Cycle Hire

Author
Discussion

indyxe

Original Poster:

343 posts

183 months

Thursday 30th June 2016
quotequote all
I was passing Beausejour campsite roundabout on Friday morning on the way back from Saint Saturnin and I noticed a sign by the campsite entrance "Bike Hire".
Did anyone hire any out, what was the cost, who were they ?.
On the way back to the port on Sunday night i passed a large covered trailer with Chain Reaction Cycles stickers. was it them ?

NickNJ

128 posts

182 months

Thursday 30th June 2016
quotequote all
50E I think.

I'm keen to hire one next year rather than take my own so be interesting to read the opinion of those who hired them. Wasn't many left thirs when I arrived.

Output Flange

16,798 posts

211 months

Thursday 30th June 2016
quotequote all
Someone mentioned on another thread that they were 25 Euros per day with a 250 Euro deposit.

Nigel_O

2,889 posts

219 months

Thursday 30th June 2016
quotequote all
We took three bikes to LeMans this year, as the walking got the better of us last year (Porsche Curves is a LONG way from the start/finish straight when you walk the round trip once or twice a day for four or five days....)

My son's Alfa 159 SW would probably have done 45mpg average with the roofbox fitted - it actually managed about 37mpg with three bikes hanging off the back (although the MPG would have been a lot better if we hadn't got stuck in the huge queues at Arnage on the Thursday night and the similar queues at Calais on the way back....)

I reckon the total cost of the extra fuel was about £25 - much cheaper than hiring three bikes for a few days

Le_Mans

239 posts

272 months

Thursday 30th June 2016
quotequote all
With the number of bikes nicked at Le Mans a 'Bike Hire' business is certainly a brave venture...

Output Flange

16,798 posts

211 months

Thursday 30th June 2016
quotequote all
Not with a 250 Euro deposit it's not!

ukcobra

211 posts

238 months

Thursday 30th June 2016
quotequote all
If you take a bike to Le Mans, lock it up with a very thick lock. Or expect to lose it.
Mine was locked, but they used bolt croppers and it went in 2015.
If we take bikes back in the future, they will have better chains / locks / shackles.

Le_Mans

239 posts

272 months

Thursday 30th June 2016
quotequote all
Output Flange said:
Not with a 250 Euro deposit it's not!
Unless it's a 500 Euro bike... wink

Le_Mans

239 posts

272 months

Thursday 30th June 2016
quotequote all
ukcobra said:
If you take a bike to Le Mans, lock it up with a very thick lock. Or expect to lose it.
Mine was locked, but they used bolt croppers and it went in 2015.
If we take bikes back in the future, they will have better chains / locks / shackles.
Our neighbours in the 'safe haven' of Houx had a bike nicked that was chained to a rack on their camper.

Output Flange

16,798 posts

211 months

Thursday 30th June 2016
quotequote all
Le_Mans said:
Unless it's a 500 Euro bike... wink
I'm no Duncan Bannatyne, however......

chrisr111r

188 posts

129 months

Thursday 30th June 2016
quotequote all
ukcobra said:
If you take a bike to Le Mans, lock it up with a very thick lock. Or expect to lose it.
Mine was locked, but they used bolt croppers and it went in 2015.
If we take bikes back in the future, they will have better chains / locks / shackles.
Does this still apply regardless of the state of the bike? Obviously taking a new Boardman/Specialized or similar is asking for trouble but a knackered old decathlon jobbie would be less attractive surely? Are the light findgered ones the same scum that loot the campsites or just lazy race goers that can't be bothered to walk or bring their own transport?

tjdixon911

1,911 posts

237 months

Thursday 30th June 2016
quotequote all
chrisr111r said:
Does this still apply regardless of the state of the bike? Obviously taking a new Boardman/Specialized or similar is asking for trouble but a knackered old decathlon jobbie would be less attractive surely? Are the light findgered ones the same scum that loot the campsites or just lazy race goers that can't be bothered to walk or bring their own transport?
I'd imagine a lot of them are down to Lazy people not wanting to walk, no matter on the value of the bike.

I have a couple of nice bikes and my mate said to me this year, why don't we bring our bikes next year, my response was No Way, not unless I could pick up a sub £100 for the trip and even then I would bring a bulky lock!

Maybe a Boris Bike type system should be set up for race weekends....

s2driveruk

345 posts

209 months

Thursday 30th June 2016
quotequote all
locked ours at the gates where staff were close by and had no issues. Actually thinking of selling them on as we will be using proper bikes rather than foldups like this year.

Advantage of folding ones is that you can lock them away in the car when not in use too.

Nigel_O

2,889 posts

219 months

Thursday 30th June 2016
quotequote all
s2driveruk said:
locked ours at the gates where staff were close by and had no issues.
Same here - we locked them to the railings by the main entrance - we used a home-made cable lock - about 6 feet of 1/4" high-tensile steel cable light enough to carry around, but strong enough to cause any potential thief to have to work at it for a while - anyone using bolt-cutters would surely have attracted an awful lot of attention. The campsite was secure, so little chance of them going AWOL while we were back at base.

indyxe

Original Poster:

343 posts

183 months

Thursday 30th June 2016
quotequote all
Thanks for the replies, I haven't taken bikes for a good few years as i didnt mind putting a bike rack off the back of the cars i had then,
thought maybe hiring one would be the way forward but the price seems a bit steep.

Might take a folding bike so it can be transported inside car.

Output Flange

16,798 posts

211 months

Thursday 30th June 2016
quotequote all
I left mine locked on the roof of the car when not in use:


ukcobra

211 posts

238 months

Thursday 30th June 2016
quotequote all
Le_Mans said:
Our neighbours in the 'safe haven' of Houx had a bike nicked that was chained to a rack on their camper.
Mine was taken from Houx, last year and it was cable locked to my bike carrier at the back of my T5.

swanny1

72 posts

203 months

Friday 1st July 2016
quotequote all
in the past we used to nip to the local recycling centre and pick up a useable bike for le mans for less than a tenner. sometimes they got left in france, sometimes they did several trips until the gave up. six or seven generally knackered looking bikes lashed together with a couple of locks is enough to put of most casual theives from bothering

Davwlk

295 posts

192 months

Friday 1st July 2016
quotequote all
I've taken a folding bike for many years now. Very useful for nipping down to Arnage from Bleu Sud for supplies on the Saturday. Often the police close the road to Arnage so it's a safe place to cycle.

furtive

4,498 posts

279 months

Saturday 2nd July 2016
quotequote all
Le_Mans said:
With the number of bikes nicked at Le Mans a 'Bike Hire' business is certainly a brave venture...
It reminds me of a story someone told me the other day about a guy who rented out bikes to American airmen stationed at what is now Stansted Airport during WW2. The yanks would pay him a deposit and hire the bikes to cycle to the local pubs. He would then go round all the pubs with a van and nick his own bikes while the Americans were inside, only to hire them back to the yanks the next day