Bike Hire in the Black Forest

on_the_nickel

Booked 2 weeks in the Black Forest (flying to Stuttgart), with family (3 kids) and all the baggage that goes with that, plus I'm hoping to bring my bike with me, as there's no real rental options there. Bike won't be in a box, I'm bringing it in a clear plastic bag, well wrapped, which has served me well in the past (let's not get into that).

I'm trying to not rent a van (€€€€), anyone any experience of what kind of car might take that amount of baggage, or if renting a bike rack is possible in Germany?

An option I'm considering is driving to a bike shop and buying a bike rack, but we arrive on a Sunday, not sure if bike shops are open?

Last option is to get a cab to bring the bike and hire a low cost car.

Any advice?

Wishbone Ash

7 seater or large 4x4? With wheels removed bike should fit in rear. 7 seater MPV's usually have folding 3rd row of seats. Luggage room may be tight in a 4x4 but depending on distance of drive, children could hold hand luggage in their laps.

If distance isn't too far, a large van-type taxi is also an option.

krissovo

In Germany Hertz rent VW Caravelles but they are mega bucks, often a cheaper option is to rent a VW California camper van that would sleep and sit 5 adults and often a bike rack is included, offset the cost by sleeping in some very good camp sites for a few nights. Another option if you have 2 suitcases is a opel insignia estate may take the load at a push.

Karstadt sports would be a good option for a cheap bike rack and the fact they are open on Sundays. On a recent trip to Spain in a similar situation I rented a Nisan SUV and "forgot" to collect my bike, drove to the local shops and bought a rack and returned to the airport to collect my bike from left luggage, a pain the @ss but was ok.

nak

Friends managed it last year in a Skoda Estate. No buggy or car seats as kids are school age.

on_the_nickel

nak wrote: »

Friends managed it last year in a Skoda Estate. No buggy or car seats as kids are school age.

Sh!te, never even thought of the f*cking buggy. Balls.

Thanks for the posts lads, very helpful. Will have another look at car hire places tonight but if there's Karstadt or similar near that might work.

90km to where we're staying. I offered to cycle but the part of reply I heard was "think I'm driving...with 3 kids...full car...ar$ehole of Germany....shove it..hoop..you stupid pr..." so I ran to the kitchen and filled her glass.

Wishbone Ash

It might be easier to hire a roof box than a bike rack. It will take some of the luggage.

on_the_nickel

Your posts have helped me make a decision.

Bringing my bike is great when I'm on my own, but thinking about it now, even waiting for the bike to come out of oversize baggage; trying to get it, 3 kids, a buggy and probably 2 suitcases to car hire office, never mind packing the car is going to be stressful as hell.

Going to rent a bike, even if it means driving to one of the bigger cities on Monday. it will be easier and a lot cheaper.

So, anyone with experience of renting a road bike in the Black Forest, let me know.

Mods: if you could change the thread title to Road bike hire in Black Forest, or advise as to how to do it, that would be wunderbar.

Wishbone Ash

on_the_nickel wrote: »

Your posts have helped me make a decision...

.....send the wife and children to the Black Forrest and give up the opportunity of a holiday yourself and spend the 2 weeks cycling at home! :cool:

crosstownk

Not bike related but worthy of note. The Black Forest is one of the few places in Europe where you have the risk of catching Tick Borne Encephallitis. Be sure you stock up on mosquito/tick repellent and use it regularly and liberally especially on the kids.

I got bitten badly by Mosquitos in the Black Forest last summer and my ankle swelled up in a bad way.

I hope you find a bike rental. There are some serious hills with spectacular scenery.

http://touch.boards.ie/thread/2056994778

bambergbike

You can get vaccinated against tick-borne encephalitis (then the little feckers can only give you Lyme disease). I never bother with repellent (not advising that, just stating it) but I do take care to locate and remove ticks if I've spent any time in long grass with bare legs. They often move around for ages looking for a nice spot to bite before actually latching on so you have a good chance of removing them before you've been bitten at all if you're vigilant. This year is shaping up to be a bumper year for them as last winter was mild.

On the transport options: no idea where you need to get to, but there are a lot of train lines in the Black Forest and local trains usually have a fair bit of extra space for bikes, buggies, suitcases, and cuckoo clocks, so you might end up not needing to organize a car roof rack or child seats at all if you're going somewhere that has decent public transport.

Ran a quick check here
http://www.blackforest-active.de/Schwarzwald-Verleihstationen.html
on hiring road bikes

These people in Kirchzarten have them.
There are probably other options as well, that's just pretty much the first useful looking thing that came up when I googled "Schwarzwald" and "Rennradverleih." (Rennrad = road bike, Verleih = hire).

Have fun!

granda

Where abouts on the blackforest are you going as I used to live there and might be able to help, oh and btw don't worry about ticks I live there for 10 years and never even saw a tick

on_the_nickel

I'm told we're staying somewhere near Baiersbronn. The extent of my research is that there's a HC climb about 15km away.

http://www.strava.com/segments/4552547

crosstownk

Vaccination is not really necessary unless you plan many deep forest walks. Insect repellant should do the job if you're just out and about on the bike.

