Ho Chi Minh City Travel Forum

Hello, I am going to be in HCMC for the summer mid may- end july. I'm an avid cyclist looking for a bicycle (Mountain or Road Bike). Does anyone now where i can get a reasonable priced bike at? It's to expensive to ship mine. Thanks in advance.

I've search Saigon myself but haven't found a quality bike shop. I had to bring my 4 bikes from the States two at a time on a couple flights at a cost of about $80 each bike. I imagine rates have gone higher since 2006. That's $160 round trip. One thought is maybe to bring your bike and attempt to sell it here. You might even get a premium if its in good condition. I've been offered more than I paid for two of my bikes, no deal. I wouldn't even think of parting with my Fisher MTB, I couldn't replace it. There is a VN man who is supposed to be the best bike tech in Saigon. You can call him when you get here. I'm almost sure he would know of available bikes. His name is Tri and number is 0903707091.

As a second thought, you might prefer a MTB on these roads. Many grates and cracks in the road that could easily catch a road bike's thin tires. I'm always on the lookout for those ruts in the road. I figure the wider MTB tire has a better chance. Also, I brought a set of road tires and rims so I can easily switch between road and knobbies. Also, I'd recommend bringing two of each bike accessory such as helmets, pumps, lights, etc. I've had some of these things stolen and can't replace them until I get back to the States. I brought 6 helmets so others can ride with me. Sweat plays heck on gloves and they seem to fall apart sooner. I use battery powered rear flashing tail lights for better visibility on the city streets. I lost the one tire pressure gauge I had, and can't even find one here that goes up to 6 bars. I have to rely on the gauge on my large bike hand pump at home to check psi. There are electric air pressure pumps on most corners, but not one has a gauge. They truly believe they can measure pressure by squeezing the tire. I've replaced about 4 tubes on my MTB due to punctures and bad valves. Very cheap quality tubes here which are made in China.

At least if you bring your own bike you can bring the properly sized extras like tires and tubes from your country. Buy a bike here and you will soon learn how hard it is to get replacement parts. Even if you could find a decent bike here you may have a hard time fitting it to you frame.

You might be aware of all these things already, just trying to remind you.

One more thing. You might want to search the bike shops in your country for a rain poncho or rain gear you can change into. Rains tend to last about an hour or so, sometimes longer. the plastic ones here tend to not fit properly or are cumbersome to wear. I haven't looked yet to know if there are quality ones available. Again, bring two or more with you. You can always take them back to your country or give them to a fellow rider if you're in a group. There is at least one MTB group in Saigon that rides each Sunday. Someone else may chime in with that info. I ride alone because of my age and I probably couldn't keep up with the younger crowd.

Check out Phat Tire Ventures in the mountain resort city of Da Lat for scenic and challenging trail rides. Fantastic outdoors company I'm sure you'll enjoy. http://www.phattireventures.com. They may even be able to help you with a place to buy a bike locally.