9

I'm studying going to Germany and specially Leipzig this summer for around 100 days. Personally I am very interested in cycling as a sport and as a means of transportation. I have a good bicycle here in Egypt and I am planning to use the bicycle as a main transportation means inside Leipzig as well as for small rides, maybe from Leipzig to cities nearby. Hence I will need a good bicycle.

I have three options to have a bicycle there

  1. Renting a bicycle in Germany costs usually 5 euro per day. If I am going to stay for 100 days it will cost a fortune I can buy a good bike with that money instead, also bicycles being rent in Germany Road bikes are not suitable to make large distances with.

  2. Buying a used bike in Germany, I'm seeking something less than 100 Euro, because most probably I won't be able to spend more money to get it back to Egypt.

  3. Shipping my bicycle to Germany and back to Egypt. This shouldn't cost more than 100 Euro also the price of a used bike there.

Improve this question
6
  • 4
    Go with option 2. shipping it does not make sense, not only financially but it is much more headache!
    – Nean Der Thal
    Commented May 5, 2013 at 16:57
  • 3
    If you go with option 2, at the end of your stay you can sell your bike so you get some money back
    – Rabbit
    Commented May 5, 2013 at 17:53
  • where i can find cycling communities in Leipzig or in Germany where i can ask for used bicycles ?
    – Hady Elsahar
    Commented May 5, 2013 at 21:39
  • 1
    @HadyElsahar newspaper ads, bicycle shops...
    – jwenting
    Commented May 6, 2013 at 7:10
  • 1
    Not bicycle related but worth bearing in mind: ordinary Schengen visitor visas don't let you visit for more than 90 days (in any 6-month period), so a 100-day trip might be a little tricky visa-wise.
    – Joe Malt
    Commented Jul 26, 2019 at 21:38

5 Answers 5

Reset to default
12
  1. Rental prices are not designed for periods of more than a few days. It might be possible to negotiate a long-term price at a flexible rental business.
  2. It's definitely possible to get a decent used bike for 50-100 EUR. There's a risk that it could be a stolen one, but almost none of running into problems, even if it is.
  3. I'm pretty sure that shipping a bike from Germany to Egypt and back will cost more than 100 EUR.
Improve this answer
4
  • could you please give me more details if you know places for selling used bicycles in Germany ?
    – Hady Elsahar
    Commented May 5, 2013 at 21:39
  • 2
    @HadyElsahar: google.de/search?q=kleinanzeige+fahrrad+leipzig
    – Michael Borgwardt
    Commented May 6, 2013 at 9:25
  • 1
    And don't forget you can sell your bike when you finish your trip
    – Ivan
    Commented May 6, 2013 at 9:58
  • There's a also a chance that the bike one brings from Egypt gets stolen in Germany. Advide is to talk to locals how to best lock a bike etc.
    – Bernhard Döbler
    Commented Jul 27, 2019 at 23:35
9

As already said, the best option would be to buy a used bike. You can find very good offers on eBay kleinanzeigen. You can find a good bike even for under 50 EUR.

Another option is wo-bleibt-mein-fahrrad.de. They buy, sell and repair old bikes in Leipzig. I'm not sure if that would be useful for you, but maybe there are some interesting cheap bikes.

Improve this answer
1
4

Another recent option is a Swapfiets. You pay a monthly fee of currently 17.50 Euros (15 for students) and get a decent bike, repairs included. Contract duration is one month. They're not sport bikes, but should be sufficient for inner-city transportation and occasional longer trips.

(No affiliation, I just think this is one of the cases where their offer actually makes sense. For permanent residence, getting your own bike is cheaper, and for shorter trips you're better off with short-term rentals like nextbike).

Improve this answer
2

In 2008, I shipped a bicycle from Germany to Sweden. I don't remember the exact price but at the time it cost me less than €50. I did this primarily because I was moving to a small Swedish town in winter and was unsure if I would be able to buy a bicycle locally.

If you fly to Germany (which seems very likely), you can bring your bicycle on the plane (boxed). Shop around, you should be able to find an airline where it costs (much) less than €100. If your bike is indeed good, it should be worth it, for a secondhand €100 bike will be an OK bike but not a good bike. I did this when moving from Sweden to Canada and from Canada to the UK.

A final option, which for most people is in fact not an option at all, would be to find a ferry across the Mediterranean and ride your bicycle, but this would be a highly adventurous option, in particular since you would apparently need to cross Libya to reach any operational ferries in the first place, so this is currently not to be recommended.

Improve this answer
1

You could pay 10 EUR a month to the Leipzig based company Nextbike for using their rental fleet within the city as often as you like (30 minutes of biking included in every lending process, afterwards extra fees apply).

(No affiliation)

If you are interested in taking longer trips outside the city, buying a used bike and selling it later is your best option.

Improve this answer

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .