Garmin Edge 130 Impressions

Today is Saturday, 13th June 2020. I just brought home the Garmin Edge 130 from Nikita Distributors. It's a small box really. Smaller than any mobile phone box. 

About the Unit

Software Version 3.60 

(13427f0) 

Unit ID 3978212180

GPS 2.50

Sensor Hub: 5.80 

(The above details were noted down from the about section of the unit on 9th July 2020)

What's In The Box

The unit, a pack containing two mounts with two rubber gasket like things to work as a layer between the handle bar and the mount, 4 smaller rubber bands and four larger bands to connect the mount to the bar, then there is the charging and computer connecting USB cable, a string to attach to the unit and a quick start manual book presumably detailing how to use the unit (the main users' manual has to be downloaded from their website). There are some stickers also inside the book. I am going to keep all these packed in the box it came in and keep the box in the dining room cupboard.

The First Steps

After unboxing I  powered it up by charging it from my computer and then connected it to my smart phone - I think the technical term is pairing. The unit offered a number that had to be keyed into the phone. The rest of the steps were pretty much clicking the "next" tabs. I synced it to the computer as well. To do that you need to keep the unit connected to the computer through the USB cable.

I had Garmin Express and Connect downloaded in both my computer and the phone (I have been using the Forerunner 15 for a few years now). While the phone wanted to know my location, the computer did not ask for anything like that. The phone's location and bluetooth have to be on to use certain phone oriented features like weather report (good for touring if there is internet connection everywhere). The unit automatically uploads the data to the phone after a ride is completed if there is bluetooth connection. I don't know if the internet also has to be on for automatic upload of data.

While uploading data from my Forerunner 15 to the computer it is not enough to just connect the two. The internet must be on.

Internet and bluetooth has to be on when a completed trip is uploaded to the Connect app. It can be done at any point of time after the ride. If there is no internet for a long time then uploading GPX files from the unit into the computer may be considered to free up memory space in the unit. however, on a trip this will involve taking the computer along, which may not be viable. 

Pairing the unit with the phone or the computer was super easy. Just follow the steps suggested. Keep the bluetooth of the phone and computer on when you are doing this.

When the unit was first connected to Connect it learnt about me and my cycling accomplishments from the app and kept it stored in the unit. So the unit now knows my height, weight, maximum cycling distance etc. These were there in the Connect app from my earlier rides and the unit copied them into my profile. If you are using Connect for the first time the profile data will have to be keyed in. 

Just out of the box

As of now I have not used the unit. It is getting charged. Possibly the charge is full because the battery icon is showing full and not bouncing. In fact at some point in time in future I will have to find out how long it takes to fully charge the unit from zero. 

I ejected the unit out of my computer and it says it wants to update the software. The one that is installed 2.40. It wants to update it to 3.60. So I chose to "instal now". These firmwire updates are important to do. 

My First Impressions (Even Before First Ride)

It's very small. More or less the same size as the Cateye Velo that I have, which is a wired meter. The small size could be an advantage but having gotten used to large screen mobiles we find these small units a little disappointing perhaps. 

The unit's buttons need hard pressing, as opposed to the Forerunner 15 which is just feather touch. The buttons here are really hard. Will they ease up? I doubt. The unit cannot be switched off when connected to the computer. Incidentally it does not come with a charging unit/pod like the Forerunner does. Just a USB charger. Even that is difficult to pull out. You have to really pull hard to pull it out completely off the unit. It's a little scary that I might break something. It could have definitely been smoother. I hope the connector stays good. 

I think I also missed that it is not a touch screen unit. We are so used to touch screens. But then that would have meant spending a lot more money - almost double. I am okay with pressing hard buttons

As of now, it is fully charged and I shall go for a spin tomorrow. 

I attached the mount to the handlebar of my LHT and loaded the unit to it. Right now the bike has both the Velo 7 and the Garmin. After I get used to the Garmin I shall remove the Cateye.

My Brooks saddle has 200 km on it and the bike has done 1122 km so far. So, once the odo starts I have to mentally add these figures to it for the true numbers. 

I couldn't see the place for the odo. I believe it is visible once it starts rolling. We shall see all these tomorrow.

I discovered that to view Strava Live Segments you need to be a premium Strava member. I guess that will either have to wait or might never even happen.

14th June, 2020 - 11.45 am

It's raining since morning and I am waiting impatiently for the first test run to begin. I am even wearing my heart rate monitor and waiting with my track pants and t-shirt on. The socks are ready. The moment it stops I go out but doesn't seem that is going to happen any time soon. 

I had meant to go towards Gol Park and take a call after reaching there. But all that has to wait now :-(

First Ride

I finally did manage to go out for a short ride. Basically to test the unit out. Just a lazy roll to Golpark and back. Here is a link to the Connect page of the particular ride.

