My wife and I will be spending a month based in Colmar this summer. We'd both like to have bicycles to use for that time, but bike rental can get a bit pricey for an entire month. Does anyone know any good deals / ways to save on longer-term bicycle rental (or perhaps used bike purchase)?
Posted by
Ashburn VA
820 posts
Try going to a local bike store, or at ask your hotel for leads. If you're in an Airbnb or similar, email your host before arriving. Maybe they have suggestions.
Posted by
Seattle, WA
17432 posts
I suggest you contact the Colmar bike shops and see what they can do for you. Some of them are listed here:
https://www.tourisme-colmar.com/en/practical/travel-and-mobility/colmar-by-bike
And Google will help you find others.
Posted by
Boston
4132 posts
I'd email some local bike shops and see what is possible. Maybe they would buy a purchase back from you at the end of the month (for substantially less than you paid, I would think, but that is fair, or at least better than otherwise).
Posted by
Long Beach, California, USA
3398 posts
You can buy an inexpensive bike for a month and then donate it to Erasmus or one of the other big French charities?
Leboncoin is one of the larger craigslist-type sale websites in France.
Go to leboncoin.fr, click on "Rechercer" at the top, "x" out the current location to the right and enter "Colmar". Use the "Categories" drop down menu, look under the "loisirs" section and click on "velos". Then click the blue field marked "Rechercher".
Maybe you'll find just what you're looking for?? I just ran that search and there are a ton of bikes of all kinds for sale in the Colmar area. Plenty under 100 euros.
Posted by
Tunbridge Wells
6113 posts
Many supermarkets sell bikes in the summer at reasonable prices, unless you want a Tour de France quality machine!
Posted by
Myrtle Beach, USA
12313 posts
Ozzies/Kiwis often buy a car for their vacation then sell it when they leave. It seems to me a used bike purchase is a great idea. It's not unusual for bike shops to sell used bikes (if you can't find something for sale elsewhere).
You can either sell them at the end of your trip or donate them.
Posted by
OP
14 posts
Thank you all for these good ideas!
Posted by
Vancouver, BC
135 posts
We are cycling in France for the month of June and are renting bikes from French Bike Rentals which will deliver and pick up bikes anywhere in France, Spain or Italy. There are savings for rentals greater than 7 days and they have a terrific range of really good bikes. Cycling is the purpose of our holiday so getting really good bikes was important to us but this probably isn't what you are looking for. But perhaps one of the cycle rental shops might have bikes they are selling at a discount. As we had researched a lot of bike rental options we ended up on quite a few email lists and several shops sent us emails with offers to buy last year's rental bikes at a discount. The delivery charge might not be worth it but thought it was worth a mention on the off-chance.
Posted by
OP
14 posts
Nice, thanks!
Posted by
Canada
3 posts
Contact and negotiate for 2 velos for a month at A COLMAR, TOUS A VELO
Posted by
OP
14 posts
This is interesting. I see they do very cheap monthly bike rentals for employees and students. You think there's a good chance we could get a cheap monthly rental (perhaps a bit more expensive) even though we're not either?
Posted by
Florida
1450 posts
Sorry, but a rental bike is not going to win the Tour de France under any circumstance.
Posted by
OP
14 posts
LOL... thankfully we're not trying to do anything remotely like that! Just a bit of getting around the nearby villages.