Bike Hire or bring bike with me!

catweazle

The joys of kids - my wife has been complaining about the exorbitant price of a 7 seater car over a 5 seater car rental for the holidays. I pulled a masterstroke by suggesting why don't I hire a bike for the duration of the holidays and I will cycle to beach, restaurants etc (we hardly ever leave the resort).

My issue is should I bring my road bike for 80 euros on Ryanair or hire for approx 180. The bike shop owner said he will give me the same bike as last year which I liked. I don't want to bring the TT bike as even though its a good area I will have to park it outside shops, bars and restaurants at night so I don't want to risk it

I don't have a bikebox, will have to look at borrowing one and the extra hassle of transportation + I can hardly change a lightbulb let alone disassemble and assemble a bike, is the 100 I will save worth the extra hassle as regards transportation

mossym

hired a bike for the lanzarote race last year, opinion afterwards was:

if it is a race, or a training camp, bring your own bike
anything else, rent. not worth the risk of your bike being damaged, having to pack it, get it from airport to hotel etc.

sconhome

I've a bag which you can use so that's solved that.

Why not run for the week? Surely Mrs CW needs time off too and can't have you disappearing off for hours on a bike ride whenever you want to.



Pot. Stirred.

catweazle

Luckily enough she doesn't go near boards to be stirring any pots!

However she doesn't have a problem with me going off on the bike early doors as long as I dont do the dog on it. With the heat in July/August in Portugal I find if you don't go early you don't go at all. I need to look into it in more detail but I think my bike trailer has some type of extension which can convert it into a normal pram, if they are easily switched I could bring the young lad along for the spin on some of the days

I must say they have it great over there, no need to be wondering what the weather is like the following day, just shorts and a t-shirt each morning and off one goes

We make a great sacrifice every year by bringing both mothers (for some of the holiday) as a thank you for babysitting/child minding over the year and then promptly hand the kids over for the week that that they are there to them again so she will get plenty of running in herself

mossym

AKW wrote: »

I've a bag which you can use so that's solved that.

not aware of anywhere in Limerick that does bike bag hire(might be wrong but not heard of it). if a reputable shop was to start hiring decent bike bags i'm sure there would be some business, especially given the number of local tri clubs, not to mention those training outside of clubs.

how would one get the message to one of the shops to consider this, even if they weren't primarily focused on bikes...hmmmmm

Oryx

Id bring my own bike. Its not difficult to break it down for transport.

catweazle

mossym wrote: »

how would one get the message to one of the shops to consider this, even if they weren't primarily focused on bikes...hmmmmm

Judging by how thick he was over the April Fools day thread I would say that comment is sailing over AKW's head as we speak

pgibbo

Knowing your mechanical skills, I'd hire one over there.

You'll need a second car to fit the bike in with yourself, herself, the kids and all the luggage. No way one car will do. Add to that lugging the bike and luggage to and from the airport........

Daz1214

Unless it was for a race, id just hire one, a bit more expensive but less hassle

sconhome

catweazle wrote: »

Judging by how thick he was over the April Fools day thread I would say that comment is sailing over AKW's head as we speak

For that remark my bag has gone from "Available" to "Available to hire" :P

ronanmac

I brought my bike with me on holidays a few years back, with wife and two kids. There was no bike hire where we were going, but ever since, I've hired a bike rather than bring mine with me if there was a bike hire option. I guess that's my answer there!
Buggies, luggage, family and bike on the way to the airport is a bit cramped, and it'll usually be worse on the other side, regardless of what you hire. Plus, even if it's only as far as to a car park bus stop, trying to bring all that stuff from the car to check-in can be a pain.