I had forgotten to set the unit to metric system last night. So on the road it was showing me distance, speed etc in miles because that's its default setting. I corrected that after the ride and Connect is showing the distance etc in kilometers. History is also showing it in kilometers. The HRM didn't connect but that is possibly due to a dead battery. Because I came home and found it wasn't pairing with my Forerunner either. Will try changing the battery and see later. 

Note - the battery in the HRM was replaced and it got connected the moment the two were kept in close proximity. The unit sought permission before pairing with the HRM. The HRM is ANT protocol unit that came bundled with the Forerunner 15. 

Note 2 - Last night went for a 12 km ride to Buro's with the hrm strapped. It worked perfectly.  

I had kept the phone's bluetooth switched off. A little before ending the ride I turned it on. When I finished the ride it automatically uploaded the data to my Connect. There is no provision to edit the title of the activity. It just said Kolkata Ride or something like that. Connect is showing the temperature during the ride, presumably collected from the phone.

(15th June Note - On the way to office I had kept the bluetooth switched off. After the bluetooth and internet was connected, which was well after finishing the activity, the ride was uploaded. Of course the machine would also have to be on. After the upload they give you a message saying your ride is ready to view.)

Back at home I also customised the display of the unit. By default it was displaying distance, time and speed only. I guess I put things like odometer on top, speed, average speed, heart rate etc. I cannot remember. Am I happy? Yes more or less. It's just a matter of time before I get used to it. 

I guess I will have to find a buyer for the Velo 7.

Laps

I guess auto lap is 5 km for this unit. For the Forerunner it is 1 km. There are two options - auto lap on or off. I think it was in default mode of auto lap off. I turned it on. Let me see what happens tomorrow. 

New Learning on 15th June - The toggle switch The auto lap has to be turned on or off with a toggle switch whose meaning is difficult to understand. It is a blank small vertical bar with rounded corners and a black dot. Whether the dot on top means on or off is something one as to find through trial and error. It took me a lot of net search to finally learn that the dot on top means it is on. Intuitively I thought the dot at the bottom means it is on because that is how and electrical switch works. In fact, that the switch is known as a toggle switch was the first thing I had to learn. I found the final answer, or even this issue being discussed, in reddit. I don't know why this simple thing is not mentioned somewhere in the manual. It is not a universal symbol or icon.

While on the subject of auto lap - this unit can be used to manually mark your laps. For example, I could mark a lap up to Ruby and from there to Science City as another lap to understand how I perform in the city and outside.

15th June 2020 - The second ride was this morning while coming to work. I somehow did not realise the ride was not switched on. So I switched it on after about a kilometer. Therefore the odo reading is 1 km less than what it actually is. Rest everything was fine. I have customised the display to show the odometer on top, distance, speed, average speed and heart rate. This somewhat mimics my car's odometer. I would have loved to have the time of the day displayed somewhere. But I guess it does not show it anywhere.

I think I will write a one month report after this when I get to understand the unit better. I take my own sweet time to understand these modern machines. I must remember to get a battery for the hrm this evening. 

New Edge 130 Plus Launched - The moment you buy a new electronic gadget it becomes obsolete. This saying was proven right last night once again when I read the news about the launch of a new Edge 130 plus in the US. I believe battery hours have come down from the official 15 to 12 hours. Therefore it would have not attracted me in any case. I think Garmin is trying to position this model as an MTB computer because the additional features are more for mountain bikers. In fact I couldn't even understand what those new features mean. 

The mounting position - Having removed the Velo 7 from the stem last night (I have put it up for sale and found a buyer in Howrarh for Rs 800) I placed the 130 on the stem, oriented in a vertical manner (the Velo was turned 90 degree to the left) and went for a ride to Buro's. Did it principally to look cool :-)

Now the readability of the unit suffered because the stem is a little inclined so the 130 is offering a slanted view. The digits in the bottom line weren't so clearly visible in the night while riding. I will see how it goes in the morning and then decide whether the stem is the right place for the unit. I would love to put it on one of those extended arm mounts. They look uber cool.

I have checked this during the morning now and readability is fine. 

Live Tracking - This evening I had gone out with the bluetooth, location and internet on, meaning to see how Live Tracking works. I set up the email as mine. Upon return I realised no email had come. I had forgotten to switch on Live Tracking before starting. Now I have set it to automatically always send me live tracking whenever I undertake an activity. So, let me see what happens tomorrow when I go to work.

I have set it to automatically send me and Monisha email of my ride. What happens is a link is sent which is clickable during the ride and you can see/follow my ride live. I am yet to see it. This link becomes inactive once the ride is completed and the data is uploaded to Connect. So unless I click it mid-ride I will never be able to see myself. 

