Hello all, I'm moving to Shinagawa very soon as an exchange student for 9 months and am contemplating whether it's worth it to buy a road bike (and hopefully resell it) depending on how useful it will be. I have no clue what to consider or what I'll need it for exactly (probably some groceries if I can add a bag mount on a road bike and general transport). I come from a car-centric country so I'm not very familiar with navigating a dense city with bikes, walking and public transport.
However, I know Japan is a pretty bike friendly country so I'm leaning towards buying one. My main questions/concerns are:
- Bike vs walking. I realized I can't take my bike on trains, at least not easily, so that would mean I'm limited to biking within the area I'm staying at. That's still good but it might not be much better than just walking. Even at stations I'd have to pay for storage, right?
- If I need to, how much of a hassle is it to bring a bike on the metro? I read I need some kind of bag but I'm still a bit unsure. I likely won't bring it on the metro often, especially if it's troublesome and unpractical (please correct me if I'm wrong), but I most likely will need to transport it from the place I'm buying it 2nd hand.
- As a student who's here for a relatively short period, do you think it's worth buying a bike and trying to resell it? How useful do you think it will be navigating Shinagawa or other parts of Tokyo? What are some things I should consider by myself before deciding to buy?
I know it's quite vague since I'm not there yet but I need to decide whether to buy one soon before I arrive so any advice is appreciated. Thank you!
by Different_Zucchini13