I'd like to rent a bike while in Amsterdam to do a little trip. Is there a bike rental, which rents decent sport bikes? It seems like most rentals are aimed at renting city bikes, which I do not prefer. I only found one rental renting road bikes, but the price was in the area of 70+ euro per day, which seems ridiculous.
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6IIRC, racing bikes are not really the "done thing" for getting about town in the Netherlands. You'll see them out in the countryside and on long distance cycle routes, but not usually in the city, which may well explain why you're struggling to find a cheap rental as it isn't common– GagravarrAug 4, 2014 at 9:18
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What exactly do you mean by 'road bikes'? Do you have a type or model (or picture).– Ton PlompAug 5, 2014 at 20:04
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Something along those lines: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Road_bicycle#mediaviewer/…– VoYAug 7, 2014 at 6:11
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5That is what in dutch is called a 'Racefiets' primarily used for either competitive speed-biking or non-competitive endurance biking. The people driving those bikes somewhat have a bad reputation on the Dutch roads because they sometimes choose to disobey the road code. Most of the times the users go out in groups for a long (>120 km ride) on Saturday or Sunday. As said, you don't need such a bike-type for longer rides in the Netherlands (esp. Holland), or you can get a city-bike with a similar amount of gears.– Ton PlompAug 10, 2014 at 23:56
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1@Gagravarr I used to take my city bike north of Amsterdam and almost always found some people -- usually small groups of men in their 60s -- on expensive road bikes with the racing outfits and all. There are far more people on other kinds of bikes, but nobody would give you a second look if you went out on a road bike, either.– phoogSep 30, 2014 at 1:01
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3 Answers
70 Euro's per day is indeed ridiculous. It is however not uncommon to demand a large deposit. So could it be that the 70 euro is to cover the deposit?
It will be difficult to find a sport bike. The surroundings of Amsterdam are really flat, so you only would need a sport bike if you go for speed. When renting a bike, you could ask a city bike with gears. It is not uncommon for city bikes in the Netherlands to have at least 3 gears.
A good renting spot for bicycles are the train stations of the Dutch rail ways. Their website is Dutch only which shows that they typically don't aim for a audience of tourists. Which doesn't mean that you can't rent a bike there as a tourist. Their prices are however quite affordable:
Om een fiets te huren, heeft u een geldig legitimatiebewijs nodig. U betaalt een borg variërend van € 50,- (voor de eenvoudigste fiets) tot € 145,- (voor een tandem). Een merkfiets zonder versnellingen met terugtraprem kost circa € 7,50 tot € 15,- per dag. Dit bedrag is inclusief verzekering tegen diefstal. Vaak is het ook mogelijk om een toerfiets met versnellingen, een tandemfiets of een elektrische fiets te huren.
Which translates to:
You'll need formal identification to rent a bike. A deposit ranging from 50 (for the simplest bike, to 145 (for a tandem) is required. A bike from a known brand without gear costs between 7,50 and 15,00. This includes theft insurance. It is also possible to rent a tourbike with gear, a tandem of an electric bicycle.
There are a few train stations in Amsterdam, which offer rental bikes. Amsterdam Central is included, however I would advice to go to a less central station (e.g. Amsterdam Amstel), to avoid the crowds a bit.
The bicycles from the train stations are quite decent. In know people who traveled >200 km in one day on such a rental.
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Thanks for the advice. Sounds like when in Rome it's best to do as the romans do. I mostly don't like the dutch-style citybikes due to their "grandma" looks, there probably is nothing wrong with them functionality-wise :-).– VoYAug 4, 2014 at 11:42
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I wouldn't call amstelfietspoint.nl/fotos/ovfietsNW.jpg a grandma look, this is more the grandma look: vvvapeldoorn.nl/… However those are the most awesome bikes to cycle ;)– user141Aug 4, 2014 at 11:53
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Not much difference between those two in my eyes. But I imagine they're perfectly fine as mode of transportation especially if everything is so flat. In Prague, a bike like this wouldn't get you far :-)).– VoYAug 5, 2014 at 6:03
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2@VoY As far as the Dutch are concerned it's the “sportsman's look” (with tight shorts, helmet, etc.) that looks ridiculous (even if wearing a helmet is arguably a good idea in any case, almost nobody does it in the Netherlands). City bikes on the other hand are perfectly acceptable to everybody from students to businessmen…– RelaxedAug 10, 2014 at 16:16
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2@VoY Perhaps you've already been and gone, but I would add that there's more to the city bike/road bike question than looks or speed. The entire geometry is different -- posture, angle of the steering column, width of the handlebars, etc. When I moved to NL from the US it took me a while to get used my city bike, and when I moved back to the US, it was another adjustment period to go back to a road bike. If you are used to a road bike and will be there for a short time it might be worth spending the extra time to find a road bike to rent.– phoogSep 30, 2014 at 1:10
If you don't really like the "grandma" type of bike, and a racing bike seems a bit too expensive for your needs, you can also try to rent a hybrid tour bike. For example, I found one at MacBike. The page lists 15 euros per day for rental (or 18 including insurance). The advantage is that you also do not need special equipment, as shoes, helmet and clothes.
Note: It is not complete clear to me from that webpage, whether or not you can rent the bike from this specific shop for only one day (see info & prices on the bottom of the page).
You can rent road bikes (like the ones they use in the Tour de France, the dutch word would be "wielrenfiets") for 40 euro a day, 75 euro a weekend and 112,50 euro a week on several locations in the netherlands, including most big cities at: road bike rental netherlands Or use this English language site.
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