Interested in buying a new mountain bike (budget under THB 10K)

[ozgolfguy]

Looking for a low cost entry MTB for leisure cycling in the country (south of Rayong) - any suggestions? Is my budget unrealistic?

[n210mp]

Hi I think that you may well be just a tad under budget for a middle quality bike

Anything under the 10K price will result ,maybe in a chinese bike of reasonable but not endurable quality but the old saying that you get what you pay for here is correct

Up to 20K is a more sensible price area where the quality of most of the well tried and tested MTBs are priced

May I ask what type of biking you are going to be doing because it is all relative to what your best type of bike would be

For instance I have an Haro Hybrid 29er (Half MTB and half road bike)that came with massive tyres but could also take a much smaller road type tyre that makes road biking as distinct from jungle trailing much easier on the body

The Haro cost at the time 15K baht but there is plenty of second hand bike for sale in Baht&sold Asia and also indeed in Thai visa classified

There is also a FB site for bike for sale in and around Pattaya so maybe you could look that up as well

here it is

https://www.facebook.com/groups/buysellbicyclethailand/

Edited August 30, 2015 by n210mp

[mogandave]

There is a bike shop on the right hand side of On Nut as you go past (over) Srinakarin toward the airport.

Pretty good range of products in just about all ranges.

[CNXBKKMAN]

A Trek 3700 is a nice bike and can be bought for 12500 new. You can change the tyres quite cheaply to 26x1.5 road versions and it becomes more nippy and like a hybrid/tourer. The tyres it comes with are fine though. Two bikes in one with just a change of tyres. Much better than a Coyote or a Trinx and easier to sell if you need to in the future.

[Liquorice]

I considered getting a road bike, but as most of pot holes, dust and poor road surface finishing are all in the cycle lanes, plus plenty of grit roads around the villages, so I decided a MTB was a better option.

You also need to allow for extras, helmet, water bottle, pump, toe clips, etc.

You could squeeze everything into a 10,000 baht budget, but your not likely to get suspension or disc brakes with it.

I settled on a Giant MTB, suspension, disc brakes, 29 gears and knocked them down to 15,000.

Spent another 3,000 on extras, but I'm happy with what I've got.

Prices similar to Europe, but look for reduced end of line stock, or even second hand if you want a bargain.

[impulse]

I know I'm going to catch crap for this, but the MTB's at TESCO and/or Big C are in that price range and they're not bad quality. Plus they have the benefit of being available all over Thailand. No need to spend hours or days looking for that one bike shop...

They have nicely welded frames, decent components and look to be a great value in the 7,000-9,000 baht range. Just make sure they're sized comfortably for you, because they only seem to have one frame size in each model- though I didn't ask.

(They have absolute crap bikes down to 2,000 baht, too- but those aren't the ones I'm talking about.) They're a "house brand" so you won't be impressing the chicks with the label...but who cares?

For my money, though- I shopped Craigslist, Bahtsold and the TVF classifieds and got better deals on used bikes from folks liquidating to leave the country. Amazing what deals are available when someone has a flight back home this weekend....

[Skyboogie]

http://bangkok.craigslist.co.th/search/bia

I just bought a bike on Craigslist. Try your luck there.

[ozgolfguy]

To all who responded, many thanks for your suggestions and comments. I just purchased a new Giant ATX 27.5 for THB 14,000 and quite pleased with the results so far. Obviously buying a bike is a personal choice and I appreciate your inputs, they were a great help in narrowing down my options to a few makes and models. Cheers!

[bobfish]

Great choice! Enjoy.

[mogandave]

To all who responded, many thanks for your suggestions and comments. I just purchased a new Giant ATX 27.5 for THB 14,000 and quite pleased with the results so far. Obviously buying a bike is a personal choice and I appreciate your inputs, they were a great help in narrowing down my options to a few makes and models. Cheers!

Where did you get it?

[ozgolfguy]

I picked it up at a bike shop in Ban Phe (near Koh Samet) called Jakkayan (038-652-767)