70.3 Nice Bike Rental Options?

Equipment
1

Hey there TRers,

Thanks in big part to following the TR Half Ironman plan, I have qualified for the 70.3 World Championships in Nice this September. This is all great and exciting and wonderful… and expensive. To get my bike from New Hampshire to St. George for my qualifying race I used Tri Bike Transport and had great luck with it (other than the shop being >1hr one way for drop off/pick up). Unfortunately this option for France costs $650, which seems a bit steep. Ironman suggests France Bike Rentals, which has a sweet set of Di2 Ventum One bikes for ~$500, but unfortunately these are no longer available in my size (I am 5’11 and ride a 54cm Felt currently).

This brings me to my current options:

  • Ship my bike (Felt B2) via TBT for $650 (not likely)
  • Rent a road bike (Dogma F10 Disc) with clip on aero bars from FBR for ~$500 (an option)
  • Rent a QR PRSix Disc for $650 (most likely as of now)

I have come to grips with the fact that this isn’t going to be cheap (this sport never is), but was just wondering if anyone else out there knew of any other options. For reference, the race is September 8th, and I will be in Nice the 3rd or 4th prior to the event. I have PowerTap P1 pedals, so power isn’t an issue.

Hoping someone out there can help me out! TIA!

2

Why not bring it on the plane with you as luggage? I frequently do this, and some airlines charge the same as normal packed luggage. At worst it’s categorized as a bike and you pay ~$100 each way.

For an event like this, I’d want to be on my own bike.

2 Likes
3

My apologies, I am at fault for one of my worst forum pet peeves: leaving out critical information…

Taking my bike with me isn’t feasible for this trip. I will be on a work trip the week before in Northern France, flying to Nice before the race, then flying to Barcelona for PTO, before flying home. Three flights, three different rental cars, and many different housing stays would be a headache. I agree I would want to be on my bike, but the stress of just writing all that is a lot, I can’t imagine trying to carry a bike with me for all of it as well.

4

I went with the Trek Emonda from the France Bike Rental place–expensive, but since we’re travelling before and after it didn’t make sense to try and drag my bike around for 2 weeks. I’m also in Canada so Tri Bike Transport isn’t even an option and the cost is even more with the crappy Canadian dollar… :money_with_wings::money_with_wings::money_with_wings: