I’m looking at a long weekend for Jnr’s 9th Birthday at the end of Aug…

Time off work will be a challenge but I thought a long weekend will be possible and maximise time, I’ll probably have to fly back myself to be here. (Already an extra expense)

That said it seems flying out seems sensible rather than 24 hours or so driving…  but then I need to find hire bikes and specifically something for him.  I randomly checked out Les Deux Alps (mainly because I know the place from Winters) and the prices for kids hire bikes are breathtaking.. €300+/day weekends at the end of August.. I could almost buy a bike for that over 4 days.

Has anyone got experience hiring, logistics etc. (e.g. just getting from say Geneva to the resort)

It doesn’t need to be the Alps… but a decent set of trails ridable on 24″ wheels is important.

Theoretically lots of options but what have people actually done and recommend (and not recommend)?

Åre  bike park here in Sweden. 140 quid for 3 days hire of a commencal for your lad, amazing lift accessed bike park,  trail riding nearby at beautiful places, cheap chalets (off season)  kid friendly. Loads of supermarkets for self catering. Fly to trondheim or åre östersund

Biking

Hyra cykel i Åre 2020

Morzine is the easy answer. Short transfer from Geneva, plenty of hire shops, loads of graded trails. Very popular with families. I think the guys in our group that hired paid about 80 euros a day for a decent bike, and there is a lot of choice. Luchon is another nice place for a weekend. Big uplift, nice town, transfer is a bit trickier but its a nice enough drive in a hire car.

Fly to trondheim or åre östersund

Easier said than done… looks lovely but a long flight…

Morzine is the easy answer.

It does seem that way and “easy without braking the bank” is what I’m looking for.

I’m really interested in what others have done as well, I had my own ski’s and board for a long time and lived in Paris, Oslo, Stavanger and Calgary (making drives fairly easy) … but I know back pre-internet then hiring was always a lot of work … at least going between shops trying to get the right ski’s…  phoning up they’d always say “yeah just pop in” but then when you got there they’d not have the size in a decent quality for example.

I guess my worry is turning up and the “or similar” turns out to be a crap HT… and not having alternatives for the kid.  I’m less worried about finding something for me … I’ll be pretty happy on a half decent Enduro or DH bike..

I looked at 9-10 hire places from the Morzine site yesterday and only 1 allowed that online booking had anything half decent.  Quite a few had no online booking facility at all…

I don’t want it to be like last years Summer car-hire where they tried to fob us off with a car we couldn’t get our luggage in (by a long way)… and we ended up waiting for 6 hours

What about taking your own bikes or at least your sons?

Last time I went to Morzine there were loads of kids on decent little full suss bikes, I think they were Commencal,

Getting from Geneva aiport is a doddle, there are plenty of transfer companies, I have just booked Ski-lifts and it was 70Euros return with bikes on a shared transfer, Alpy bus were approx 50E without bikes if you decide to hire.

Oh and the trails on Zore/ Super Morzine side are great for kids, I caught up and followed a little lad on a 20″ wheel Hotrock or Ridgeback and he was flying!

What about taking your own bikes or at least your sons?

Yeah, I’m wondering if I remove the fork and mech if I can get the bike into a really big suitcase… at least it takes the stress away of arriving then finding despite reserving the decent bikes are gone.

Last time I went to Morzine there were loads of kids on decent little full suss bikes, I think they were Commencal,

Non of the rentals I found so far were commencal so I must be missing some.

Mainly Kona Stinky… which is heavy as hell but I suppose won’t matter on the uplifts.  (And as a rental it makes sense)

Getting from Geneva aiport is a doddle, there are plenty of transfer companies, I have just booked Ski-lifts and it was 70Euros return with bikes on a shared transfer, Alpy bus were approx 50E without bikes if you decide to hire.

Are you just booking stuff separately ?  I guess as I’ve never been there in Summer (or for a decade)  it’s all a mystery…

Oh and the trails on Zore/ Super Morzine side are great for kids, I caught up and followed a little lad on a 20″ wheel Hotrock or Ridgeback and he was flying!

His mate just got back and did the 40′ tabletop on his 20″…

Yep, booking separately.

There was a shop by the Pleney lift hiring bikes and all looked descent, no Stinkys, no idea about price as I’ve always taken my own. I vaguely rem the kids bikes were all flouro yellow and chained up near a shop on the street down to Bar Robinson, maybe called Torico (Sp)

His mate just got back and did the 40′ tabletop on his 20″…

Top kudos to his mate doing that table top, its huge!!

Here you go, Kids bike hire in Morzine

Why the Alps? Why not Wales?

Done a few trips to BPW with my boy, he loves it. Er, we both do! I hate airports/flying so I’d go Wales if I had the choice, especially if it’s just for a weekend. Easy to take your own bikes too.

Why the Alps? Why not Wales?

Done a few trips to BPW with my boy, he loves it. Er, we both do! I hate airports/flying so I’d go Wales if I had the choice, especially if it’s just for a weekend. Easy to take your own bikes too.

1) Pre-booking

I’d love to do BPW but every time I look it’s 3 mo in advance booking…

I’ve got little or no idea what continent I’ll be on in 3mo… and 3 weeks is a challenge. (To be honest I didn’t now I’d be in the UK or Europe this week until late Saturday)

2) We’ve been to Wales a fair few times already… and lovely as it is it’s not the Alps…

On the other hand I have no real desire to be in any airports …

maybe called Torico

Ah, they have just been taken over by one of the big companies.(can’t remember which) .. found them last night and it now seems they no longer do Commencal or kids… from the website

Here you go, Kids bike hire in Morzine

Thanks, its another fill out your details and we’ll get back to you…

I guess I’ll just need to fill some of the query forms out…

Top kudos to his mate doing that table top, its huge!!

Yeah the video looks pretty impressive…

Loads of BPW availability in Aug 😉

Loads of BPW availability in Aug

Well, only the weekend of the 25-26 but that might be ideal.