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Working in BaikBike is too sinful when so many new product launches hits us the first! Without really experiencing the hobby, I guess there will be no way I can understand most of you. So in this project, I am starting all over again and going into further depth in my new found love. As for budget, let’s look at MYR 5,000 to start up the basics?

First up, before I start going into the real stuff, I need to solve two of the biggest problems:

1. How to bring my bicycle home from the shop?!

2. Which bicycle?

I am squeezing these two into a single article because I didn’t intend to make a video initially, so the earlier parts were not captured on video. From Episode 2 onwards, I promise to film more.

Back to my first problem: How to bring my bicycle home?

Like many of us I was also contemplating the idea of stuffing the bike into the car. Well, I can actually do the troublesome if it saves me some money on a bike carrier… But wait, I own a pretty small car and unless I remove both wheels there is no way I can have the bike in the car!

Fine, that’s the price of having a small car. I headed over to Thule South East Asia’s headquarters in Glenmarie to get a bike carrier, hopefully it will not murder my bank account. Frantically, I checked out the rear rack prices here.

My small car in Thule South East Asia’s garage

So very quickly I lay my hands on the least monotonous rack – Archway 2 has vibrant blue straps to give my car a fresh look. Elangovan, the trusty technician immediately fixed it on and gave me a quick tutorial:

Elangovan teaching me how to strap up the Archway 2 Bike securely

Done! Happy me with Elangovan.

Within minutes and voila! Now I am ready to get my bike. Can’t wait to bring it back home and sleep with it.

 This brings us to the next problem: Which bike?

This is a tad too tricky so it was a long process before I decide on which bike. Lots of research, mainly the more affordable brands: here, here, here, here and here. And finally I decided on Fuji Roubaix 3.0 which has my favorite color, and retails for MYR 2,750/-, not bad for a entry level road bike with Sora specs:

Here’s a simple mind map

So on that day itself, I drove over to GH Speedbikes thinking I could pick up the bike and sleep with it tonight. Daniel Lim, the Technician Manager took my measurements and did a static fit session before he could recommend the correct size. Basically every bicycle customer of GH Speedbikes get a complimentary fitting session prior to bringing back a bike. Good job!

List of measurements to take

Measuring…

Daniel took time to explain to me the report he churned out from the fitting session

Seems like the size I need is not in the shop and will be delivered to the shop (from the warehouse) tomorrow. So disappointed I slept alone that night went back home and came back the next morning. This time, I also took the opportunity to have him share with us some tips and advices:

And finally! My bike on the rack.

The bike on the rack on the car. All done in two days.

On Episode 1, we have spent a total of MYR 3,500 on both the bike and rear rack. Another MYR 1,500 left for all the other basics! Episode 2 coming up featuring the basics =)

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Note: All products featured in this article and video are purchased and not sponsored. We are in no way obliged to advertise for the brands. For more information, drop us a mail at info@baikbike.com.