Meghna Reflex Granada bicycle quick review

UPDATE: 23 March 2012: Within three months of releasing Reflex Granada and Prince Dakota the shops hikes the price from 5,200BDT to 9,000BDT. No doubt that this is a very good bike with a price tag of 6,000BDT BUT it is no way a good buy if it is more than 6,500BDT. The shops are making good money by cheating the consumer because of the demand of a “Made in Bangladesh” bike. Please do not buy or suggest anyone to buy this bike with double price (distributor price is 5,300/- as per information from different source), better go for a Chinese made good bike like Merida/Bigshoot/Format etc with 10,000-16,000/- range which comes with better component and worth the money spent. [NB: anyway the Meghna bike uses all Chinese component except the frame, padal, tire, tube, spoke, rim and saddle].

In my childhood I rode two bicycles. The first one was a cute red small Chinese road bike, my first ride was with this cutey pie. In 1991 I bought a very slick and sexy looking Taiwan made Silver/grey sports bike, cant remember detail but the front and rear derailleur, gear leavers, cassettes were branded as Sun Race. The total weight was less than 10KG. It was a epic story how I bought that bike from Bongsal with help of my Uncle and then carried the box all the way to Rajshahi on a overnight bus alone (I was in Class 8 that time), where in Gabtoli I had to give chanda to local kuli somiti and ended up empty pocket and even no money to eat my dinner. Luckily those days are gone. In early those days (1985-1996) all the people of that age (teen) must had a bicycle to commute in the city and to go to school. It was like part of our body. It was more necessity than passion. Few years back I again fall for a bike, went to Bongsal bicycle market few times but couldn’t get a decent bike which at lest could match the quality of that one I used decades ago. Then finally last year bought a Chinese Apache bike. Looks cool but was a crap. Within first week the paddle falled down, bells brokes, break spring jammed, gear malfunctioned, tube refuse to be inflated though there was no leak….. In frustration I gave the bike to Sharif to show it to Al-Amin, the legendary bike mechanics though never met him personally. It came back in some way improved but still I felt walking is more comfortable than riding that Apache. Eventually I gave it to Abdullah bhai who tried to fix it many times and then from frustration through it away. My mid-life passion for bike died with it. Recently in our travel group Travelers of Bangladesh (http://www.facebook.com/groups/mail.tob) many started riding bike, among them Deep, Ashfaq bhai, Roma apa, Shihab they started coming regularly with bicycle. My Wife meherun started showing interest in bike, so I decided to buy two probike from chittagong similar to Deeps one. But when Ashfaq bhai returned from Chittagong bringing his non probike and told me that he saw in the shop they are putting pro-bike sticker I got confused. Last week Mona bhai of Vromon Bangladesh came and told that someone bought 3 bikes of Meghna group. I went to see the bike and liked it. I decided I would try it, hale with the quality or brand, after all it is “MADE IN BANGLADESH”. We bough two red and one black finally. Following are some spec and review with Pic of our Meghna Reflex Granada bicycle. Meghna Reflex Granada Black Meghna Reflex Granada Black Meghna Reflex Granada Red Meghna Reflex Granada Red KS-258 Swing arm rear suspension KS-258 Swing arm rear suspension Zoom front fork suspension Sunrun 42T front derailleur 3 speed Crank set Sunrun 42T front derailleur SunRun rear derailleur and 6 speed cassette EZ Twist index shifter EZ twist M16-6 rear shifter Brake leaver.JPG Avenir Saddale (comes with Black version) Standard Saddle (comes with Red version) Sunrun Front V brake Sunrun Rear V brake.JPG Meghna paddle Rear Mudguard Handle bar with ring bell Handle bar with trip computer (Actually a Garmin GPSmap 60cx GPS unit) hub (Chinese, something like :shunwan) Reflex Logo reflex powerblade sticker British Standard Certificate Sticker Full Specification from what I have saw: Weight: 18kg Model name: Reflex Granada Country of origin: Bangladesh Accessories included: Front(white) and rear reflector (red), 2x wheel reflector (white), bell Age group: Young adult plus Brake lever details: Alloy levers Brake type: Alloy V-Brakes Crankset details: steel cranks Forks details: 26″ suspension fork Frame size: 18″ frame Frame tubing material: Steel Front brake details: Alloy V-brake Front derailleur details: Sunrun 42T (FD-QD-35 design) Front suspension: Zoom Gear shifter details: EZ twist index Handle bar details: Steel low rise stand: Yes Number of gears: 18 speed Rear brake details: Alloy V-brake Rear derauiller details: Sunrun (RD-HD-04 design) Rear suspension: KS-258 750lbs Rim details: Steel Saddle: Gents’ MTB saddle Type: Mountain Wheel size: 26″ wheel

UPDATE 1

( 30 Dec 2011) I bought another bicycle for a friend and all the nut bolts were lose (even those were suppose to be fitted in the factory). The left shaft of the crank fall down. At home give two stroke with a wood and hammer before tightening it, to my surprise the shaft cracked….. what is it! Plastic/ABS. Not sure if the whole shaft is plastic or only it is a outer shell Advise: after buying it no matter who assembled it for you, take it to another mechanic to tighten all the nut bolts again.

UPDATE 2

(31 Jan 2012) Later on I found that the crank is actually metal with a plasctic cover molded over it. So no worry about the crank.

UPDATE 3

(5th February 2012): 2 months has passed, my reflex granada is running fine, so far only did cleaning and lubricating once before the critical mass. Had some long ride 50KM/day and also some abusive off-trail ride. No indication of any problem yet to any of the bike we have (4 of them). Removed all the stickers and mud guards, now it looks very cool and sleek. At the begining the bike was a bit sluggish and feels heavy, but after riding the first two hundread km and proper cleaning of drive train and gears it now flys. Bought many meghna bikes in last 2 months for friends, now the latest price is 6200-6500/- (some shop aggreed to sell in 6000/- BDT but they said later we can not complain…. !!!! what does that mean? will they swap some parts to make up the 200Taka?)