Few Quick Observations

There is some battery loss even when the unit is switched off. Self discharge. Not very high but it is noticeable. Once turned on, the battery indicator shows one or two bars less. They come back on after some time. The battery management system is not the best. While charging I do not even know when it is full. (Added later - the power icon gets changed to a battery icon with five solid bars, each representing 20 per cent)

But one can download free third party apps from the IQ Connect stores. I intend to download a battery management widget and see how it goes. I want to know the detailed pros and cons of downloading such apps. 

I have quite got used to the small size of the unit. In fact I love the cute little size. The on-off switch does not seem as hard as it did initially. The charging cable still needs a little pulling to take it off the unit. The unit moves smoothly on the mount and clicks perfectly. I do not know if I got used to the unit or it's the other way round. 

June 26, 2020

IQ App Store I downloaded a third party battery related app called Battery Up Down. It is now a data field in my unit. I created a separate page for it where it shows an icon as well as number in per cent. For example, right now it is showing as 20 per cent. On the Connect website, the battery performance during the ride is also shown I wonder how accurate it is. 

On the Garmin Connect website, when seen through the computer, a separate chart also gets displayed like they show the elevation, speed, heart rate, temperature etc. It is definitely not correct. For example, today's ride shows 40 per cent for most of the ride with two points where it had dipped to 20 per cent suddenly for a few seconds. On the unit though it shows as 20 per cent. Last night it came down from 40 to 20 after the ride. But today it continues to show 20. So, I really don't know how useful it is. But it takes an insignificant space in the unit. 

The Garmin Connect website shows that this is one of the apps downloaded by this unit. 

I downloaded it through the phone. I opened the Garmin IQ app store (downloaded from Google Play Store) on my phone. The IQ app store is like the play store of Google but only for Garmin related third party apps. From this IQ app store I downloaded the Battery Up Down app and it got transferred to the unit through Bluetooth. Nothing very complicated, if you have ever downloaded any app for your phone.

For downloading through the computer you have to connect the unit to the computer. Because the computer bluetooth does not connect with the unit. 

Do I want any other app? As of now, no. I have a feeling they eat up battery. I am a little paranoid about battery. Because in India, in the remoter places, there is hardly any electricity in many places. Of course I have the Anker solar charger. But even then it is always safer to conserve as much power as possible.

Live Tracking

Edge 130 comes with a feature that is increasingly becoming very popular with a lot of such units. It's called Live Tracking. You can nominate a few email ids where a link would go from Garmin as soon as the ride starts. Clicking on this link, one can see your movement on a Google map. This can be an important peace of mind kind of thing for your family when you are out cycling. 

However, there are certain practical difficulties to get this working and I had to get it right after making many many minor errors. A. This is literally a live feature. That is, the link is active only when the activity is on. The moment it is finished the link stops working. So if you really want to know where I ended my trip you have to be continuously glued to the screen. But yes the screen is indeed live. You can actually see the blue line moving. B. At the time of starting the activity your internet has to be on. If there is no connectivity where you start then there is no live tracking even if internet comes on some time later. C. If for whatever reason the connectivity is gone somewhere in the middle of the trip, the live track cannot be seen after this. 

Odometer Cannot Be Manipulated

The other day battery died out while I was riding to work. The ride was finished at .80 Km. I know the exact distance from home to work. So I corrected the distance in the Connect app. The ride in the unit was still showing .80 Km. I thought once the unit connected to Bluetooth it would rewrite the distance in the odo and correct the ride in its own memory but it did not. Apparently once a ride is recorded it cannot be changed in any way. Therefore my odo is actually showing a distance of 2.8 km less. Not a big deal but have to remember to charge the unit before a long trip. I want my odo to give as correct a picture of my total distance as possible. I will celebrate the landmark distances when they are reached. For example, 5K will be a landmark to achieve. 

Syncing Issue - 9th July 2020

Today I faced some syncing issues with the unit. After coming to work, riding 3.56 km in 14 minutes, I found the unit had not synced. Opened the Connect app and found it is written that the servers are undergoing maintenance and asked me to check back. 

After a few hours that maintenance notice was gone but I find the unit is not syncing with the phone. The two are connected. I can even see the phone notices on the unit. It is showing all the signs of syncing but ultimately the data transfer is not happening. I cannot see my activity listed in the mobile. I believe I will have to do this by directly linking the unit to my computer through the Garmin Express application. But this problem needs to correct itself. It means I will not be able to upload the data while travelling/touring. 

I am hoping this is just a temporary software related problem and it will correct itself shortly. I have had similar issues with the Forerunner in the past. That was quite scary but it solved itself. 

