Road Bike Hire and cycling in Brittany

dragratchet

Myself and herself and boating over to France in a few days and have made sweet fa in terms of plans other than to start in Brittany and work our way down to the Auvergne and getting a bit of cycling in each place done. Anyone have any recommendations for a nice part of Brittany to cycle in and a road bike hire company they may have used before. Bikes don't have to be Pinarello's but id like something relatively decent.

Zen0

If you are getting the boat why don't you bring your own bike?

Holidayed in Brittany lots when kids were younger. You tend not to see too many road bikers, but lots of leisure cyclists. Any bike rentals I have seen were hybrids or more upright. Did hire a tandem one day and went cycling with one of the kids. That was good crack, but cured me of any desire to own one.

dragratchet

Hi Zeno (we're clubmates btw - Stephen)

were getting the boat but camping also so the car will be laiden down and i don't fancy the logistics of bringing two road bikes and keeping them safe at all times for the sake of a few days cycling. refocusing my attention now on the loire valley and the auvergne but as you said bike rental seems to be based around hybrids and mountains bikes mainly.

Zen0

Hi Stephen. To be fair, we have never had bikes interfered with on a French campsite, although we have locked them every night. Still, if I had that nice bike of yours, I might not be willing to take a chance. Only solution is a winter/holiday bike.

Idleater

Zen0 wrote: »

You tend not to see too many road bikers, but lots of leisure cyclists.

I was there on holidays twice in the last few years and saw loads of road cyclists. Plenty of club spins and the odd triathlete. Loads of tourists too, so probably just like Ireland.

We took our own bikes and camped in a tent, never an issue. I got some strange looks locking the (race) bike.

I definitely recommend the area, plenty to see and very scenic. Along the Paris Brest canal is easy going if you have "non cyclists". We also went further along the Loire which was really beautiful.

dragratchet

Thanks Idleeater... afte ra bit of thought ive moved my sights onto the Loire valley, specifically saumur and perhaps then to the Auvergne. if there's road bikes to be had that'd be fantastic. a lot of the hire websites ive seen so far advertise heavy hybrids only seems to be a thing that unless you're in the alps or the pyrnee;s good road bike hire is hard to come by as fleet depreciate so quickly that its not a good return on investment for business unless they are in an iconic cycling spot with heaps of custom.

1Anon

I stayed in the Loire for a couple of weeks last year and had similar great ideas about hiring a road bike and exploring the beautiful countryside but when I tried the numerous bike hire places near where we were based, you'd swear I'd just asked for a spaceship. All I could get was a hybrid although one lad did offer to hire me some ancient Cannondale he'd pulled out of a shed (I declined). As far as I can recall, I did manage to identify one place somewhere in Tours that looked to have road bikes but I didn't fancy making my way in and out of a city centre. Sorry I can't be of any more help.

Comma

I also tried to hire a road bike a couple of summers ago in ths Loudon and Chinon area of the Loire but no luck. The caretaker of the house we stayed in lent me his bike which was not even a hybrid but got me out for lovely if short spins every day. Got to see everything from my upright position and could go down rough farm lanes no bother. You'll probably enjoy the spins even if not on a road bike.

Moflojo

As you've no doubt probably realised by now, you won't really find any road bikes for hire, only hybrids.

From personal experience of cycling through Brittany I'd suggest sticking to coastal and river routes for any leisure cycling because it's a really lumpy landscape - not a fun place to cycle if you're not fond of hills. It's pure drumlin country with short sharp climbs followed by a very short freewheel, followed immediately by another short sharp climb etc.

If you fancy a thrill ride, try cycling across the big bridge at Saint-Nazaire! That was not fun...