I stayed at an amazing place called Gutach (Schwarzwaldbahn) - the B33 road - with bike hire close by. I didn't avail of the bike hire so I can't comment on the bikes available.

Also bear in mind that as a tourist you will be entitled to the Gastekart (Guest Card) which means you can travel on most public transport for free. Ask your accommodation provider about this.

bambergbike

Some day when I get properly fit (so not this year, and probably not next year, but eventually) I'm going to go to the Black Forest and ride this:

http://www.surm.de/index.php/strecken/strecke-1

In the meantime, you can ride it for me and let us all know if it was any good.

You might get a bike in Baiersbronn from this crowd: http://www.gaiser-bikeshop.de. Their homepage is not much good, but they sell road bikes, and they hire bikes, so maybe they can put the two together and set you up.

This crowd hire bikes locally, too, but they don't seem to have any road bikes:
http://www.bike-station-baiersbronn.de/fahrraeder

The bits of the Black Forest I know are all a bit further south (round Freiburg), I don't know anything about where you're going except that the Alpirsbach marathon is the stuff of legend.

granda

on_the_nickel wrote: »

I'm told we're staying somewhere near Baiersbronn. The extent of my research is that there's a HC climb about 15km away.

http://www.strava.com/segments/4552547

sorry dont know that area at all , the only advice i could give you would be to get in contact with the tourist board i'm sure they would be able to point you in the right direction
http://www.blackforest-tourism.com/discovery/sports

tonycon28

on_the_nickel wrote: »

I'm told we're staying somewhere near Baiersbronn. The extent of my research is that there's a HC climb about 15km away.

We spent 2 weeks in the Black Forest in 2012 just a couple of miles south of your location. I brought a bike across (hybrid) and was able to fit it the wife and 3 kids into a Mondeo Estate. We flew with Lufthansa so there was no charge for the bike.

If I was going again I wouldn't bother bringing a bike due to the Hassle of packing, carrying etc, worry of fitting it in the car and the number of times you actually use it
I saw a bike shop in Loßburg that hired out bikes. I would think that most towns will have bikes for hire - focus may be on MTB or Electric. Freudenstadt is fairly big so you should be able to hire a bike.

The roads are good and smooth for road bikes - hilly though. Lots of trails through the forest that are interesting. What type of cycling are you going to do?

on_the_nickel

tonycon28 wrote: »

We spent 2 weeks in the Black Forest in 2012 just a couple of miles south of your location. I brought a bike across (hybrid) and was able to fit it the wife and 3 kids into a Mondeo Estate. We flew with Lufthansa so there was no charge for the bike.

If I was going again I wouldn't bother bringing a bike due to the Hassle of packing, carrying etc, worry of fitting it in the car and the number of times you actually use it
I saw a bike shop in Loßburg that hired out bikes. I would think that most towns will have bikes for hire - focus may be on MTB or Electric. Freudenstadt is fairly big so you should be able to hire a bike.

The roads are good and smooth for road bikes - hilly though. Lots of trails through the forest that are interesting. What type of cycling are you going to do?

Thanks Tony, very helpful. I'm with you on the packing/carrying/fitting. I've got 2 weeks and a car, so can go pick it up the day I arrive or something.

I'm going to be road biking. And thanks to the others who provided information, as soon as get a minute I'll start contacting places to source a bike.

on_the_nickel

Right, I seem to have hit a brick wall trying to find road bike rental in the area. I've contacted all the shops in this thread and anyone else I can find on google but they either failed to respond, or only do e-bikes and mountain bikes. Now looking to cast the net wider to Stuttgart and possibly Strasbourg, if anyone has any knowledge that might help?

Other option is couriering the bike ahead of time. Might actually work out cheaper than the rental and petrol to get to and from Stuttgart an additional two times. Anyone ever done it?

on_the_nickel

krissovo wrote: »

In Germany Hertz rent VW Caravelles but they are mega bucks, often a cheaper option is to rent a VW California camper van that would sleep and sit 5 adults and often a bike rack is included, offset the cost by sleeping in some very good camp sites for a few nights. Another option if you have 2 suitcases is a opel insignia estate may take the load at a push.

Karstadt sports would be a good option for a cheap bike rack and the fact they are open on Sundays. On a recent trip to Spain in a similar situation I rented a Nisan SUV and "forgot" to collect my bike, drove to the local shops and bought a rack and returned to the airport to collect my bike from left luggage, a pain the @ss but was ok.

So now I've gone full circle and am back to bringing my bike with me. Looks like I've got a few options:-

1. "Forget" to collect my bike and try to find a place that sells a bike rack. @krissovo, I had a look at the Karstadt website and couldn't find any bike racks. Google tells me the German is "fahrradtrager", no joy with that either.

2. "Forget" to collect my bike, drive to the place we're staying, get the family settled and drive the 2 hour return journey back to the airport to collect it.

3. Book a taxi to follow us with the bike.

4. Unlikeliest of all, hope that the bike bag fits in the car with 3 kids, luggage and buggy.
2. "Forget" to collect my bike and