Heading to Zurich. Anyone there or nearby?

Hello Switzerland-based LFGSS'ers (if any exist)...

I am moving to Switzerland for a new job, and will be based in Zurich.

I would be based in Zurich full time, so figure commuting (by train) from Winterthur or Zug (or somewhere lakeside) may be a good idea, due to the high rental cost of somewhere more central. I have never been to any of these places before so have no idea what they are like. Any guidance?

Aside from work I am (obviously) into riding bikes, socialising, drinking beer, architecture, taking walks etc. I am looking for somewhere pretty chilled and importantly, safe to be.

Also, any recommendations for an LBS? I won't be bringing my bike, so will need to buy upon arrival. Happy to buy pre-owned. May opt for a weekday beater and something nicer for the weekend.

Any advice or guidance would be massively appreciated!

Will fill you in with as much info as possible later...

Just pop down the road and pick up a BMC straight from their research lab! I'm over in Valais, so can't give you any local advice, except just get out there and ride everything! There seems to be loads of CX in the Zurich area (as well as cycloball if that floats your boat!).

For buying a bike, you might be better getting one from Germany if you have a car. Even if you got it sent and paid the duty on it, it'd be cheaper than buying new here.

So, apologies in advance if this gets over-long, I may be the only north-Switzerland LFGSSer and don't get much chance to talk about life in northern Switzerland for LFGSSers so have (quite) a few thoughts to share! (I live in, and work near, Brugg, 25 minutes north-west of Zurich by train.)

If you want to commute, the trains are excellent and, when you get a discount (halb-tax) or subscription (GA) card, they become good value for money. Winterthur is a nice enough small town. A couple of people who have lived in Zug have said it is unfriendly compared to Zurich or Baden, where they live now - what this might mean I don't know, relations with neighbors etc can be complicated in Switzerland and they may have been unlucky.

I am a bit surprised you would want to commute though. Colleagues live in Zurich and commute outwards every day, so it must be affordable. Zurich, once you get away from Bahnhofstrasse and associated bling, is actually a nice and compact city with great public transport and some funky stuff. Although I know it can be difficult to find a place at the outset, I don't think it is necessary to live right in the centre, because you won't really be that far from it anyway. I would just think that moving there from the outside and trying to find a place, meet friends, and kickstart a life would be easier without the commuting and involving a second location, and that you would find a more active, cosmopolitan, easy to integrate with crowd, and more activities, in Zurich

An important incentive not to live in Zurich though would be if you want to ride/train in the countryside a lot. Even though you could take the train out of Zurich (with almost zero hassle to put your bike on the train!) if you didn't want to ride, if that was a big priority, any small town around Zurich could suit you.

I think you would have to actively seek somewhere unsafe, but for chilled, you might need to be a bit more careful. Are the people in the building younger/older/international/traditional. I'd recommend to find out if there is a shared laundry room (a common feature of swiss apartment buildings and conversational blackhole for expats) and what the rules for sharing it are, then use this as a gauge of how chilled the residents are likely to be!

Switzerland is a great place for riding bikes, there is cyclocross around here, lots of clubs, races, full lycra roadie-ing is not in the least frowned on if that is your thing (it is mine to some extent). The alpine passes are fantastic and after riding some of them this summer I'm really kicking myself for not getting in that direction before, you just have to get a train to Interlaken or similar. Though I don't really get this gravel stuff, the combination of tarmac and forest road available round here seems perfect for it! I have the impression that single-track proper mountain biking is harder to find here, but I'm sure massive downhills are also just a train ride away. There are cycle paths all over the place and drivers mostly well behaved. Walks (obviously) and architecture (Le Corbusier is on one of the bank notes) are also promising interests. The beer on the other hand is nothing to write home about, but they certainly drink it!

If you want to say whereabouts you'll be working and what you'll be doing, I might be able to come up with some more specific suggestions of places to live, or maybe even a contact. In my direction, Baden is probably equal to Winterthur as a place to live and very popular. Brugg, I believe, has been voted the most boring town in Switzerland, but being a bit further out (and a bit more boring!) it is quite a bit cheaper.

On to the important stuff: bike shops! This is an update of the stuff I put on the "LBS options in Zurich" thread a while ago, since I've found a couple more and had a bit more to do with some of them. Hot carbon road bikes abound in Switzerland, but they can be really expensive. As @chiroshi says, buying a bike in euros by going to, or shipping from, Germany is a good deal at the moment, or even just a bike from a euro country from a Swiss shop can seem like a bit better value than you might expect. But the usual sorts of shops selling them are pretty easy to find, these are some more characterful shops in Zurich that I'm aware of.

velo-citta.ch/ I think they mostly recondition old frames with new, basic-ish groupsets (could be good for a decent weekday bike), the guy is really nice, he may sell you some of the old bits from his "collection" if you ask nicely. Otherwise it's mostly a repair shop and doesn't have a big stock of new components.

urbanrider.ch/ it's a fixie/single speed shop, sells some nice colorful bits, more down to earth than my original impression!

caprez-zueri5.ch/index.php/ho­me is a strange hybrid of a bike shop and old-skool electrical shop - there are some old disk wheels for purchase in the window if that's your thing, and also some vintage hoovers

raddna.ch/ is a very serious looking swiss-designer-style bike shop, but the guys are nice and helpful and speak English, and they sell mainly Genesis bikes (the steel models so far). This would be my first port of call for a nice bike, unless I wanted carbon.

