What Bicycle Do You Ride In Thailand?

[GarryP]

Used to? Implying you don't ride anymore, or you've ditched Bianchi?

Or even worse.....left Thailand?

I've switched to a BMC

I knew nothing about BMC before but having now checked out their website have seen a number of interesting models, including their urban via GT models and their disc brake fitted road bikes with Ultergra setup. Very interesting indeed. Are their prices fair in Thailand?

[Babooshka]

I knew nothing about BMC before but having now checked out their website have seen a number of interesting models, including their urban via GT models and their disc brake fitted road bikes with Ultergra setup. Very interesting indeed. Are their prices fair in Thailand?

I bought mine outside Thailand so I am not aware of local dealer's prices. But their bicycles are very nice indeed.

Disc brake Gran Fondo 2 seems a little heavy compared to its elder brother - GF 1 due to Aluminium frame and heavy wheels. And it is fitted with Shimano mechanical brakes. There are other manufacturers that offer road bikes equipped with disk brakes and BMC is not a leader. GF 1 has hydraulic brakes, carbon frame and rims, so it is another league.

[moonoi]

Used to? Implying you don't ride anymore, or you've ditched Bianchi?

Or even worse.....left Thailand?

I've switched to a BMC

I knew nothing about BMC before but having now checked out their website have seen a number of interesting models, including their urban via GT models and their disc brake fitted road bikes with Ultergra setup. Very interesting indeed. Are their prices fair in Thailand?

Like all "European" bike brands in Thailand, BMC comes with a nice premiun attached, the other problem, even if you've got the money, they don't bring in all the models, and the sizes available are not so great if you're a bit lanky. Mostly they bring in the SLR road bike and TMR time trial and a few of the MTBs locally.

[A1Str8]

Hayabusa.

[GarryP]

Unfortunately, I am a bit lanky. When I bought my Giant I had to order it as they did not stock L (Giant's sizing S, M, L, XL) and waited two months or so before it was delivered to Worldbike from Taiwan.

[Babooshka]

Unfortunately, I am a bit lanky. When I bought my Giant I had to order it as they did not stock L (Giant's sizing S, M, L, XL) and waited two months or so before it was delivered to Worldbike from Taiwan.

My experience shows that BMC bikes are a little... (language barrier) for taller people than, for example, Italians.

I ride 53 size being 180 cm tall. I would even chose 50 size if I were pro racer to sit more aggressively ))

So 55 is already for people above average stature, despite the website recommends otherwise, and 57 or 59 sizes (56 - 58 for some models) are for really tall riders. Taylor Phinney rides a 58 size (speaking about Gran Fondo that you did like) and he is 197 cm tall.

There is also 61 size.

Edited August 7, 2014 by Babooshka

[moonoi]

Unfortunately, I am a bit lanky. When I bought my Giant I had to order it as they did not stock L (Giant's sizing S, M, L, XL) and waited two months or so before it was delivered to Worldbike from Taiwan.

I did the same, from the same place. I actually wanted to order a Pinarello Dogma 65.1 Think 2, but Bike Station didn't want to take my money and order the size frame I wanted. I'm now the proud owner of a Giant TCR Advanced SL ISP in the old Team Rabobank colourway

Size L is 55.5cm according to Giant btw, but with a sloping geometry so equivalent to 58 for traditional geometry

[Babooshka]

do they produce new frames in Rabo color scheme, or it is a NOS frame equipped with modern groupset?

Anyway looks beautiful. Always loved the Rabo colors much more than new Belkin.

[moonoi]

Although an official 2013 model year bike, it's probably a NOS frameset Giant decided to build up with the latest Dura-ace groupset, full spec is here http://www.giant-bicycles.com/en-in/bikes/model/tcr.advanced.sl.rabobank.isp/11594/55981/#specifications only difference is mine came with a US spec saddle (carbon instead of K:ium rails)

Would have preferred the wheelset from the previous years model (Dura-ace C50) though

[Cloggie]

Proud owner of a Trek Fuel EX5 - with tubeless tyres.

Edited August 28, 2014 by Cloggie

[sendbaht]

When it's raining hard early morning and I still need a workout...this is my bike... I sent this to a friend a while back, The arrows are pointing to the banana forests on the hill.

