Renting bikes whilst on holiday

[biggs682]

must admit i keep thinking about running a fleet for rental but then i remember where i live

 

[Cycleops]

We last hired in Majorca, just a couple of hybrids, had great fun exploring and getting lost, cycling along the deserted stretches of beaches between towns, eating and drinking then heading back, all for a few quid a day...what more could you ask for.

A glass of Andrews Liver Salts?

Welcome to the forum Enor. Sorry I can't help with bike hire thing, I've never done it but I did research it a bit when I was coming to the UK last time and found it was very expensive. Maybe consider a folder and take it with you, you can get some bargains especially second hand. Like this: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Dahon-Mu-...1185324222?pt=UK_Bikes_GL&hash=item2ed7946cbe Dahon are a good brand and not so pricey as some of the premium makes like Brompton.

 

[mjr]

Dangerous? Like the brake not working???

I've had that. I took my mini toolkit and fixed it myself. If you hire a bike anywhere, do the basic check (each brake, each tyre true and inflated, crank, steering and saddle wobble tests, pick it up a little and drop it and see if anything is loose). On public rack schemes, you can put it back, alert the mechanics and take another; for shop hires, do it before the hire owner leaves. Get a rescue/recovery number in case of mechanical problems. Still usually well worthwhile, so remember to enjoy the ride!

 

[Ganymede]

In answer to your question Enor, I've never tried to hire a really good bike, ie a roadie/racer/top quality mountain bike etc. Just a "bike" for bimbling around, so it wasn'ta price issue.

Re brakes etc, I agree that it's good to check your bike over - maybe good to get a bit of an idea how to adjust the normal types of brake and check if the cables are in good condition. Also I like what @I like Skol said about asking for a pump and spare tube if you are covering a lot of distance - especially if out of town.

 

[tiermat]

One, very basic thing to check, when you pick up the bike, is which way round the brakes are cabled.

Descending a mountain is NOT the best time to discover they cabled Front-Left, when you are used to Front-Right.

Don't assume, just 'cos a bike hire place is outside of the UK that they will cable F-L, I know of at least one place in Majorca that does F-R as it mainly hires to UK cyclists.

 

[Enor]

I've had that. I took my mini toolkit and fixed it myself. If you hire a bike anywhere, do the basic check (each brake, each tyre true and inflated, crank, steering and saddle wobble tests, pick it up a little and drop it and see if anything is loose). On public rack schemes, you can put it back, alert the mechanics and take another; for shop hires, do it before the hire owner leaves. Get a rescue/recovery number in case of mechanical problems. Still usually well worthwhile, so remember to enjoy the ride!

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

 

[Enor]

One, very basic thing to check, when you pick up the bike, is which way round the brakes are cabled.

Descending a mountain is NOT the best time to discover they cabled Front-Left, when you are used to Front-Right.

Don't assume, just 'cos a bike hire place is outside of the UK that they will cable F-L, I know of at least one place in Majorca that does F-R as it mainly hires to UK cyclists.

Yes that reminds of the first when we hired bikes in Barcelona and discovered the brakes were on the opposite side to how they are fitted here in the UK. Took a bit of a time to get used to them as we rode the bikes on the pavement (this was the first time - as we were told it is not against the law) then once adjusted we started to ride them on the roads. I love how big the roads are in Barcelona in comparison to the roads here in the UK.

 

[Enor]

In answer to your question Enor, I've never tried to hire a really good bike, ie a roadie/racer/top quality mountain bike etc. Just a "bike" for bimbling around, so it wasn'ta price issue.

Re brakes etc, I agree that it's good to check your bike over - maybe good to get a bit of an idea how to adjust the normal types of brake and check if the cables are in good condition. Also I like what @I like Skol said about asking for a pump and spare tube if you are covering a lot of distance - especially if out of town.

Ah ok.

 

[Enor]

A glass of Andrews Liver Salts?

Welcome to the forum Enor. Sorry I can't help with bike hire thing, I've never done it but I did research it a bit when I was coming to the UK last time and found it was very expensive. Maybe consider a folder and take it with you, you can get some bargains especially second hand. Like this: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Dahon-Mu-...1185324222?pt=UK_Bikes_GL&hash=item2ed7946cbe Dahon are a good brand and not so pricey as some of the premium makes like Brompton.

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.

 

[Enor]

I don't think BCN runs out of bikes, even in peak season, there are umpteen rental companies. Prices very from 3 euros per hour to double or triple that, the further you get from the downtown. It's great, I use them all the time, 60 Euros for a road bike for the week, that saves me an awful lot of hassle taking my own bike for a short tour in the sun.

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.

 

[Enor]

Some of the brakes scarcely worked. They squealed a lot though. People tend to have a warped perception of risk when on holiday. BTW, I have never jumped off my balcony into the hotel swimming pool.

Welcome.

Yes when a bike makes noise I do wonder if it's ok to still ride. Risk as in riding on the road in another country that they are not used to?

 

[Enor]

Maybe they could add the boris bikes on to a one day travel card?

That would be great but I think Boris needs to make cycling in London safer first. I am not a fan of the Barclays Cycle Superhighways either as I have experienced first with drivers either parking their cars on them or trying to still knock me off my bike

 

[Leaway2]

Bought a second hand bike from a bike shop in America, it was a lot cheaper than renting (I was there for a long time though).

 

[Enor]

Bought a second hand bike from a bike shop in America, it was a lot cheaper than renting (I was there for a long time though).

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?

 

[Enor]

Thanks for everyone's answers I hope I have managed to reply to all of your replies individually on here....all this bike talk has me thinking.

People seem to research on where to rent bikes (whilst on holiday) beforehand and others rent bikes when they get to their destination. Does anyone know of a dedicated online service that finds bikes to rent or do you use search engines like Google?