Hi

My first post on this forum, but I think it is going to become my lifeline over the next few months.

I am going to be moving to Zurich in a week and starting work there in two. One of my first priorities when I arrive there will be finding somewhere to live (already have short term accommodation sorted or my arrival). So I'm looking for suggestions as to places to live in Zurich which give easy access to some mountainbike trails. The ideal would be to get home after work, jump on the bike and be within a couple of blocks of tracks ranging from a quick 5k sprint to a more worthwhile 20k spin depending on how much time and energy I have. They don't have to be the most exciting trails in the world, I can chuck the bikes on the car to check them out on the weekend.

I currently have a full bore downhill/freeride bike, and also a basic XC hardtail. I will decide once I am more familiar with the trails as to whether I bling up my current hardtail (it is a sweet frame with very basic components) or go for a longer travel, all mountain hardtail.

Oh, and when the white stuff falls, I want a location where I can be in the car and off to the slopes on a Friday arvo without having to worry about being stuck in traffic gridlock forever (I realise that some degree of gridlock is inevitable in any city).

The obvious choice is living near the Uetliberg which opens up some good trails, and some serious downhill sections.

I live on the "other side" of town, Kreis 7, and therefore have access to areas including the Zollikerberg, the Dolder, Pfannenstil and the Greifensee. I have the Pfadiweg right next to my house - 30 seconds and you're far from the madding crowds and in a forest! http://www.pfadizueri.ch/medien/pfadiweg/pfadiweg.html

Another advantage of living on this side of the lake is that on Friday night you can avoid the traffic in Zurich and travel down the north side of the lake, and meet up with the motorway down past Rapperswil. Of course this is only useful if you're heading toward Chur and the graubunden area for skiing (Davos, Flims etc)

Hey Woodsie,

There is no shortage of trails in the Zurich area. Uetliberg is perfect for after work, even if you are on the wrong side of the city. I work near Zolikon, and regularly ride over to Uetliberg and do the trails there before riding back to pick up the car and go home.

There are also some good trails around the Zuriberg side of the city, with a cross country style loop and a bike park on top of Zuriberg itself. There are some trails in this region too that you can link together to ride all the wayup to Pfanensteil which will put a little distance and climbing into your legs if your feeling energetic after work.

My personal feeling is that a light full suspension bike with a decent amount of travel is the best option for around Zurich. There is a fair bit of climbing to do so a full on downhill bike could be a touch heavy, but some of the trails have some pretty interesting sections and jumps (if you want them) so a nice bit of travel front and back doesn't go astray.

If you ride the Pfadiwegs that Frasier was on about you want to be carefull of hikers. They are not a huge fan of bikers flying past while they are out walking the dogs... but fortunately there are enough singletrails around that you will probably only need to climb on the pfadiwegs anyway.

Check out the site www.singletrailmap.ch for maps of each area that show some of the trails. Then go searching and find some more for yourself!!!

You will also find that there are groups that meet most evenings of the week to go for rides. These can be a good way to get to know the trails and meet new people.

Thanks for this guys. I'll check out the links and areas. Though it sounds like most of Zurich has pretty good access to good areas, being squeezed between the lake and the hills as it is.

Any suggestions on good bike shops in Zurich aswell. You know the sort of place, wall to wall of shiny bits staffed by social misfits who live, eat and breath mountainbiking and any customer who sounds a bit gemutlik is politely directed to the next bike shop down the road.

For bike shops I liked Velo Elsener . Staff seemed like the average mix of good (sort of goofy, very into riding) and young (enthusiastic but a touch clueless, avoid these guys when asking serious advice). Good selection from what I could tell.

We rented a wonderful Specialized Epic when a buddy was in town. Super clean bike, ran great. Very helpful staff getting it dialed in for a rental rider.

Disclaimer: I haven't had them work on my bike yet although since I need a full tune-up and some new tires it might be time.