Spain and France: rent a bike or take my own?

[Dr Luxurious]

This fall I'm doing a weekish in Girona followed by a few days on Mallorca. Also might do some of the Route Des Grandes Alpes (possibly around Barcelonnette) either before Girona or after Mallorca.

Question: rent a bike or take my own?

The Girona bit is with Trek so the rental is easy. There are one or two seemingly good rental places on Mallorca so again, rental should be easy. If the France bit happens then finding a bike for that might be more difficult.
I’d rather not rent because it gets expensive! Plus I’d like to ride my Look 585 on the roads for which it was created.

However, dragging a bike carrier around can be a PITA. I’m especially worried about getting to/from airports. EG landing in Barcellona then taking it on a shuttle to the train, then the train to Girona, then some form a transport to the hotel. And then the reverse to whichever airport I fly out of. And then there’s the joy of dragging it through international lines at the airports.

So, rent or not?

[AustinHorse]

We were looking at renting bikes on our trip to spain and france last year until I realized that bikes now fly free on United, so taking our own was a no-brainer.

Once in Europe we used high speed train and ferry (also to Mallorca) with our bikes with no incident.

We used cardboard boxes and discarded them at start of trip; in spain the post office sells a massive bike box for like 10 euros that united checked no problem.

We had steel bikes so padding concerns were somewhat minimized. It was great to ride our bikes and not pay or deal with rental logistics.

We also biked through paris with all our luggage on our backs; if that's not an option I'm not sure how we would have managed putting the bikes in a taxi

[Kyle h]

I’ve done both. Having your own bike is definitely worth the premium but if you aren’t ONLY there for riding it is a bit of a pain. We rented bikes in Mallorca and Girona on our honeymoon and they were pretty easy. We rented from The Service Course who were incredible; we sent them our fit sheets and they had the bikes set up and ready to go when we got there. I can’t remember where we rented from in Mallorca but it was pretty painless as well and the hikes were fine. In subsequent trips we’ve taken our personal bikes because nothing beats having a bike you know.

[FastCanon]

We were just there (Girona & Mallorca) a few weeks ago. We opted to rent because of the convenience and also because we flew to other places as well. You might want to check the price of check-in baggage. They aren't cheap.

All the rental places were very nice and easy to deal with. The problem we had was that our sizes were XSs so they are more difficult to find in some of the rentals. We rented Bianchi, Cinelli, Pinarello and Canyon so we get to try out some bikes.

We were thinking of going next year again but to a single destination like Girona. With Girona, we can bring our bike onto the train and head north. Then bike to France or along the coast, which we did but was limited to our rental time for our niece who we rented an EV road bike.

All in all, Girona and Mallorca are very bike friendly, and we felt extremely safe. I'm from the Bay Area and it stinks compared to those places when it comes to cycling. Stinks.

Oh, depending where you're staying, you might be lugging your luggage on rough cobbles.

[Alistair]

Originally Posted by Kyle h

... if you aren’t ONLY there for riding it is a bit of a pain. We rented bikes in ...

That was our logic for renting bikes when we went to Italy. We did several days in Florence, then 5 days cycling in Emilia-Romagna, then several days in Rome. We used trains to get from city to city, and it was nice not schlepping bikes from the stations to lodging and back. We also prefer to just walk when available (vs taking a cab/van).

[Roberto Yunge]

I`ll be there too on September, Girona and Mallorca. I`m taking my own bike, even though I still haven´t decided which one (torn between my rim brake Bishop and disc brake Moots). I think one important consideration is if you will be able to replicate your fit in a rental. I ride extra small bikes with long stems, since my legs are really short. I`m not sure I would be able to find a rental bike that suits me, hence, I`m taking one of mine.

[p nut]

I’m sentimental so I’d take my own bike. But my wife doesn’t really ride so the next time go, I’ll just take my Brompton and sneak out for rides when I can.

