# Seoul Korea



## grantk (Dec 12, 2009)

Hi there,

My name is Grant Knight and I just joined up. I currently live in Seoul (well for over 15 years). I used to ride when I was in the States and Costa Rica before I came over to Korea.
The school that I worked for didn't want me to bring my bike (stupidest things I ever did). I did get involved in martial arts for 10 years but stopped to enjoy going out instead of the gym 5 days a week with no social life.

Well, I decided to get back into biking and have been searching around for a good bike shop in the Seoul and surrounding areas with some success. But met quite some resistance in trying to get my dream bike (due to the
There was a bike expo on December 4 to 6 which was interesting. 
I talked to some of the dealers on how to get equipment and stuff.

Hopefully I'll have my dream bike before the year is out and I can start riding again.

I was wondering if there are any other riders on the forum in Korea.
I'm thinking of making a blog for bikes in Korea since it is hard to get information about many things here.


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## Ride-Fly (Mar 27, 2002)

grantk said:


> Hi there,
> 
> My name is Grant Knight and I just joined up. I currently live in Seoul (well for over 15 years). I used to ride when I was in the States and Costa Rica before I came over to Korea.
> The school that I worked for didn't want me to bring my bike (stupidest things I ever did). I did get involved in martial arts for 10 years but stopped to enjoy going out instead of the gym 5 days a week with no social life.
> ...


Hey Grant welcome to RBR! Now do all the research and report back to me!  I am trying to get a contract pilot job with Korean Air and if I do, I will be bringing my S&S coupled Ti bike to Seoul so that I can ride on my days off. Maybe even bring it to the layovers. 

How is the biking scene there? I would imagine that it is non-existent. Any high-end shops? What is your dream bike that you are talking about? What kind of work do you there?


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## grantk (Dec 12, 2009)

Hey there

I work at a digital university part time and I am trying to get a full time job. I'm working on a masters online so I am more concerned about finishing that than getting a full time job. I got married to a Korean a few years ago and so I have a marriage visa which allows me to not have to worry about finding a job for the visa like most other teachers do.

The biking scene is picking up but it's more for mountain bikes. But there are stores that carry some road bikes. I did research already and attended a recent bike show. I have a bunch of pics that I want to put on a blog. I will start on that in a week after I finish this semester. You can find campy and shimano easily. I have been trying to get a pinarello fp2 2010. I talked to a couple bike shops(well my Korean wife has but I found the shops on the net first). The first problem was my size. I am tall at 186 centimeter which is really large for Korean sizes.(I'm a triple x size-AHHHHHHH). But one shop had a fit kit and they said that there should be no problem getting a frame. Next problem is weight. I'm under 300 pounds (gained weight when I stopped martial arts and started playing darts and drinking beer). The shop said that they had a hard time finding a strong wheel set for me. Wife then talked to her boss who in into MTB and talked to another shop. They gave a quote for the bike and said that the wheels should be okay if I use Mavics. I went to the bike show and talked to the Pinarella rep. They don't sell to people, only to the shops. But the guy I talked to was the one who answered all the calls from the other bike shops that I contacted. He said he didn't want me to get one because of my size. I explained that I rode for 7 years and worked in a bike shop in Costa Rica. He then said he would allow it(wow-happy happy joy joy) since he realized that I would take care of the bike and not mishandle it(who would mishandle a carbon frame bike?). I told him the Mavic wheel set and he said no problem. He said he wanted to introduce a good bike shop to me so I can get the bike but also to get to know the mechanics and owner there. The next problem was the price. My wife told him of the quote and the other bike shop. The rep told the other bike shop about the price and the shop is hesitant since basically they would not make much money off the bike. And the rep is not happy with the other bike shop that made the low quote. The rep is the only one in Korea who deals with Pinarello. So now I am waiting for them to negotiate. Wife said that if the rep can't do it then we go to the bike shop that had the lowest quote. I want the bike soon because I'll have a couple weeks to do nothing for work and school.

This is what type of problems that occur to foreigners when they try to buy something. Usually the store owners don't want to sell to foreigners unless they know them. And that is a big issue here.

But by going straight to the top it is possible to get things done.

Outside of Seoul is much better than in Seoul unless you want to cruise around the river and watch the people go by. All around Seoul are mountains and the roads are pretty good. Traffic can be a pain, but that's mostly in Seoul. I have been looking around for bike computers and been reading up on the Garmin edge 705. I want a heart monitor and the GPS looks wicked. I like the idea of recording the ride and putting it on the website for others to follow. There are a bunch of running courses through the hashers here. Not many for bikes. I would love to be able to start making courses.

I have found one high end shop that I went to. Mostly mountain bikes but they have campy and shimano stuff and some frames. But they can order. The only problem is that it might be pricey. I want to take a look at their prices and internet prices. I have a 20 page paper on communication due next week and I'm concentrating on that. I hope that the Pinarello guy can introduce me to a good mechanic and bike shop in Seoul. Down the road I will start to get tools for my bike. I had a complete set before I came to Korea. And my wonderful father trashed everything. Including a portable bike stand.

If you have any questions about Seoul, ask away.


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## grantk (Dec 12, 2009)

I started a blog on Korea.

http://bikekorea.blogspot.com/

It'll take time to build but that's just like training.


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## Ride-Fly (Mar 27, 2002)

*Great report GrantK!*

I hope to get this gig with Korean Air as I am of Korean descent but don't speak much Korean. Thinking if I get this gig, I will be able to improve my Korean language skills. BIG downside is that I will be away from the family for 19 days straight!!! But the money is excellent, which means I can buy more more more bike!!! Good luck with your search for your Pin. Although I don't have direct experience dealing with Koreans, I have heard it takes getting used to. Koreans are the Asian equivalent to Italians- I'll leave that for each individual's interpretations.


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## grantk (Dec 12, 2009)

Good luck with Korea Air. I had a chance to interview with them for a teaching position but another university screwed up the dates.
No worries about improving your Korean. You'll have ample time to do that.
I'm a full-blooded American and I was able to pick up some good Korea skills but that was through martial arts.

I have a couple good leads for the Pin. If you ever come over the story will make great beer conversation.

Since I have some free time (which I plan on getting the Pin) I'll work more with the blog but also try to get with the bike scene from the Korean side. I missed an end of the year party for a Pinarello club ( wife had other functions to do) but there will be another one in January to start the year off. By going to that I'll have a great way to get into the bike scene here. I also want to get tickets for the F1 race that will begin next year here as well. 

Check out the blog and let me know if there is anything that I should add.

Have a great Christmas.


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## Ride-Fly (Mar 27, 2002)

grantk said:


> Good luck with Korea Air. I had a chance to interview with them for a teaching position but another university screwed up the dates.
> No worries about improving your Korean. You'll have ample time to do that.
> I'm a full-blooded American and I was able to pick up some good Korea skills but that was through martial arts.
> 
> ...


Nice blog Grant. Thanks for the well wishes. If I get over there, I will let you know and we can toast a frosty cold one!


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## JStrube (Dec 19, 2013)

Ride-Fly said:


> I hope to get this gig with Korean Air as I am of Korean descent but don't speak much Korean. Thinking if I get this gig, I will be able to improve my Korean language skills. BIG downside is that I will be away from the family for 19 days straight!!! But the money is excellent, which means I can buy more more more bike!!! Good luck with your search for your Pin. Although I don't have direct experience dealing with Koreans, I have heard it takes getting used to. Koreans are the Asian equivalent to Italians- I'll leave that for each individual's interpretations.


Being of Italian descent...

This will assist me in my future trip to visit my son in Korea. If you got the job, I might even be your passenger.


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