Vacations: my own bike or rent one?

The big question: Should we hire a bike or take our own on holiday?

As always, our final decision depends on some questions we should ask ourselves when planning our next cycling vacation.

What can be expected is that the bicycle rental services will include more and more services and a better catalog, making it easier to rent a bike at your destination.

A few questions before making THE BIG DECISION …

1. What is the purpose of our getaway?
2. How many cycling days on our bike vacation?
3. Bike rental offer on our chosen destination?
4. How do we handle disassembling and reassembling bicycle parts?
5. How are we going to get to destination? Would we transport our bike by plane, by boat or car?
6. The costs of bike renting vs transporting ours to destination?
7. Where to stay at our destination?
8. Is our bike made to our own image and likeness? Do we feel uncomfortable using a bicycle other than our own
9. What’s the deal made with our bike?
10. Are you planning to cycle only in one modality type or in several?
11. Are we attending an event during our cycling vacation?
12. Are we lazy beings by nature?

Yes, we know it sounds a bit surreal that we have to ask ourselves so many questions to make a decision that should be easy, but it’s better to ask questions in time than to regret a spur-at-the-moment decision.

What is the purpose of our getaway?

The first question that needs to be answered is the purpose of our planned vacation, a getaway in which we only cycle or will we alternate our cycling experience with other activities?

In case the intention of our plan is to enjoy the destination in more than one way, renting a bicycle is always the best option.

How many cycling days on our bike vacation?

The length of our getaway can be key factor in our decision. A weekend is not the same as cycling every day for a week.

The hassle of transporting our bike may not be worth much when it comes to short stays.

Bike rental offer on our chosen vacation?

Bike rentals have grown exponentially in the destinations that favor cycling the most. For example, cycling destinations such as Majorca or Tenerife have a wide range of rental options that make it easy to find the one that best suits our needs.

On the other hand, there are other destinations with less bike rental offer and therefore less possibilities to find the bike we are looking for.

How do we handle disassembling and reassembling bicycle parts?

Disassembling our bike for transport can be a relatively simple task for the more experienced or familiar with the process, but for the less experienced it can be an odyssey to properly place all the parts so that they do not get damaged during transport. If you belong to the second group, renting a bike is the best option to avoid wasting that precious time chatting over a few beers with friends while explaining your next bike ride.

How are we going to get to destination? Would we transport our bike by plane, by ship or car?

Transporting the bike by plane is not the same as by boat, both for the cost and the comfort (by boat you don’t necessarily have to dismantle the bike). This also applies if we take the bike with us by car, when our cycling destination is close to our city.

In addition, for the purpose of possible damage or loss, it is important to take into account if, in the case of flying, we are going to carry out any type of transit.

The costs of renting a bike vs transporting ours to destination?

If we want to rent a bike at the destination, the cost is based on the number of days we reserve. The best option for a short stay is the rental option, although the competitive prices of renting bikes mean that the cost of transporting our own bike reduces, even for longer stays.

This question is also linked to the first one we asked you; the vacation you have planned. Depending on the hours you cycle, the transport costs will be “more or less”: for example, if you cycle for five hours a day, the transport costs would be paid fairly quickly.

If on the contrary you are planning a quiet holiday, in which the bicycle plays a relaxing role to enjoy and move around the region, it is better to rent.

Where to stay at our destination?

If we choose to bring our own bike, it is important that the accommodation has both bike storage facilities and to tune it up.

And that’s Cycling Friendly for us: our accommodation offer includes a range of hotels where we can stay with the guarantee of dealing with establishments suitable for cyclists.

If, on the other hand, you stay in accommodations without facilities for cyclists, you will receive our murderous gaze with the recommendation to rent a bicycle at your destination.

Is our bike made in our own image and likeness? Do we feel uncomfortable using a bicycle other than our own?

Aristotle said that man is a creature of habit. Or maybe Aristotle didn’t say it, but it’s helpful for that question. If over time we have invested in tuning our bike, we have probably managed to adapt it better and better to our personal needs and hobbies.

It can play a trick on us if we use a bike that does not belong to us: our buttocks hurt more, our hands sweat more, our waist does not fully adjust, we have back problems, even the color of the bike makes us feel worse. makes us feel worse, it bothers ….

If you are a cyclist who needs to have everything he wants, it is best to carry your own bike. On the other hand, if you are one of those who adapt to all circumstances, renting a bike is always a good option.

You can also reduce the inconvenience of another bike by noting the details of your bike. In that sense, there are three concepts that you should practically know by heart: size and stack & reach. If you have indicated them correctly, any mechanic from whom you rent adapts the bike as closely as possible to the characteristics of your own bike.

What’s the deal made with our bike?

Answering this question makes us a little emotional. Renting a bicycle can be very comfortable, but it is also true that our bicycle is never just a means of transport. She is a travel companion, an inseparable friend and that is why we want to continue to live great stories that we can frame or share on our Instagram. You love her and she loves you, so in that case, think about what’s best for both of you.

Are you planning to cycle only in one type of modality or in several?

While normally a cycling holiday is usually planned in the context of one type of cycling, we may wish to explore urban routes and alternate them with other road or MTB-routes at the destination. If you belong to this profile: renting is the best option.

Are we attending an event during our cycling vacation?

If our intention is to plan a trip where an event will take place, it may be necessary to carry our own bike, especially if we are facing events such as triathlons, where the type of bike used makes it more difficult to find one.

It will also depend on the type of event: if it is an event that we have been preparing for a long time, we probably won’t want to take the risk of renting a different bike than the one we trained with. On the contrary, if we go to a lower level event, the rental option should not be excluded.

Are we lazy beings by nature?

“Nosce te ipsum,” said Socrates. Seriously, he said it, if you don’t believe us just google it. The most important thing in making a decision is to know yourself. And that comes through knowing how to accept that, depending on our character and even the mentality with which we travel, we prefer one or the other option.

If we want convenience, comfort and no worries for our cycling vacation, then renting a bicycle at destination is the right choice. If we are the antithesis of laziness and have no problem getting off, getting up, looking for the transport conditions of our bike, seeing how we can take it to the hotel, hoping that nothing breaks along the way … so there is no problem taking our own bike to the chosen destination.

And remember that at Cycling Friendly we have a range of options in case you ever decide to rent a bike.