I asked Nishant whether he could sync his unit an Edge 830 bought almost as the same time as me. He said he was having similar problems with syncing for a few days and has been syncing directly through the computer. Now I joined the club. Let me see how long this continues. I have asked the facebook forum about it, if someone else is facing similar problems. 

Speed & Cadence Sensors - Odo - 675 - 25th August, 2020

Yesterday I got for myself a set of speed and cadence sensors for my Edge 130 from Exad Sports for Rs 4900. They were installed right away on the LHT and I even went for a 10 km spin with them. Syncing them with the unit was very easy. With the unit close by and switched on you have to rotate the sensors one by one as if they were on the crank arm or the hub and the bike is in motion. They synced readily. I created a special page for them on the Edge 130. It's an eight field page with all sorts of data being there like cadence, average cadence, lap cadence etc.

I actually want to improve my cadence over time. The best way to do that is to see what the cadence actually is and then work on it. I think I will ultimately install them on the training bike Merida and spare the LHT. My normal leisurely cadence is 45 on the 7th gear. I want to exercise at 70 and then move on to 90. Question is on which gear? Let me see.

The speed sensor can either automatically decide the wheel size or it can be manually keyed in. I let it decide automatically. Because the actual size is not really 26 inches. It's a little more than that and finding it out is a rather tedious process. Plus, since I will be changing bikes often I kept it on auto mode only.

Milestones and Timelines

List of various items added to the Edge 130 and other important events associated with it

Date	Odo	Remarks
13-06-20	000	Bought unit from ExadSports & installed
14-06-20	000	Went for maiden ride
25-08-20	675	Bought, synced and installed speed and cadence sensors from ExadSports (Rs 4900)

Plans For A Cycling Computer

I have been meaning to get a cycling computer for quite some time. I was making do with Strava for the longer rides and the Forerunner 15 for the short ones. But both have some inadequacies. The Forerunner 15 for example, essentially a running watch, is not meant for long hours on the saddle. Its battery is not meant for that kind of application over an extended period of time. It can barely last 3/4 hours with the satellites and heart rate monitor connected (which is how I use it). A typical day of cycling on a tour would last at least six to eight hours. Therefore the Forerunner cannot be taken on a tour. It cannot  even be taken on a day long cycling ride of about 50 or 100 kms. 

Forerunner for short commute

So I used Strava to record our Darjeeling trip in 2019. 

While Strava is fine for analysing data after it has been captured, it also has serious limitations as a data capture method during a trip. First of all you are never too sure whether it will capture or is capturing the data correctly. The other day on the way back home from work, it did not capture the data at all. Then you need to remember to switch it off or "finish" the trip after you reach your destination. When I reached Ghum from Kurseong, I forgot to finish my ride and it captured all my movement in and around the station (it's an interesting maze with me going from the station to the cycle shop in front to the momo shop to the hotel and then back to the station etc) till I remembered to switch off. Also, if I am not mistaken when you are finishing the ride you need to have access to the internet.

And then Strava is as weather proof as your phone, meaning it is not weather proof at all. Therefore putting it on the handlebar for a day long ride, exposing the phone to the hot sun or rain, is a little risky. Even if you do, visibility of the data on the go will be well nigh impossible. Plus I do not like switching my phone location on. The whole world it seems wants to know my location. I am reluctant to divulge that data to the various apps on my phone. I just feel it is modern snooping in the name of making the user experience better.

Therefore I wanted to have a cycle computer (how our requirements grow compmlicated with time and available technology - as a child all I wanted was a cycle). My requirements and expectations from the computer are very basic. I do not need too many fancy data about my ride. I want a computer that will have a long battery life. It will give me basic information about the ride like time spent, speed, distance traveled - in short what my Cateye Velo 9 gives me. I do not need any navigation support. I prefer finding my own way around. This requirement might change in future but as of now I do not like the complications involved in getting navigation guidance from a machine. In fact the Velo 9 is good enough for me except that it cannot show me a map of my trip after the trip is over. I feel fascinated like a child when I see the map of my journey. I do not know why but it happens. I love looking at the details of where I had gone. This is the principal requirement for me, not so much the speed. I don't really care about my speed at all.

Now Garmin's Edge series has a very celebrated 530 model that is quite a rage with those who can afford it. Simply put I cannot afford it. And in any case I do not need to know so many different things about my ride or the ability to download routes and then follow them turn by turn. So investing so much money on a 520 or 530 was out of question. I am not using the cycle computer for monitoring my training for an Olympic gold.

