Bicycles

Arjay
Please don't base your decision on the size of the bike by the size of the wheels alone. As I said in another post if you are about 5'10" +/- then you should probably be looking for a 19-20" frame. BTW: This frame measurement is from the center of the pedal crank to the top of the seat tube.
LA Bike has some nice bikes which you can checkout on their website: www.la-bicycle.com The problem is that you would have to order the bike and hope you like what you get.
The shop in Udon at the 4 way intersection on Prajak Rd (Udon Map Ref. N-12) just opposite the Singha beer distributor has a nice selection of bikes which you can try out to see how you like them. If you want to move further upscale price wise I suggest you contact Khun Pepsi any evening around 6PM and all day weekends. he has a small shop located on Si Chumchun Rd (Udon Map Ref I-12) about 2 shops up from a 7/11 convenience. BTW there are two 7/11 stores on this road. The shop is on the same side of the road as the 7/11. The phone number is 085 0087-799
I have Shimano Deore gear shift levers with Shimano LX gears on the rear and Shimano Deore front gears with a lightweight crank. and am quite pleased with this setup. However, a close riding friend of mine has a rotary gear changer in a handlebar grip which he likes. I think the choice is just personal preference vs a performance one. More importantly are the gears themselves as the higher end gear sets work smoother and last longer. Your major wear points are the chain, & rear small gears which get most of the use. Thoroughly cleaning both and lubricating them correctly will extend the life of these two critical items.

Kudjap
Good luck with your trip. Get in touch with me when you return and I'll try to help you out.

FDI, Thanks for all the useful information. I note your comments about the wheel sizes, but the frames were only 17" and low for me at 5' 10".

I am going to the Udon Prajak Road shop today.

Thanks

Just talked to my neighbor,she owns the ''Travel to Teach ''business and has bought many many bikes here in NK.She says the guy on Prajak in NK, just past the Village Weaver shop has the best products and service in town!Good Luck!

Thanks Stan. I've just looked in the Prajak Road shop in Udon, and he has no greater selection and is no cheaper than what I saw at the 2 shops in Nong Khai, - one nearly opposite the Suksant Hotel and the other further on past the hopsital (opposite the police station?). So I plan to revisit those, with the benfit of what I learnt at the Udon shop, as if I buy in NK I will have the advantage of local service if I have any problems later.

Decided to buy a Mr and Mrs pair of bicycles to help our get fit regime and found the info in this thread helped a lot, especially from FDMike, thanks Mike. We went to the Prajak Road shop (opposite the SIngha distributor) and dealt with the owner there, he was excellent, wasn't out to sell us the top of the range but was very helpful on exactly what we wanted bikes for, where we'd ride them etc and recommended 2 nice machines. Both LA bicycle and a little over the 4k bht each so well within the budget I'd set myself. I can highly reommend this shop.
So all we need now is for it to stop raining and off we go.............