Electro Cargo Bikes for Hire in Cologne

I came to Germany about 40 years ago. At that time most German young men drank beer. If a visitor came round it was usual to offer them a bottle of beer, so every two or three weeks one would buy a crate of beer. In those far off days one normally used a car in order to drive to an out of town supermarket to pick up the beer. Trolleys, bike trailers and cargo bikes were unknown. I did not have a car so would walk round to a local shop and stagger back with 20 bottle crate causing my fingers to gradually numb. These days we drink about a crate of beer annually and now there is a possibilty of hiring an electro-cargo bike, in Cologne at least: www.donk-ee.de.

E-Bike and Bicycle Hire in Wertheim, Germany

Wertheim lies on three major German cycle routes: River Main, River Tauber and the Romantic Road, and the extensive Spessart Forest lies to the north. It is no surprise to find that two organisations in the town offer bicycles to hire.

Tourismus Wertheim GmbH
Gerbergasse 16, 97877 Wertheim
T: +49 (0) 93509, www.tourismus-wertheim.de, eMail: info@tourismus-wertheim.de
Opening times April to October:
Mo - Fr: 9:00 - 18:00, Sa: 10:00 -16:00, Sun: 13:00 - 16:00
The tourist information office offers e-bikes from Falter (Range 60km) and from Staiger Range 120km) to hire. Both companies build good quality bicycles. You should remember though that the range is shortened when one uses more power assistance to climb hills. The river routes are relatively flat so one can reach the maximum range, before one needs to pedal without assistance. The good news is that there are now a number of free charging stations in the hillier Spessart Forest: at the moment there only appears to be a Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/search/top/?q=walderfahren, but a website is in preparation: www.walderfahren.de.
The Falter e-bikes cost:
Half Day: 10€
First Day: 18€
After 3 days: 17€ per day
After a week 15€ per day

The Staiger e-bikes cost:
Half Day: 14€
First Day: 23€
After 3 days: 20€ per day
After a week 17€ per day



Zweirad-Fachgeschäft Baumann
Neben-Neugasse 3-5
97877 Wertheim
Tel: 09342/1214
info@fahrrad-baumann.de
www.fahrrad-baumann.de

Opening times:
Mo - Fr: 9.00 - 12.00 and 14.00 - 18.00
Sa: 9.00 - 13.00 
At present we have no information about bikes, prices, etc.

Although this would be a good place to hire a bike to ride the Romantic Road, remember that you will need to return the bike to Wertheim at the end of the holiday. One possibility would be to take the Romantic Road Coach (bus) from Füssen to Wertheim Village, but this would mean stopping another night in Wertheim at the end of the holiday. If you decide to do this then take a side trip by bus or train to visit Würzburg which should not be missed.

Bike Hire on the lower Rhine in Germany

Because of this blog and our website we regularly receive enquiries from people who wish to hire a bicycle in one town and leave it elsewhere. Unfortunately we often need to reply that if you hire a bike in one town that is where you need to return it.  There were a few exceptions:

• You can hire a bicycle in Passau and drop it off in Vienna. 
• You can hire a bike in Berlin and drop it off in Copenhagen.  

There is now a new series of possibilities. The RadRegionRheinland (Rhineland Cycling Region) has set up Radstation, a series of cycle centres offering bicycle repair, parking and hire.
The Radstation in Bergisch Gladbach, Bonn, Brühl, Köln (Cologne), Grevenbroich, Dormagen, Neuss and Düsseldorf offer the possibilty of hiring in one city and returning to a Radstation elsewhere in the system for an extra charge of between 2 and 8 Euros.

Questions to ask a bike hire company

If you are planning to hire a bike or an e-bike for a touring holiday then it is worthwhile checking the following points:

• Saddle:  
  • Can you take your own saddle with you and fit it before you leave? 
  • Can you leave the hire company's saddle with the hire company?
• Pedals:
  • If you normally cycle in clip pedals then check whether you can take your own with you and fit them before you leave? This is not as silly as it looks. A friend of ours hired a bike in Ireland some years ago and was surprised to see on arrival that the hire bike had the curved steel rod cranks often fitted to children's bicycles.
• Bags: 
  • Does your favoured bike have a rack? Try and avoid carrying a heavy rucksack on your back.
  • Will it take your brand of panniers?
  • Do you need a pannier? You can always buy bungees or straps to attach a small bag to the rack.
  • Can you attach a bar bag to the handlebars? This is often not possible with e-bikes.
• Locks:
  • Does the hire company offer locks free of charge?
    
  • Are they just the rear wheel frame locks beloved of cycling midwives, as seen on TV?
    
  • Can you hire a better lock so that you can attach the bike/s to a fixed object?
    
• Mudguards/Fenders:
  
  • It does rain in summer in much of Western Europe in spite of the brightly coloured photographs in the tourist office brochures. I realise that bikes with mudguards/fenders don't look as cool as those without, but muddy legs don't look cool either.. Obviously this does not apply if you are going mountain biking and are used to showering with your bike and your clothes after a day out in the hills.
• Helmet:
  
  • Helmet wearing in Europe is not compulsory. In fact in countries with heavy use of bicycles as a means of transport, e.g. Denmark, the Netherlands, it is unusual apart from keenie-beanie road men and women. If you wear a helmet when touring in these countries you run the risk of being thought a German. Some hire companies throw bike helmets in with the deal others charge you a Euro or so a day to hire.
• Punctures:
  
  • It is worth enquiring what to do in case of a puncture? Does the hire company supply a tool kit, a pump and a puncture repair outfit? Bigger supermarkets will sell cheap spanners and puncture repair kits.
• Spare batteries for e-bikes:
  
  • Hire e-bikes see some kilometres in a season, so it is worthwhile trying to pin the hire bike companies down to find out what the typical range of their batteries is to decide whether to hire a spare battery. A spare battery weighs more than a kilogram.

• Water Bottle
• Does the hire bike come with a bottle or a holder? 
• If it's just a holder would your bottle fit in it? 
• Does your pannier and/or rackpack take a bottle?
  

Bike Hire in Wismar

The following companies offer bike hire in Wismar:


Buddha Bike´s
Owner: Martina Fritz
Dankwartstraße 49
23966 Wismar

E-Mail: info@buddha-bikes.de >>>

Telephone: +49 (0) 3841 – 4 73 62 02
www.buddha-bikes.de



Fahrrad Wulf
ABC-Straße 13
23966 Wismar
T:+49 (0) 3841 282787
Fax: +49 (0) 3841 213448
E-Mail: info@fahrradwulf.de

www.fahrradwulf.de

Both websites are in German. The word for Bike Hire is Fahrradverleih.

Bicycle and e-bike hire in the upper Rhine Valley (Southern Rhineland Palatinate, North Baden) in Germany

Bellorange Fahrradverleih offers a range of hire bicycles in the South of Rhineland Palatinate and North Baden (Black Forest) for both short and long periods. The website is in German, but you can check the location of the bike stations, look at prices "Preise" on the website or ring the company on +49 6323 957 423 1,  where you can chat in English. Bikes can be picked up in:

• Edenkoben.
• Bad Bergzabern.
• Wörth.
• Speyer.
• Bad Dürkheim.
• Bad Wildbad.
• Enzklösterle.

Bikes can be returned to other locations. Many hotels in the area offer this company's bikes for hire. Many of the hire sites only have a few bicycles and so, it is necessary to book, at the latest, a few days in advance. For the busy periods, school holidays, public holidays and the like, for example, it is better to book as soon as you can.

There are two sites in Edenkoben, one of which is the company's central warehouse. This is near to the railway station. Bike hire here is at the time of writing 10% cheaper than in the other locations. Need we say more? Information about rail travel in Germany can be found on http://www.bahn.co.uk and local public transport (bus, railway and ferries) in Rhineland Palatinate and Northern Baden-Württemberg  can found on http://www.vrn.de.

Prices are reasonable. There are serious discounts for multi day and for group hire.
The company offers:

• Touring bikes with 8 gear hub gears and a back pedal brake.
• Touring bikes with 24 gear derailleur gears.
• Premium touring bikes with 30 gear derailleur gears.
• Mountain bikes.
• Pedelecs (e-bikes). As long as all goes well we hope we can hire at least two of these bikes to follow the Rhineland Palatinate Route, mentioned last week.
• Trailers for drink crates, dogs and children. Not all at the same time.
• Helmets.
• Gloves and other oddments. 
• Extra batteries for e-bikes.

We have yet to hire from the company, but from our written contact it seems to be well organised. We will report after our trip later in the year.

Baggage Transport in Rhineland Palatinate west of the Rhine along the Weinstraße (Wine Road)

Rhineland Palatinate is making serious efforts in tourism.  Various companies in the south of the province along the 200km or so Weinstraße (Wine Road) from Bockenheim north West of Worms to the French border at Wissembourg (Alsace) are offering services to cyclists and walkers that we feel are worth knowing about.
For example: Gepäckservice Pfalz (Palatinate Luggage Service) based in Deidesheim, offers both walkers and cyclists the chance to have their bags carried. We ourselves are not madly bothered as cyclists about having somebody carry our gear, but as the company states in its advertising:

• You can take more than two panniers of gear. (However on a bike we find we only need one Ortlieb pannier for a week or so, but are quite prepared to wash clothes and wear the same stuff every night when touring.)
• You can lock your bike up to go for a swim or an ice cream without having to lug your bikes with you or worrying that some rustler is going to steal the bags. You also don't have to find someone to look after your gear. 
• You can buy something along the route and have sent with you without having to carry it. Personally I am not too sure if this is a disadvantage, because not being able to carry the stuff means it is possible to avoid buying a case of wine at a vineyard.

It strikes me as well if you are going cycling for a week or so as part of a grand European tour, you may well have more gear. This service could be useful.
Gepäckservice Pfalz, Kirschgartenstraße 49, 67146 Deidesheim, Germany, http://www.gsp1.de/ (In German), info@gepaeckservice-pfalz.de, T: +49 (0) 6326 982284
Baggage Transport:
1-2 people/day  €20
3 people/day €27
4 people/day €36
Each extra person €2.50
The company also rents out touring bikes.

E-bike hire in Feuchtwangen

Rental- and Service / Prices

E-bikes can be rented from Sporthaus Bräunlein, Marktplatz 11/13. Opening hours: Monday to Friday 9 am to 1 pm and 2 pm to 6:30 pm, Saturdays from 9 am to 2 pm.Information is also available from Tourist Information Feuchtwangen, Marktplatz 1, 91555 Feuchtwangen, T: 09852 90455, www.feuchtwangen.de

Services

• Fahrradhaus Bräunlein
  Marktplatz 11/13
  91555 Feuchtwangen
  Tel.: 09852 616464
• Fahrrad Schmeißer
  Dorfgütingen 21
  91555 Feuchtwangen
  Tel.: 09852 2348

Rates:

One day 20€

Three days 35€

One week 60€

Tour suggestions can be found under:
http://www.romantisches-franken.de/Homepage/Activities/Biking/Bike_trails
 

Bicycle and e-bike hire in Dinkelsbühl

Bicycles and e.bikes can be hired from: Touristik Service, Altrathausplatz 2, 91550 Dinkelsbühl, 

T:09851 902-440

20 ladies, 10 men's und 5 children's three speed bicycles are available to rent, but no helmets.

E-bikes can be hired from the same office:

Rates:

One day 20€

Three days 35€

One week 60€

There is a free charging point in Dinkelsbühl at the Haus der Geschichte, Altrathausplatz 14.

Open Hours: Dinkelsbühl tourist office is open Monday to Friday 10 am to 5 pm, Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays, May to October

The tourist office has tour suggestions. Check out http://alpregio.outdooractive.com/ar-romant-str-gesel/en/alpregio.jsp#lat=49.06801800732449&lng=10.268096923828125&z=12&mt=0&tab=WelcomeTab

Bike Hire in SW France

Bike touring in France is getting better year by year and I was interested to come across a bike hire company in Southwestern France. Bike Direct offers a good range of touring bikes, tandems and accessories at reasonable prices (http://bikehiredirect.com). We have cycled in this area and it was very enjoyable.

