Cycling In Bkk - Seeking Advice

[lovenim]

Hello all,

have newly arrived in Bkk, car-free for the first time in ages and thinking of rediscovering the art of travelling by bicycle . . . haven't done that since I turned 18 and got a driver's license half a lifetime ago . . .

My questions:

1) Where can I buy a cheap but reliable bike for everyday inner-city purposes (sturdy, able to to carry shopping) ? I've been recommended Tesco Lotus...

2) What to watch out for when cycling? Dangers etc... do you cycle on the main road or on the pavement? Do you wear a helmet?

3) Where to park it? Just wherever I fancy or do I need to use the designated spaces? What arre my risks of having it removed because of unruly parking? This happened to me in Tokyo some day long ago . . .

Any cyclists' stories welcome

[lennya12threh]

This is the first post I have seen in this section in regards to cycling and not scooters/motorcycles.

I guess this section is for cycling as well.

I have never cycled in Thailand, but often see guys cycling around in traffic.

There is always a risk here. Take a look around! But if I cycled I would cycle with traffic the same as I would with a motorcycle.

I am already comfortable with the traffic after a long driving here.

[londonthai]

get fully suspended mountain bike, bacause of the high kerbs and holes. Bonus will be disk brakes, as they are much more efficient - if not both, than at least the front one. The cheapest cost +5k baht. Lotus or any supermarket.

get a D-lock or U-lock, the biggest size and the strongest possible and park daytime, wherever you want. Chain your weels as well, because they might disappear, especially those with a disk.

nightime keep your bike at home/flat, otherwise some parts might be stolen and bike vandalised.

get strong front and back lights, helmet and reflecting clothing. Also glasses to protect from dust.

cycle on the pavements and roads - whatever you feel.

get bags on the rear carrier/mudguard - safer than carrying shopping on your handlebar

[Fishenough]

What London Thai says is great, but be careful with the cheapest bike available at Teasco Lotus. We had only arrived a couple of days and bought our son one, and it quickly started to break; shifting and braking were terrible from the onset.

If you bike is your regular commuting and exploring means, you might want to spend a bit more than the teasco lotus brands. Try LA bikes at the north east inside corner of the moat, 6000 to 9500 can get you a higher quality bike then the department stores. They are negotiable on price and if you ask can throw in extras like water bottle holder and maybe a helmet. Also there one of the more affordable places for a handlebar mirror, LED lights, patch kit and pump (don’t buy the real cheap ones they won’t work even once) and other no name brand items. I’m a bit sensitive on this point; my wife spent 300B on her scooter helmet and 2000B on her bicycle helmet at one of the brand name, smaller stores.

Stay alert, keep a care watch for dogs, and try not to do any sudden serving – scooters can ride and pass very close to you as a cyclist.

A better quality bike will allow you to quickly remove your front wheel and lock it to the back well and frame.

I have a 16 inch framed cheap Teasco mountain bike you could have for free, but one look/test ride you would not want it. We have tried giving it away to kids in the Moi Ban and no one wants it.

Cheers and welcome fellow CM cyclist.

[londonthai]

looks like lovenim is rather from bkk, than cm

[SeanMoran]

I've only ridden motorcycles in Bangkok, but done a lot of cycling in Australia. No idea on prices of local bikes, although there is a fellow importing electrically-motored bikes from China here on this forum that are apparently retailing at around 18,000 if I recall...

Anyway, only two safety tips to add to the advice already.

1. Buy a rear-view mirror to attach to your rhs-handlebar so that you can keep an eye on what is about to clout you from the rear, and

2. Take great care to stay at least 750mm away from slow moving or stopped traffic (if possible) as you ride through, because one unthinking taxi or car passenger opening a door onto you could be the door closing on your two-wheeled dreams, if not your life, depending on how fast you are riding at the time.

[joorakee]

I had always been wondering why bicycles are so unpopular in Thailand's big cities until I read a book written by a Japanese man who has lectured the Japanese language at Chiang Mai University (the book's title is Gokuraku Tai gurashi and the author's name is Hideyuki Takano). The author writes about a philosophy of 3 S: sabaai, sanuk and saduak.

According to one chapter of the book mentioned above, Thai people seem to prefer riding a motorcycle to pedalling a bicycle - even if the latter would be much cheaper - because the former is more comfortable (saduak). Thais often wonder why Japanese people use their bicycles (so-called mama chari equipped with a front basket) when going to work or to the nearest train station if they can afford a luxury car.

Maybe a redefinition of 'comfort' is needed.

