XL Size Bikes/Frames Avail here? (27 inch)

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

I'm TALL, and thus have a 27 inch frame road bike from the U.S. with 27 inch wheels.

 

It needs some repair and service after not being used for sometime. But I'm also going to consider whether buying new in BKK makes more sense.

 

Question is: is there anyone here selling road bikes in 27 inch frame/wheel sizes or similar?  Or everything is for regular sized folks?

[moonoi]

Largest road frame I've seen available in BKK is a Specialized S-Works Tarmac size 61, they had 2 in stock last month.

 

Other than that Trek sometimes carry larger sizes, everyone else it will be a special order that could take anything from 1 month to 9 months to arrive

 

 

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[TallGuyJohninBKK]

Thanks very much Moonoi...  Where/who had was the Tarmac you saw?

[moonoi]

Sportbicycle in U Chu Liang building opposite Lumphini Park


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[TallGuyJohninBKK]

Just a bit of a follow-up report:

 

I went out this morning with my beaten up old bike and paid my first ever visits to the Pro Bike shop and the Culture Cycliste shops that are both on Sarasin Road opposite Lumpini Park.

 

The Probike shop had a Trek FX2 bike, 25 inch frame, 2017 model, that they said is on sale now for 11,550b, regularly 15,900b. I test stood and sat it, and it seemed OK for my 6-8 inch frame, which I was pleasantly surprised by. And that was with the seat in the default height, without having to raise it up higher, which they could have done.

 

The Probike shop was modestly busy on a Monday late morning and had a Thai staff lady named Aey who spoke good English and was helpful. The Culture Cycliste shop had no customers and two staff, including one guy named Pond who spoke a modest amount of English, enough to have a basic bicycle chat.

 

To my surprise, both shops did a quick check and some minor adjustments on my bike for free. I was willing and expecting to pay something, but they both said, no charge. Which was very nice of them.  The actual service tech guys at ProBike seemed a bit harried and not really paying attention to what I was trying to accomplish.

 

On the other hand, the two guys at Culture Cycliste were open and responsive to having a conversation, and even took up my suggestion of swapping the current tires on my bike so the really bad/worn old one that needs replacing would be on the front, and the newer one that's in good shape would be on the back, so I can at least get a modest amount of riding until I find a suitable replacement.

 

I asked the ProBike tech who looked at my bike if anything else needed adjustment or replacement, and he said no.  Later at Culture Cycliste, once we got into the conversation, the main tech there advised that I also need to replace the old chain on my bike (which I already figured on my own) and eventually clean and service the wheel bearings, which I also figured I'd need to do, considering the advanced age of the bike and how long it's been sitting...  So, that Culture Cycliste advised that, and Probike didn't, is points for Culture Cycliste in my book.

 

As for finding a new 27 inch tire for my current 27 inch USA Schwinn bike, both shops generally suggested checking a place in Chinatown that they called the Sri Worachak Building, where they said I might find a shop that would have the parts I need. The CC guys in particular were talking about a shop they didn't know the name of that they said is located directly across from what they said was the Grand Hospital there????

 

 

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

Just to close the loop on this topic, I finally came back home today with two new Panaracer Pasela tires (27 x 1-1/4 inch) for my Schwinn U.S. 27-inch road bike that I was able to locate here in Bangkok, thanks to some very helpful advice along the way. I don't think the shop had any 27 inch bicycles/frames, but at least they had the replacement tires I needed.

 

The source for the Panaracer tires turned out to be a shop I'd never heard of before: Bovelo Bangkok Bike Shop on Vipavadi-Rangsit Rd., just below Sutthisan Road. Turns out, the shop apparently is a dealer/distributor for Panaracer in Thailand, so they said they carry a full line of Panaracer bicycle tires in various sizes. Had a lot of other stuff there as well, including some very nice looking bicycles and a lot of different kinds of gear.

 

My Panaracer tires came to 800b apiece, with thanks to a very nice and helpful staff person there by the name of "Bo," who speaks very good English, and earlier went back and forth with me via Facebook Messenger as I tried to determine originally if they had what I needed, and then arrange the details for me to come out there. The shop is just a 40-50 baht taxi ride from the Sutthisan MRT Station.

 

Here's the info and sites for the shop:

 

https://www.facebook.com/pg/BoVelo.Bangkok/about/

 

http://www.bvbangkok.com/contact.html

 

Also, giving credit where credit is due, I never would have known that Bovelo had the tires I needed if it wasn't for Victor, a manager at the Sport Bicycle shop in the former HSBC building on Rama IV near Silom Road. When I called their shop originally to ask if they had the tires I needed and they didn't, Victor volunteered to check around and try to find someplace that did, and came back to me later the same day with the recommendation of Bovelo. So much thanks there too.

 

[Nowisee]

On 4/10/2017 at 8:57 AM, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

I'm TALL, and thus have a 27 inch frame road bike from the U.S. with 27 inch wheels.

 

It needs some repair and service after not being used for sometime. But I'm also going to consider whether buying new in BKK makes more sense.

 

Question is: is there anyone here selling road bikes in 27 inch frame/wheel sizes or similar?  Or everything is for regular sized folks?

Not sure what a 27" inch frame is.  Measuring what?
What does TALL translate to in inch/cm?