[Likes2ridefar]

The only issue I faced in Barcelona staying on la Ramba in a studio apartment on the second floor was the stairs were so narrow it was not possible to carry my rigid bike bag at the time I had to the unit. I had to take everything out on the street and carry up in pieces!

I’d imagine transport from the airport could be an issue as well with a bike not fitting. I’ve had to rent a van for myself a few times in Europe and Asia.

[notsew]

Tough one. Pros and cons all around. If it were just one destination I would probably take my bike, but multiple, I lean towards renting. Even when I was in Mallorca, we stayed in two different towns and I rented from two different outfits to avoid the logistics.

Packing & unpacking bike, dealing with transport, airport, etc. Just a hassle. You're on vacation after all!

[fourflys]

take a look at the pic of the Dogma in the thread that was posted today and see if you think that would be worth the risk for your bike.. not sure if would be for me unless I was going over to specifically ride and/or over there for a bit.. if a shortish trip that just has some cycling, why not rent a bike you might not otherwise get to ride and try something new? I assume many places have shops with nice-ish bikes to rent..

[Mr. Pink]

From what I understand Girona is one of the easiest places in Europe to rent.

If anyone has been there recently, did you see high end road e-bikes for rent?

[accordvsick]

I am going to Spain for the first time in July with the family (wife and 2 kids). I’m the only one who rides and was hoping I can squeeze in a ride when we are in Mallorca. Anything I should expect or plan for sa calobra? Haven’t done too much research yet regarding bike rental locations.

Will also be on the northern suburbs of Barcelona so might rent a bike since we will be there a bit longer staying with friends.

[FastCanon]

We rented from Kilometro Cero, which have two locations. The nice thing is, after you rent your bike, the ferry is right there. You can take the ferry to Sa Colabra and do the famous climb and bike home. But I guess that depends where you are staying. Boris was very helpful. We stayed in Soller. Not Port de Soller. There is Coll de Soller, which was a nice climb to warm you up for Sa Colabra.

[Kyle h]

Originally Posted by accordvsick

I am going to Spain for the first time in July with the family (wife and 2 kids). I’m the only one who rides and was hoping I can squeeze in a ride when we are in Mallorca. Anything I should expect or plan for sa calobra? Haven’t done too much research yet regarding bike rental locations.

Will also be on the northern suburbs of Barcelona so might rent a bike since we will be there a bit longer staying with friends.

We stayed in Port de Soler and rode up Puig Major, down Sa Colabra and then turned around and went back up Sa Colabra and over Puig Major beach to our home base. I would start early as traffic exponentially increased as the day went on. We left Soler around 6am I think and had the descent, and climb, almost entirely to ourselves. People in Spain are not known for doing anything before 10 which works out well for those of us who like to ride early. It’s absolutely beautiful though and you should really do it if you can.

Edit: correction we left at 7. Here’s my strava activity.
https://strava.app.link/wkC9XRgfSIb

[accordvsick]

Originally Posted by Kyle h

We stayed in Port de Soler and rode up Puig Major, down Sa Colabra and then turned around and went back up Sa Colabra and over Puig Major beach to our home base. I would start early as traffic exponentially increased as the day went on. We left Soler around 6am I think and had the descent, and climb, almost entirely to ourselves. People in Spain are not known for doing anything before 10 which works out well for those of us who like to ride early. It’s absolutely beautiful though and you should really do it if you can.

Edit: correction we left at 7. Here’s my strava activity.
https://strava.app.link/wkC9XRgfSIb

Thanks for this. Did you end up riding cap formentor as well? We are staying at a house on the south side in Cala Pi so still trying to figure out what’s going to work. I imagine I’m only going to be able to sneak away for half day (probably 5 am to noon) type of thing and not ride with a guilty conscience lol. And in Barcelona I’ll be in the Carretera de Puiggraciós area…. Looks mountainous so I’ll be able to get out more often since I’ll be there the Marjority of the time with friends.