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We will be posting the results here of Instagram Polls which we will conduct on the Social Media Platform on a regular basis.
The goal is to better understand the Indian Cycling Community and ‘level-up’ the entire community at large.
Below is the result to the first poll:
The question we asked cyclists is what device they use to record their bicycle rides while cycling in India.
It was a 24 hour poll conducted on CyclingMonks’ Instagram platform. An informal setup, yet instructive on the habits of the cycling community.
We thank all those who took the survey. We had upwards of 250+ respondents for this poll.
From the chart above it is obvious that the biggest chunk of cyclists use their phones to record their rides. While in the Bicycle Computer space, Garmin is the class leader by far.
Did you find this information interesting? Would you like to see more such insights into the Indian cycling community?
The Second Instagram Poll we conducted asked:
“Which city do you believe is the cycling capital of India?”
The results:
Instagram polls are limited to four options, and the four options given were, Bengaluru, Chennai, Pune and Delhi/ NCR. Since we felt that these 4 cities would be vying for the top spot. There was an option for people to type out the name of any other city in India they feel deserves this designation.
Unsurprisingly, these 4 cities got most votes. One of the reasons could also be, that people find it easier to vote, than to type out a city name.
As per the CyclingMonks community, Bengaluru deserves to be called the ‘Cycling Capital of India’. It polled more than double the votes of second placed Pune. With Chennai and Delhi in a close 3rd and 4th.
Shockingly (or not!), not a single member even mentioned the city of Mumbai. Surprising considering the size of the city and the number of cyclists who reside and ride there.
We also got single votes for many Indian cities. We did not add any city which received only 1 vote, to reduce the clutter.
Did you find this fun Instagram poll interesting and informative? Share it with your friends if you did so!
The third poll results are quite surprising!
We asked the community what kind of cyclist label do they most identify with. And shockingly, the results are:
38% of the cyclists polled consider themselves to be racers. That is quite incredible, because in cycling circles, anybody will tell you, that it is much more difficult to get people to attend a race, than attend a cyclothon.
32% of those who voted ride for purely fitness and recreation reasons. They are riding either to get healthier or to socialise, or both.
Surprisingly, only 23% said they consider themselves randonneurs. Even though you will find much larger groups of participants at randonneuring events than racing events.
Unsurprisingly, only 7% consider their primary bicycle usage to be commuting. Considering the urban road infrastructure we have in most Indian cities, this is along expected lines. Better pubic infrastructure would be required, along with more hospitable office spaces, before we can see this group of cyclists swelling in numbers.
If you liked these polls, please fill out our COMPREHENSIVE SURVEY OF THE INDIAN CYCLING COMMUNITY. It will take you only 5 minutes.
The fourth poll on Instagram we held was to find out the level of ‘After Sales Service’ that cyclists enjoy in India.
After selling a bicycle or an accessory to a customer, how good is the industry at looking after its customer.
Here’s what people had to say:
This poll had a much smaller number of voters as compared to the previous polls. Around 200 people voted.
Taking into account the good review of the community, the majority of cyclists are happy with the service they receive.
Which is incredible, because people who are dissatisfied are generally those who vote in larger numbers.
A small pat on the back for the Indian Bicycle Industry!
If you liked these polls, please fill out our COMPREHENSIVE SURVEY OF THE INDIAN CYCLING COMMUNITY. It will take you only 5 minutes.
We asked the CyclingMonks community whether they think it is essential to wear a helmet while commuting on the bicycle.
We always recommend wearing a helmet when going out for your morning ride/ training session. But what about the times when you just want to go to the grocery shop to buy a packet of milk. Are you expected to wear a helmet? Do you need to?
It isn’t a black and white answer. The risks on a commute should be much lower as compared to when you are riding a bicycle as a sport. But those risks can only be reduced, if there is proper urban infrastructure for bicyclists. Unfortunately, most Indian cities lack such infrastructure.
Which is why understandably, 79% of all respondents believe that they need to wear a helmet even while commuting on their bicycle.
What’s your take? Do you think you should wear a helmet while commuting on your cycle in India?
A question that popped up while conversing with Baba, ace bicycle mechanic and racer. You can read that conversation here.
He mentioned that very few cyclists in his experience know much about cycling. A tiny bunch of cyclists know how to repair a puncture. He carries spare tubes on every ride of his, because he knows that he will end up helping out a hapless cyclist stranded on the road.
So we asked the CyclingMonks community. Do you know how to repair a puncture on your bicycle? Here’s the response we got!
70% of cyclists said yes, they know how to repair a puncture on their bicycles. 15% stated they did not know how to repair a puncture. And 15% said they know how to change a tube, which allows them to ride home or to the next destination where they can get the puncture repaired.
This 70% is in stark contrast to the experience shared by Baba and many other experienced cyclists we spoke to from all the metro cities of India. These regular cyclists often find riders stranded on the road with a puncture and unable to do anything about it.
What could explain this difference? Here’s what we think:
As cyclists, we tend to notice that 1 rider standing by the roadside, and miss seeing the other 100, who rode past without any issues. The empirical evidence is skewed by our own bias.
People following CyclingMonks on Instagram and voting in this poll are more likely to be regular cyclists and those who have upgraded their skills over time.
People are less likely to vote in a poll that they ‘don’t know’ something, as compared to stating that they do know.
We often see cyclists in India wearing running shoes while riding their bikes. More often than not, these shoes have laces, which are prone to opening. The laces if they get entangled with the moving parts of the bike, can lead to disastrous consequences.
And so we asked the Cycling Monks community, what type of shoes do they wear when out cycling?
Here’s what they said:
Interestingly a whopping 52% of respondents stated that they wear cycling specific shoes with cleats. A substantially large number of cyclists, at 28%, use running shoes, while the balance use trekking and other kinds of footwear.
This is quite an incredible ratio, because the majority of riders you see cycling on the road aren’t wearing cycling specific footwear.
It only goes to show that the Cycling Monks community is head and shoulders above the average Indian cyclist. Which is both heartening and disheartening.
Where do newer cyclists get their information from, who is there to guide them and in which direction must they look for learning the nuances of riding their bikes…
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