Job Discussion Forums

blendergasket · Posted: Mon Oct 10, 2005 4:40 am Post subject: price/usefulness of bicycle

Hello, I have been reading this forum for quite a while and want to thank everyone for giving me so much information that will be help me get by when I get to BA. I am attending the EBC TEFL class in November and am then hoping to stick around for a while. My question is this: I am wondering if anyone has had experience with bicycles in BA. Here in Washington state my bicycle is my primary mode of transportation when weather allows and I would love to be able to ride around in Buenos Aires. Does anyone have any experience with cycling in Buenos Aires? I've found a little info and it's been pretty mixed. How much are bicycles? What's it like riding around the city? Is it possible to take my bike on public transportation? Has anyone had experience bringing their bike from the United States?

Any info would be much appreciated. Thanks.

carlos-england · Posted: Mon Oct 10, 2005 11:12 am Post subject:

I wouldn't even attempt to ride a bicicyle in
Buenos Aires... the traffic is nuts! the chances of you
being impaled on the front of a big multi coloured
bus are quite big if you decide to use a bike as
transportation.

Brings me to a story of my first day back in Capital
Federal when I was out on a crossroads at Avenida la Plata in Cabalitto
and I was waiting to walk across a pedestrian crossing when the lights
suddenly changed to red for the incoming traffic on one section
of the crossroads, not that it bothered this fella who was riding
his motorbike without a helmet with a cigarette in his mouth he
decided just to go through on red anyway. Until he saw this huge
bus trundling into his path at 100mph. He skidded frantically
to a stop, cigarette flying out of his gob hair flying in all directions
while I covered my eyes with my hands in horror. The bloke just
missed getting splattered by about a foot... chaos rules the roads
in Argentina. Besides public transport is very cheap and safe.

srp · Joined: 04 Dec 2004 Posts: 30 Location: Buenos Aires

I actually think a bike is a good idea. Public transportation is good and cheap, but its definately not comfortable. I almost bought one here, the only reason I didnt is because I have no place to keep it in my apartment. I was offered a used one that seemed to be in good condition for 200 pesos, but I only looked at one place so I don't know how that price compares.

snielz · Joined: 05 Apr 2005 Posts: 165 Location: Buenos Aires

Ahh, c�mon Carlos! Sure, the drivers are homicidal but this isn�t Italy, for cryin� out loud.

Blender, I would say to buy a bike, but not to use it every day going to work and such because, as Carlos put it, the roads are very hectic and people don�t really pay attention to the lanes. Also, taxis and buses are constantly pulling over to the side of the road to pick up people and then whipping it back in to the traffic so you are no safer on the side of the road.

Nonetheless, during times that are slower, such as the weekends, and to some extent on smaller roads, I think a bike would be great. I have never seen a bike on a bus. They don�t have racks for them on the outside and taking it inside is out of the question. However, you usually can take them on the trains if you want to, say, go to Tigre for the day and bike around. Also, there are great expanses of green and even a bike/pedestrian path along the River in the Palermo Woods, and biking around Costenera Sur would be fantastic.

In the States I used a bike to get to work. I probably won�t here, but now that it is Spring, I am going to use my next paycheck to buy a bike. I wouldn�t bring my bike from the US unless you have a $5000 racing bike and are going to do some serious biking. It will be really expensive and bikes here are cheap and just fine for riding around the city. I am starting to look for one and it seems the prices for a very basic bike start around $100 pesos and you can get a nice bike for cruising around the city for a couple of hundred. I am sure this is less than the cost of shipping and less of a hassle too. But then, maybe your bike has some pink and white tassles on the ends of the handle bars that you can�t live without...

sqwerl · Joined: 01 Jun 2005 Posts: 72 Location: Buenos Aires

I have ridden around capital about four times on my bike.

I once went to a bike shop to look at mountain bikes, they looked decent ... and I believe the cheapest was 500 or 600 pesos. I�m sure you can get the single geared ones for much cheaper than that.

I don�t think I would recommend it. Everytime I ride, I am scared for my life hahaha.
It is looked down on to ride bikes on the sidewalks, but I often did it anyways.

