hey I live in Zürich
it depends where you are with your hotel. best tri/cycling shop is Temposport but for cycling only you may have better solution closer to your hotel
i am in im zurich also
pm me for any question

I recommend that you learn to put your bike back together.

Thanks for quick reply. We rented a house near Oerlikon. It looks like Temposport is about 16 kilometers away, which isn't too bad. I could probably ride from the shop to the bike check-in. You think that is a reasonable plan? The shop looks nice.

Or do you think there is also a good bike shop closer to Oerlikon? Looking forward to some Zurich ...

from Oerlikon you take S2 or S24 local metro trains and they go straight to Thalwil station which is few steps (just a stair) away from the shop! you pay the train ticket also for your bike and you hop on the train
you can find any last minute tri gear you need there. they are also at the expo of course.
but for sure you need to book the work otherwise they wont make it. they are very busy those days

Yyah, I should be able to be better on putting bike back together. While I am working on that, I have the reality that the bike needs to be shipped somewhere before we arrive. I can't ship it to the house where I am staying ... no one is there. So I might as well ship to a reputable shop and get some help getting it in tip-top shape. Besides, I don't want to train for six months only to make a rookie mistake in putting the bike back together...

I am traveling also with a family of five and have limited time for anything other than get there and get checked in.

Beautiful. I will book it soon. Thanks for the information ...

I don't trust any mechanic to put my bike together correctly and not break anything.

Putting your bike back together should only take about 10 minutes.

Like Plissken said, Tempo in Thalwil is great. Kessler Zweirad Sport in Siebnen will also do a good job in assembling your bike if Tempo is booked up, but it's a lot further away and is pretty much on the opposite side of the lake. Of course the Swiss rail system is so easy and convenient. The owners at both places (as many Swiss)speak really good english so you shouldn't have any problem telling them what you want.

Agreed, I used TempoSport in Thalwil to tuneup my bike before IM Switzerland. The store is a bit outside of Zurich but right on the train line so easy to get to and from.

just one more vote for Tempo - they're truly a full-service tri shop and can kit you out head to toe. i live close(ish) by and they're not my regular shop but i do enjoy a browse there often.

there are lots of other bike shops in town, though, if you don't want to make the trek. there's a decent one at Europa Allee, which is at the zurich main train station. though as you note tempo's rather closer to the race start, which may be a plus.

regardless the standard of wrenching in switzerland is generally excellent, and the prices eye-watering. that's how it goes with most things in switzerland, actually.

good luck!
-mike

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https://lshtm.academia.edu/MikeCallaghan

http://howtobeswiss.blogspot.ch/

Here's a tidbit about Tempo: Bruno the head mechanic / co-owner was an olympic medalist and world champion rower. He could probably snap my frame like a twig.

Good info also. Sounds as if things work well in Zurich. If the rest of the world were more like the Swiss, perhaps we'd have fewer issues ... thanks

is there still a shop called Velo Atelier? man, that shop had some awesome limited edition bikes (nude carbon kestrals, cheetah, zipp....) , but that was already 15 years ago

Couple of years back there was a mechanic at the event (IIRC it was a Scott bikes truck)

What I would suggest is that you learn how to take your bike apart for the travel and how to put it back together again.

I would also suggest you do this in the next week, so that if anything breaks you have time to fix it before flying. Make sure the seat post comes fully out, the pedals come off, the stem comes off etc.

Try and only take off what you need to. makes it easier at the other end. And don't forget to pack tools and track pump etc

I travel since 7 years all around the world using Scicon bag and the only thing I take apart is wheels.
it takes me 3 mins to put the wheels on when I am in the hotel room

I don't see why shipping the bike separately but I just answered the main post :-)

well, the trains would run on time, anyway. switzerland still has plenty of other issues!

regardless i'm sure you'll have a great time.

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____________________________________
https://lshtm.academia.edu/MikeCallaghan

http://howtobeswiss.blogspot.ch/

I stayed in Kilchberg last year and took my bike to Tempo Sport. I ride a Trek SC gen II and they really didn't know how to work on it too well. That's about your only option over there outside of waiting for they expo. They are also SUPER expensive. If possible work on your own bike and then take it to the expo to get checked out. Those guys at the Zurich expo were amazing. Much better than TS. You will love the race and make sure you use an 11-28 cassette ;-).