Should you travel with your bike or rent at your destination? This week on the GCN Tech Show, Ollie and Manon break down the logistics of bringing your bike abroad, weighing up the costings and the hassle of bike boxes! We also bring you the latest Hot Tech and an update on the Shimano crank recall….

    00:00 Intro
    00:22 Fly or rent a bike?
    11:52 Hot tech
    12:40 Gore wear competition 👉 In association with@gorewear
    16:20 Shimano crank recall
    19:00 Women’s hour record
    20:59 Comments of the week
    24:55 Bike vault

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    33 Comments

    1. In the 1968-1974 USA, we flew with track bikes with pedals removed, wheels fastened to frame with toe straps, saddle/post rmoved, and the handlebars lossened, and turned. no padding, no carton, no problem.

    2. Hired a bike for a Giro tour this year. Bringing my bike from Australia would have been painful as we wanted to travel for a few weeks after the tour.

      Took my own power pedals, bike computer etc.

      Another clear benefit (organised tour) is that any mechanicals we’re just fixed, and/or bike swapped.

      Hired a nice (dare I say “super nice”) De Rosa.

      Having worked in the ski industry for years, that industry has “hire shops” and “test centres”… the test centres are “cool” but are essentially just very high end hire options that are more geared towards people who are going to buy (hire price usually discounted from purchase price).

      I reckon (if they don’t already) that high end bikes rented daily as part of a “test centre”, would get even proper riders onto a rental.

    3. 'Only' 6 injuries due to Shimano delamination crank failures!? I must be incredibly unlucky – mine failed on 12 October 2023 and put me in hospital with a broken clavicle! ☹️ Shimano needs to proactively recall and issue a do not ride notice IMHO!

    4. Better than renting I simply buy one for about $120 in other countries. I have mountain bikes in Panama, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Nicaragua and Mexico. I have a 1200 watt RAM Mia e-scooter as well as a 110 gas moped in Costa Rica. At age 76 I find myself needing help on hills in excess of 21% Some of those seat post mount e-drives are of interest to me.
      Big turn off with rental bikes is if something happens to it you may be buying it for $2000. No thanks!

    5. I had a 1 week stop in SF (coming from Europe).
      As a 15 year e-bike commuter I considered bringing my bike, but it's heavy and hard to disassemble, and would have cost a fortune.
      I figured I could rent one, over there.
      Nope…
      Thankfully, the bicycle sharing system (Bay Wheels), was quite decent.

    6. One big wild card about traveling with your own bike: the airline misplaces your bike box (with helmet, shoes, and kit inside) RUINING your cycling holiday . . . (I speak from experience.)

    7. Recently hired a bike in Menorca for a 3 day Volta Cicloturista. Was only around £70, so no brainer. Granted it was only a Specialized Allez (others had booked out the better carbon frames already), but took my dimensions from a home bike fit along and they did their best to make it similar. Was good enough for that event. Local hire companies really helpful and accommodating

    8. Can you guys ride around UCI hq with all sorts of 'banned bikes' while yelling out 'you have no power here'? Preferably Critical Mass style, 100+ riders?

    9. I rented a bike last year in Spain, and was presented with a hardtail MTB with 3 gears that worked and just a front brake that barely worked. It was intended to be used for a 5 minute pedal along the sea front, but I took it 50 miles into the mountains. Gotta say I loved that bike by the time I returned it. It allowed me to see some amazing scenery. Also goes to show just how good bikes really are, even when they are knackered!

    10. In '17 we went to Munich and rented bikes like Euros commute on for $14/day. In Freiburg same type of bike was free. In Paris I got a bike that had hard tires for $6/hr but explored the bois de Boulogne and my favorite part, being American, is that there was no helmet mandate. I guess they figured if I wanted one I'd ask, or bring my own. To be clear, we weren't going on adventures but in context it was convenient and fun. I love Europe!

    11. It ended up being cheaper for me to rent a bike since I only had 3 days of riding on our work/vacation. Though I did get a very nice bike while in Washington state I missed my bike.

    12. I travel to Italy every year and always rent a bike – for convenience because I’ll usually be riding for two weeks and doing other tourist stuff for two. I’ve always been able to get current year bikes in good condition (Pinarello, Wilier, Bianchi, Canyon). I always take my own pedals.

    13. Perhaps its possible to rent a normal bike in Mallorca, but not anywhere else. Usually one can only rent a beat up department store mountain bike thats not your size that you have to return before dinner every day.

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