So I kept looking at the various models and then I discovered these two relatively new models. The Edge 130 and Edge 25. While the later, cheaper model would have sufficed me just fine, it seemed to have serious battery limitations. I find from reviews that the Edge 130 has great battery performance. The official claim is of 15 hours but with all the sensors attached it might be about half. Since on a tour I will not add any sensor I could easily expect 10 hours on a single charge. So I made up my mind to go for it. The 25 is more suited for shorter city based rides of four to six hours. The Edge 130 has certain capabilities that will not be useful for me - for example, I do not need to know my VO2 Max - but that's fine. 

As of this evening (June 8, Monday, 2020) I spoke to Jasraj. He is sending the model to his Calcutta office. It will be mine for Rs 13800. Substantially lower than the listed price of Rs 190000.

Unanswered Questions 

As of now I have a few unanswered questions that I can find out only after actually using the unit. First, I need it to also function as an odometer where it keeps track of the total kilometre traveled. As far as I could see from available online information it probably has one but I need to see if it gets reset under any circumstances. The Forerunner, for example, does not have one.

I also need to understand how to store my trip details. Normally after a ride you come back home and download the data into your computer through Connect. On a trip that is not possible unless you are carrying a laptop. So if I am on a trip for X number of days can the unit store that much data? Online research shows it can store 100 hours of data. My Forerunner can store seven runs and then if I record an eighth run it will automatically delete the oldest one. If I was riding for ten hours a day, therefore, it can handle a ten day trip. 

I found it mentioned somewhere that you can, through your smart phone, store the data in Garmin Connect app from anywhere. If that is the case then I can go for unlimited number of days on a trip and store all the trip information on Connect. Apparently it can also upload the data on social media like facebook or Strava. Since my Connect is already synced to Strava just connecting to Connect is enough for me. 

I shall be most curious to explore these features. Most reviews don't talk about these features. They only talk about all the training things that the unit can do like calculating VO2 Max etc. Who cares? 

Possible Upgrades/Accessories 

Even before laying my hands on the main unit I am considering upgrades :-) I think I would love to have a proper Garmin mount for the unit and speed and cadence sensors. But strangely enough I cannot find them with any online store here in India. REI in the US has the sensors for $70. The mount is available on the US Garmin store. Not that these are critically important to have but they are nice to have kind of accessories.

The unit comes with a mounting system that is rather basic. You can attach it to your handle bar or the top tube. But the after market mount looks rather cool and stays a little away from the bar. It is meant to be more secure in case the cycle falls. 

The cadence sensor is useful to have while on the trainer and using Zwift. Riding at a fixed cadence of 90 or so is ideal and to train while monitoring cadence is a good thing. I could not possibly have gone to Darjeeling without training on Zwift. And that training gets more teeth if you have a dedicated cadence sensor. The speed sensor, I am not sure about but if I go for additional sensors might as well get the full bundle. Theh speed sensor measures speed through calculating rotation of the wheel through magnetic field around the wheel. I am not sure how or why they choose such a complicated method.  

I think I will have to wait for international air travel to go back to normal and then for Mezda to travel to the US to get them. For some strange reasons these do not seem to be available here in India. 

Arrival, Unboxing and Charging

Today is Saturday 13th June, 2020. I just brought home the Garmin Edge 130 from Nikita's office. 

Greenfield Kickstand

The installed kickstand

The right sized bolt. 6mm M10

I went for a Greenfield Kickstand some time back for my LHT. I went for it so that I don't have to worry too much during a tea or momo break for the most stable support to keep the bike standing. With some load it might be more difficult. So went for this American kickstand. 

It is lightweight being made of aluminium. Since it is made in the USA I am hoping they have made something quite sturdy. The kickstand cannot be installed without a pair of Surly clamps, which I had to buy also and in fact that costs more than the stand itself. The main challenge for the installation was finding the right sized bolt. The supplied bolt that the kickstand came with was found to be too small for the job. So I went looking for a larger bolt. My first port of call was a shop in Prinsep Street. They specialise in nuts and bolts only. After two sorties I found the right sized bolt and installed the stand, which is a very simple no brainer kind of a job. I was apprehensive that our metric thread pitch might not match with the American thread that the kickstand comes with. The bolt is supposed to go inside the stand. But the fear was unfounded. The bolt was metric despite being American. 

The bottom of the stand

After installation, the stand was found to be too long. The cycle was standing almost erect and not stable at all. I found they had markings on the back side of the stand where you are supposed to chop off according to your requirement. I got Kushuda to cut off about 2 cm from the bottom of the stand. He has the hacksaw required to do the job. Plus I find the sound of cutting metal with a hacksaw very irritating. He didn't take too long to cut off the stand. The bottom of the stand has a peculiar shape. Half of it is a triangle while the other half is like a semi-circle. Kushu-da cut more or less parallel to the bottom so the shape was somewhat maintained. He used my angle grinder to file off the edges. 

