I bought a folding Chinese bike today at a local store in my neighborhood. The bike has many great English phrases on it, like "trendsetter" and "Passion and inspiration." Since most bi9kes in the good ole USA are Chinese these days, I wasn't surprised that everything in the store came from there.
The guy in the store, who told me it was his store so many times that I didn't really believe him, (esp. since another guy took care of everything, set up the bike, put through the payment, etc) spoke much better English than my lesson-three-Pimselur's-Korean, was either a graduate of Sogang University or a current student (it seems like he said both at various times) and so that greased things pretty well and it was a fun experience buying this thing. They threw in a lock and some lights. The latter is actually something I haven't seen used on other bikes, though admittedly they have tended to be of the "beater one speed bike piled high with huge sheets of used cardboard and other bits of stuff" variety rather than the fancy-panted faux-mountain bike folder that I am riding.
It is some commentary on the state of things here (transportation vs. safety being one rubric to consider) that the Australian-made helmet I bought cost more than the Chinese-made bicycle. There were less expensive Chinese helmets, but given the attention put to things like pharmaceuticals and toothpaste made me think that perhaps the Aussie buy would be a wise one.
Here is a page devoted to mountain biking near Seoul, with some good pictures.
The guy in the store, who told me it was his store so many times that I didn't really believe him, (esp. since another guy took care of everything, set up the bike, put through the payment, etc) spoke much better English than my lesson-three-Pimselur's-Korean, was either a graduate of Sogang University or a current student (it seems like he said both at various times) and so that greased things pretty well and it was a fun experience buying this thing. They threw in a lock and some lights. The latter is actually something I haven't seen used on other bikes, though admittedly they have tended to be of the "beater one speed bike piled high with huge sheets of used cardboard and other bits of stuff" variety rather than the fancy-panted faux-mountain bike folder that I am riding.
It is some commentary on the state of things here (transportation vs. safety being one rubric to consider) that the Australian-made helmet I bought cost more than the Chinese-made bicycle. There were less expensive Chinese helmets, but given the attention put to things like pharmaceuticals and toothpaste made me think that perhaps the Aussie buy would be a wise one.
Here is a page devoted to mountain biking near Seoul, with some good pictures.
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