It's similar in Poland. Many people work their nuts off in order to buy a car (often on credit) and don't understand those who don't feel the need to brag about an expensive car and prefer to go everywhere by bike (with or without an engine) - for pleasure and/or in order to avoid traffic jams.

Dear OP, as you already know, in Japan it is sometimes forbidden to park a bicycle outside a designated (paid) area, especially in the vicinity of a train/subway station (although it is often possible to park for free for 2-3 hours, at least in Fukuoka, so it is mainly commuters' problem) but Thailand is the land of freedom!

(Keep in mind that freedom doesn't mean safety...)

Edited November 24, 2009 by joorakee

[mr_hippo]

get fully suspended mountain bike, bacause of the high kerbs and holes. Bonus will be disk brakes, as they are much more efficient - if not both, than at least the front one. The cheapest cost +5k baht. Lotus or any supermarket.

get a D-lock or U-lock, the biggest size and the strongest possible and park daytime, wherever you want. Chain your weels as well, because they might disappear, especially those with a disk.

nightime keep your bike at home/flat, otherwise some parts might be stolen and bike vandalised.

get strong front and back lights, helmet and reflecting clothing. Also glasses to protect from dust.

cycle on the pavements and roads - whatever you feel.

get bags on the rear carrier/mudguard - safer than carrying shopping on your handlebar

WOW, a full suspension bicycle for about 5000Baht!!!! No way on this earth will you get a half decent full suspension bike for twice that. The bicycle-shaped objects in supermarkets are built down to a price and not up to a specification. With that in mind, how good do you think the components would be? If you need to replace parts, will the supermarket have them or will you have to go to a local bike shop for them and at what cost? Do supermarkets have qualified mechanics to assemle the bikes?

They are OK for a trip to the local 7-11 but that's about all!

Potholes? Yes there are potholes in the roads here but use your eyes and avoid them; if you cannot avoid them, just gently ease your bottom off the saddle.

I love this bit "cycle on the pavements and roads - whatever you feel." Why? Roads are for wheeled traffic and pavements/sidewalks are for foot traffic unless you are under 7 years old and have training wheels fitted.

Helmets? I'm not getting into that debate but it's your head. I wear one but the choice is yours.

So far this year, I have cycled 11,580.39kms with only a few minor incidents. The traffic can be best discribed as a 'chaotic ballet' but it's easy to 'read' it.

[Richard-BKK]

A simple but capable mountain bike like the Trek 3900 cost 12,900 Baht. And this is only with front suspension and rear hardtail...

[londonthai]

I did buy in bangkok fully suspended with normal brakes for 5k (that's why I written "the cheapest +5k), can last for many years without repairs and maintanance. Even in supermarket you can get a range of diffrent quality bikes, and each supermarket will have a different selection), so worth looking around a few shops. Some might be flat packed, cheaper, easier to transport home in a taxi and assemble yourself. They are good for shopping at 7/11, and that's what the op is asking about.

you can get a similar looking bike, but the brand name, for 10 or 15 times of that - if somebody can afford loosing such expensive bike (it will be a top target for steet thieves, especially if brand new) or in an accident, than do buy.

Cycling on many pavements is tolerable even in the UK (I have seen cops doing it), not on a high street or residential streets but along the major roads, depending how wide the pavement is and how many pedestrians. More so you can do it in thailand, where you see even motorbikes riding on the pavements.

as to electric bikes, I wouldn't go for them - again, the risk of being stolen inreases with the value of the bike. In the city centres they are gangs specialising in stealing bikes like that. For 18k I would rather buy a motorbike, but you can get the cheapest motorbike from 6k (it might not be powerful enough for your weight)

[Richard-BKK]

Londonthai, trust me there are real differences between cheap and expensive mountain bikes

[londonthai]

absolutely, there is a huge difference between the cheapest and the most expensive bike - that's why I do recommend fully suspended bike (even the cheapest) with possibly one or two disk brakes, rear carrier and bags.

Quality of bike does matter for some cyclists doing tens of thousands km/year and for people, who do have spare money on a bit of comfort and reliability, but for some city cyclists doing it for leisure and shopping at 7/11 and beginning to cycle after 20 years of brake, the difference is negligent. After the first, basic bike, you get another, better one, when it's stolen, damaged or you don't like it anymore.

Edited November 24, 2009 by londonthai

[RusticCharm]

Don't buy a bike from Tesco. You'll regret it.

Check out ProBike on Soi Sarasin opposite Lumpini Park. They have some budget Treks.

