Where It All Began
It all started innocently enough. My son asked me if I could join him for evening rides. He has a polygon bike that I got for him for RM500. It was heavy but it had 6 speed and rather bomb proof. I have been putting off buying a bike for months if not years. You see, although I am a fitness fanatic, I spend most of my time at the gym carrying weights. And I also run.
During the time I reconnected with a few friends who were perhaps, the first wave of cycling nuts that hung out at Joo Ngan Pro shops. They were spewing up names and brands like Perogetti, Colnago... all too foreign to me. And also the price of those bikes, which was probably half the price of Malaysian made car that I was driving. I thought those guys were mad. If I was going to spend anything more than RM10,000 on a bike, it should pedal itself.
What changed ? Perhaps it as RPM classes that I started at the gym, perhaps it was me wanting to bond with my son. So I decided to buy a bike. And so the worm hole was slowly manifesting itself into the nether regions of the mental psyche. Feeding and poisoning the mind.
I looked at a few bikes, went to the local bike shop at Pedal Sport Sri Petaling. Got to know the guys there, who have now become good friends. I was interested in the Merida Cyclocross. I thought that road bikes would be too uncomfortable and too twitchy and unstable to suit my purpose which was riding with my son. My budget at the time was around RM5,000 thereabouts.
After many discussions, I was convinced to get a road bike. My friend Narul told me that if I get a cyclocross bike I would regret it as it did not have enough speed should I decide to do club rides. That settled, I went to the Pedal Sport shop in Sri Petaling and had a look at bikes. And so the slippery slop began.
Rather than getting a complete Merida bike, I decided on a Van Nicholas Zephyr titanium frame with carbon forks. I was told to invest in good group sets as they can be transferred to the next bike, so SRAM Force 22 was recommended. Wheels were also a major factor and I got what I thought then and I believe so now, the best aluminium wheelset in the market. The Fulcrum Racing Zero. The rationale was, change the frame if you want to upgrade, but keep everything else (it did not work that way in the end).
So there it was, my first road bike was a Van Nicholas Zephyr (Size 52), with SRAM Force 22, Zipp stem and aluminium handlebars (size 44cm), Prologo tapes and Selle Italia saddle. Total weight was 8.3 kgs.
Total cost 12,000 thereabouts. To be honest, I don't really know how that happened. That I burst my budget but it just did. I did not know if I would like to cycle. I slowly began to understand why complete sane people would want to spend RM15,000 on Perogetti bikes.
I did not know it then, but that bike started me on a single minded obsession to ride and to ride hard. Every fitness routine I undertake is designed to help me stay longer, spin faster and pedal harder on a bike. To know all the technical details and the equipment, brands and philosophies. Cycling became my morphine to relieve stress.
That was fours years ago. It is still true now.
During the time I reconnected with a few friends who were perhaps, the first wave of cycling nuts that hung out at Joo Ngan Pro shops. They were spewing up names and brands like Perogetti, Colnago... all too foreign to me. And also the price of those bikes, which was probably half the price of Malaysian made car that I was driving. I thought those guys were mad. If I was going to spend anything more than RM10,000 on a bike, it should pedal itself.
What changed ? Perhaps it as RPM classes that I started at the gym, perhaps it was me wanting to bond with my son. So I decided to buy a bike. And so the worm hole was slowly manifesting itself into the nether regions of the mental psyche. Feeding and poisoning the mind.
I looked at a few bikes, went to the local bike shop at Pedal Sport Sri Petaling. Got to know the guys there, who have now become good friends. I was interested in the Merida Cyclocross. I thought that road bikes would be too uncomfortable and too twitchy and unstable to suit my purpose which was riding with my son. My budget at the time was around RM5,000 thereabouts.
After many discussions, I was convinced to get a road bike. My friend Narul told me that if I get a cyclocross bike I would regret it as it did not have enough speed should I decide to do club rides. That settled, I went to the Pedal Sport shop in Sri Petaling and had a look at bikes. And so the slippery slop began.
Rather than getting a complete Merida bike, I decided on a Van Nicholas Zephyr titanium frame with carbon forks. I was told to invest in good group sets as they can be transferred to the next bike, so SRAM Force 22 was recommended. Wheels were also a major factor and I got what I thought then and I believe so now, the best aluminium wheelset in the market. The Fulcrum Racing Zero. The rationale was, change the frame if you want to upgrade, but keep everything else (it did not work that way in the end).
So there it was, my first road bike was a Van Nicholas Zephyr (Size 52), with SRAM Force 22, Zipp stem and aluminium handlebars (size 44cm), Prologo tapes and Selle Italia saddle. Total weight was 8.3 kgs.
Total cost 12,000 thereabouts. To be honest, I don't really know how that happened. That I burst my budget but it just did. I did not know if I would like to cycle. I slowly began to understand why complete sane people would want to spend RM15,000 on Perogetti bikes.
I did not know it then, but that bike started me on a single minded obsession to ride and to ride hard. Every fitness routine I undertake is designed to help me stay longer, spin faster and pedal harder on a bike. To know all the technical details and the equipment, brands and philosophies. Cycling became my morphine to relieve stress.
That was fours years ago. It is still true now.
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