We are traveling to Italy in June, and will do a lot of riding in the first part of our trip, then sightseeing in the second part. to save lugging bikes around that we wont use, we are wanting to maybe ship them home.
2 x bikes in Evoc soft cases, from Florence Italy to Melbourne Australia. Bikeflights were the go to, but now only ship in and out of USA/Canada. so it is no help to us.
What other options have people used? what other ideas are there? the idea of shipping domestically in Italy to our final hotel ahead of time seems like it could work, but I am also a bit worried about the unknowns and risk with that.
I’m open to any advice!
As you’ve had no replies here is my personal take. Just rent a bike. Italy is the one country in the world where you can easily rent high quality bikes. I’m doing a similar trip to Italy in May with my wife joining me for non cycling touring after I’ve finished my cycling. Sure I could take my Aethos and love riding it, but I’ve rented a road bike one week and a gravel bike for another week, both good mid level lightweight bikes with carbon wheels etc. at reasonable rates. At the end of my trip I’ll just hand them back with minimal hassle.
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Thanks for the reply Howard, we have considered that, but the sticking point is we are planning on an A - B bikepacking 5 days in Tuscany, so that makes it tough to rent. We are also looking and getting a courier to deliver them to our final hotel as well, which seems a little scary, but might be the most cost effective option, as long as they get there in time!
Mark, you could try Cicismoplus, who I am renting a gravel bike (they rent road bikes also) in Tuscany from for one week, a SRAM AXS equipped Scott. I am collecting and dropping off in Florence, as that is where my gravel trip starts and ends. But I could, for example, collect from them in Florence and drop off in Sienna, or Lucca or Bologna. Even if your bike packing trip didn’t finish at a town they service you could always jump on a local train to get there, bikes are okay on the slow local trains.
I’ll look into that option, thanks Howard!
Resurrecting an old thread, but how did the bike hire with Ciclismoplus go? I’m going to be in Tuscany over the summer and am considering reaching out to them to rent a bike for a week or two.
Jack, my rental is not until late May, so I can’t comment on the bike or on ground service. So far they have been great to deal with online and I don’t have any reason to think that the bike or service on ground will be an issue. Getting to Italy at the moment may be more of an issue from Australia, fingers crossed!
A follow up on this for posterity: rented a bike from Ciclismoplus in Lucca for 2 weeks this summer, couldn’t have been better. The bikes are brand spanking new (you could literally count the number of paint blemishes on one hand); during pick up the team works with you as long as it takes to get the right fit (my guy at pick up literally raised the seat post 10mm at a time until we got it spot on); and they provide you with all the bits just in case something goes wrong (extra tube, tire levers, CO2, Di2 charging cable, extra coin batteries for the shifters, etc.)
One thing to note (mostly because I saw it on a negative review): it’s a time slot for drop off and pickup, not simply a case of “drop in whenever on the day of your pick up” (which many other bike hires are). There’s flexibility, but if there’s any delays on your end it’s best to let them know just so they’re aware (for instance: I was riding the bike back from Pistoia to return it, but ran into a street market that was blocking part of my route and took some time to clear—they were closing for their lunch hour from 13:00–14:00, so I messaged to let them know I might be a little later. Ended up getting there in time, but I figured better to communicate than not).
10/10 experience, would do again if I were in the area.
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