Cycling from Lisbon

[Former member 88968]

HI all
We are walking the Portuguese Camino from Lisbon starting in early August and, due to injury, one of our party is considering cycling rather than walking. Still very much in the "idea" stage but thought I would ask some questions here to help make our mind up....

I have googled and found a couple of places where we might be able to hire bikes (including bikeiberia.com) and have sent emails to them but does anybody here have any recommendations in Lisbon where we might hire a bike? Probably electric but not necessarily.

Are there any obvious pitfalls that we should be aware of ie the terrain may be too rough, the roads too dangerous etc? We walked the CF in 2019 and there were parts of that I would have hated to have had to cycle!

The thought has occurred to me that it might be easier or cheaper to buy a bike instead of hiring... Is there a place in Santiago that buys bikes?

As always, thank you to each and every one who reads and/or replies

Davybhoy

 

[Corned Beef]

does anybody here have any recommendations in Lisbon

Bike Iberia - in Lisbon. Used them twice - an eBike (Giant) and non-E (?). Service from Maria excellent both times. Since you'll be in Lisbon you can see the bike before you hire it. I wasn't able to do that but wasn't disappointed with the hires.

I've also purchased bikes from Decathlon rather than hire which again you can do in Lisbon. The advantage of using Decathlon is they have stores with in-house service sections all the way up if you get a problem. This proved useful when I was on the Via Francigena.

As regards selling the bike, don't know of any place that might do it in Santiago as the supply likely exceeds demand. You can donate it.

Your question about difficult sections is probably too broad to be answered except to say not had a problem in Spain or Portugal IF you do a bit of training beforehand to know your cycling limits. It's all down to being able to control the bike - same as a car, or a horse etc,

 

[Former member 88968]

Bike Iberia - in Lisbon. Used them twice - an eBike (Giant) and non-E (?). Service from Maria excellent both times. Since you'll be in Lisbon you can see the bike before you hire it. I wasn't able to do that but wasn't disappointed with the hires.

I've also purchased bikes from Decathlon rather than hire which again you can do in Lisbon. The advantage of using Decathlon is they have stores with in-house service sections all the way up if you get a problem. This proved useful when I was on the Via Francigena.

As regards selling the bike, don't know of any place that might do it in Santiago as the supply likely exceeds demand. You can donate it.

Your question about difficult sections is probably too broad to be answered except to say not had a problem in Spain or Portugal IF you do a bit of training beforehand to know your cycling limits. It's all down to being able to control the bike - same as a car, or a horse etc,

Thanks for that. Decathlon sounds like a great alternative - I will check it out. It is great too to have bike Iberia reinforced as a positive recommendation

 

[Gerard Griffin]

I'd definitely buy rather than hire, and as Corned Beef points out, Decathlon stores en route (Porto, Vigo) provide good service. Decathlon will also sell you racks, locks and panniers etc.

Selling in Santiago is best on Idealista, the Spanish buy and sell app. Dealers will give you less than the bike is worth.

If you go for an ebike, Decathlon has the excellent Rockrider EST 100, about 1,000 euro and easily saleable for at least 750 in Santiago. I've cycled Lisbon to Santiago a few times on an ST520 hybrid and it's easy, fun and no real problem as long as you wear day-glo, keep right and use a mirror. Spain is excellent, with wide margins and polite drivers. The coastal route Porto to Lisbon is bike heaven, flat, boardwalks by the sea.

If you get fed up cycling, Portuguese and Spanish medium-distance trains accept bikes.

Have fun, but it'll be hard not to