bicycle info Colombia
 

hello friends, first is this the correct place to be asking this question on the forum? please direct me if it is somewhere besides here.
i will be going to Colombia to do a bike tour in january. i wonder if someone here could direct me to a place i could buy or rent a good inexpensive mountain bike in Cartagenga i will be bicycling for a couple of months. i will fly into Cartagenga and prefer to find something there. i would rather not ship my bike from the US thank you for any help and suggestions. lorna

I was in Cartagena a couple of times in 2007 and 2009, both times expecting that bike shops would be everywhere, since cycling is Colombia's national sport (maybe tied with soccer), but I had a very hard time even finding a garage that fixed bikes and sold patches and glue. Other cities in Colombia farther south were much better, especially, presumably, Bogota, but I didn't go there. Here's some info I found on http://www.tour.tk/country-information/colombia.htm:

Bicicletas Mountain-Bike
Av. Pedro de Heredia, La Castellana
just up the road from Crossmoto
Cartagena de Indias
Tel: 6531174 ask for Juan

Our experience: shop with basic parts and friendly owner (July 2009)

there are a few more bike shops in this area, but most stock the same, basic, products. The big bike store opposite the stadium was closed for refurbishment when we visited...

I rode across the country north to south in 2007 (see http://jk.cgoab.com) but I mostly stuck to paved highways, as I was repeatedly strongly advised at every highway military checkpoint not to stray into the "wilderness", but I'm sure it's safer to go off-road nowadays, judging by other people's journals that I've followed.

You probably won't find any touring gear like racks or panniers anywhere in the country, so bring those with you.

bicycle colombia
 

Our experience: shop with basic parts and friendly owner (July 2009)

thank you very much for this info. i am too am surprised aobut lack of bike shops and replys to my requests re rental places. i suppose on arrival i can go to a rental place and see if they will for long term at a discount. thanx again for info. hope you are enjoying some good bike rides.