as possible!

Thanks for all the comments and guidance!

May the force be with you all,
Locutus83

P.S. -- To Sreepathi -- Star Trek, Star Wars and LOTR :-) -- maybe we
should get together sometime over hot Earl Grey tea and Romulan ale..

[Sree Ram]

You forget the Longbottom leaf!! The best in all of Shire.... Even the goblins swear by it...


=========================================
Your friendly neighborhood butcher,
Sre3-P0

[Rohan Kini]

The Act 110 is NOT made in India. 

Hence its NOT economical because its made in India (so, a good follow up question would be - why is ACT 110 cheaper?)

Just so that folks dont shoot from the hip (or wherever) -

A 'local bike company' tried replicating a basic model from a good 'foreign brand' and they were just unable to price it the same. Economies of scale baby. Once you throw marketing, shipping, dealer margins etc things look pretty bleak.

Am not siding up with a brand here and I would be more than happy if TI or any Indian company can make some really good shit. But the reality is that the 'same shit' would not be made by Trek.

Whatever brand you chose, you pretty much get what you pay for. Mostly.

Its like buying a camera - if you swear by Canon and state that Nikon is shit, you are pretty much in the I-am-Stupid camp.

You can state your preference for a particular brand, does not mean the other is crap.

There is going to be a difference in values and principles (cheaper vs quality vs build quality vs intent of use) and hence the pricing too.

But if there was a 'good deal' somewhere, everyone would just buy that. People are not stupid. Mostly.

ps: Maybe you were talking about the rim wall. Yes, the better bikes come with Aluminium rims which have a rough rim wall and V brakes which make for better braking.

pps: ACT 110 is indeed a good bike. Its something we recommend to most folks who have a budget in mind. Same with the Firefox Target. These are Indian companies who are trying hard to get something good in this space and kudos to them !

[Sreepathi Pai]

On Mon, Mar 14, 2011 at 7:07 PM, Smokiefog <iami...@gmail.com> wrote:

> Finally the rim. I don't know what are they called but they are not
> flat, somewhat like a perpendicular on the tyres :)
> (Please name the rim guys.. :P)

They're called "Aero profile" (or V-section) rims, though to really
get an aero effect, you really need very deep V-sections quite unlike
what the Act 110+ has. They're reputedly stronger than the box section
rims that we usually see on bicycles, but also ride harshly.

> It's a good deal guys. It's India made so it's economical. Otherwise,
> the same shit from Trek would cost nothing less than a 20-22.

Apart from the fact that Act 110 is not made in India, please consider
the fact that the processes to lead to a cycle are actually what make
it good or bad. Ultimately almost all bicycles "look" the same, but
consider that actually testing for quality and improving manufacturing
processes, etc. adds to the cost, in a way that is not immediately
apparent to the end-user. Most Indian bicycle companies skimp on these
aspects leading to false economies. You can easily see for, e.g., how
badly TI has educated its dealer base and their mechanics on how to
install saddles.

Trouble with these companies is that they're not 10% or 20% behind
Trek or any of the worldwide giants, they're atleast an order of
magnitude behind! To their credit, TI has woken up to the bicycle
market for adults, while the biggie up north is still producing
bicycles for 15-year olds max.

@Locutus: Nice buy, enjoy the ride! And yes maybe meetup one day!

--
Sreepathi Pai

[kiran]

my Trek 7100 has completed ~ 13,000 kms in 13 months. Its
dependability and maintenance free that I will vouch for.

does ACT come in differnt sizes now ? Sometime back it came in just
one size.

[aman mohla]

Welcome to the Schwinn Gang ;)

I am happy you brought Schwinn Sporterra Sport.... I am sure you will
not regret your decision.
Would be really happy if we could hang out together for a long ride on
some weekend! Looking forward to meet you

Thanks
aman

[Mayank Kamthan]

Cool! 

i too own the same, and it has been reliable till date (only about a month old :) ).

Lets meet up sometime for a long ride.

Cheers!

Mayank.

Mayank Kamthan

[aman mohla]

Sounds like a plan to me......may be we can form a Schwinn group and
go for a long ride!
Lets meet up sometime, if possible this saturday!

On Mar 15, 2:33 am, Mayank Kamthan <mkamt...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Cool!
> i too own the same, and it has been reliable till date (only about a month
> old :) ).
> Lets meet up sometime for a long ride.
>
> Cheers!
> Mayank.
>
> Mayank Kamthan
>

[Mayank Rungta]

If you are considering 17K you might as well consider Trek 3500 or KHS Alite 150. The latter I took for a trial and will be writing the review shortly. It is an amazing bike for the price at Venky's - 15K (discount will end in sometime). Here are some pics -

KHS_ALITE-150

--
MAnY thANKs
http://ngopost.org
http://rideacycle.org
-- 
http://ngopost.org/story/touchinglives-padhna-achcha-hai
 o__
 _> /__
(_) \(_)... Burn fat not fuel - Byke along to a healthier lyfe and cleaner world! :)
            Join the club - http://bangalorebikersclub.com

[Mayank Kamthan]

going home for Holi this Sat. :) 

next to next weekend I am in.