The cycle stands perfectly at ease, even on the shiny floor of our living room. I have to get a rubber foot for it, which is again available only with Happy Earth :-(. Asked Sankhadeep in Bangalore to see if he can manage it somehow. Costs just Rs 75. Not a critical requirement but nice to have. Possibly I will need to cut off a bit more when I instal the rubber foot.

Standing its ground firmly. With Mezda at a tea shop on Camac Street

Long term view - I am glad that I decided to instal the kick stand. It's useful to have. I am yet to get the rubber foot for it though. The other day while I had a lot of load in the side pannier - like 5/6 kg as I put the office laptop in it - it seemed a little unstable. I thought the bike might topple. I have to check how it behaves when there is equal load on both sides of the bike. It is possible that the instability was due to the load being only on one side of the bike.

Yesterday as I took it off the bike for a thorough cleaning I realised that the plates had put marks on the frame. The top paint has come off, exposing a black colour underneath. It is not raw steel that is exposed. I guess it is the ED primer. I have asked Surly to tell me whether I should worry. They have not replied yet.

Tubus Logo Classic

 Last night I brought home the Tubus Logo Classic from Ritabrata. I had to spend a mini fortune on it. Rs 13,000 plus. Abroad it costs $100. But I cannot ask a friend to bring a pannier rack for me. That's asking for too much. So got it from Happy Earth through Ritabrata's Stay Tuned. By far, this is my most expensive piece of cycling accessory.  

The rack looks very simple. It indeed is very simple. I wonder why we cannot make such stuff here in India. Perhaps the demand is too low. But the beauty of this rack is that although it weighs like a feather, it can be loaded up to 40 kg. Question is am I ever going to load my bike with 40 kg luggage? It's not about that. It's about the strength of the rack. A touring bike, or indeed any bike for that matter, can take a tumble and fall down. Its chance of surviving a big tumble without any fracture is that much more than a Rs 750 Btwin rack (that I also have). 

The beauty of precision German engineering is written all over the rack. It's silk smooth to the touch and the lines are very clean. The welded joints could be cleaner but that's fine. It might look very unimpressive for its price. But the appeal of the accessory is in its strength vis-a-vis weight. 

I am yet to install it. The instruction manual and the hardware to attach it is in the small tubular thing that came attached to the rack. The manual seemed straight forward and useful. It might not be a piece of junk that most of these manuals generally are. It seemed to have follow-able instructions. I will report on its ease of installation after I actually do it. I plan on creating a video out of it. There is nothing on youtube.

June 7th, 2019

This evening I installed the rack on the bike. It wasn't such a major problem except tightening of a pair of nuts which are in a very difficult to reach position. I hope the nuts are properly tightened. Essentially eight bolts in all. Not too complicated. The trick is not to tighten them all from the beginning Keep them loose. Once the whole thing is more or less installed, tighten them up thoroughly one by one. I used a spirit level to ensure that it is perfectly level. I did it by putting it up on the home trainer. The bike now looks like a proper touring bike.

There are two nuts that are a little tricky to tighten if done after installation because there is very little leeway for the spanner to move. But you cannot preinstall them either. So after the installation I took off the two front bolts and loosened the two bottom bolts. This helped me to push the rack back a bit giving me adequate space to tighten the nut. Once done I put the bolts back on. Now I wonder whether I should have put a drop of Loctite on those nuts.

The installed rack - final view

Medium Term View

I started using the rack to hang a pannier and go to work every day. I hanged it, only one and not two on either side, from the lower tube for a few days but now I use the top tube. The rack's powder coated colour discoloured at the contact points of both the tubes. So the powder coating is fairly thin. I hope the primer underneath is stronger. I have half a mind to wrap an electrical tape there. Otherwise the rack is very solid. I lost one of the two rubber end caps that were attached to the end of the arms that attach the rack to the seat stays. Must have fallen off. I am sure I can get a replacement but it will be something local. Not the German original :-)

Ortlieb Panniers

The much awaited Ortlieb Backroller Classic panniers arrived yesterday. Bought from Starkenn online stores, they cost me Rs 10,200 for the pair. Together they have 40 litres of space. I got it in colour black. I had wanted them in yellow but they didn't have that colour in stock. The other option was red but I declined that. 

My first reaction was - these are heavy. These are big. I have still not done anything but just had a basic look at one of them. I went by their reputation for being very good, durable and waterproof. I can test these only over a period of time. 

As of now these are the most expensive ornaments I bought for my bike. This will be surpassed by something else that I am getting tonight. A Tubus Logo Classic rack from Happy Earth, through Ritabrata of Stay Tuned :-)

I will possibly need another front handlebar bag. Ortlieb has a 15-litre one at Rs 7.5k. Let me see. 

