Hi there,

In the next few months I will be investing in a new bike but the more I check around and research the more confused I get. I do all my riding in Bangkok and bordering provices so there are no hills to speak of. I love racing in the traffic and also sedately pedalling in the burbs taking in the views, so I need something that is quick and highly manoeuvrable, while at the same time comfortable. My budget cap is Baht 35k so it gives me quite a bit of choice, but I would be happy with something much cheaper if it is up the the task.

Obviously, with the way I use the bike, I need some gears but the hybrids (which I believe would be suitable for me) seem to be really over geared. 24 or 27 gears.  So I would not be using the lower gears at all. Should I overlook this issue as unimportant? It seems a waste. Also, 99 percent of my riding will be on the road, but as you know Bangkok's roads are not exactly smooth. Drain covers, cracks and holes all over the place. So I need something sturdy but doubt  I would need mtb type suspension. Hence the interest in hybrids. 

I really like the 2012 Giant Seek 1, and am also interested in the 2011 Trek 7.3 (a large price difference) but again, do I really need all that many gears? Apart from a fixed gear bike, however, what other options are there available in Bangkok for a more reasonably geared hybrid that is also tough and can take a bit of banging about.

Any suggestions and pointers would be greatly appreciated.   

Moobin

That 9th District looks very, very interesting. I had never even considered it before. It looks like it certainly would fit all my needs and not be over geared to boot. Not so sure about the 8.5 though. I really want to keep away from suspension if possible.

Many thanks for your suggestions Dayne. Much appreciated.

PS I just checked the local Trek distributor's website and it does not look like they stock the 9th district.

Still looking. Worldbike does not have my size in 2012 stock and are unwilling to import. They have told me to wait until the 2013 models come out which should be in the next month or so. The money is there, it wants to burn a hole in my pocket but nothing to buy with it.

I just came across another nice looking bike the Scott Sub 20 but haven't checked whether they have my size or not. It seems that none of the shops I have visited in the past few months have much in the larger sizes, and one shop owner said there wasn't the market as the average Thai has much shorter legs than westerners. He offered to import but said it would be a 3 or 4 months wait.  This seems to support bkkbiker's comments.

I don't want to end up buying a bike that I really am not 100 percent interested in, but it looks that I may have to if the new Giants don't come out soon. I am fed up with waiting.

Hi there Bones. I will be doing most of my riding in BKK and the state of the roads is a concern. As such I was looking at hybrids rather than road bikes. People have suggested mountain bikes but with street tyres. I have looked, but I am not really convinced that I need front suspension. I still rather like the Giant Seek 1, and the Scott Sub 20 looks interesting. I also looked at the Canondale Bad Boy (Fatty Rigid fork) – I forget the model. The Bad Boy was quite a bit more expensive than the Seek but with lower specs. I understand the frame is supposed to be something special though. I like the idea of an angled crossbar like an MTB as riding in a city like BKK you are stopping and starting all the time. It therefore seems more practical.

The Seek seems pretty rugged but I have been told that Chro-Mo is more forgiving on bad roads than aluminium alloys which are quite stiff, the Seeking being alu-alloy. The more I read the more confused I get.

Still open to suggestions.