Does anyone know of a place where we can rent a road bike (not mountain bike/city/hybrid/cruisers) in Paris?
Posted by
Fredericksburg, VA, USA
409 posts
In addition to giving fantastic bike tours, Bike About Tours (www.bikeabouttours.com) also rents their bikes for a very reasonable price.
Posted by
Boston
4132 posts
I am sure you can do this, especially if money is no object, but depending on your plans you might find that a good-quality VTT is actually better than a road bike.
That was my experience a few years ago. I was disappointed that road bikes were so hard to come by in Burgundy, and I couldn't imagine covering the kind of miles I had planned on some dinky upright hybrid.
However, I finally settled on some VTTs--velos toutes terraines, a beefy hybrid--and they were probably more suitable than a road bike would have been. They certainly handled cobblestones and muddy tow paths better.
On the other hand my longest day was only about 45 miles. If you are planning to do more than that, maybe it's worth locating a road machine, or shipping your own.
If you do go with a VTT, quality matters. Good luck finding what you need!
Posted by
Tresana, Highlands Ranch, CO, USA
23283 posts
Adams, your experience is still valid. We are just back from from Belgium and the Netherlands. No one is using road bikes except for the racers on smoother pavement. Even for long distance you want a good touring bike set up with beefier tires and frames. You will be beat to death with skinny tires on cobblestone streets and general rough pavement.