July 20, 2020

Since starting daily commute to office on my LHT, I have started using the pannier. I keep my lunch boxes and other office stuff in it. I have a small tool bag with my tube replacement kit, the Lezyne pump and a spare tube. I have kept the other bag stuffed with woollens so that it does not gather those creases. 

I am yet to test the water proofness of the panniers. There have been only minor drizzles during my office commute so far. I got seriously drenched only once for a few minutes. The bag held up pretty well. Not a drop inside. So there is no reason to doubt its water repelling power, given also that every single user swears by them. I find it a little heavy and wonder if they aren't going to be too much to carry in a mountain trip. 

The system to take it off the rack is very nice and convenient. Given that I have serious OCD I frequently used to check if the pannier was still there. Nowadays I use the strap to keep it strapped to the rack as an extra bit of peace of mind. 

An Ambition - Manali to Leh

It will be a dream ride and it is still in the dream stage. I want to ride from Manali to Leh and further on to Khardungla. Perhaps next year in August. I have more than a year to prepare the body and the mind. And also to do all the planning.

Right now I have a few unanswered questions in my mind. God knows who will be able to answer them. There is a guy in Manali called Navin who runs the Firefox dealership there. He is apparently very dependable and knowledgable.

Most of the blogs I read are by people who did supported rides (that is, they had support vehicles with tents, cooks etc; in short they got taken for a ride by any of the numerous touring agencies). We will do it unsupported. I spoke to Rana. He is game, though he thinks getting 3 weeks out of his practice might be difficult. Understandable. For self-appointed professionals going on a vacation means no work, no pay. That makes their trip all the more expensive.

Let me jot down the questions.

1. Do we need to carry sleeping bag?
2. Do we need to carry mattress?
3. Do we need to carry a tent? 

I have all the three but the question is whether these are necessary to be carried. If yes, then my pannier rack will have to be upgraded and a solid plan devised to carry everything.

Then there are more questions.

1. Do we need a butane burner? 
2. Is butane gas available in Manali? (10th May - called up this company in Delhi called Hans. They said they have no stock in Manali right now. That might or might not mean it will not be available when we go)

If not, then we will have to either go by train or pick it up in Delhi. But Manali being an important base for mountaineering, I am sure these items would be available there. 


If the above is yes, then I will also have to carry the utensils and the ration. So pannier bags will have to be purchased.

Is it easy to find a bicycle cardboard box in Leh? Because I shall be discarding my box in Manali and need a new box in Leh to pack the bike. Is it easily available? I saw couple of well stocked bike stores in Leh. Will check with them.

Used this pic to get the number :-)

10th May - I called up one of the stores in Leh. They said yes it's very much and easily available with them. That's great to know.

We will find those details out later. For now, let me concentrate on the route.

Day 1 Manali To Marhi - 37 km - 

Manali (0 km) - Palchan (10 km) - Kothi (13 km) - Marhi (37 km) 
This looks like the pretty obvious first day for virtually every one. Mostly uphill through green roads. Might rain. Lots of dhabas.

Day 2 - Marhi (0 km) - Rohtang (17 km) - Gramphu (23 km) - Koksar (37 km) - Sisu (50 km)

Rohtang to Sisu is mostly downhill

Day 3 - Sissu - Thandi - Keylong - Jispa

A Pump And a Saddle

After the Darjeeling trip (read about it here), two of the things I knew I will have to invest in were a Brooks saddle and a Lezyne Microfloor pump. The pump was in fact more necessary because my existing hand pump, I knew, was totally inadequate for the job on a 26"x1.75 tyre. 

In fact one of the first things I did after coming back home was put up my Park Tool Half Pint for sale on Cyclop (a popular facebook group for Indian cyclists). It got sold in moments because I had kept a sensible price of Rs 500 plus courier. 

Next I did some research and realised Lezyne had two models of micro-floor pumps for touring. They come with a pipe and didn't need back breaking pumping to inflate 10 psi. One was high pressure, with or without in-line gauge (HPG or HP); the other was for high volume without gauge (HV). Soon I discovered that the HPG was available in India with Starkenn and in fact at a price that is lower than what one has to pay in England. I immediately ordered for it. That was on Tuesday. 

Brooks was available with Bike Affairs, Hyderabad. But I thought I would buy it later. 

After placing the order with Starkenn started the long and arduous wait for the item to arrive. I was told there is some stock audit going on in their warehouse so it's taking time. 

On Tuesday (that is yesterday and a good one week after the order was placed on Starkenn) I got a message from Guria (my niece living in America) saying she is coming in a week or so and if I needed anything. I realised God is there and He really wants me to ride. Or at least spend on cycling equipment. 

By evening, when I still did not hear from Starkenn, I called them up and cancelled the purchase. I had not paid and opted for COD. 

Next I sent two links to Guria asking her to bring the pump and the Brooks saddle. One from Amazon and the other from REI respectively. As far as I know they are priced $85 and $119. So a total of $204. I asked her to get me the high volume pump without the gauge. 

I wasn't sure if space would be an issue for Guria in her suitcase and told her to go only for the pump, if it was. But this morning she confirmed that she is ordering for both.

May 3, 2019

I knew I would need to buy a thing called Brooks Proofide to treat the saddle. Now Proofide is either not available with any of the regular cycle retailer or available at an exorbitant price in Amazon. I realised getting it by courier will be expensive for Guria and work out to be same for me as buying in India. So more research.

Finally I realised it is available for £ 8.99 in Evans Cycles. Further research and a question to Raja showed that their Cardiff store is not very far from Raja's house and close to his daughter's school. So I told him to get it for me. Asking him to get it by courier would be torture on his pocket. Courier charge alone is £ 5 pounds.

Problem with Raja is he does not accept money for such small items. 

So, I am more or less sorted for now.

Sunday May 12, 2019

Guria arrived on Saturday 2.30 am. I went to their house today and brought the saddle and pump home. The total damage is $216 (x Rs 70). It's a little more than I anticipated because she bought the pump with digital gauge, which is the latest model and quite a bit more expensive. I have no clue why she went for this. This is not a subject she would know anything about to use her discretion. Most likely the store didn't have the required model and suggested or perhaps auto suggested this one, which is fine with me.

I promptly went on with the task of working them both out. Here are my first impressions.

Saddle 

Out of the box, my first reaction was - what a beauty ! It's smooth and flawless. Shiny in a dignified way. I read the short literature and referred to a website on how to treat the saddle the first time. They suggested that you lightly spread the supplied Proofide on both sides of the saddle. Rub it off and then ride the next day perhaps. So I did that. Applying it on the underside is not so easy because of the rails. The amount supplied in the sachet is just about right for one application.

It's looking a little matty now. I installed it on the Surly, after taking off the Griffon. Will possibly ride it tomorrow. Can't wait for the morning. The odo on my Cateye shows 922 km.

Monday May 13, 2019 - Went for a 10 km ride this morning. It wasn't so uncomfortable as people make it out to be. At least I couldn't find it any less comfortable than my Probike Griffon.Therefore I can assume that it will get better. The underside of the saddle is still wet from the Proofide I appliled last night. I guess that is how it should be.
Went for 15 more today, May 14th. Didn't expect any major change. I can feel the saddle better now. Once it starts flexing a bit it will be a great saddle. Let me see how soon that happens. I guess it takes at least 500 km. Since I am on the lighter side it might take longer for me. But I am not worried at all. I am fine with it as it is.

Pump 
Nice pump, though I didn't like its shiny colour. Each stroke increases the pressure in the tube (26"x1.5) by 1 PSI. Sometimes it takes 2. The digital gauge is very nice and useful too but it requires a battery (I don't like carrying electronics around in the rough and tumble of multiple day touring life). I pumped it up from 30 to 45 with about 20 strokes. It's not as easy as they show it on youtube, or at least I am not that strong. Quite hard for me but better than the Parktool Half Pint I had. The handle on top could be a little larger. It's too small. I have to figure out how to attach the pump to the frame. Looks like they expect me to sacrifice a bottle cage. No chance, Mr Lezyne. Or is it possible to attach both the bottle and the pump on to the same set of braze ons? Will have to find that out. It might quite be possible.
I love the screw on feature of the nozzle the most. You cannot damage the valve. Presta valves are pretty dainty. I have blown one so far.

Friday Evening, October 11, 2019

The other day there was a discussion on a cycling group on portable pumps and strongly voted for portable pumps with a hose because the tiny ones are really impractical unless you have very strong arms. The discussion prompted me to try the pump on my 700cx23 road bike. It's also a good idea to actually use mechanical things once in a while. Otherwise they get damaged.

I loved the gauge once again. I loved the smoothness of the barrel and the piston. It is definitely easier  than the earlier Park Tool thing that I had (which was really really small) but filling in the 700x23 is a lot harder, particularly after 25 psi. I used a small towel to properly grip and put pressure on the handle. Otherwise the small handle was hurting my palm. I loved once again that you can do the job while standing, as with a proper pump. I did reach 90 psi all right. But I would prefer not to use it at all ;-) With my Park Tool I could barely reach 40 after a lot of struggle.