Does anyone know a company where we could rent mountain bikes in the pyrenees? This would be for a family of 5 and are looking for light trail riding for a half day. All that I can find is for multi-day trips with camping.
Could be France or Spain.
Thank you in advance.
There are bike hire places scattered throughout the Pyrenees. Most reasonably sized town (anything over 1000 people) have bike hire of various kinds. Search "location vélo Pyrénées" What you're looking for is "vélo VTT"
The Pyrenees is a big area. And with the mountains there are steep grades, so I recommend E bikes for a family. You can rent them at Decathlon sporting goods stores in both France and Spain but then how to get the bikes to the countryside ??
I would recommend instead biking around Carcassone on the Canal du Midi path then loop back through back roads in the countryside.
I recommend using Komoot app / website to find short bike tour recommendations in that or another areas
We stayed for a week last July in Cauterets, deep in the French Pyrenees. It’s just north of the Spanish border, but you can’t get there directly from Spain unless you’re hiking. You can eventually reach Cauterets from Spain (and within France) by train and/or bus, but we had a rental car. It’s a bit south of the French town Lourdes. The Tour de France bike race comes through, or near, Cauterets often, and it’s a ski destination in winter, along with having hot springs spas year-round.
We were there to see The Tour in July, and also did lots of hiking, but didn’t bike. We did encounter some mountain bikers, and there’s a substantial network of bike trails in the area. Looking online just now, I see that there’s at least one shop that rents mountain (and other) bikes - Roc&Trail. Their Website is mostly in French, but the bike rental part is largely in English https://www.roc-trail.com/content/8-location-velos-skis . For rental details, click on the blue box that says “Location Cauterets.” They rent bikes (velos) and also skis. Their homepage is https://www.roc-trail.com/ , and again, to get to their bike rental section from their homepage, click on “Location Vélos/Skis.
You can reach mountain bike trails from right in town, and it was a great place to stay. We stayed at the Hôtel Le Lion d’ Or.
Footnote to Cyn’s excellent info: location in French means rental in English.
It’s what’s called a faux ami, or false friend.
JJ,
The company 'Solomonte' (in Escalona just north of Ainsa) has extensive experience assisting with bicycles and other action activities. This past fall, we hired them for a number of guided mountainous daytrips. One morn, they also transported a sizable group of international cyclists up to a mountaintop for sunrise. That was part of the big bike gathering up in Bielsa.
The Solomonte owners Raquel and husband Juancho are first-rate pros. We highly recommend them.
I am done. The end.
