Sunday, June 19, 2011

Bike Shop in Astana!

(Scroll to the bottom of this post for information on how to find Astana's bike and bike repair shops.)

We finally found a genuine, "Western" bike shop in Astana! We'd bought Sophia's bike in the bazaar. We'd looked for bikes in random, tiny, crowded sports stores; as well as MegaSports, the sports store in Astana, which is pretty pathetic and small compared to sports stores in the US, although nice and large compared to the other sports stores in Astana. All of these stores are extremely seasonal; you can't find anything when it's not in season, and if an item runs out before the season ends,well, then, that's it. Wait till next season.

The pedal came off Sophia's bike and I was unable to fix it myself--I had bought two wrenches, but neither were the right size. Luckily, a co-worker had brought his unicycle and unicycle-repair kit with him from the US, and he knows a lot about bikes. So he was able to identify the problem, but, unfortunately, the wrench he'd brought with him was the right size for most pedals, but not for Sophia's.

Luckily, the school has a wide array of tools, we found the proper tool there and the co-worker fixed it.

But that left me wondering, what would I do if my co-worker were unable to fix it? Or if we needed some part? My Kazakh friend who'd recently bought a bike had brought it into a car shop when the tire got a hole. Unfortunately, they said they couldn't fix it.

My co-worker suggested I talk to an Austrian couple, parents of two sweet children at our school, who are leaving soon to return to Austria. The husband is an avid cyclist, and they have been in Astana for 3 or 4 years.

I'm so glad I talked to her! She knew of two places and told me how to find them. The next day we were shopping for souvenirs at the mall across from Congress Hall, on Kenessary Street, and when I realized how close we were to the funky blue buildings (landmarks for finding one of the bike repair shops), we decided to look for the bike shop. It was easy to find, and had bikes for sale out front.

Inside, it looked like a normal bike shop--bikes for sale, as well as bike parts--pedals, seats, etc. There also were some other outdoors supplies--sleeping bags, fishing poles--and biking clothes. I asked about bike locks, they were out, but would have them again soon.

They had helmets, and the sales assistant seemed more knowledgeable than me (I know nothing) and we found a helmet for Sophia that he said was the right size. It was about $25, and it was nice to get one here, rather than tote one back from the US. Since I know little about bikes, I can't give a great review of this place; it seemed to be a good place, the staff seemed knowledgeable (although not English-speaking); and I was quite pleased with it.

All in all, it's nice to know there's a bike shop here in Astana!

So now, instructions on how to find one of these places, if you're in Astana and would like to find a bike, bike repair, or bike parts shop.

One located somewhere near the American Embassy, and is hard to find. The International Women's Club of Astana has its name and address on their web site, as well as a photo of it. Scroll down on the "Shopping" page and you'll find it.

The other one is the one we ended up going to. It's easy to find due to the landmark it's under. Next to the river, across from the huge Central Park, there are these 3 tall blue buildings. Down the center of each blue building is a yellow squiggly line. Yes, they look very strange and are very recognizable. At the bottom of the buildings are shops (mostly empty, I think) and the bike shop is located not on the side facing the river.

Astana can be a confusing city to navigate, due to its many alleys and tiny roads, but it's full of unique landmarks. If you find yourself in Astana, you're bound to notice these buildings; if you head to these buildings and wander along the shops at the bottom, you're bound to find the bike shop. As we did. I'm attaching a photo of these buildings. It's on the bottom floor, on the other side of the taller middle building.

***Update: The shop does fix bikes; we brought Sophia's bike there to be fixed, but unfortunately they don't have the part that's needed to fix her bike. My guess is that it's because hers was some cheap bazaar bike and not a normal model or something. This shop also rents bikes, about 800 Tenge per hour, 1200 Tenge for 3 hours. Also, they seem very friendly despite not speaking any English. When I came in to buy a helmet, one of the workers followed me outside to check my bike for me, although I hadn't asked. He pumped the tires then because he said they were low.***

***Update:   Recently (Sept 2012), I went there and was told that they only do maintenance/check-ups on bikes they've sold.  They have a good selection, but not everything I'd like (such as a mirror).  Bikes and a smaller selection of bike accessories are sold in Sportsmaster in the Mega shopping mall.  They do repairs there, I'm unsure if they'll do repairs on bikes they didn't sell.

2 comments:

  1. Limpopo is the name of the bike shop underneath the buildings with the 'wiggly lines' called the Grand Alatau Residential Complex. Some English is spoken by staff there. It's just a short walk from Congress Hall or Line Brew (Kenesary Street). Most taxi drivers will know where it is.

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