Trying to buy a cycle is too confusing. Help me select one.
Sorry for the long read ahead.
Let's get done with my anthropometrics first of all. 180 cm 62 kg. I live in a city near Kolkata, around 50km from Kolkata. Hence I believe I can visit offline stores once in Kolkata if I need to to buy a cycle. I'm thinking to limit my budget to 15-20k, but if the cycle is really VFM, I might go to 25k, but for 25k, I would want a bike that can last me 10 years no questions asked.
Now the thing is, I am about to have to travel more than 20-30 km very often, on a not so good road, so I thought to get a hybrid bike for speed + ease of maintainance, as compared to road bike or mtb. I initially thought of getting an ebike, but that seems too much to maintain and take care of, like the battery and expensive tune ups every 6 months ranging 1-2k or more each time. So at last I decided to get a 1x8 geared hybrid bike, because apparently 8 is significantly better than 7 speed. (I also heated stuff like geared cycles get their chains dislodged much much easily as compared to non-geared ones, but couldn't find much info, so didn't pay much heed to it).
The first model that came to my mind was RS120, but there are people who are saying that Decathlon has lowered the standards, and now are much overpriced for the stuff they are selling. Whereas there are other good brands like Omo and Cardiac(?). But I feel like despite all the chitchat going around about Decathlon, ppl are still buying RS120 nonetheless, and are somewhat happy with their purchase. I don't wanna regret any purchase that I make. So I want to ask 3 questions in this sub,
- Is the concern about chains that I heard somewhere actually true about geared cycles, or just a myth?
- Is Decathlon RS120 still VFM, or as I've seen sm posts, it has lost value in recent years due to Tariff restrictions and import restrictions and yadayada?
- If Decathlon is not so good, which brands and models should I go for?
Ps- If the info I gave is inadequate, please let me know if there are any additional things that I should have mentioned, I'll clarify that ASAP, I want to come on a conclusion.