I’m sure everyone remembers their “bicycling days”. Most of us don’t realize it, but the bicycle was and will always be every child’s most sought after toy. We spent quite a large chunk of our childhood riding a bike! From learning how to cross roads to finding those shortcuts around your house the bicycle was often our best buddy.
Most folks at some point move onto more “developed” means of motorized transport. But anyone who has gotten back onto a bicycle has definitely experienced the unparalleled sense of accomplishment and joy of riding a simple bicycle.
THE REVIEW
The bike we are going to talk about today is the Bergamont Vitox 6.3, according to us it’s one of the best no-nonsense bikes you will find at the INR30k Price range in India. There is no other bike that can match the specifications nor the fantastic ride quality offered by this bike. The German designed super light frame and well spec’d components work flawlessly to give you a taste of how amazing cycling can be. Interested in giving cycling a shot? Well, you gotto try out a Bergmont Vitox 6.3.
From trying out your first trail ride to zipping through the city streets this is one of the best bikes to start riding on.
THE COCKPIT
A no compromise setup. The handlebar are the longest in its category, allows for more control, easier breathing and better positioning for balance. Coupled with brilliant tires you actually feel the control!
Once aboard you notice a majority of all alloy components. These keep the weight of the bike to a decent 13.5 kilos (M frame). The bikes frame has been modified in the 2013 version to allow for better stand over height – riding on the trails is that much safer.
Moving on the saddle, the saddle has nice color-ways, coded to match the bicycle and has a nice well padded yet firm seating area. The tough cover definitely resisted a couple of crashes and rough usage! Absolutely great for newbie mountain bikers.
The pedals are a let down though and I recommend an alloy upgrade for anyone who is going to be riding trails or even riding in wet conditions. You get cheapie wellgo ones in the market for less than Rs 500 and they are worth the upgrade.
COMPONENTS
HANDLEBAR – The bike comes with the LONGEST HANDLEBAR in the market at 700mm. A long handlebar allows for more control on the trail, helps in power generation, a better positioning for balance and enables easier breathing! And packs in more confidence to steer out of any tricky situations!
- Bike Radar: Handlebars, the width issue
- PinkBike – Tech Tuesday: How wide handlebars affect your ride
FRONT SUSPENSION – The SR SUNTOUR XCT can be a tad too bouncy for many people but on the flip side it is also fantastic for beginner riders as its not super stuff but a tad playful. As a rider you may still need to play an active part of the suspension by absorbing recoil, at the same time at this price point we think the suspension is pretty neat and more than sufficient for the riding you set out to do. I would pick the 100mm SR Suntour suspension over any other in the market. The fork allows you to use almost 90% of its travel.
DRIVE TRAIN – The shifter’s are the new improved SHIMANO EF51’s, with a nicer looking gear indicator. The feel of the shifter remains the same as the older version and we have nothing to complain about there. The cabling and cable housing play a very important role in any bike. The full length housing allows for lesser tension, which is important on longer cables like those along the downtube. The side effect of this is precise shifting. The cable guide’s on the bottom of the down tube could have been better quality though as they can really frustrating to pop back in place once they pop out. Moving onto the crank and the cassette, the Vitox 6.3 comes with a M171 SHIMANO CRANK, one up from the basic M131 which we seem to find on most bikes in this category. The crank comes with a nice plastic chain-guard which protects your trousers from being ripped! Perfect for that commute. The cassette is a 14 -28T and the crank is a 42/34/24. Some good rations for trail and city riding, maybe not so much long distance road. The higher crank to ground height lets you roll over obstacles without worrying about damaging crank teeth. The rear derailleur is a SHIMANO ACERA, durable and perfect for a new rider. It’s the perfect balance of quality and price. In fact you’d be pleasantly surprised to see the rear derailleur surviving tons and tons of riding.
BRAKES – Tektro has an amazing line up of brake all the way up to their TRP brake’s and their basic one’s are no shy of awesome. The Vitox 6.3 comes stock with TEKTRO V-BRAKES. The spring’s are flawless and their brakes work perfectly for years. These coupled with the Shimano EF-51 Brakes (and shift) lever do a pretty sweet job. The Shimano lever’s have a nice reach adjust on them which is great for riders with shorter fingers. When setup right, the brake’s have a nice bite at the end. We have done everything from riding downhill to stoppie’s with these brakes are nothing disappointed us. Yup, during rains anyone would love to have a pair of discs, but these are perfect and will perform at par if not better than any low priced bike with “disc” brakes.
WHEELS AND TIRES – we leave the best for last. As if going with DOUBLE-WALLED RIMS was not enough in the 2013 version of the Vitox 6.3, Bergamont has moved from a 32 hole spoke rim to a 36 HOLE SPOKE RIM making it way stronger and bombproof. We have ridden the Vitox quite a bit on the trails, not delicately and the wheels have not really required any kind of truing. Good bombproof light weight wheels. Matched with SCHWALBE SMART SAM’S! Fantastic control at a fantastic price. These tires are perfect for basic trail riding and also not bad for riding around in the city or if you like to commute on your bike.
Overall, the Bergamonts have performed exceedingly well. We are extremely choosy about the bikes and brands we keep at BumsOnTheSaddle. They not only have to be a great product, but the brand also has to satisfy a lot of our internal criteria to ensure we can provide fantastic support to our riders!
We have never been disappointed with Bergamont on this aspect.
