Buying a bike in Yangon, Myanmar

The beast! 

Most foreigners in large Asian cities are simply too scared to ride a bicycle around what they perceive to be chaotic traffic. It is such a shame. For me the choice of whether to buy a bike or not is pretty obvious. You can usually beat a car over a short distance. This is especially true during rush hour. The cost of running it is next to nothing. You also get some much needed exercise in a country where it is too easy to just not even walk at all. You get to see much more of the city, and it gives you the option to stop when and where you want and look around.

I looked around for what I wanted. I good bike that looks like something the locals would own. A set of narrow handlebars for weaving though the traffic, not too heavy, and lastly a good set of tires that won’t puncture easily.

But where do you buy something? Sure, there are places that will sell you a brand spanking new one for hundreds and hundreds of dollars, but this option wasn’t for me. I had not seen any shops while looking around the city. The answer came while catching a taxi back from Ocean supermarket near Tamwe. The taxi driver was one of those rare individuals that quoted the correct fare straight up. Most of the time you have to haggle a bit, then you get the right fare. This guy seemed honest. On the journey home I brought up the subject of where to buy a bicycle. He said there was some places downtown, but the best place was in the bicycle compound out by the airport. This is a place where they refurbish bikes and have good new bikes as well. I arranged to for him to pick me up the next morning at 8 AM and head on out.

This compound is well known to any taxi driver by the way, you don’t have to know the correct address or name.

Eight rolled around and went downstairs from my apartment to find my taxi driver waiting for me. A trip through the light Saturday morning traffic saw us arrive at the compound in short order. It is full of shops dedicated to the selling and repairing of bicycles. It looked like I was in the right place.

I spied what looked to be a good place to start, and the taxi driver insisted on accompanying me. Inside the store it looked like a bike graveyard. There were many old and new bikes in various states of repair. The walls had parts hanging from them. Everywhere you looked there were boxes of parts. In a way it reminded me of the workshop out the back of old school bicycle shops in New Zealand.

The owner came out to greet me. Unfortunately his English was terrible. But he wants to sell me a bike, I want to buy one. We have an interest in making communication work. He showed me an all aluminium framed mountain bike. He was asking for $200 for it, but not for me. Then I spied a nice looking road model. Japanese components, good frame, 27” wheels and a nice set of new puncture resistant Bridgestone tires. It looked exactly like what I wanted. No basket or lights though. I asked the taxi driver what he wanted, after a brief discussion he said $95. It was a little rich for me and I pulled me “too expensive” face. Then there was a flurry of Myanmar and the taxi driver came back with a better offer. It was $80 with a basket, bell, lock, pump and lights for the bike. Everything I needed. Okay “Ya mey” I’ll take it! They quickly got to work getting my order together.

The taxi driver and I pulled up a couple of plastic stools and chatted. He insisted on staying inside the workshop so he could keep an eye on the mechanics. Fifteen minutes later the bike was ready to go. The taxi driver gave it a once over, checking spokes, brakes and gears before I was allowed to take it for a test drive. It rode beautifully.

Final touches being made to the bike

I paid the cash and we loaded the bike into the back of the taxi. Just a little too far to ride back I thought. Especially as it had been a while since I had been riding about via pedal power! We arrived back at the apartment at about 9:30. Hour and a half and my mission for the day was complete. I asked the driver how much he wanted? “8000 Kyat” came the reply. I slipped him 10000 and told him to keep the change. He tried to refuse the tip, but I simply said “Kyay zu tin bar dey” or thank you so much.

The bike has been a champion, easily cutting down on my commute times to places like the supermarket and for site seeing around the lakes here. It has been a really good buy for me.