Edited September 11, 2014 by sendbaht

[pgrahmm]

Trek Hybrid 7300....but I'll be d*mned of I can get it to register in the poll....nothing changes the count or %.....

Edited September 24, 2014 by pgrahmm

[BirdsandBooze]

B&B

"although I do spin out around 30mph"

I can believe you - a quick calculation makes that a cadence of nearly 160rpm

30kph?

30mph. I can spin at that cadence for about 15 seconds, not difficult on flat ground. I could do 30kph all day long

[bobfish]

B&B

"although I do spin out around 30mph"

I can believe you - a quick calculation makes that a cadence of nearly 160rpm

30kph?

30mph. I can spin at that cadence for about 15 seconds, not difficult on flat ground. I could do 30kph all day long

Well done!!

Edited October 12, 2014 by bobfish

[BirdsandBooze]

B&B

"although I do spin out around 30mph"

I can believe you - a quick calculation makes that a cadence of nearly 160rpm

30kph?

30mph. I can spin at that cadence for about 15 seconds, not difficult on flat ground. I could do 30kph all day long

Well done!!

Thank you sir. A low geared ss/fixie works great in Bangkok as it's even more manouverable and quicker through heavy traffic than a scooter My shoulders are my whiskers .

[Urban Cycle]

I ride:

- Osso Japan Rapido (singlespeed commuter ride)

- 2 x Peugeot PX 10

- Motobecane Grand Touring

- Merida Cyclocross 4

[Urban Cycle]

B&B

"although I do spin out around 30mph"

I can believe you - a quick calculation makes that a cadence of nearly 160rpm

30kph?

30mph. I can spin at that cadence for about 15 seconds, not difficult on flat ground. I could do 30kph all day long

Well done!!

Thank you sir. A low geared ss/fixie works great in Bangkok as it's even more manouverable and quicker through heavy traffic than a scooter My shoulders are my whiskers .

VERY TRUE, I owe one Osso Japan rapido and I take 35 min door to door (vs 45min with my Vespa and 1h30 with my car or bts/airportlink/taxi)

[eeeya]

trek 4300, not happy the forks are rusting on the chrome! not even a year old

[bobfish]

Putting a bigger tire on the front helps single track handling quite a bit and I got turned on to that decades ago when I was into racing. The trend in the USA is going to much larger tires as it does give you a lot more forgiveness when you hit ruts or loose areas. My 2.25 in the front is pretty small by today's standards.

There are those that hate and those that love the Mantra design. It is known for its single track climbing ability as the angles get steeper if you get out of the saddle. That allows you to have more control climbing very steep terrain. Those days are a bit behind me now, but another feature of this bike is a single pivot point. Most fully suspended bikes have several bearings that all will need service eventually. I have never serviced my pivot pin on any of my seven Mantras until I was repainting and rebuilding the bike. The only tools I need to work on this bike are a crankset wrench, allen tool, and a cable cutter. I am rather tall and hard to fit and this bike fits me perfectly so that is why I am stuck on this design. I also like a bike that doesn't need a lot of maintenance so I can be out there in the woods rather than working on the bike!

Looks a sturdy and simple design as you say. I'm wondering how it descends...? If you get out (behind) of the seat, it looks like there's going to be too much unsprung weight for the suspension to be active and you're left with the steep angle. How's work in practice?

[chiangmaiexpat]

(deleted)

Edited October 23, 2014 by chiangmaiexpat

[Assurancetourix]

Hi everybody,

Didn't saw that line about cycling in Thailand...

have to buy new glasses

French -- nobody is perfect --65 years old , retired in Sakon Nakhon province, not far from Sawang daen Din ;

When I go for a bike race I am in Sawang Team where I'm the only farang with many thai people which are all my friends.

My pleasure is to discover roads around my village, nearly always alone...and shot photo of cars, trucks and coaches ( my ancient job ) , Wat in the forests or at the top of a hill...

I bought a Wheeler Pro 10 frame 22" , a little bit short for me , I'm 6" 5 high ! about 4 years ago in Pattaya ; I did already more than 50.000 km all around Thailand but never south of Bangkok .

On the photo, I'm at the top of Phupalek National Park -- 622 m high -- close to Song_Dao, about 25 km from my village .

