Riding Black Beauty for the first time

Alas, I got myself a birthday present this year. No, I didn't buy a horse. It would cost a fortune to maintain - the food, the vet and whole range of other related expenses. I got myself a steel steed that runs on fat: a bicycle. Since it was black, with some white on it, I named the bicycle Black Beauty. With slightly bigger tyres, better gearing and other stuff, it is an upgrade compared to Lil' Red.

Black Beauty - as advertised at the supplier's website

To check if it was indeed a real upgrade, I decided to take it for a test ride along the route that I've travel on Lil' Red.

The red dot on the map indicates the 99 metres peak of the route. With Lil' Red, I had to dismount and push the bike up the gradient. With Black, I managed to shift to the lowest gear and slowly pedaled it up the hill.

I had some reservation about the seemingly crappy handle bar. I had wanted to replace it with a better one from the 'Neo' model. Unfortunately, none of the shop seemed to be able to fulfill my request. To my surprise, after adjusting the handle bar to the right height, it was comfortable. I would have suffer some discomfort and occasionally pain on my right wrist when riding Lil' Red, the seemingly crappy handle bar on Black gave no such problem.

I decided to roll into town and pay some bill. I could have tried to fold the Black Beauty and bring it indoor. But it was easier just to lock it to a pole. With no quick release on the tyres, I didn't have to worry about people carting away with my tyres.

I had wanted to taste the famous "cendol" in Seremban town, but it was closed.

I rolled out of town. Within 30 minutes, I was back at the starting point.


In terms of folding, Lil' Red folds a lot faster and easier. The over-sized carrier on Lil' Red became a stable stand for Lil' Red when folded. But Black Beauty performed better on the road compared to Lil' Red.