Bike hire is offered in the Charente (16), Charente Maritime (17), Dordogne (24), Gironde (33), Deux-Sevres (79), Vienne (86), Haute-Vienne (87) and from 2015 in the Vendee (85). - See more at: http://bikehiredirect.com/#sthash.UONMKkxK.dpuf

Bike hire is offered in the Charente (16), Charente Maritime (17), Dordogne (24), Gironde (33), Deux-Sevres (79), Vienne (86), Haute-Vienne (87) and from 2015 in the Vendee (85). - See more at: http://bikehiredirect.com/#sthash.DSE5Dbhi.yvQrfWNi.dpuf

Road bikes for hire in Berlin

If you are looking for a road bike to hire in Berlin, then check out:

Aspire Cycling (Road bike specialist)
This company delivers your bike to your hotel, B&B, crash pad etc. It offers Canyon Carbon Frame Endurance CF bikes. The company also offers guided tours. The company is not cheap but offers value for money especially when you check out the prices the airlines will charge you to get your bike to Berlin, the quality of their bikes and the service they offer. At the time of writing the first day's hire cost 65€ with serious reductions for longer term hire.
http://aspirecycling.com/
info@aspirecycling.com
T: +49 173 7457479

Bike hire in Salzburg

If you are looking for a hire bike in Salzburg, then check out "a velo rent-a-bike" on the Mozartplatz near to the Salzburg-Info. Prices range from 12€ a half day to 55€ for a week. The company offers MTBs, road bikes, recumbents, e-bikes, children's bicycles, trailers, helmets, bags and rainwear for hire. The website given on their flyer: www.a-velo.at does not work for me. Maybe the telephone number does: +43 (0) 676 4355950.

Danube Cycle Way: Hire bikes for a one way trip between Passau and Vienna

We've just spent a few days in Austria cycling down the Tauern Cycle Path from 1100 or so m down to Passau on the Danube. As usual I took the chance to check out bike hire facilities on the way. In Passau we found the Fahrradklinik (www.fahrradklinik-passau.de) in the old town not far from the Danube Suspension Bridge.  This shop has an innovative bike hire policy and rents high quality bikes with puncture proof tyres and in part Rohloff 14 speed hub gears. These are better bikes than we have at home. The company also offers bike trailers, Ortlieb panniers, tandems and e-bikes. Prices seem reasonable to us starting at 13€ a day for one day hire and 70€ for a week for the normal bikes. E-bikes and tandems cost twice as much. The real clincher though is that the shop offers one way hire to the edge of Vienna for 29€ extra. The shop also offers repair and service of your steeds.

Fahrradklinik,
Bräugasse 10
94032 Passau
T: +49 (0) 851 33411

eMail: info@fahrradklinik-passau.de

There is a second shop in Passau in addition to Fahrradklinik offering one way hire bikes for the trip down the Danube as far as Vienna: Bikehaus. This organisation will pick up bikes from hotels and B&Bs along the route. Prices are much the same as those from Fahrradklinik: One Day: 13€, One Week 70€. Pickup prices are slighly higher than Fahrradklinik at 35€ per bike, but the company will pick up their bikes from any hotel or B&B en route between Passau and Vienna whereas Fahrradklinik uses one hotel near Vienna. The bicycles have only 8 gear Shimano hub gears rather than the fourteen speed Rohloffs offered by Fahrradklinik. The hire base is in part of the Hauptbahnhof (railway station) in Passau. Opening hours in season are surprisingly long for Germany: 9am to 1pm and 2pm to 6pm every day of the week including public holidays! The company also offers a repair service and sells spare parts, tyres, maps, panniers, clothing and drinks.

Bikehaus
Bahnhofstraße 29
94032 Passau
T:  +49 (0) 851 - 966 25 70
Mobile: +49 (0) 151 - 1283 4224
E-Mail:  info@bikehaus.de

Hiring bikes in Darmstadt, Frankfurt, Fulda, Giessen, Wiesbaden

To mark the European Day of Cycling;
We have updated the Frankfurt page of the Cycling/Useful stuff/Bike Hire/Germany chapter on http://www.bicycletouringeurope.eu/.
We have written new pages for Darmstadt, Fulda, Giessen and Wiesbaden in the Cycling/Useful stuff/Bike Hire/Germany chapter on http://www.bicycletouringeurope.eu/.

