Korean Job Discussion Forums

[ciannagh]

Hi all,

I'm going to be moving to Gimhae (a suburb of Busan) in a month or so. I'm big into biking here in Wisconsin during the summer (I usually do 100+ a week) when the weather is nice, and I'm hoping to do the same in Korea. I have an old steel frame racing bike that I use here that I unfortunately will be leaving behind in a storage unit.

Can anyone give me advice on buying a bike in Korea? I know what to look for in a bike, but are good road bikes really expensive or hard to find?

Has anyone done any bike touring or distance riding in Korea and could tell me their experience?

Also, anyone looking for a biking buddy during the summer/fall?

[furtakk]

Look up Han River Riders on facebook. Lots of knowledgeable longtermers there. As for buying a bike here, obviously some markup, but not too bad if you buy brands that have a big presence here (Giant, Specialized, Canonndale, etc).

[World Traveler]

Maybe you'll meet these dudes:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uc--caIUgnI
[1:25-]

[young_clinton]

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[Troglodyte]

If you just want to go for casual bike rides, and only need a simple bike, you'll have no problem getting one. There are a lot of options. You can get low end bikes at most department stores, particularly in the spring. There are also bike shops that will have the whole range from cheap city bikes to professional level. You could probably pick up a second hand bike for not too much. For that, ask some Korean friends to help you search online. Depending on which city or district you're living in, you can sometimes "buy" second hand bikes from the city. Koreans abandon bikes a lot. During the summer the city hall will occasionally clear out the abandoned bikes that clutter the bike racks near subway/train/bus stations. The city either sells/gives them to metal scrap yards, or auctions them. At some city halls or Gu offices, you can ask them about getting an abandoned bike. You usually pay a fee for it, but occasionally (I think it's very rare now) you can get them for free.

[ciannagh]

Thanks guys! I looked up Han River Riders and found a biking club for Busan, which I'm excited about. Biking is a huge hobby of mine here in Wisconsin (when the weather isn't shit for five months of the year) and I'm really excited to go to a milder climate where I'll be able to bike for more of the year

[SeoulNate]

pretty sure korea has crap weather for about 5 months out of the year as well :p on average I would say more

[furtakk]

As long as you have gear for riding in the cold, riding during the winters is not that bad here, especially if you stick to bike paths. Even during the few times a year that it snows, the city workers are pretty good about maintaining the busy sections of the bike bath.

[Troglodyte]

[Landros]

I thought you were going to talk about Harleys. I think you mean cyclist.

[Troglodyte]

[Landros]

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

[mayorhaggar]

As you will quickly find out when you get here, you have to be really careful when biking here. The main problem is that people drive crazy here, with a variety of bad habits like weaving around, driving too fast, not paying attention to anything but their smartphone screen, and taking corners horribly. You'll get used to it and eventually it won't be a big deal, but it will be a shock at first.

Biking in a smallish city or town isn't too bad because you can take back streets and avoid traffic. I can't imagine riding somewhere in a big city, but I guess you can get by in your neighborhood once you learn the side streets well. In my town (about 20,000 people) it's a great way to get around for shopping and so on. I haven't done any biking since late November though since it got cold...but hey you're going to be near Busan and you're from Wisconsin so you'll probably get more use out of biking.

There are bike paths here and there in certain cities but they're generally kind of a joke, they usually don't go anywhere useful or they stop suddenly. Often they're set into the sidewalk on a busy street, so you have to compete with pedestrians walking on the bike path. Don't expect greatness.

Biking in the countryside can be good but you're probably going to be restricted to country roads where you have to compete with crazy-ass truck drivers and bus drivers.

One thing you can do is load your bike into the cargo area of a bus at a bus station, then you can bring the bike with you on a bus trip. But you'll have to wait until the bike gets to another terminal where the bus stops long enough for you to open the cargo door and get the bike out. Inter-city buses here tend to make a lot of stops in small towns for people to get on and off, but the bus only sits for a few seconds so you wouldn't have time to get your bike out. I haven't done this but friends have taken some great bike trips where they went to some remote island in SW Korea and had a good time.