Should I buy a bicycle in Mexico??

Question

I'm thinking about living in Mexico for a month or so, and I would like to have a bicycle for transportation. Should I ship my bike to Mexico, or buy one there? I'm not interested in hypothetical answers from people who are clueless; I'm interested in feedback from people who actually know something about this topic.

Answer 1

depends where!

in veracruz .. playa.. cancun .. yes..

but mexico city or monterrey no no no!!!

Answer 2

If your airline would let you take the bike for a reasonable cost may be consider it but if not then just buy one here.

bagalood said $50 or less for a good bike, well he must be a much better shopper than me. It seems to me that they are about $100-$200 for a new bike at the stores I've looked at. That said I haven't actually been looking that hard but I do look at the price when I see bikes since I need to basically make the same decision myself.

I agree that bagalood's point about it being easier and cheaper than shipping your bike would still apply even at the prices I mentioned. So I would still tend to agree that it would be better to buy one here.

And as for UPS or DHL, I highly doubt they could get a bike here for $50, I had a CD sent from Toronto to Merida by Purilator and that was $65, I also had documents sent by DHL from Toronto to Chicxulub by DHL and the cost there was around $55, both considerably smaller than a bike.

Answer 3

Yeah, I mean if thats the only way of transporting yourself.

Take taxis.

Answer 4

If you are into bikes, it is probably good to bring it along.  However, if it gets stolen, you´ll never see it again.  Good bikes here are very expensive, since most people buy cars if they have the money.  If you are going to live in the city, then don't think about it.  Mexican drivers are completely nuts.  There are basically no traffic rules, or if there are, it is not enforced, and roads and sidewalks can be treacherous for bikes.  I use the bus system.  It sucks, but its cheap and beats walking.  (In Guadalajara, it is about 5 pesos per passage, about less than 50 cents USD)

Answer 5

If you are comming by plane, the it would be easier to buy one here. There are many kind of bikes, many are made in México with high quality and at cheaper prices. I have bought one myself, a mountain bike (I want to move in the country, not only for city).

You can buy a good bike for $50 dollars (or even less), wich sould be the cost of sending yours in UPS or DHL. Of course, there are more expensive bikes, but for one month, that works.