Renting vs. Bringing Your Own Bike to Paris: What CYCLISTS SHOULD KNOW
Paris is a cycling city.
It always has been, and in the past few years the city has invested more and more in that infrastructure. This has led to more and more cycling lanes popping up, and more and more cyclists feeling comfortable and safe. A win-win-win!
Whether you’re a casual cyclist, serious one, elite, or even a professional, you might be wondering what the better option is for you and your upcoming trip to the City of Lights. Afterall, Paris cycling is one of those bucketlist items… and you’re about to cross it off.
Renting a bike vs bringing your own
This is the question. Luckily, both are completely feasible options that hundreds of thousands of cyclists choose between each and every year. This can be reassuring, knowing that it’s a common question, and which way you choose depends on a few different factors.
Elites, professionals, and racers
Many elite or professional cyclists/triathletes will opt for bringing their own bikes.
This is particularly true if you have signed up for a race in Paris, France, or somewhere else during your trip abroad.
If this is the case, it might make more sense to bring your own bike, as you’re going to be more intimately familiar with it, and ideally, you’ll already have had a great bike fit, so it’s really optimized to you and your anatomy.
That said, if you’re heading to Paris for a few days, but just want to get some training in during your vacation, you might want to rent a bike for a few quick training rides, or just to shake the legs out.
Bike packers and Bike Tourists
You may also want to bring your own bike if you’re doing a multi-day bike tour.
While a rental bike will work just fine, having your own bike might make you feel more comfortable or confident.
On top of that, you may be bringing bike packing gear that was purchased with your specific frame in mind. The bike packing gear you have won’t necessarily work as seamlessly with a different bike.
If you aren’t doing a loop and ending back in Paris, this is also something to consider. Most bike shops will require you to retrieve your bike in Paris, then return it in Paris. If you’re doing a multi-day trip and ending in another city in France, it might make more sense to bring your own with you.
Casual riders/hobbyists
While we understand more than anyone that a “casual” rider is often anything but, it does put you in a flexible position.
Unless you have a race or multi-day bike packing trip to worry about, it might make sense to just rent a bike.
Whether you bring your bike or rent one is going to depend on which option is worth the hassle and cost to you, which we will detail in a minute.
Usually, for cyclists who aren’t super versed in bike mechanics, renting a bicycle is going to be a much easier option than shipping one or flying it, as normally you’ll need to disassemble and reassemble.
Renting a bike in Paris
If you’re thinking about renting a bike in Paris, you have options.
Now, if your main goal is just getting around (i.e. literally trying to avoid the cost of Ubers/Taxis or learning the Metro system), Paris does have short-term rental bikes that you can pay to ride, then park in one of the communal drop off locations. These bikes are called Vélib’ Métropole. You’ll see Vélib (pronounced vay-leeb) kiosks all over the city. They’re green and hard to miss.
For other cyclists looking for something to take out on training rides, or even longer rides around the French countryside, there are private rental options.
From road bikes and gravel bikes, to high performance options, you’ll be able to find something you need. There are also cruisers you can rent if you don’t want to deal with Vélibs.
How much does renting a bike in Paris cost?
It depends on where you rent your bike at.
We collaborate with Peloton Café, Paris’s most famous international cycling cafe. Their bike rentals are under 100 euros a day, with multi-day options.
Their high performance Ridleys are a great option for cyclists.
Renting cruisers through Peloton Café’s sister company, Bike About Tours, is even less expensive. Keep in mind that these are leisurely city bikes with big cushy seats, so it really depends what you’re looking for.
Where to rent a bike in paris
Peloton Café rents out high-performance Ridley Phoenix carbon road bikes in black, so they’ll look sleek and you know they’ll be fast and smooth. There are a variety of size options, including Womens smalls. The bikes come with flat pedals, but they also offer Shimano SPD SL and Look KEO pedals for an additional fee.
They also offer cruisers for people who just want to pop around the city, as well as family bikes (a bike with a seat in the back for kids or adults).
If you’re not sure what would work best for you, shoot us a quick message. We are happy to help you!
We also offer private cycling tours. If you’re looking to spend a day or afternoon with an experienced (former professional!) local cyclist, we can set that up for you as well. He will work with you and your expectations ahead of time to plan a custom route tailored to your desires (seeing the countryside, little French villages, less elevation, more elevation, etc.), then take you out 1-1!
Bringing your bike to Paris
We’ve actually written an entire guide that details everything you need to know about bringing your own bike to Paris, whether it’s through shipping it or flying with it.
We recommend that you check it out here: How to Bring Your Bike to Paris.
Regardless, it is fairly easy to bring your bike to Paris, but there are expenses involved, whether you choose to ship it or fly with it.
You’ll need to consider:
Are you comfortable taking apart your bike/putting it back together?
If not, are you able to pay a bike shop for disassembly back home, assembly in Paris, take it apart in Paris, then put it back together back home?
Cycling shops offer services like this, but they can run 100-150 dollars or even more.
There will be a couple other costs you need to think about.
Ubers/large taxi vans that will be able to transport your bike box/flight case to and from the airports. Bikes are not allowed on the public metro in Paris.
A bike box/bike flight case or bag.
As said above, potential bike services to help break down/build your bike.
Cost comparison between the two
Depending on how many days you are going to be in Paris/want to rent a bike for, shipping or flying your bike might be more cost-effective. That said, it might not be.
Paris bike rentals
At Le Peloton Café, it costs under 100 euros a day for high performance bike rentals.
If you rent a bike, this is really the only cost you need to consider.
Shipping/Flights
You need to assemble and disassemble your bike for the flight there and the flight home (or shipping there, then back).
If you aren’t able to do this at home, you will need to pay a bike shop to do it for you. This service typically costs around $100-$150, but it depends.
We offer bike assembly and disassembly in Paris. Contact us and we’d be happy to help.
There will be an airline fee or shipping fee, either will be over $100.
You’ll need to get a bike box/flight case/bag/etc. You may be able to get a box for free, but you might not.
You will need to rent a large car in order to get your bike to/from the airport. Cars in Europe are infamously smaller than cars in the States, so you’ll need to specify you need a car that fits a box with a bicycle in it.
You may want to consider insuring your bike for the trip, just in case.
If we’re talking about hassle, renting a bike is less of a hassle and leaves you less to do yourself.
If we’re talking about cost, it depends on how many days you’re going to be renting for. If it’s 2 or 3, it might put you at about the same cost as shipping your bike. If you are going to be in Paris for 2 weeks and want the bike for the entire stay, it’ll be cheaper to bring your own bike.
In this case, it depends on what’s more important to you: ease or cash. That, only you can decide.
