Bike rentals in Hawaii

[guyintense]

So I'm headed to Oahu for the Araki / Murakami family reunion and I'm wondering if anyone had a bike shop to recommend for renting road and mountain bikes. I'm only going to be there for a week so I didn't think it was worth it to take mine. Places to ride would be welcomed too.

[cleavel]

Hi,

Similar question from me. I'll be at the Heu family reunion on Oahu and then we're going to the Big Island on the Kona side. Rental and ride suggestions appreciated. TIA. :)

[bfd]

So I'm headed to Oahu for the Araki / Murakami family reunion and I'm wondering if anyone had a bike shop to recommend for renting road and mountain bikes. I'm only going to be there for a week so I didn't think it was worth it to take mine. Places to ride would be welcomed too.

Road bike rental in Hawaii is terrible. My wife is from there and use to rent from a place called The Bike Shop. The price use to be something like $20/day or $100/week. What kind of bike did I get, a really low end Specialized with the funny Shimano version of campy shifters (tiaga?). It worked, but was heavy. I usually rented for a week.

However, last year, 2 shops stopped renting bikes and The Bike Shop raised their prices to $40/day or $200/week. Outrageous! I ended up not renting a bike and will be bringing my own the next time I go over.

As for where to ride, if you like climbing, I do, ride up Tantalus and/or Round Top drive. Its a loop, so you can go up one side and come down the other. Pretty easy climbs, but Tantalus has more switchbacks and is a little bit steeper. Great views and very little traffic. Getting there can be a challenge as the streets getting there (Makiki Heights area) are pretty busy.

Good Luck!

[Kirk007]

I'm in Kona now on vacation: HP Bikeworks has nice rentals and nice shop folks. There is a Saturday morning ride - google Hawaiian Cycling Club. Road riding over here isn't much to my liking. The Queen K highway is safe with good shoulders, but lots of traffic (fumes) most of the day and hot most of the day. It's the road for the Ironman if that is of interest. Most of the smaller roads around Kona have crap for shoulders, are narrow and the drivers here scare the sh** out of me. If you drive 30 miles from Kona to Waimea there is a loop on a mountain road (250) over to Hawi (around 20 miles) and you could loop back SW on 270 and back up to Waimea for a 40-50 miler. I drove it but didn't ride it. Steep climb on the Mountain road, beautiful up top, descend the other side, ride along the ocean to th SW - very exposed to sun - stock up on fluids in Hawi or Waimea. Probably less climbing if you went countercloskwise from Waimea and you'd finish with a descent rather than 10 mile gradual climb.

If I have some energy on Sunday or Monday (been diving almost everyday) I might do it myself.

Overall though, I think you need to be really motivated to ride to get a good ride in on this Island. It's not easy if your staying in the resort areas and accomodating other person's (aka family) interests.

Greg

[Onno]

My wife and I rented those low-end Specialized road bikes in Oahu last summer. The bike shop was very friendly and helpful, even lending us a trunk rack to carry the bikes. We had the bikes essentially for 2 days, and it cost us I think about 80 dollars. But the cycling is not great. The traffic is heavy, the roads rough. We toured the north side of the island, and climbed the big hill in Honolulu. How much you enjoy it depends on what you're used to, I think. If you like urban cycling, you'll do OK.

[EdK]

ummmm, like everywhere on earth there are good maybe even great rides on Oahu. If you want to ride though bring your own bike, as described rentals are very limited. There are a number of very good riders here and some fun group rides. Riding on Maui and the Big Island is also very good. Here are some links that may help you, enjoy.... Former Coors Light pro Chris Huber runs a Serotta dealership and fit center on the big island (Kona) and I am sure can hook you up with a demo or rental

Oahu Stuff

http://www.hawaiicyclingcup.com/

http://www.hbl.org/maps/maps.html

http://www.mikezagorski.com/

Big Island

http://www.steephill.tv/galleries/2005/hawaii/

Maui (go cycling Maui owned by former Shaklee pro Donnie Arneout)

http://www.gocyclingmaui.com/

[bigbill]

Although I am now living in Italy, I spent the last 2.5 years living and cycling on Oahu. The cycling is challenging and the traffic is pretty bad. The Bike Shop as mentioned before does rent bikes, Specialized road bikes. On several occasions people have shown up to the weekend group rides on the rentals and have done just fine. Most on the ones I saw were 105 equipped. Boca rents bikes as well, but I don't know what they have. The Bike Shop www.bikeshophawaii.com has a link to the Tradewinds Team (TCT) page that lists the rides and points of contact. As the Summer progresses, the focus of rides shifts towards longer distances. The end of season is the **** Evans Memorial Road Race which is a 112 mile around the island race. I found most of my rides in Oahu to be enjoyable despite all the hazards and lost tourists driving rental cars.

[guyintense]

I appreciate the help. I'll take my riding gear along just in case, but I'm thinking maybe I should try snorkeling or surfing instead. I hear the sharks only bite the locals and leave the haoles alone. Mahalo!

[Kirk007]

Just off the Kona coast: tonight my son and I had two 10-12 foot reef sharks show up on a twilight dive, then they showed up on our night dive an hour or so later. That got our attention! Watching these graceful powerful creatures glide through the water on successively closer passes was amazing; even though Reef sharks are very docile towards humans, it is still humbling to be in their presence and in their environment. The snorkeling and diving off the Kona coast is spectacular and I highly recommend it!

Greg

[cleavel]

Hi All,

Thanks for all of the info. I think that I'm going to skip trying to ride on Oahu and focus on the Big Island. Since we'll be staying near Kona I'll definitely check out Chris Huber's shop. (Might make for an interesting what ever happened to...) :)