BTH

I've never travelled with bike box and kids and buggies but I have done a bike box and a wedding dress and clothes for two weeks holidays. My advice is hire.

johnk123

I've traveled plenty with bikes and many times into Faro/Lisbon. If I were you, i'd rent one. There is a lot to be said for just packing pedals, shoes, bibs and a jersey vs the whole bike and everything else... I'm a stingy broke economics student and I always bring my bike, but that's usually because I'll be going for longer which would make the 'economics of own bike' vs 'convenience of renting' much more one sided. In your case though it sounds like €160 vs €180? Most woudl argue that the extra €20 would outweigh the hassle of bringing your bike....

Where abouts are you heading? I'll be there myself for a fair bit over the summer too. It's a great place for cycling. There is a great cycling culture in Portugal, however you'd never see it if you were just on a normal holiday.. I've managed to weasel my way in with a few of the locals near us over the last few years who've brought me out plenty of times which was great. I've entered road races and mountain bike events over there through them which was great craic! We were out on the road bikes one day and having our usual broken English (or my weak Portuguese) conversations and I picked it up that we were going mountain biking the next day.. before I knew it I was in a van at 5:30am with 5 men and their bikes on our way to some cross country mountain bike race 2 hours away... still get slagged regularly by my brother about spending a day with 5 older men in a van....

I would also recommend looking into doing some mountain biking as well as the road while you are over there. They're mad into it! I've done a lot of it over there, mostly on 29ers as that's what they have near me for rent. It's more like cross country than mountain biking, which is great as your working all the right areas which are consistent with your tri training!! You keep up high speeds on the 29ers and are traveling over undulating terrain, which is mostly nice solid tracks along the coast and nothing too technical. I think it's definitely well worth trying.


Also, I'm sure you've already figured this out over the years but if you fill your bottles 3/4 way and freeze overnight, then top up in the morning and they stay nice and cold while you ride!

Enjoy your trip!

catweazle

johnk123 wrote: »

I've traveled plenty with bikes and many times into Faro/Lisbon. If I were you, i'd rent one. There is a lot to be said for just packing pedals, shoes, bibs and a jersey vs the whole bike and everything else... I'm a stingy broke economics student and I always bring my bike, but that's usually because I'll be going for longer which would make the 'economics of own bike' vs 'convenience of renting' much more one sided. In your case though it sounds like €160 vs €180? Most woudl argue that the extra €20 would outweigh the hassle of bringing your bike....

Where abouts are you heading? I'll be there myself for a fair bit over the summer too. It's a great place for cycling. There is a great cycling culture in Portugal, however you'd never see it if you were just on a normal holiday.. I've managed to weasel my way in with a few of the locals near us over the last few years who've brought me out plenty of times which was great. I've entered road races and mountain bike events over there through them which was great craic! We were out on the road bikes one day and having our usual broken English (or my weak Portuguese) conversations and I picked it up that we were going mountain biking the next day.. before I knew it I was in a van at 5:30am with 5 men and their bikes on our way to some cross country mountain bike race 2 hours away... still get slagged regularly by my brother about spending a day with 5 older men in a van....

I would also recommend looking into doing some mountain biking as well as the road while you are over there. They're mad into it! I've done a lot of it over there, mostly on 29ers as that's what they have near me for rent. It's more like cross country than mountain biking, which is great as your working all the right areas which are consistent with your tri training!! You keep up high speeds on the 29ers and are traveling over undulating terrain, which is mostly nice solid tracks along the coast and nothing too technical. I think it's definitely well worth trying.


Also, I'm sure you've already figured this out over the years but if you fill your bottles 3/4 way and freeze overnight, then top up in the morning and they stay nice and cold while you ride!

Enjoy your trip!

Cheers John - Another trick is to stop by a cafe every now and then and buy a cold beer

Its 80 all in or 180 all in hiring - from the sounds of it I am just for peace hire the bike, I know well it will cause hassle bringing it over with two kids in tow as well so its probably worth the peace of mind

Will be based in Quinto De Lago for the duration - I tended to head out towards Loule and then Quarenca last year. I might try and see if I can go and climb Monchique this year but thats a long spin from where I am based

Let me know if you have any other spins that are nice in that area, I wont be going mountain biking though