Hello,
My Name is Bernhard Redl, from Austria and my plan is to cycle from Kunming through southeastasia.
I am looking for a touring bicycle.
The best would be second hand bike for me.
Does anyone know someone who sells a bicycle?
I am 1,87m tall.
I need also some equipment such as bags and this stuff.
Can someone help me please?
Thank you for your answer!
Bernhard
Godspeed Bernhard, sounds like an adventure!
Check out GoK's blogs regarding cycling across SE Asia from Kunming:
www.gokunming.com/en/blog/?search=cycling
Good luck on finding a bike & equipment! In the "Yunnan craft products" post I mentioned Taobao's flea market if you're able to read Chinese.
If no luck, Kunming bike shops may rent out or have their hands on old ones which you have to negotiate for:
Xiong Brothers ("Fat Tyre Fun, Kunming's oldest cycling club"):
here's another one:
Pegasus Cycling
www.gokunming.com/en/listings/item/33109/pegasus_cycling
Btw, your capital city "Paris of the East" was beautiful & quaint, and the Mozartkugel were yummy!
Hi Berni, good luck! I hope you find your bike here soon :-) Pegasus no longer operates in Kunming I think, I tried contacting them before but no luck. Bruce Xiong is great. There are lots of outdoor shops for bags etc.
If you read Chinese or have someone to help you, you could also check out an App called 'Leisure Fish???' 闲鱼, it's a second-hand buying and selling service (owned by Alibaba).
But it might be hard to find a large enough frame locally; Yunnan people are on average relatively short.
Best bet might be to buy a new Giant or Merida touring bike from Xiong Brothers or another local bike shop. They could probably order you a Surly, but I think the markup would be very high compared to the price in US or Europe. Good luck.
I think that the chance of finding a suitable bike for long distance touring at the flea markets are slim to zero.
You will be better off trying a bike specialist. I think even Xiong Bros have second hand bikes on occasion. They might also be able to put a bike together around second hand parts.
If you are on a budget, then even Decathlon has one or two bikes that might meet your needs as well as some touring gear.
You could check out their website first. OK they are not the greatest bikes, but at least you can buy with some degree of confidence that they will be fit for purpose. Unlike the Merida I bought, the shocks were trashed in under a year commuting on normal roads here.
@tiger
How do you know Xianyu is slim to none? Have you checked? I have.
A Kunming seller on the flea market is selling his/her Merida Challenge 300 for less than 2K, you can probably negotiate down to 1600rmb.
I've attached a pictures of his bike & description:
Bikes here fall in two categories: Cheap and expensive. The expensive bikes are for show-off and the more expensive the better (for show-off). It is however possible to buy a cheap bike which will do the job. I have one and it has been serving me for ten years and is still going strong. Did long trips with luggage on it as well over gravel roads and other bad surfaces. Mind you it is not up to a trip around the world without hiccups but it will do the job. Indeed frame sizes here are a problem but I am the same size as you and managed to find one without too much problems.
A bike like that will now cost something like 3000 RMB. This beats the cost of shipping your own bike in and out and makes it possible to abandon the bike at the end of the trip. You can buy bikes here under a 1000 RMB but usually not in the larger frame sizes.
And here's a screenshot of a bunch of Kunming sellers trying to get rid of their Giant bikes:
Many more, but screenshot could only capture a portion.
You can meet up with them and check out the bikes before final negotiation.
Xiong Brothers are praying you don't see this!
@bilingual
That picture shows not a "Travel Bicycle". I don't see any carrier racks nor strong points for them. This type of bike comes 13 in a dozen.
Like I said, just keep scrolling down but my screenshot was limited. Also, I made a rough search. It's just an example. You can find practically anything on this website.
Keep in mind those are asking prices. On Xianyu, sellers expect you to bargain fiercely, granted some won't budge.
-----
Furthermore, it's about how you refine your searches. You may have to type in Chinese, for example "美利达" for Merida or "捷安特" for Giant, etc...
Searching beyond Kunming may increase your odds, but without the luxury of checking item in person. Big items such as cars can still be shipped from other provinces.
Here's another screenshot example by typing "美利达:"
(click picture to zoom in)
