Where to buy a bike in Europe?

[pensive]

I will be flying from Bangkok to Europe in early-mid June to begin an open ended bikepacking tour of the continent.  I will need to buy a bike when I arrive, and I hope to get something nice secondhand.  The cheapest tickets from Bangkok to Europe are to Cologne, Germany.  Will I be able to find a good bikepacking bike there?

From my online research it seems that salsa and surly are the best.  Will I be able to find these or a good European alternative in Cologne?  Or is it worthwhile to fly into another city such as London where there might be more options?

Any advice on this will be greatly appreciated!

[bakerjw]

Europe generally is VERY bike friendly. With the sheer number of bikes over there, the 2nd hand market should be well saturated enough to get something good at a great price.

I work with Germans and they tend to be very meticulous when it comes to everything. Bikes, for the most part, are expected to always be in a good state of readiness and there are rules for how they are maintained.

[pensive]

Thanks for the encouraging reply!

[Endless Trails]

I have no doubt you'll be able to find a nice bike no matter where you'll end up in Europe but it might be worth keeping in mind that Surly and Salsa is not very big over here so the second hand market isn't exactly flooded but they do exist. Mountain biking however is quite big, at least in the more mountainous or outdoorsy countries. It might be worth trying to find some regional/national forums or marketplaces and look at the available bikes in that area before you commit to buying a ticket.

[pensive]

Ok, I have booked my ticket and will be flying to Amsterdam in a few days.

Does anyone have advice on where to find a good bikepacking bike in Amsterdam?

I can consider both new and used, but need something solid and comfortable as I plan to tour much of the continent with it.




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[RonK]

De Vacantiefietser

[pensive]

Excellent!  I will definitely try to visit this store.  But I notice their bikes start at around 1500 euros. 

Are there any good places to find something secondhand?


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[mathieu]

Buying second-hand from a private seller will take you a lot of time for visits. I also recommend to go to the Vakantiefietser shop. They have a wide choice of new travel bikes and possibly also some serviced second-hands. See http://www.vakantiefietser.nl

PS. I forgot to mention one more option. Go to the website of Wereldfietser, the club of long distance travel bikers. They have a very active Forum. Register there (free) and under the heading of 'Te koop gevraagd' post your request with all relevant details, such as size, component quality, budget, etc. You can do it in English and ask for replies in English. I wouldn't be surprised if you get a handfull of offers in a couple of days. Some Forum members may even be inspired to look for you on the Dutch ebay/craigslist called Marktplaats and add their opinion about the asking price. Try it!

[pensive]

Great advice, thanks so much!   I will definitely try these


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[pensive]

Here's a quick update on this thread.  To make a long story short, Amsterdam is a difficult place to shop for a good bikepacking bike on a budget.  This is a quick list of some of the bike shops I visited:

De Vakantiefietser
Kaptein Tweewielers
Cor Mantel 2wielers
Beterfietsen
Fietspiraat
Tromm Tweewielers
Lohman Fietsspecialisten
Giant Store (Hans Struijk Fietsen)

Among these, De Vakantiefietser was the most well equipped for bikepacking bikes and equipment.  However, they do not offer any second hand bikes, and their cheapest bikes start at around 2000 euros (including a Salsa Fargo for 1899 euros).  They carry all kinds of camping equipment, and even stock Revelate bikepacking bags.  However, the Revelate frame bag I wished to purchase cost 230 euros, which I found hard to accept given the bags sell for 160 USD on Revelate's website.

Tromm Tweewielers had a large selection of new and used bikes with a variety of prices, and seemed to be the most friendly and professional bike shop I visited.

In the end, I ended up buying the Giant Toughroad SLR 2 new from the Giant store.  It was the only bike I could find under 1000 euros with fully rigid frame/fork, which is what I wanted for my long distance on/off road travel.

I found some decent looking options on marktplaats, and looked at one bike from there, but many of the best looking bikes posted were located outside Amsterdam and would have taken too much time for visits.

Thanks for everyone's help and advice!