Buying a bike in Greece?

At the risk of being both unanswerable here and mildly off-topic, my
next vacation will be to Greece.

Thanks to having the very great luck of marrying into a Greek family,
there's going to be a place to stay on the Cycladic island where the
missus and I will be spending most of my time (Syros), and I want to
ride a bike there. Nothing fancy: I'm hoping to go on and off road, so I
suspect I'll wish for a cyclocross bike and a spare set of road rubber,
and settle for a rigid MTB and two sets of tires.

The no-brainer is to buy (um, actually, pull from my collection, really)
a bike here, shove it in a bike box (I can rent one cheaply through my
club) and enjoy I have a place to leave it permanently in Syros. I could
also put one of my good bikes in the box, and bring it back.

Unfortunately, the limitations of current airline travel means there's a
good chance I'll get nailed for an $80+ shipping charge each way,
possibly on multiple legs each way! This could leave me shipping a $50
bike for $160...

I also have the issue of actually moving the bike around. Despite the
fact I'll be going through Athens (and maybe spending a few days in
Frankfurt first) and then to the Cyclades, I will likely only unpack the
bike once I touch down at my home island. Moving a bike box through
multiple airports, onto a ferry, etc...not super! But maybe I can live
with it.

One alternative is to buy locally. Syros would be the ideal place to
buy, but it's about 25,000 people. I have no idea what the bike
situation is, or if there's even a decent bike shop. I'll try to find
out. I really just want to buy someone's old MTB, something I could
accomplish here for about $20 at a garage sale and be happy...but here
is not Greece.

Athens would be acceptable, though I'd still have to put a bike on the
ferry (security?), and get it to the ferry. Also, I have no idea what
the market for bikes is like in Athens. I'm sure the market for new
bikes is much like it is in the rest of Europe (insights appreciated),
but as for the used bikes, all I know is that Craigslist Greece shows
two ads in two months, both saying "wanted: used bike."

A third, very sweet option would be to mail-order a bike from somewhere
in Euro-land, have it delivered to Syros, and be done with it. I even
have local contacts who could receive the machine.

The question then becomes who (if anyone) can ship cheaply to Greek
islands, and what can they sell me? A quick look at Wiggle's website
suggests Greece is one place they don't ship to...others?

TIA,

--
Ryan Cousineau http://www.wiredcola.com/
"I don't want kids who are thinking about going into mathematics
to think that they have to take drugs to succeed." -Paul Erdos

On Mon, 30 Apr 2007 05:03:17 GMT, Ryan Cousineau
wrote:

At the risk of being both unanswerable here and mildly off-topic, my
next vacation will be to Greece.

Thanks to having the very great luck of marrying into a Greek family,
there's going to be a place to stay on the Cycladic island where the
missus and I will be spending most of my time (Syros), and I want to
ride a bike there. Nothing fancy: I'm hoping to go on and off road, so I
suspect I'll wish for a cyclocross bike and a spare set of road rubber,
and settle for a rigid MTB and two sets of tires.

The no-brainer is to buy (um, actually, pull from my collection, really)
a bike here, shove it in a bike box (I can rent one cheaply through my
club) and enjoy I have a place to leave it permanently in Syros. I could
also put one of my good bikes in the box, and bring it back.

Unfortunately, the limitations of current airline travel means there's a
good chance I'll get nailed for an $80+ shipping charge each way,
possibly on multiple legs each way! This could leave me shipping a $50
bike for $160...

I also have the issue of actually moving the bike around. Despite the
fact I'll be going through Athens (and maybe spending a few days in
Frankfurt first) and then to the Cyclades, I will likely only unpack the
bike once I touch down at my home island. Moving a bike box through
multiple airports, onto a ferry, etc...not super! But maybe I can live
with it.

One alternative is to buy locally. Syros would be the ideal place to
buy, but it's about 25,000 people. I have no idea what the bike
situation is, or if there's even a decent bike shop. I'll try to find
out. I really just want to buy someone's old MTB, something I could
accomplish here for about $20 at a garage sale and be happy...but here
is not Greece.