Bike Hire in Mannheim and Middle Hesse

We've just updated our Bicycle Touring Europe website with a chapter on bike hire in middle Hesse (NE of Frankfurt am Main) and an addition to the bike hire possibilities in Mannheim: http://www.bicycletouringeurope.eu/cycling/useful-stuff/bike-hire/germany/index.html.

Bike Hire in Amsterdam

Obviously in a city where 60% of all journeys are made by bicycle, it is easy to hire a bike in Amsterdam. There are bicycle hire companies all over town. These bikes are well maintained and prices are roughly the same. Competition is such that companies offering poorly maintained or expensive bikes would rapidly go out of business. Practically all of these hire bikes are brightly coloured and bear an advertising slogan or logo from the shop or hotel they were hired from. There is however at least one exception:

Bike City

Bloemgracht 68-70
1015 TL AMSTERDAM (Across the Prinsengracht canal from the Anne Frank House on a side canal.)
Telephone: 020 626 3721
Fax: 020 422 3326
Website: http://www.bikecity.nl 

For city use this company rents out black solidly built three and seven gear city bikes with two hand operated brakes. You are indistinguishable from local cyclists. The three gear bikes can be hired from upwards of half a day. The seven gear city bikes are slightly sportier, intended for use farther afield and have a minimum hire period of two days. The company does offer some slightly cheaper single gear bikes with coaster or back brakes which are adequate, as long as you are used to riding this type of bike. 

Bike City also has ten aluminium framed Hybrid Bikes with a minimum rental period of a week which are a cross between a mountain and a city bike that come with Ortlieb panniers front and back, 28" wheels, an eight speed derailleur, a 5-function speedo, lighting front and rear, SPD combi pedals, a bottle holder, a pump, toolkit and 2 locks. (Bike theft is a major industry in the Netherlands, so make sure you lock your bike to something substantial before leaving it, no matter who you hire from.) If you are holidaying in Europe and want to have a week or so's cycling, then you can hire the bikes, pack the panniers, leave your suitcases behind and set set off to explore Holland from the Rhine delta around Rotterdam and Maastricht in the south up to Groningen in the north. Cost in 2015 is 172.50€ for the first week and 22.50€ a day after that. You have to return the bikes to Amsterdam. You will need to pick up your cases anyway.

A disclaimer just for the record: We have no connection with this company and have received no payments either in cash or kind for this blog. I was very impressed by the company's website when we were planning a trip to Amsterdam with friends. For various reasons we did not do any cycling when we there, but as our friends were stopping nearby we visited the shop and I talked to the one of the team. 

Renting a bike or e-bike in Neuenburg not far from Alsace or the Black Forest near Basel/Basle

The following shops and organisations offer bike for hire in Neuenburg near Basel/Basle/Bâle. You will need a passport or identity card and probably a returnable deposit to hire the bikes in addition to the rental fee.

Dreiländer Camping- und Freizeitpark
Oberer Wald
Telefon: 07631/77 19

Fahrrad-Fachgeschäft
Alfons Harwardt
Verleih und Reparatur
Rebstraße 12
Telefon: 07631/7 41 60

Jürgens Bike Shop
Verleih und Reparatur
Westtangente 6
Telefon: 07631/70 53 98-0

Stadt Neuenburg am Rhein
E-Bikes for rent
Rathausplatz 5
Telefon: 07631/791-0

You don't have to cycle up into the Black Forest. What about nipping over into France, turning left to cycle to the gates of Basel and then come back up the German side of the Rhine.

