Renting bikes whilst on holiday

[Glow worm]

Hi Enor. I always hire bikes on holiday as I get tetchy and irritable if I don't have access to a steed!
I hired one just last week in Malta and it was fine. A thorough initial check over is essential as said above and Wet Wipes are a good idea as they are often filthy (handlebars and saddle) also useful when the chain inevitably slips! Get a lock, repair kit and tube from the shop too.

Also check the local helmet leglislation. I spend a blissful couple of weeks buzzing around British Columbia, wind in hair, only to find out afterwards that helmets were compulsory. (Not that I'd have bothered anyway!)

 

[Enor]

Hi Enor. I always hire bikes on holiday as I get tetchy and irritable if I don't have access to a steed!
I hired one just last week in Malta and it was fine. A thorough initial check over is essential as said above and Wet Wipes are a good idea as they are often filthy (handlebars and saddle) also useful when the chain inevitably slips! Get a lock, repair kit and tube from the shop too.

Also check the local helmet leglislation. I spend a blissful couple of weeks buzzing around British Columbia, wind in hair, only to find out afterwards that helmets were compulsory. (Not that I'd have bothered anyway!)

Wow I am shocked that they would not clean the bike before the next person uses/hires it out. Have you found that to be the case on most of your holidays? As you say that you always rent a bike whenever you go away. And good point about helmet legislation. Were you told off by the police in British Columbia?

 

[Glow worm]

Wow I am shocked that they would not clean the bike before the next person uses/hires it out. Have you found that to be the case on most of your holidays? As you say that you always rent a bike whenever you go away. And good point about helmet legislation. Were you told off by the police in British Columbia?

It's not normally too bad, just grubby and I like nice clean , lurgy free handlebars!

No one batted an eyelid in BC and I must have ridden past plenty of police.

Last week in Malta I was aware of their compulsory helmet law beforehand but chose to ignore it. I also didn't fancy putting on the smelly, sweaty helmet the rental guy offered me (so to speak!) I would rather have paid the fine!

 

[mjr]

So if you took your mini toolkit? Is that something that you have with you all the time then when you go abroad?

No, just when I know I'll be riding in the mountains and not collecting the bikes from their owner (they were already where we were staying). I could have got them to fix the brakes but it was just a common adjustment goof, so quicker to fix it myself.

 

[Leaway2]

Yes that makes sense to buy a bike if you are planning to stay much longer. What was that like riding on the roads in America when they are so keen on cars over there?

I was in San Francisco, it wasn't a problem. The roads are very wide. You can also put your bike on a rack on the front of the bus at no extra charge. I used to get the bus to the Bay bridge and ride round to the Golden gate, over and into Sausalito.

 

[MarkF]

Yes Barcelona does have so many bike rentals to choose from. I wonder how these companies fight over so much competition as I tend to research beforehand but then when I get there just end up finding (or using) the bike rental that is closets to my apartment / hotel.

Most do bike City tours too, several times a day, so that is 20/30 customers using bikes at a premium rate each time, and BCN is always busy.

 

[Cycleops]

Thanks for the welcome You found it expensive to hire a bike in the UK? Was that for a day's rental, or longer? I thought bikes would not be that expensive to hire over here? But to be honest I wouldn't really hire a bike here in the UK unless I was doing a cycling tour where there were hardly any cars around me.

Well, that's exactly what I was planning. In the end I bought a bike on eBay and when I'd finished sold it the same way.

 

[CopperBrompton]

I take my Brompton with me in a semi-rigid case.

It's so much nicer to have your own bike than some rental clunker.

 

[Saluki]

When we went to Australia for a month, we bought a couple of BSOs for $100 each and rode around and had a fab time. The day before we left, we sold them for $75 each at a cash converters type place. We were rather chuffed with ourselves.