[SeanMoran]

Most important of all, remember that a top-of-the-range Gitane triple-butted chrome moly framed super aerodynamic space bike with all titanium Campagnolo cranks and gears and running gear might look all nice and fancy if you lean it against a wall and take pretty photo of all the money you spended on it, but it ain't going nowhere without that one missing component - the one with two arms and two legs and no aluminium.

If you buy the oldest cheapest shittiest bike you can find, and ride that around Bangkok, you'll be a lot fitter and stronger and prouder of your achievements than all those ladyboys on their glossy little bargains with the pneumatically enhanced comfort seats.

[mr_hippo]

I did buy in bangkok fully suspended with normal brakes for 5k (that's why I written "the cheapest +5k), can last for many years without repairs and maintanance. Even in supermarket you can get a range of diffrent quality bikes, and each supermarket will have a different selection), so worth looking around a few shops. Some might be flat packed, cheaper, easier to transport home in a taxi and assemble yourself. They are good for shopping at 7/11, and that's what the op is asking about.

you can get a similar looking bike, but the brand name, for 10 or 15 times of that - if somebody can afford loosing such expensive bike (it will be a top target for steet thieves, especially if brand new) or in an accident, than do buy.

Cycling on many pavements is tolerable even in the UK (I have seen cops doing it), not on a high street or residential streets but along the major roads, depending how wide the pavement is and how many pedestrians. More so you can do it in thailand, where you see even motorbikes riding on the pavements.

as to electric bikes, I wouldn't go for them - again, the risk of being stolen inreases with the value of the bike. In the city centres they are gangs specialising in stealing bikes like that. For 18k I would rather buy a motorbike, but you can get the cheapest motorbike from 6k (it might not be powerful enough for your weight)

"Without repairs and maintanance."Really? So you think it can "can last for many years" without pumping the tyres up, oiling the chain & other bits and riding round with worn out brake blocks?

"You can get a similar looking bike, but the brand name, for 10 or 15 times of that" I can buy a fake Rolex for only a fraction of the price of a real one but that does not mean that I have a Rolex.

"Cycling on many pavements is tolerable even in the UK (I have seen cops doing it), not on a high street or residential streets" Are you talking about unmarked pavements or designated shared use (pedestrians & cyclists) areas?

[SeanMoran]

"Without repairs and maintanance."Really? So you think it can "can last for many years" without pumping the tyres up, oiling the chain & other bits and riding round with worn out brake blocks?

All that depends on the user, but there is one kind of bicycle maintenance that I was told at my first job interview by a quarter-century expert employer that onlyt around 25% of bicycle mechanics can do reliably. True spoked wheels.

I imagine that just like I can't juggle three tennis-balls one-handed that many others might have trouble with trueing wheels, and although anyone can learn to go easy on the brakes and pump up a tyre or spray a little WD40 on a bike periodically over winter (or the closest Thai equivalent), spoked wheels will inevitably go out of true with use, and that gets right back to the seat and handlebars, as well as the brake pads.

Trueing wheels is possibly the only maintenance that the majority of the population are unable to DIY.

Goodnight on that note. See you tomorrow.

[lovenim]

Hello folks,

allow me to report back, many months later.

i did eventually buy a bike, not then but only a couple months ago... and i did go for a stingy 1800baht job from carrefour supermarket (the bikes and the service seemed better than tesco lotus, where i went first). got the bike they recommended, had the handlebar grips replaced with slightly less nasty ones and a bell added... total cost about 2k baht.

it took just a few rides around the city for me to realise it is a crap bike... screws coming loose and fairly rattly/rickety and not super comfy. Good enough for yer basic shppping trip though and ok for going, say, from sukhumvit to lumphini. but with hindsight I would have preferred something nicer.

my rationale, however, was to get back into a mode of transport that helps me keep fit and save money at the same time... and to keep it basic. I agree with posters who believe that for 12k or 18k baht you had better buy a battered old 110cc honda dream/wave or something along those lines. def. more bang for your baht when it comes to transport... but none of the keep-fit benefits...

If I could spend my 2k baht again I would go for a bike from a small local shop, thai-made, not the dodgy ones form those supermarkets, which have totally inferior parts made in china and merely assembled in thailand. I didn't know any bike shop near my home when i bought my bike, otherwise i would have. I would then also have supported a small family-run shop and not a multinational chain with questionable ethics and staff that have zero know-how and offer no after-sales service whatsoever.

live&learn, cheap lesson to pay after all

[Zzinged]

Thanks for the advice.

