Twistid

Hello, I'm over in Korea and need to buy a bicycle. I purchased an "Upland" brand bike and it has "Patrol" written on the side of it. It was pretty cheap, only $110, it has that middle shock thing so its not a hardtail, and it has gears on both the peddle and the rear wheel so you can change gears with both your left and right hand. It seemed like a good deal for a cheap bike, but I took a ride around the base perimeter and it seems extremly cheap.

The seat is god awful, it hurts to sit on it but that can be replaced. My main concern is when I change gears with either the left or right gear shift, it makes tons of noise, and sometimes if I change it a little bit (there are no "set" gear's you change in incriments, its just a throttle type device that you move foward and backwards) it'll start making noise without changing gear, like when you were a kid and put a playing card in your spokes. Does this make sence? Should I return it and get a better bicycle? The only thing is I'm in Korea and I don't exactly have normal USA type sources. I can goto the local AAFES BX and buy one of the other bikes (they had about 3-4 bikes ranging from $100-$500) or goto an offbase establishment and get a bike there, which could be hit or miss, if it falls apart I'm pretty much screwed.

mbiker33

id get a new bike, not really sure what you can do, how much are u willing to spend? And for any price under 1000 stick with a hardtail. But we'll be able to help u out more when u tell us how much your willing to spend and what type of trails u do.

Twistid

Hmm, well I returned the Upland bike and went downtown and picked up a Korean brand "Alton" Matrics 500, I managed to haggle them down to $210. It's much nicer than the other one, but still cheap. It also has the dual suspension, except this one has a trigger click type transmission, so you know when it goes into gear. You can also adjust the rear suspension by tightening or loosening the pressure on the spring.

I did ride some of the more expensive "Trek" bike's... they were very nice, but had a big price tag also. Some were over $1000+ and most fell in the $500-$700 range. This bike is mostly to get me around base, and the occasional trail and exploring trip. It also came with a 1 year warrenty so if anything happens I can just take it back. Should I go ahead and return it and try to get a hardtail? Most of the hardtails were more expensive, and $200 is already kind of pushing it for me for a bicycle. I'm not an avid rider, just in a position where we have to use bicycles as our main form of transportation.

Twistid

Twistid

lol, Sorry for all the posting, but I went back AGAIN and picked up a Trek 820, hopefully this entry level bike will suit me well. I talked to some "pro" riders who had $1000+ bikes with all sorts of upgrades and they said they would have picked something a bit better than an 820 to start with, but its not a bad bike, is this true? I know I overpayed compared to the internet/state price, but I got it for $335 with a year of service...

Bosock

No it is not a bad bike, in fact it is a decent entry level bike. For what you are going to use it for I would say good choice. 820 is an entry level bike good for communting, dirt roads, and beginner to some intermediate single tracks. Bike is known for its good handling and rider position, cons usually include entry level componetry and being a bit heavy. For transportation around the base and light trails it was a good choice...far better than the full suspension bike. Also, being in the military and being overseas, you could order a bike from the states and they ship it to California and Uncle Sam will ship it to you in Korea so you do not get hit with international shipping. If you order from states you need to ensure the bike is the one you want. All in all, good choice for what you are going to use it for and the price range you were looking at. Get it out on some trails, get the mountain bike fever, then upgrade after your year or two tour in Korea and when you get back to the states. Good riding and enjoy Korea while your there.

born2bahick

That 820 is a solid bike. It should give you want you want. Congrats

mbiker33

820 is a great choice, good entry level bike as we all mentioned

-_RebelRidin'_-

I find that rather hard to believe..... I get charged internation shipping rates and extra cash here and there for an APO box. And I'm over seas...




The 820 will suite you fin OP.

Thank for your service, and try to enjoy Korea? lol My dad went to Korea and hated it.

Bosock

You may find it hard to believe but that is the way it is. I was overseas (Japan and Korea) for 13 years as a civil service worker for the Department of Defense. Anytime i bought a computer, bike, whatever, I paid to have them ship it to my APO address in SF and that was it. Generally it was two day ground shipping cost as if I was stateside (SF to be exact). Maybe in the last 5 years things have changed, but I truly doubt it. Check with your installation post office and you might get surprized...that or they have changed there policy on that. Which I would find hard to believe that they would make you pay extra to have US items shipped to you because you are serving overseas. Everyone I was stationed with encountered the same thing...fact of the matter, i remember purchasing a computer (Dell) and telling them it was not international shipping, they went and checked, and sure enough said i only paid for the shipping to SF.

-_RebelRidin'_-

I'm afraid they don't do that for active duty. My dad's getting charged 26 dollars shipping and handling for a 14 dollar IPOD armband...

maybe because you were a contracted civilian things were different.

... Budget cuts lol.

but we have to pay for stuff to be shipped to our APO box here in Germany. half the stuff they wont ship to us, so we have to send it to family stateside and have them ship it over and re-pay them.