Mach City iBike HT (2017) - Review

The Mach City iBike HT 217 is built on a full steel frame. This is the same as the iBike rigid. The comfort frame geometry makes sure the body posture of the rider is perfect for a relaxed ride. The good thing about this frame is that, the weight of this steel frame is not felt during the ride. This is very important for a cycle that is meant for all age groups to ride in the city. The fork in the iBike HT 217 is a suspension threadless fork. The main difference in threaded and threadless is the stiffness. Threadless setups offers a stiffer setup than threaded. Threaded usually also more aesthetically pleasing, but threadless is more practical as it makes the swapping of stems and bars easier. The suspension worked minimally but it did give a little extra comfort while riding over speed breakers.

The Mach City iBike HT 217 is a single speed bicycle. The chain, cassette and cranks are the same as the iBike Single speed rigid fork. This bicycle comes with a 44T cotterless chain wheel and 17cm crank. Many older bicycles use wedge-shaped fasteners called "cotters" to hold the cranks onto the bottom bracket axle. These cotters have a nut to hold them in place after they have been driven or pressed in. They can be difficult to remove, especially if they have been in place for a long time. The iBike HT has gone cotterless which means the axle is integrated making it easy to remove and repair in the future. The pedaling was smooth and wasn’t too difficult to accelerate on city streets.

The design on the iBike HT 217 is simple and elegant. The welded edges on the frame looked neat. The tubing is neither rounded nor squared. The edges of the tubes were shaped well which enhanced the looks of this bicycle. The HT 217 which I test rode came in a full black colour. The HT comes in only 1 colour variant. The gloss paint job was perfect. The suspension fork which was also in full black blended perfectly with the bicycle.

The stopping power on the Mach City iBike HT 217 is taken care by a pair of V-brakes. These are standard brakes which are found on bicycles at this price. These brakes worked well during the test ride and came to a halt quickly on both wet and dry conditions. The brake levers were alloy and were placed at a comfortable position. I could easily engage them with just three fingers. The steel handlebar on the HT has a slight raise which made sure the riding posture was comfortable.

The Mach City iBike HT 217 rolls on a pair of 26inch x 1.95inch highly durable nylon tires. These tires are great for the price of this bicycle. The treads were identical to what one would find on entry level MTB's. These treads helped me ride through bad roads and wet conditions in the city with ease.The comfortable foam saddle on the HT 217 is slightly wider than the previous iBike models. This is a good thing as moving on the saddle was safe and comfortable. The material of the saddle was slippery smooth and according to the material of the clothing one wears it could become uncomfortable.