On a side note, I thought this forum was about motorcycles in Thailand. There is a dedicated bicycle forum here http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/forum/156-cycling-in-thailand/

But on the other hand, the description for this forum reads, 'Biking and motorcycles in Thailand'. However it goes on to say, 'Post and read here about trips, modifications and accessories for motorbikes, questions about anything motorbike related.'

I think the forum admins need to make the forum description a bit less misleading

[JohnLeech]

The funny thing is that, misleading or not, its got more replies here than any of the threads in the Cycling Forum! Just goes to show what a helpful lot bikers are!

[nikster]

I had always been wondering why bicycles are so unpopular in Thailand's big cities..

Another reason is that It's hot. Nobody wants to arrive at work drenched in sweat. Sure you could do it, and many farangs do, but yes it's not comfortable.

Then again, there are currently two pro bicycle trends in Thailand right now: High end street bikes - lots of people in our fancy moo ban head out every morning, kitted out with the latest bikes and gear. Then they come back and drive their cars to work

The other trend is fixies - amazing designs for minimalist bikes without gears and brakes. Lots of hip young Thais ride these. They look awesome.

I think as Thailand gets more developed and people have more money, trends become more like in the west. In the countryside in Thailand (and presumably with poor Thais) bicycles are poor people's transport. In the cities and with better off Thais, high end bicycles are starting to catch on.

[coldfusionPaul]

fixies? that's pretty much pure fashion, little to do with cycling & more like a catwalk. helmet-less, brake-less, ignoring stop signs & traffic lights, those hipsters are more likely to end up in a hospital or dead than do much "riding".

to me there's very little "awesome" in those kids.

the bike snob has a pretty funny take here: http://bikesnobnyc.blogspot.com/2010/10/more-things-change-ushering-in-new.html

[Zzinged]

Cycling in Bangkok isn't really considered a form of transport if you have to get anywhere without leaving a 100m stench trail behind you.

For exercise though it's a viable option... if you happen to live nearby an area that's easy to cycle without you having to stop every 50m or weave around traffic. I have a friend who lives on Thong Lor and he's surprisingly close to good cycling spots.

[newbie83]

It's similar in Poland. Many people work their nuts off in order to buy a car (often on credit) and don't understand those who don't feel the need to brag about an expensive car and prefer to go everywhere by bike (with or without an engine) - for pleasure and/or in order to avoid traffic jams.

we in Wroclaw ride bicycles

[ttakata]

Out of boredom I've stumbled into some bicycle shops around BKK.

I agree a mountain bike would make sense for the crappy roads here, but then I saw how simple and pure the fixies looked, super cool.

Then I tried riding one, not cool at all.

You better have some strong knees to be able to ride a fixed gear without dying.

Don't worry they can be made to freewheel and have brakes and still look kinda clean, but the skinny tires/rims make me think they'll warp easy here.

Anyway there's this Thai website for anyone interested in fixie/single speed shops.

www.Bkkfixed.net

I was planning to get a simpler one for ~12-15000 baht, but stumbled onto this site.

www.tricktrack.org

These guys are hardcore freestylers that jump off stairs, roofs, and all that ridiculous stuff.

With fatter tires, a true trick bike may be able to stand up to the crappy roads here.

Personally, I've decided I'm going to build one all custom with a rigid mountain disc brake fork and a rear coaster brake.

It won't look so clean, but good brakes are more important than looking cool.

Then I'm going to paint it all flat black and sticker it so it looks like a piece of crap bike and hopefully no one will want to steal it.

[hpwheelman]

I've only ridden motorcycles in Bangkok, but done a lot of cycling in Australia. No idea on prices of local bikes, although there is a fellow importing electrically-motored bikes from China here on this forum that are apparently retailing at around 18,000 if I recall...

Anyway, only two safety tips to add to the advice already.

1. Buy a rear-view mirror to attach to your rhs-handlebar so that you can keep an eye on what is about to clout you from the rear, and

2. Take great care to stay at least 750mm away from slow moving or stopped traffic (if possible) as you ride through, because one unthinking taxi or car passenger opening a door onto you could be the door closing on your two-wheeled dreams, if not your life, depending on how fast you are riding at the time.

About that, I ride now (bicycle), and going through the cars worries me because I was in a taxi once when the driver next too us did just open his door, to spit, and a moped rider was shooting by at just the same time. Bike was messed up, rider bounced off the cars, busted at least his finders, and well, yeah. Not encouraging. Personally I'd rather get hit in the face with spit then lose my fingers because some taxi driver couldn't check traffic before opening his door. I should say all the cars were parked in the traffic that is normal here. If you ride, bike or bicycle, be careful.