Athens would be acceptable, though I'd still have to put a bike on the
ferry (security?), and get it to the ferry. Also, I have no idea what
the market for bikes is like in Athens. I'm sure the market for new
bikes is much like it is in the rest of Europe (insights appreciated),
but as for the used bikes, all I know is that Craigslist Greece shows
two ads in two months, both saying "wanted: used bike."

A third, very sweet option would be to mail-order a bike from somewhere
in Euro-land, have it delivered to Syros, and be done with it. I even
have local contacts who could receive the machine.

The question then becomes who (if anyone) can ship cheaply to Greek
islands, and what can they sell me? A quick look at Wiggle's website
suggests Greece is one place they don't ship to...others?

TIA,

Dear Ryan,

Bicycles were unknown in Greece when these riders visited:

http://www.aafla.org/SportsLibrary/O...tXXVIII03c.pdf

But they sold their bikes (sort of) and started a bicycling craze in
Greece:

"We sold our bicycles—-the first wheeled invaders within its
Time-breached walls-—to two Greek friends who, true to proverbial
heredity, no doubt, have never paid us. We received new wheels from
England, and left the nucleus of a wheelmen’s club, which now, with
its hundred members, crowns with lasting success the invasion of the
bicycle in Athens."

http://www.aafla.org/SportsLibrary/O...tXXVIII04l.pdf

I'd try to avoid all the potential fuss, expense, and disaster with
shipping and customs by buying or renting a bike locally.

You'd probably enjoy the bike shop and it's hard to imagine a tourist
destination where bicycles can't be found, particularly if you already
have contacts.

A bike from the local shop will be more likely to have parts
available.

Once you're there, you'll probably have a better chance of arranging a
better bike or a mail-order deal for your next visit with the help of
someone who lives there.

And stressing the next visit might help Mrs. Cousineau deal with your
plan to vanish on a bicycle shortly after you arrive. Some wives have
the oddest notions about how their husbands should behave on
vacations.

Cheers,

Carl Fogel

On Apr 30, 7:03 am, Ryan Cousineau wrote:
At the risk of being both unanswerable here and mildly off-topic, my
next vacation will be to Greece.

A very good suggestion would be to pose your query to
it.sport.ciclismo, an italian newsgroup where also the english
language is 'tolerated', when one can'tdo without (if you wish, tell
that you are adoing it after my suggestion). There are a couple of
greek guys contributing to this newsgroup, and you are guaranteed to
get an answer.

Next, since you go through Frankfurt, how are you travelling from
there to the greek islands? If through Italy, by land and sea, I could
easily fix you up on the way.

Sergio
Pisa

In article ,
wrote:

On Mon, 30 Apr 2007 05:03:17 GMT, Ryan Cousineau
wrote:

At the risk of being both unanswerable here and mildly off-topic, my
next vacation will be to Greece.

Thanks to having the very great luck of marrying into a Greek family,
there's going to be a place to stay on the Cycladic island where the
missus and I will be spending most of my time (Syros), and I want to
ride a bike there. Nothing fancy: I'm hoping to go on and off road, so I
suspect I'll wish for a cyclocross bike and a spare set of road rubber,
and settle for a rigid MTB and two sets of tires.

The no-brainer is to buy (um, actually, pull from my collection, really)
a bike here, shove it in a bike box (I can rent one cheaply through my
club) and enjoy I have a place to leave it permanently in Syros. I could
also put one of my good bikes in the box, and bring it back.

Unfortunately, the limitations of current airline travel means there's a
good chance I'll get nailed for an $80+ shipping charge each way,
possibly on multiple legs each way! This could leave me shipping a $50
bike for $160...

I also have the issue of actually moving the bike around. Despite the
fact I'll be going through Athens (and maybe spending a few days in
Frankfurt first) and then to the Cyclades, I will likely only unpack the
bike once I touch down at my home island. Moving a bike box through
multiple airports, onto a ferry, etc...not super! But maybe I can live
with it.

One alternative is to buy locally. Syros would be the ideal place to
buy, but it's about 25,000 people. I have no idea what the bike
situation is, or if there's even a decent bike shop. I'll try to find
out. I really just want to buy someone's old MTB, something I could
accomplish here for about $20 at a garage sale and be happy...but here
is not Greece.