The road to go there is an excellent asphalt ;

4,8 km climb , ascent average 10% ; sometimes more ..

I cycle between 1.000 and 1200 km a month .

Sometimes more; In 2011 august I did with a thai friend a big tour from Phangkhon ( Sakon province ) to Bangkok and after we went to Chainat, Tak Chiang Mai, Phayao...Nan -- Na_Noi, Pak_Nai fishing people village; the ferry , only for pedestrians and bicycles.-- Na_Haeo, border Lao -- Chiang_Khan -- Nong_Khai Bueng_Kan -- Phangkhon ;

2,700 km /20 days ; yes we are crazy

the site is in french but u can understand the photos

http://thailande.ze-forum.com/t73-Grand-tour-de-Thailande-du-12-au-30-aout-2011.htm

Happy to meet more friends here on TVF

[mraitchison]

Eastway CX 2.0 with upgraded Shimano CX mech disks.

[anon7867763]

Surley LHT , it can do just about everything and anything.The perfect all round bike !

[rebo]

Just got my son last week.

This brings this indian quality product to my mind: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=544820458895195&set=a.544719298905311.1073741828.544698088907432&type=1&theater but on your pic I like the position of the rear fender more ...

Especially the fork seems to be something special: http://www.alibaba.com/product-gs/801787420/alloy_front_fork_ECA_326ST.html

Wish you an always safe ride ...

We see your son ready for being sold. After not a single year ...! Such a hot bike http://classifieds.thaivisa.com/hobbies/sport-and-leisure/hot-bike-for-sale-221126.html ... Did you find something better?

[StreetCowboy]

I've changed my vote.

I've been riding a road bike (strictly speaking, marketed as a cyclocross bike) for the last few months

in lieu of my mountain bike.

I reckon the mountain bike's better for riding back from the pub, late at night, though.

SC

[villagefarang]

Thanks for the reminder. I have switched from mountain bike to road bike so updated my selection. Truth is I haven't been riding much, though. Too many trips to Chiang Mai and Bangkok, plus the pollution is getting worse so I will probably stick with the MTB on the trainer for the duration of this smoky season. I only have an older picture which doesn't show the most recent upgrades.

Edited March 6, 2016 by villagefarang

[CNXBKKMAN]

Just got my son last week.

This brings this indian quality product to my mind: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=544820458895195&set=a.544719298905311.1073741828.544698088907432&type=1&theater but on your pic I like the position of the rear fender more ...

Especially the fork seems to be something special: http://www.alibaba.com/product-gs/801787420/alloy_front_fork_ECA_326ST.html

Wish you an always safe ride ...

We see your son ready for being sold. After not a single year ...! Such a hot bike http://classifieds.thaivisa.com/hobbies/sport-and-leisure/hot-bike-for-sale-221126.html ... Did you find something better?

15,000 baht for that bike is too much basically because you can buy a much better brand new MTB like a Trek,Merida or Giant for less.

[Tonto21]

Hey..... I'm at a loose end, I've also changed my bikes since last posting...... I have a Trek 5.5 and my newbie is a Santa Cruz 5010 CC.... Which I really like..... Happy riding all!

[SooKee]

Me and the gf recently got our Trek 7.3 hybrids. Mainly used for touring round soaking up the scenery, carting cameras around at the same time so the hybrid style suits us more then MTB or road bike. Mainly went with Trek due to the availability of larger frames (for me) and the general ease of finding a dealer. Trek seems to benefit from some import arrangement that makes them good value here too.

When we were looking round I quite liked the Fuji bikes I saw. Trouble is the supplier didn't have any large frames that he could let the dealer have, so we ended up going with Trek. Can't be easy for dealers if they have a crap supply chain. No matter how nice their bike is, if you can't get the range of frame sizes? But I guess most dealers get by here with just small and medium frame sizes. Bianchi looks to be good and readily available here too, as does Specialized, but we never go to see any of those.

We stuck Topeak Super Tourist racks on the back. Great for the trunk bags with drop down panniers. Topeak also do a nifty basket that can clip and lock on to the rack. Great for market trips.

Edited March 31, 2016 by SooKee

[moonoi]

Here's my latest ride and me riding it ;-)