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Hi all. I was hoping there would be more info on the forum about bicycling. Couldn’t really find one, so how about making this thread for all cycling related stuff. The questions I have:
— Are there any good Local Bike Shops that do good repairs?
— Any shops where parts are available for a bike I would bring from back home?
— Any organized groups for riding? (I’m usually a roadie, but am thinking of bringing my MTB if the trails are nice around Chengdu)
— Do they have mountain bike trails in Chengdu?
— Do they have bike paths for road riding?
Anyway, would love to get some feedback. I’m no pro, but love to get out when I can, so any info would be helpful! Thx!
Hey cool to see this post. Definitely a lot of riding around Chengdu both mountain and road. Here are a few answers:
–Not really. I mostly do my own wrenching. If you aren’t a very experienced mechanic maybe PM me or something. I wouldn’t trust most shops here with my bikes.
–Kind of same as above, there are some but there spare parts are generally limited (tubes, cables, brake pads are no problem). taobao.com is usually the best bet for other stuff.
–Not that I know of but I am sure there are some. There are enough people riding here that there must be although probably more road oriented than mountain. Or riding mountain bikes on the road, that seems to be most popular.
–There are trails outside the city in the hills and farmland. Usually to ride them it is a whole day out of the city so if I have a day I ride my mountain bike if I only have a morning or afternoon I just do a road ride near the city. If you get to Chengdu and want to ride some trails PM me and we can set up a time to ride.
–Yes and no. The south seems to be better and they are building some out near 3rd ring road in the southeast. It’s usually best to get out of the city and ride countryside roads which is pretty easy to do. Bring heavier wheels/tires, I run old OpenPro rims and 25 hard-case tires.
Hope that helps. Would also like to hear from other people about there experiences.
I like the bike on your picture (look like a fixedgear) ! Ive got one here back home but I’d like to have a racing bike in Chengdu… only thing is I’m afraid it will get stolen. They even steal parts of bikes right :O like bike saddles, tyres etc…. And is there any place where u can buy those ? Do they even sell bikes of a decent size ? I saw most guys cycling girls bikes which the size would be considered that of a kiddos bike
Quote:I like the bike on your picture (look like a fixedgear) ! Ive got one here back home but I’d like to have a racing bike in Chengdu… only thing is I’m afraid it will get stolen. They even steal parts of bikes right :O like bike saddles, tyres etc…. And is there any place where u can buy those ? Do they even sell bikes of a decent size ? I saw most guys cycling girls bikes which the size would be considered that of a kiddos bikeYou can buy all that stuff on Taobao. There are some local shops that sell bike parts, but most are at a vastly inflated price. I walked around the Giant store yesterday, everything was priced ridiculously (with a few exceptions, virtually everything was 4,000 – 45,000 yuan).
Anyone got a bike for sale, by the way?
That bike in my photo is a Surly Cross-Check cyclocross bike. Thanks for all the information guys. I don’t arrive in Chengdu until August, but would absolutely love to ride and learn the best places not to get run over by a truck or bus!
@Charlie: check out the Merida stores. My last 3 bikes have been Merida and i’ve been satisfied every time (i found that for a lower price than Giant you get slightly better, sometimes identical components). For example, the Merida Warrior is the entry level bike, and can still be found for about 1200-1400 kuai. It’s the one i’ve had for the past two years and i do alot of k’s on it weekly, with no problems. if you jump up slightly in price, about 1500-1600 kuai, you can get a Warrior Pro which has disk brakes (recommended). It uses Shimano 7 series gears which are pretty smooth and reliable. The shocks are not much, but who needs shocks in the city? It’s a good bike but not TOO good ie. it probably won’t get stolen in the first week.
It seems strange, as almost all bikes and components are manufactured in China, it would be interesting to find a place that steals/stocks the highest of the high components fro cheap…possible? or?
@Charlie: there’s a small Merida shop on Kehua beilu, basically opposite the huge Giant shop. Those guys also do good repairs.
Cool you got a cross bike. Will be perfect for riding around here and exploring some of the more beat up roads and stuff. Do you race any cross back home? Nothing out in Chengdu that I know of but Shanghai area does have a small cross series. There are plenty of knock-off parts, so much that buying illegal genuine parts could be a real time drain sorting through all of the fake stuff as well. I’ve never really tried, I would think the coastal cities would be easier for that since that is where the stuff is made, not in Chengdu.
Sup fellow two wheeled freaaaks
It can be hard to get high quality parts here but I have a friend who sources the stuff. And he also took part in the Paris-Brest-Paris 1200km Brevet with the first ever Chinese team. Supposedly he opened up a shop in the west I’ll get info soon.
Personally I haven’t invested in bikes here (bikes in USA worth more than my car) and I had a Giant touring bike with the cool handles that was stolen after 3 weeks and just some short trips to Dujiangyan.
been riding a 2008 BENDA road bike, replaced almost every part on its locked in high gear like singlespeed but at least no one want to steal it.
btw, if you are a big dude, invest in a solid pair of gloves to prevent pain and numbness in your hands/ ulnar nerve. lost feeling in my hands for 3 months after a 300km ride to Wenchuan in 2009.
just wrote 900 words to a new CL post on cycling in china. hope to have it done next week 😛
looking for crotchless seat. haven’t found any in chengdu yet. Time to show some respect to the ‘nads. Possibly more info than you guys wanted?
True that Ray, I have a Specialized “body geometry” seat on my gary fisher mt. bike at home.
Perhaps Taobao would have something?
Crotchless seats are better than wears bike shorts AKA spandex dipers. they do save the nads tho. i love me some bike shorts
@Elias: the crotchless seat take any getting used to? I’ve heard it can be kinda weird the first few times? yeah, i read a disturbing article about the damage bike seats can do to one’s stones. Alas, 20 years too late….but time to liberate my guys!
Never rode one of the ones with a big hole, but mine has a nice slice towards the end. pair that with a bike shorts and slogging through those stumps, rockwalls and swamps aren’t so bad anymore. although its better to be off your seat!
if your nads hurt, it’s deffo a bike “fit” issue. could be anything from handle bars being too low, seat angle or height, or too small/too big bike frame. Best way would be too google “fitting your bicycle” or something like that or cruise one of the several popular biking forums out there. Absolutely agree with Elias, biking shorts help a LOT, or at least wear super-tight undies and kinda pull the boys “up.”
@ Stephen–no I don’t ride competitively, but I do ride 10-15 hours a week weather/time allowing.
@Brian: no pain or discomfort in the stones, but recent studies have shown possible long-term repercussions from riding on conventional saddles. A guy put it this way: “imagine if someone designed a chair where the majority of the body weight rested on the testes, rather than on the buttocks or the coxyc. People would throw him out of design school. Yet that;s the way people, have always ridden on bikes”.
I recently acquired a “vintage” Forever Bike from Shanghai and I want to turn it into a sweet hipster summer ride.
Single Gear not fixed.
Anybody know a good parts shop in town?
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