What sort of cycling will you do?  I know you want a road bike, but do you do actual road rides of long distance 50-100k?  Beware of the racing bike mentality.  
Not sure what Schwinn bike you have or what year so can't really comment new versus fix it up.  
Occasionally a large frame shows up in the shops.

There are some great commuter bikes out there that can take a beating.   

Edited May 9, 2017 by Nowisee

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

20 hours ago, Nowisee said:

Not sure what a 27" inch frame is.  Measuring what?
What does TALL translate to in inch/cm?

What sort of cycling will you do?  I know you want a road bike, but do you do actual road rides of long distance 50-100k?  Beware of the racing bike mentality.  
Not sure what Schwinn bike you have or what year so can't really comment new versus fix it up.  
Occasionally a large frame shows up in the shops.

There are some great commuter bikes out there that can take a beating.   

I'm not a hard-core biker... just recreational riding for exercise, mainly the around the lake track at Benjakitti Park not far from my home in central BKK. I think the 1980s era Schwinn World Sport bike I have is considered a road bike. Back in the U.S., I used to ride it on the streets for long distances, but I won't do that here in BKK.

 

Re the frame, I just know it's termed a 27 inch bike, just the same as (but larger) other bikes are 25 or 21 inch models. When the bike people talk about that, I'm not sure if they're talking about the frame size or the wheel size. In my case, my bike has 27 inch wheels. And as I mentioned above, I was able to find the replacement tires that I needed from the Bovelo shop in the Sutthisan area. I'm tall (6-7) and have long legs, hence the big bike.

 

As this point, I've got everything back working with my Schwinn and was out riding it this past week for the first time in a long time. So it looks like I'll be able to continue with my own rejuvenated bike instead of having to wrestle with finding a new one. The total repairs and new parts needed ended up costing me about 6,000b. Just hoping nothing else breaks or wears out too soon.

 

This below is pretty close to the bike I brought from the U.S. and am now riding here again:

 

[Nowisee]

Looks like one I had in 1977.

 

It sounds like your bike is serving it purpose for you now.  Enjoy.

 

I was up in Chiang Rai this weekend and they just happened to have a 21.5" mtb...AND it was on sale.  I snagged it up.  They boxed it up and shipped down to Chiang Mai for me.  
The nicest people and they run a great shop.   

 

[CNXBKKMAN]

On 10/04/2017 at 2:48 PM, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

Just a bit of a follow-up report:

 

I went out this morning with my beaten up old bike and paid my first ever visits to the Pro Bike shop and the Culture Cycliste shops that are both on Sarasin Road opposite Lumpini Park.

 

The Probike shop had a Trek FX2 bike, 25 inch frame, 2017 model, that they said is on sale now for 11,550b, regularly 15,900b. I test stood and sat it, and it seemed OK for my 6-8 inch frame, which I was pleasantly surprised by. And that was with the seat in the default height, without having to raise it up higher, which they could have done.

 

The Probike shop was modestly busy on a Monday late morning and had a Thai staff lady named Aey who spoke good English and was helpful. The Culture Cycliste shop had no customers and two staff, including one guy named Pond who spoke a modest amount of English, enough to have a basic bicycle chat.

 

To my surprise, both shops did a quick check and some minor adjustments on my bike for free. I was willing and expecting to pay something, but they both said, no charge. Which was very nice of them.  The actual service tech guys at ProBike seemed a bit harried and not really paying attention to what I was trying to accomplish.

 

On the other hand, the two guys at Culture Cycliste were open and responsive to having a conversation, and even took up my suggestion of swapping the current tires on my bike so the really bad/worn old one that needs replacing would be on the front, and the newer one that's in good shape would be on the back, so I can at least get a modest amount of riding until I find a suitable replacement.

 

I asked the ProBike tech who looked at my bike if anything else needed adjustment or replacement, and he said no.  Later at Culture Cycliste, once we got into the conversation, the main tech there advised that I also need to replace the old chain on my bike (which I already figured on my own) and eventually clean and service the wheel bearings, which I also figured I'd need to do, considering the advanced age of the bike and how long it's been sitting...  So, that Culture Cycliste advised that, and Probike didn't, is points for Culture Cycliste in my book.

 

As for finding a new 27 inch tire for my current 27 inch USA Schwinn bike, both shops generally suggested checking a place in Chinatown that they called the Sri Worachak Building, where they said I might find a shop that would have the parts I need. The CC guys in particular were talking about a shop they didn't know the name of that they said is located directly across from what they said was the Grand Hospital there????

 

 

I am guessing the hospital is the BMA general hospital on Lan Luang Road . Just up from the hospital towards the intersection with Worachak Road are many small bike shops some of which are distributors. I believe this was Bangkoks original bike shop street. If it's not local to your part of Bangkok though it's not worth travelling to. 

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

10 hours ago, CNXBKKMAN said:

I am guessing the hospital is the BMA general hospital on Lan Luang Road . Just up from the hospital towards the intersection with Worachak Road are many small bike shops some of which are distributors. I believe this was Bangkoks original bike shop street. If it's not local to your part of Bangkok though it's not worth travelling to. 

Thanks, yes, that's the place!  I ended up solving my supply problem elsewhere before I needed to go down to that neighborhood.

 

But for the bike-curious, it does sound like an interesting place to take a wander thru, sometime, with a lot of different vendors in the area.