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Phuket MTB?
I am heading to Phuket for a family trip. Mostly just relaxing, no doubt with a beer in my hand but I get a little edgy doing too much of nothing. Has anyone ever been to Phuket and gone mountain biking with a company supplies decent bikes and takes you out on decent tracks? I don't expect Whistler on a Mojo but the last thing I want is to end up on a dirt road riding a Huffy with no suspension!
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but you will get a Huffy. I went on a tour in Chaing Mai with a real bike shop operated one and the bike as a PoS full sus. Bad brakes, heavy, noisy etc.
As for trails in Phuket, it's pretty flat on the south of the island, north is bit more mountainous, and there are loads of national parks but most trails there look like dirt roads (I looked into it when I was there in March).
I didn't try too hard mind you so you may find something. If you go north to the national parks around Kho Phang Nga you'll see amazing scenery and won't care what bike you have - about 1.5 hours car trip from central Phuket....
I have found one place that makes the point that they use Treks although this does not mean that it is going to be anything decent. We are staying down south, there are pretty decent hills including that big hill through the jungle with the look-out at the top but I am not sure if there are trails. It seems that most tours are either up north or they take you to one of the islands nearby.
I have sent a few emails off so will see if I get a decent response. One place suggests that they do customised tours although, again this does not necessarily indicate anything. I cannot be choosy, I am sure that there is something decent and even it ends up being as flat and wide as Terrey Hills, the scenery, the villages, the views and the odd elephant will make it a lot more fun!
My couple of trips to Bali with a a decent company there uncovered that bicycle parts are expensive to import in Asia, so often the bikes are very low spec. One key to a good company is to ask who the guides are... ie do they ride semi-prof ? The guide in Bali was the 10 time national champ !!
Hi Raymond, heading over to bali in August, any suggestions for MTB hire?
Cheers
Glen
Thanks for the advice. I found a place that looks decent enough, nothing is going to be all that challenging, probably Terrey Hills at the most but I figure the scenery is going to more than make up for any lack of challenge. They have Trek 4500, hard-tails that they apparently keep in pretty good nick, but I am sure the tracks won't require anything too much!
@Glen: Check out http://www.bali-trailblazers.com/
I did a day trip with them last year and was very impressed with the organisation and the track we went on. Bikes were ok, I think I had a GT hardtail.
I'd happily go back and do it again.
(Sorry for the thread hijack...)
We found some Trek MTB's in Laos (hardtails), pretty decent Meridas in 'Nam, and the latest Commencal duallies in Nepal. Even found some Cannondales in Siem Reap, Cambodia.
My son Benji and I crossed the Mekong in a long boat and road the trails in the Laos / Luang Prabang hinterland. All the bikes were fine for the "easy trails"...you probably find you'll focus more on the scenery. It's not really a place to practice your hucking/DH skills, as it's a long way to a decent doctor....
Laos
http://nobmob.com/node/7330
Nepal
http://nobmob.com/node/4543
Vietnam
http://nobmob.com/node/7238
Cambodia
http://nobmob.com/node/12926
You been to Phuket yet? Any riding done?