What I'd suggest is not looking at what the Tikit costs in the US vs. Korea, but rather look at what the Tikit costs vs. other folders you would ride that are available in Korea. That's the real situation.
That's solid advice. If I recall correctly, here in Korea, a Brompton M6R is about USD $1600 and the tikit is about USD $2000.
There are also folding bikes here that most of us have probably never heard of: dahon clones, kmart look-a-likes, and bikes that look like the ones you see on ebay.
They are still quite expensive, about Stateside Dahon pricing, but of unknown brand or origin.
Dahons also seem to cost more too. About $200 more stateside.
Conclusion: basically all folding bikes here in Korea cost more.
And I have to agree with you Vik, I've already shipped some stuff from the US and it's quite a hassle. I'd much rather avoid it.
Also, I do agree with you on the goodwill part. I don't speak Korean extremely well, but the guys at the shop were very helpful and showed me around and let me test ride lots of bikes.
And I think biking with Korean people in Korea would be pretty awesome. There are amazing bike routes and Korea is a very scenic place, so it would be awesome to have some Korean people to show me around. 8)
Originally Posted by
Dynocoaster
What can you get for that money where you live?
I'm not sure what you mean >.< Do you mean where I live now, in Korea, or where I lived in the United States?
My personal cost of living is very low here in Korea. In two months I only spent $1000 USD and I could have lived on even less if I didn't do so many fun and awesome things. But what kind of life would that be? xD
So USD $2000 is big money here, if that answers your question. Just to throw a guesstimate out there, I'd say I could buy 1 tikit, 1 Brompton (with about $400 left over), 2 Xootrs (hmmmm) 3-5 Dahons (low to mid-range), 7-8 Dahon clones, and 9-10 no name folders.
Originally Posted by
fietsbob
Of course you could fly to Eugene From Korea, via Seattle, ride the bike around a bit,
make a few parts picks for fitting to you in the shop at BF ..
maybe as a used bike and accompanied luggage you could bring it home for less,
than shipping coming thru customs as freight and paying Import Duty.
Yeah . . . I've thought about this, but I think it will be more hassle than it's worth xD