Thoughts on hiring bikes on the Romantic Road between Würzburg and Füssen

We are rewriting our Romantic Road guide book at present to make it more compact and readable. Judith is rewriting the pages at the moment. When she is finished I'll play the editor and copy-edit. My job at the moment is the boring one: checking our appendices - accommodation, bicycle shops, bicycle hire etc.
I have noticed that more bike shops are renting bicycle and e-bicycles these days. However, and this is a big disadvantage, we have only found one shop offering a one way hire either from Würzburg to Füssen or vice versa. Considering that cyclists on the Berlin-Copenhagen Route can hire a bike at one end and drop it it off at the other, i.e. in two different countries with different currencies, it strikes me that it should be possible to cross one province: Bavaria with a set of bikes, picking them up at one end and dropping them off at the other. If you hire at one end and wish to take the bikes back, it's not that expensive to travel back to your start point by local train, but it takes at least six hours involving one or two changes.
There is one company that will allow you pick up a bike in Füssen (with pre-programmed GPS) and drop it off a week or so later in Würzburg. The Romantic Road cycle route is about 420km long and so a week would be a pleasant trip. The company is Radstation Allgäu, Abt Heß Straße 11, in the Multicycle store, D-87629 Füssen, Germany, T: 0049/0171/2056371,  info@radstationallgaeu.de, http://www.radstationallgaeu.de  (in German and Portuguese). A week's bike hire with bike pick up will cost you 179€ or a five day trip with four nights accommodation in middle class hotels for 599€. The company has a minibus and will pick you up after a week or so's cycling in Würzburg or somewhere before. How much this return trip costs is not clear. You could also just hire a bike or an e-bike for a week for between 55 and 120€, cycle to Augsburg or even Donauwörth and take the Via Claudia Augusta cycle route back to Füssen.

Bicycle Hire in Hanover (Hannover in German)

Pro Beruf GmbH
Bonifatiusplatz
30161 Hannover

Tel.: 0511 / 63 32 93
Fax: 0511 / 37 18 79
Email: fahrrad[AT]pro-beruf[DOT]de

10 Bikes and various "fun bikes" for events. The organisation's definition not ours. This is another organisation offering training to unemployed young people. The opening hours are not exactly user-friendly: Tuesday to Friday 1:30pm to 6pm. In addition 10:30am to 12:30 pm on Wednesdays. In 2014 the shop was closed for two weeks in August.

Fahrradstation am Hauptbahnhof 

(Bicycle Centre at the Central Railway Station) 

Fernroder Straße 2, 30161 Hannover 

Tel.: 05 11/ 3 53 96 40 

Fax: 05 11/ 35 39 64 10 

Opening Times: 

Mo. - Fr. 6am - 11pm; Sa., Su. and public holidays 8am - 11pm 

E-Mail: fahrradstation(AT)step-hannover(dot)de 

Internet: http://www.step-hannover.de/startseite/angebote/radstation/ 

60 newish bikes including children's bicycles

In addition:

800 slots for short term- und long-term bike parking. This is obviously a good place to leave your bike if you want to play the tourist in Hanover. There are lockers for your luggage nearby, in the central railway station, for example. 

Bicycle Repair

Bicycle Hire in Travemünde

Travemünde is the port of Lübeck and lies on the German Baltic coast. There are many cycling routes and a lot of cyclists so it is a safe place to cycle. The area is relatively flat. Across the River Trave on the other side of the hamlet of Priwall is the border with Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, one of the new German provinces. Until 25 years ago the Iron Curtain ran here. To the east there are miles of little developed beaches to swim from and sunbathe on. They are not developed because the former GDR government discouraged access to the Baltic to prevent people escaping the country. However being Germany there are a number of kiosks along the cycle route set back from the beach selling snacks, beer and coffee. The cyclepath, a former DDR border police track, runs along the coast to the northwest of Travemünde linking a number of small seaside resorts. We were in Travemünde recently and found two cycle hire shops one in the town and one across the river in Priwall.

Fahrradverleih Bruders, Mecklenburger Landstraße 14 23570 Travemünde/Priwall Tel: 04502/5340

Hire bike per day  6.00€
1 week                  25€
2 weeks                 45€
Children's bikes     Half price
Bollerwagen         3€ per day

Das Fahrrad  -  Moorredder 15  -  23570 Lübeck- Travemünde  -  @Mail: Fahrrad-Spuida@web.de  Telefon/ Fax: 04502-3550

Hire bike per day	6.00 €
1 week	35.00 €
2 weeks	60.00 €
Child's bike 18" - 24"	4.00 €
Child's seat	2.00 €
Tandem	12.00 €
Bollerwagen*	2.00 €
Pedelec	18.00 €

*Bollerwagen are small, rubber tyred, four wheeled wagons to take all the family needs to the beach: