Chiang Mai Mountain Biking & Kayaks — Attraction in Chiang Mai Province

We were only a small party of 3 guests and "the Chief" himself, Aiden - owner of the company.

Already the briefing assured me that we are in highly professional hands. We got all the theoretical part explained as well as the technical part. After a rather long ride of 90 min (with a short stop to buy snacks) we arrived at the starting point. Once more, Aiden explained to us how all works and what we have to watch out for and be careful. Once in the river, we fed a few minutes of practicing before we head off down. Nature is wonderful, from Dschungel to orchards to papaya and mango farms, you see it all. We so abundant bird life (herons, kingfisher, and many more) and butterflies and dragon flies in all colors! After 2h we stopped for lunch (great Thai chicken stir fry with rice and veggies) and then went on for the next 2 h. The terrain become more forest like and we had a few sharp curves and minor rapids ( I don't think you call them rapids - they were too small but still fun - sort, am not an expert).

Over all, this trip would rate 12 put of 10, if only it would have been a bit close to town. But trust me, if you bear the ride- you get rewarded with a wonderful scenic clad 1.5 river kayak experience!

The next day was mountain biking: It was not my first MBK trip - but definitely one of the best! The briefing held was highly educative and professional, never the less with a good pinch of humor. Listening to the briefing already assured me that we are in highly professional hands! The bikes we got were used, but top of the range! The staff immediately changed break cables from left to right and vis versa if the biker was used the other way around. We started on 1100m altitude (if I remember correctly), in the mist, above Chiang Mai near the mountain palace, crossed through a picturesque village with scenic hanging gardens full of flower beds in all colors and then gradually biked up to 1580mA. At times it was steep and difficult, but also challenging and fulfilling! I thoroughly enjoyed the "hard work" part! The 2 guides were alway near but and helped with advises and guidance. Afterwards we had a great 10-12 km downhill, first through Dschungel, then lychee orchards and farms. We took it easy and stopped here and there. Back at the car park we were offered to take another 10 road trip to the restaurant, wich part of us accepted. It was of course different to the MB track, but still very rewarding because you come across villages, schools and temples. Gradually back into real life! The end was a great meal (Glaces chicken on steamed rice with morning glory and a bowl of soup)

The ride back to town was short And fast - in spite of the traffic. We were 7 participants and 2 guides and got a great connection on this trip - almost like after a bonding or team building exercise...

Jayjay and team, thanks for a...

Bikes aren’t well maintained. I can only comment on my experience hiring a mountain bike. I planned to cycle up Soi Duthep and find some off road stuff on the way down. They offered me a bike (250 baht, about £6) which was well used but fine. I took it for a quick spin but noticed that the forks lock wasn’t working (mechanism that lets you turn suspension on or off). I explained this was important to me because I’d be on road all the way up for a couple of hours before going off road. The manager was very understanding (for which I’m grateful), but the point is, we tried bike after bike with the same issue (or with the suspension effectively dead). After trying 8 bikes the manager asked the mechanic which bike’s suspension worked properly and he identified a 29”er, which was fine. Next morning I set off. Bike had no bottle cage and I had no camelbak so had to stop each time for a drink. Once on the uphill/bike under strain, further evidence of poor maintenance was apparent. Several of the lower gears were not an option as the chain slipped through them, which was really frustrating. The pedal/crank also seemed to have some bearing issues as it made an unhealthy click. When I returned the bike, I had planned to mention these issues so the next renter would have a better experience. But I didn’t finally, figuring that their process should check every bike before every hiring, and having read their contract which appears to put all responsibility for any issues on the renter.

Note: this is in no way a comment on their mechanic who may do a great job; it’s more about the whole process of checking in/checking out bikes (I checked my bike out to get an acceptable one, no one asked me of any issues when I checked it back in), regular testing in challenging conditions and allowing the resources in time and materials for maintenance.

Note 2, I did get the impression they reserved their newer/better quality/better maintained bikes for their guided tours, since when I chose one of these, they said “oh that one’s Much more expensive”, but didn’t offer me a price.

For those interested, the ride up soi duthep is a long, largely charmless but not especially steep hill. I couldn’t locate much off road on the way down (though I’m sure there is plenty) but did visit a couple of nice waterfalls. I took it quite easy (but am quite fit) and was gone for about 5...

If you are looking to do downhill Mountain Biking while in Chiang Mai, I'd suggest you look elsewhere unless they start doing some real maintenance on their incredibly old fleet of bikes, or get new bikes altogether. The first bike they gave my brother to use had a rear wheel bearing that needed tightened up and a broken spoke. Not to mention that the spoke tension was off on all bikes, and all of the bikes needed new rubber. The brakes were setup backwards, so the right was your front and left was rear. They definitely needed bled too. The fork on my bike was OK, but one got mentioned his bottoming out travel too often. I had to adjust my own levers to make them somewhat useable too. About halfway through the second run, the bolt for the rear linkage sheared off my brothers bike, and the trail guides made a temporary fix by putting a screwdriver in place of the bolt, and using zip ties to hold it in place. They still charged him full price for the second run too. If you're on the IMBA Facebook group, there's a guy that posted a picture of the fix I mention on Sunday, January 15th. I'll try to update this post with pictures when I'm near a computer. I wanted to give this place two stars instead of one, mainly because the guides were awesome, and good fun to ride with, but far too many people gave this place 4 or 5 stars, even with the awful maintenance on the bikes. But I wanted to warn people of the dangers of doing a downhill trip with this shop. Be sure you check the bike before they load them on the truck in the morning, and see for yourself what you're getting into. Apparently my brother and I didn't care much about our own safety.

*update - apparently the owner responded to my review. Any cyclist, road or mountain knows that proper maintenance should be handled after every ride. I'll go to "Trailhead" to do my downhill mountain biking in Chiang Mai from this point on. They have newer, up to date bikes and have a higher...