Bicycles in Korea have been around since the late 1800's and up until the mid 1970's was considered a major mode of transportation, especially in the countryside. Today cars have pushed the cycles aside as number one, but you still see people of all ages riding for work and for pleasure.
Mountain bike riding in Korea is 18 moa gaining in popularity at an extremely fast rate. With that comes many benefits to mountain bikers in Korea. Trials are opening up to MTB'ers throughout the country and some ski resorts are making courses on the slopes for riders to use in the non skiing months. Prior to the explosion of riders, mountain trails were mostly used for hiking a sport that is extremely popular in Korea. Without dedicated mountain trails to ride, MTB'ers started using the hiking trails, not only was this considered rude by the hikers, it was dangerous to both the hikers and the riders.
As the MTB'ers numbers increased dedicated trails started to appear, some even taking over for those that once were hiking trails. Today countless trails are available to ride all over Korea. In early 2009, the Seoul government announced a program to build about 360 kilometers of bike only trails in Seoul to be completed in 2010. The Korean government also announced in 2009 a study was being conducted to look at the Korean cycling industry. The purpose of the study is to see if a government backed plan would be feasible for the development of a large domestic based cycling manufacturing industry.
Korean mountain bikers take the sport very seriously with the typical rider spending thousands on bikes and equipment. It is very rare to not see a rider fully clothed in proper cycling attire. Cycling shops that have a full range of quality product is not hard to find at all. All of the popular brands are available in Korea and priced very well. The shops also usually are the home base for a riding club. The riding clubs contribute massively to the popularity of the sport. There are clubs for men, clubs for women, clubs for older riders and clubs for those who are training for the next big race. If you are looking to have a good time seek and a find one of these clubs they won't be hard to find.