Athens would be acceptable, though I'd still have to put a bike on the
ferry (security?), and get it to the ferry. Also, I have no idea what
the market for bikes is like in Athens. I'm sure the market for new
bikes is much like it is in the rest of Europe (insights appreciated),
but as for the used bikes, all I know is that Craigslist Greece shows
two ads in two months, both saying "wanted: used bike."

A third, very sweet option would be to mail-order a bike from somewhere
in Euro-land, have it delivered to Syros, and be done with it. I even
have local contacts who could receive the machine.

The question then becomes who (if anyone) can ship cheaply to Greek
islands, and what can they sell me? A quick look at Wiggle's website
suggests Greece is one place they don't ship to...others?

TIA,

Dear Ryan,

Bicycles were unknown in Greece when these riders visited:

http://www.aafla.org/SportsLibrary/O...outXXVIII03c.p
df

But they sold their bikes (sort of) and started a bicycling craze in
Greece:

"We sold our bicycles—-the first wheeled invaders within its
Time-breached walls-—to two Greek friends who, true to proverbial
heredity, no doubt, have never paid us. We received new wheels from
England, and left the nucleus of a wheelmen’s club, which now, with
its hundred members, crowns with lasting success the invasion of the
bicycle in Athens."

http://www.aafla.org/SportsLibrary/O...tXXVIII04l.pdf

Carl, truly, I cannot tell whether your discovery of the Outing magazine
back issues was the best thing or the silliest thing to ever happen to
rbt. In any case, it is certainly not the worst.

I'd try to avoid all the potential fuss, expense, and disaster with
shipping and customs by buying or renting a bike locally.

S'probably the right plan. I am laid low by my theory that if I just do
this right, I can find out what a Greek garage sale looks like, and get
my lovely bride to teach me how to say "I'll give you 20 Euros for that
bike."

You'd probably enjoy the bike shop and it's hard to imagine a tourist
destination where bicycles can't be found, particularly if you already
have contacts.

Oh probably. Syros (sometimes "Siros") is an oddly untouristy island. If
you read reports about trips to the Cyclades, it frequently goes
unmentioned, instead overshadowed by scenic Paros, weekend destination
Kea, saintly Tinos, and party islands Mykonos and Santorini.

A bike from the local shop will be more likely to have parts
available.

A compelling point.

Once you're there, you'll probably have a better chance of arranging a
better bike or a mail-order deal for your next visit with the help of
someone who lives there.

Well, that's not a huge deal. The proverbial better bike will likely
arrive the day I decide to move there (maybe...)

And stressing the next visit might help Mrs. Cousineau deal with your
plan to vanish on a bicycle shortly after you arrive. Some wives have
the oddest notions about how their husbands should behave on
vacations.

My lovely bride is not so notional. She is the one who established the
budget for this bicycle at a couple hundred bucks (enough to buy the
used bike of my dreams!) Two things probably make her perfectly happy to
see me off on a bicycle:

1) the island is about 4 miles wide. From the house where we will be
staying, she can probably see half of it. I won't be roving that far.

2) I am prone to rising early in the morning. She is not. Given that we
will be there in August (!!), my ideal riding hours will end sometime
around the time she rises.

Of course, I'm sure to get hell for not being able to party late into
the evening.

--
Ryan Cousineau http://www.wiredcola.com/
"I don't want kids who are thinking about going into mathematics
to think that they have to take drugs to succeed." -Paul Erdos

In article . com,
sergio wrote:

On Apr 30, 7:03 am, Ryan Cousineau wrote:
At the risk of being both unanswerable here and mildly off-topic, my
next vacation will be to Greece.

A very good suggestion would be to pose your query to
it.sport.ciclismo, an italian newsgroup where also the english
language is 'tolerated', when one can'tdo without (if you wish, tell
that you are adoing it after my suggestion). There are a couple of
greek guys contributing to this newsgroup, and you are guaranteed to
get an answer.

I'll try that. Thanks!

Next, since you go through Frankfurt, how are you travelling from
there to the greek islands? If through Italy, by land and sea, I could
easily fix you up on the way.