Cheers!

Mayank.

Mayank Kamthan

[kshitij bajaj]

Question to all those who own Schwinn Sporterra..

Don't you think its saddle hurts a lot on long rides? I am thinking of changing its saddle. Whats your opinion?

[Mayank Kamthan]

have done only 1 long ride till now, to nandi hills.. 

i feel its ok, i think it hurt me only because it was my first time on the saddle for so long.

may be after a few more rides i will be in a better position to comment on this.. 

Cheers.

Mayank.

Mayank Kamthan

[R. Venkatachalam]

In Jan 2010, soon after TFN, i was going on one of those regular rides on roadbike to hesargatta. While coming through hebbal, i met this gentleman called GeorgL on what seemed to be like a kid's bike, with small wheel and all. (I later came to know that he IS the GeorgL, and the bike is Moulton!). I asked him, since he seems to be knowing a lot about biking in the 1 minute conversation i had, that i had this pain on my knee after tfn. He said, it will take time, keep riding, initially even he had shoulder, hand, leg pain, over a period of time, it will all go off as u get into the habit of regular riding...

 

this is the 3rd year of biking for me... and no injuries so far... regular biking i guess. the story is the same with saddle too. My alite saddle was very hard... after the 400k, i feel it is better than sitting in my arm chair and working. :P the bum will take sometime to adjust to the saddle...

 

Nelly has this amazing concept of having different saddles, so that the pressure points are different, to keep changing the saddle once in a while. (he hardly needs it though, he is a downhill guy). since i have two bikes, it is kind of easy to cross train the bum to different pressure points. :)

 

net net: give it sometime before being convinced that the saddle is the issue.

Best Regards,
R. Venkatachalam
- http://www.facebook.com/cleatedwarriors

[aman mohla]

I guess i completely agree with Venkat.... During the initial weeks of
riding on my Schwinn Sporterra Sport 2011, i started to get bum pains
just after 20 km's of riding. Initially i thought that not using
cycling shorts is the problem, but now that 2 months have passed i get
numbness in my bums only when i have ridden well over 100Km's and that
too without cycling shorts.

The saddle of Schwinn is really sweet, its hard for me to even imagine
getting rid of it! give you butts some time, i am sure your bums will
like it ;)

On Mar 15, 5:37 pm, "R. Venkatachalam" <r.venkatacha...@gmail.com>
wrote:

> > On Tue, Mar 15, 2011 at 5:45 PM, kshitij bajaj <bajajl...@gmail.com>wrote:
>
> >> Question to all those who own Schwinn Sporterra..
>
> >> Don't you think its saddle hurts a lot on long rides? I am thinking of
> >> changing its saddle. Whats your opinion?
>

> >>   On 15 March 2011 04:37, Mayank Kamthan <mkamt...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> >>>  going home for Holi this Sat. :)
> >>> next to next weekend I am in.
>
> >>> Cheers!
> >>> Mayank.
>
> >>> Mayank Kamthan
>

> >>>> > > Visitwww.bangalorebicyclechampionships.comformore details

>
> >>>> --
> >>>>  biking conversations on the world famous "Bangalore Bikers Club" :)
>
> >>>> are you a part of the bicycle racing scene?
> >>>> Visitwww.bangalorebicyclechampionships.comfor more details
>
> >>>   --
> >>> biking conversations on the world famous "Bangalore Bikers Club" :)
>
> >>> are you a part of the bicycle racing scene?
> >>> Visitwww.bangalorebicyclechampionships.comfor more details
>
> >   --
> > biking conversations on the world famous "Bangalore Bikers Club" :)
>
> > are you a part of the bicycle racing scene?

> > Visitwww.bangalorebicyclechampionships.comfor more details

[Amit Dubey]

Hi Rohan,

By the term 'Same-Shit' I didn't mean to offend Trek lovers.
It was used just as a lingo.

However, I still believe Hercules is made in India. After Hercules was about to shut down, TI bought the rights to keep the name moving. Though, I am not sure that whether it's manufactured or assembled in India.

Anyways, I still didn't get the name of the rim I have in my bike.

Have fun guys, Happy Cycling.

--
With Warm Regards
Amit K D
SAP Consultant
Bangalore

+919886227344

[Sreepathi Pai]

On Tue, Mar 15, 2011 at 1:54 PM, Amit Dubey <iami...@gmail.com> wrote:

> However, I still believe Hercules is made in India. After Hercules was about
> to shut down, TI bought the rights to keep the name moving. Though, I am not
> sure that whether it's manufactured or assembled in India.

Low end Hercules (steel) bikes are still made in India. To the best of
my knowledge, most "Indian" aluminium bikes are made in China and
rebadged here. Tube Investments (the original British company) has a
fascinating history ...

> Anyways, I still didn't get the name of the rim I have in my bike.

?

"Aero profile" or "V-section" are the generic names.

--
Sreepathi Pai

[Rohan Kini]

Interestingly some of the Decathlon Al bikes (5.1 I think) are starting to be manufactured by TI in India ;)

Or atleast they are trying to start manufacturing it here.

From some semi-official sources. I might be completely wrong here.