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Renting Bikes from Spice Roads and Shopping for New Ones at Pro Bike

Posted by Stuart at 03:48 PM on March 29, 2008

In anticipation of another long bike ride tomorrow with Chris, I rented a bike from a bike tour company here in Bangkok called Spice Roads. From the looks of their website, they have a lot of interesting tours, from one-day bike tours through Bangkok, to 12 days from Hanoi, Vietnam to Luang Prabang, Laos. I would love to do something like that some day.

They also have bikes to rent, for 400 baht per day. That seemed a bit steep to me, but I I figured that it was cheaper than buying my own bike. I thought that maybe I should wait to see if I am really serious about this biking thing before I shell out a few hundred dollars.

So I reserved a bike at the Spice Roads website and went by to pick it up today. I rode it home (about 5 kilometers or so) and I have to say I was very disappointed in the bike. It was pretty beat up and the gears were not working very well.

I had plans later in the day to meet Chris at Pro Bike near Lumpinee Park to do a little window shopping -- just to see what they had available. Well, to make a long story short, due to the prospects of a long ride tomorrow on an old bike in bad shape, I am now the proud owner of a brand new Trek mountain bike.

I think it was a decent deal, from what I can tell. I got a bike, helmet, pump, water bottle, lock, gloves, bell, extra inner tube, and a digital odometer for 12,300 baht (US$390). Now I don't have any excuses for not getting out on the roads and exploring Bangkok on bike!