All of the above are a few minutes from each other, near the station in central Zurich, so worth a quick look around.

veloschmiede.com/ is out of the town centre, lovely vintage roadster in the window when I went past, and the website looks promising, think they're mostly into pimping pretty much any old bike they get.

http://www.zweiradgeber.ch/ haven't been here, but it looks a bit different to regular bike shops and was recommended by velo-citta for resprays.

http://www.velo-zuerich.ch/ weird and wonderful shop in the suburbs of Zurich, it occupies the first two floors of an office building, the downstairs is now almost completely taken over by E-bikes, and the interesting ones are upstairs (but it's not like a shop where you can just go upstairs, you've got to somehow indicate that you're interested in the old bikes). The webpage is not right up to date, but the Coppis are still there.

ricardo.ch is the swiss equivalent of ebay and looks like a decent source of projects or weekday bikes. The compactness of Switzerland means you probably can pick it up pretty easily. Sellers don't put much info for some reason.

Last things: I don't really know anything about bicycle culture in Zurich really but a couple of things to look out for are Saturday Style ride (http://styleride.ch/) and the six day nights of Zurich which must be coming up pretty soon (won by Mark Cavendish and Iljo Keisse last year).

Thank you very much for the information guys. I am pretty set on getting a CX bike as a) I've always wanted one and b) I can't justify two bikes right now (unless one is a 'bahnhof bike').

I have dropped a few retailers above a note to get the ball rolling. If that fails I will probably consider picking something up on a weekend trip to Germany.

Are any of you aware of regular (social) group rides in the Zurich area. Keen to meet some like-minded folk upon arrival so I don't feel like a complete alien!

Going to be in Zurich for a week. Anywhere that locals would recommend I could hire a bike from and anything in particular to do in Zurich? Will be working during the day but have evenings free and a weekend.

Probably be easier/cheaper to take a bike with you. Plenty of good riding for your weekend there...you get into mini mountains pretty quickly and the big mountains are reachable if you did an overnight stay.

During the week......perhaps there are some colleagues to have drinks with. There are some decent bars......https://www.lataqueria.ch is good for Mexican food.

A lap of the lake is a decent ride, albeit flat. When I lived there I used to head south and west of the city, out through Adliswil and there are a couple of decent climbs there over the ridge of hills that overlook the city and the lake.

You could get lucky with the weather, or it could be shit. The first week I was there, at the beginning of May, it was 35 degrees and sunny. The same week a year later and it was 8 degrees and wet.

If I'm there, it will be shit - but that's what bars are for.

I'm not too fussed about riding but if it's easy enough to organise a hire bike, then a blast around or up something would be nice.

ie. 100k lake loop...
https://ridewithgps.com/routes/41438622

I'd seek someone with more current info on the bar situation. The old town on the east side of the river used to be good for bars, although my personal favourite was the James Joyce, which is the other side of the river.

Weekend in Zurich I'd ton the two Tour de Suisse passes in Entlebuch (didn't make it last year) or roll down the hill from Andermatt (which I did twice last year). Trains to the mountains are like the tube to the Westend in London. I hope there's still snow and you can only fatty around the lake, in which case I'd ride to Grindelwald around the other lakes.

You lucky cunt.

I don't remember being anywhere to hire decent bikes......you could try these guys they might be able to lend you something or point you in the right direction......

The lake lap you put is pretty decent although I preferred the mini mountains.

https://www.cyclestorezurich.com

When I was there about 6 years ago I used to drink in El Lokal - excellent place by the riverside, loads of different beers, street food in the courtyard.

Also not sure when you will be there but in the summer everyone just hangs out on the est bank of the Limmat - lots of open air bars, Schwimmbad in the river, S-bahn going over the viaduct, lovely vibe on a summer evening.

Not much idea on riding other than people get the train to the top of the Uetliberg (nearest hill, visible from everywhere in Zurich) and then ride down the trails on downhill MTBs

Not much idea on riding other than people get the train to the top of the Uetliberg (nearest hill, visible from everywhere in Zurich and then ride down the trails on downhill MTBs

They do the same with sledges in the winter.

The cocktail and whisky bar in the old observatory is quite cool for one drink but very expensive & poncy

Sechseläuten is on April 15, 2024. Massive city-wide piss-up to celebrate the end of winter, they burn a giant snowman (the Böögg) in the main square and the faster his head explodes the better the summer will be.

https://www.cyclestorezurich.com/rental

Thanks, I messaged them and they have some rental bikes. Pretty spendy but a lot less hassle than taking our own for such a short trip.

very expensive & poncy

Just like me.

Wait a minute...

Pretty spendy

= everything in Zurich

Yeah, that's why I didn't laugh in their faces when they sent it to me. I've been to Switzerland a few times before. Sucks when you're on a TCR and your food bill for a day could sustained you for a month in London :)