Your offer is too kind: beware, I may take you up on it .

There's no direct flights from Vancouver to Athens, so the typical hubs
where one changes flights are Amsterdam (KLM), Frankfurt (Lufthansa) or
London (lots).

We have friends in relatives in all those cities (and, for that matter,
around Rome as well), so we'll probably take a long stopover to make a
short visit with one or the other groups.

I'm seriously contemplating making our routing through London, since
it's the nexus of several of the European cheap-jet carriers, and the
least expensive destination from Canada. I don't know what itinerary
will work out best at this point. There's compromises with any of these
plans, and the desire to have a bike when I get there is one small part.

--
Ryan Cousineau http://www.wiredcola.com/
"I don't want kids who are thinking about going into mathematics
to think that they have to take drugs to succeed." -Paul Erdos

On 30 Apr, 19:47, Ryan Cousineau wrote:

Your offer is too kind: beware, I may take you up on it .
There's no direct flights from Vancouver to Athens, so ...

Glad you have reveiled your location.
In case you want to know a bit about my area, and myself, just pick up
the phone and talk to Professor Neil Watson of Simon Fraser
University.
He has been here more than once, a cyclist and a good friend of mine,
too.

Be aware that there a re convenient ferries from the Italian shores to
those islands down under.

Sergio
Pisa

On 30 Apr, 20:06, sergio wrote:

Glad you have reveiled your location.

revealed of course.

Sergio

On Mon, 30 Apr 2007 05:03:17 GMT, Ryan Cousineau
wrote:

[---]

A third, very sweet option would be to mail-order a bike from somewhere
in Euro-land, have it delivered to Syros, and be done with it. I even
have local contacts who could receive the machine.

The question then becomes who (if anyone) can ship cheaply to Greek
islands, and what can they sell me? A quick look at Wiggle's website
suggests Greece is one place they don't ship to...others?

Rose (Germany) ship to Greece:

http://www.roseversand.de/output/controller.aspx?cid=191

Flat charge of EUR 32 for MTBs and racing bikes, but for other types
of bike, they say to check on the exact rate when ordering.

In article .com,
sergio wrote:

On 30 Apr, 20:06, sergio wrote:

Glad you have reveiled your location.

revealed of course.

Sergio

No, I am liking this typo. The only better would have been "reviled."

--
Ryan Cousineau http://www.wiredcola.com/
"I don't want kids who are thinking about going into mathematics
to think that they have to take drugs to succeed." -Paul Erdos

On 2007-04-30, Ryan Cousineau wrote:
At the risk of being both unanswerable here and mildly off-topic, my
next vacation will be to Greece.

Thanks to having the very great luck of marrying into a Greek family,
there's going to be a place to stay on the Cycladic island where the
missus and I will be spending most of my time (Syros), and I want to
ride a bike there. Nothing fancy: I'm hoping to go on and off road, so I
suspect I'll wish for a cyclocross bike and a spare set of road rubber,
and settle for a rigid MTB and two sets of tires.


[snip]

There is a lot of information about cycling in Greece on my website:
http://www.acampbell.org.uk/cycling. I have ridden over most of mainland
Greece in the last 20-25 years and also some of the islands, including
Crete.

Until very recently the only bikes you saw in Greece, apart from those
ridden by visitors, were either heavy ancient machines going between
villages or (a few) racing machines. Nowadays there are more people in
the suburbs on mountain bikes but still not very many and they are not
what I would call serious cyclists.

You would certainly not be able to buy an acceptable bike on the
islands, except just possibly Crete; I think some people hire them. The
only bike shop I've used in Athens is in the northern suburb of
Kifissia. I know there are other bike shops in Athens but I've never
seen them myself and I don't know in which quarter they are; certainly
not in the centre.

In short, I would not try to buy a bike in Greece; I keep two touring
machines over there permanently. I also take all spares with me when I
go because I would not count on being able to find things apart from
very simple basic stuff. I'd say take your own bike.

Anthony
--
Anthony Campbell -
Microsoft-free zone - Using Linux Gnu-Debian
http://www.acampbell.org.uk (blog, book reviews,
on-line books and sceptical articles)