The streets are just too chaotic. It would be ok if you only took it to San Isidro or somewhere more relaxed, but I can�t picture riding a bike everyday. If you take it on the interior roads and not on Santa Fe and whatnot, you should be relatively safe .. but still.

I have seen so many biciclists coming close to getting hit, but have never seen anyone in an accident. They say 60 percent of traffic fatalities in city are pedestrians ..

matttheboy · Joined: 01 Jul 2003 Posts: 854 Location: Valparaiso, Chile

Buy a bike. It's by far the best way to get to know the city. saturdays and sundays are really quiet and great for cycling. Go around the ecological reserve, cycle up to palermo through the parks, out into the quieter neighbourhoods you'd never otherwise go to. You'll see far more of the city than you could ever see by just walking. I got a half decent mountain bike (21 gears) for 350 pesos...new.

Cycling during the week is, er, interesting. Rather like an extreme sport, i actually quite enjoy it. You just have to learn to look back over your shoulder every 3 seconds to make sure a taxi or a bus isn't going (rather, deliberately trying) to mow you down. And look ahead at the same time to make sure a bus or a taxi hasn't (deliberately) pulled out to cut you off. It's also quite fun to smack the windows or windscreens of cars that have cut you off, it makes a hell of bang for the buggers inside and tends to scare the sh it out of them...

blendergasket · Posted: Tue Oct 11, 2005 2:22 am Post subject: thanks for the info.

Thank you. I think I'll cut the pink and white tassles off my bike and leave the rest here. It's $160 or $180 US to take it both ways on United so it sounds cheaper to buy one down there. Riding it sounds like an adventure. I'm excited.

carlos-england · Posted: Tue Oct 11, 2005 2:21 pm Post subject:

I wouldn't ride a bike around Buenos Aires
for a gold clock especially when the subte fare
is 70 centavos for one trip. Sod that... getting impaled
on the bumper of some manic peugeot taxi is not
a cultural experience I would be looking for, but each to
their own...

What I suggest is to check out the state of the traffic when
you get here and report back to us if you decide to use your
bike amongst the chaos Smile

guillebaires · Posted: Tue Oct 11, 2005 11:27 pm Post subject:

check http://listado.mercadolibre.com.ar/_CategID_1292_JSEA for bikes!

blendergasket · Posted: Wed Oct 12, 2005 9:19 pm Post subject: Thanks!

Thanks for all the info and the link! Now I know waste money bringing down my bike when i can buy one cheaper.

Luder · Joined: 10 Jul 2004 Posts: 74

I bought three fairly nice bikes while I was in Buenos Aires, but only very rarely did I use them to go to work (usually when I was working on Saturdays in the vacation months of January and February). First, the traffic, as about every other poster has mentioned, is murderous, and since this is Latin America, might makes right. And about half of the year you'd get to work hot and sweaty and have nowhere to leave your bike. I couldn't bring mine into the building where I worked and if I locked it up outside things got picked off of it (quick-release skewers, for example).

There's also the pollution. From the bus on the way to work I used to see this guy pedaling slowly down avenida Santa F� on a beat-up old bike and wearing a full WWI-style gas mask. I used to love seeing him. Has anybody seen him recently? I don't even know why I ask. He's surely been run into the ground. The lifespan of the porte�o cyclist is very short. Another character used to dress up like Elvis and do endless laps of the rose garden in Palermo. Ah, Buenos Aires!

I used my bikes for weekend rides (Sunday mornings in the Palermo parks or off the costanera sur or to Tigre, through San Isidro, sometimes continuing on the boat to Carmelo, Uruguay, riding to Colonia, then taking the ferry back to BA, and all in one long day). I also went on magnificent multi-day trips in distant provinces. But riding to work in the city just isn't pleasant; I'd even go so far as to say it's quite dangerous. I had two serious accidents, one of them involving broken bones.

carlos-england · Posted: Mon Jan 02, 2006 2:50 am Post subject:

Yes, yes, yes... new years day and I'm stuck on the net
back in England... however...

Did this lady survive her bicycle ride from hell?
or was she sent arse over tit by a flying black and yellow
peugeot into making a more sensible transportation choice?
I guess the latter! who wants to put some money on it? Cool

I hope she paid up on her health insurance! don't worry luv
we all learn our mistakes the hard way... let us know how you
got on!