Day 105: Rest day in Mumbai, bike fixing

Lovely, helpful people in a great city 

This post is sponsored by Ozone Ventures, importers of Schwalbe tyres into India - sort of. They were kind enough to gift us a pair of great tyres anyhow.

 We’ve really enjoyed Mumbai. What a great, energetic, exciting melting pot of so many cultures, influences and people. There’s great architecture, great food and opulence rubbing shoulders with great poverty, which is not uplifting - but that’s the reality of India.

Today we headed north about 12km to Dadar, to Keny Cycles. We wanted to get our bikes serviced and pick up a load of spares. Most of all, we wanted some new tyres for Tiger’s bike to stop the succession of punctures over the last week.

We’re big fans of the Schwalbe Marathon Modial Evolution tyres, which have done us proud so far, so we were trying to obtain some in India. However, it seems they just don’t get brought in to the company. From contacting the importer - Ozone Ventures we could be sure there were actually none of this model in the country. However, they did have the rigid version, so we decided that would be good enough. Ozone Ventures were kind enough to send there across to Mumbai (they are based in Pune) and then didn’t even charge us for the tyres. We’re so grateful for this lovely gesture, and Tiger’s bike is now looking great again. When you’re on a long journey like this it’s amazing the people you meet and how kind they are. Thank you Mihir for sending us the tyres, and Manoj for driving over with them.

Tiger with his new Schwalbe Marathon Mondial that Manoj brought over from Pune

Another set of great people we met were this bunch. They commute by bike in Mumbai, and Dixit met us the other day on the Konkan Coast and was kind enough to give us a load of helpful advice and tips. We were hoping to go to an event with them this afternoon with the Cycling Mayor of Mumbai and a BBC crew, but we ran out of time fixing the bikes and it didn’t happen. Shame, but thanks guys. Catch you next time - or come and see us in the UK!

Dixit and the Smart Commuting crowd

The other big task of the day was servicing the bike and getting everything sorted to head off into northern India tomorrow. Mark and his team at Keny Cycles did a great job of fixing all the wear and tear - new chain and bottom bracket for Tiger, new cables and a spoke for Blue Strawberry, plus a raft of spares to replenish our stocks. We should be sorted right into Europe now. Thanks again guys.

All of which has meant that these patched and very secondhand tubes can go in the bin.

We’ve really enjoyed Mumbai and are looking forward to the next chapter of India - northern Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Agra and Delhi.