Client Question: "Should I bring my bike?"
I hear this question almost every day. Now that we've opened up another 2010 Tour de France trip for sale, and particularly a trip with a great deal of riding, many clients are debating whether they should bring their own bikes.
After contacting several former Spyns clients who opted to bring their own bikes, this post is an objective analsys of the "pros" and "cons", including a cost analysis based on information provided by our former Tour de France clients.
Pros
Comfort is by far the biggest benefit to bringing your own bike. I remember a former Spyns client on our 2009 Tour de France trip with an obsession for handlebars. He swore that by riding one of our rental bikes (a Scott Carbon) that his neck muscles were seizing up. "Do you ride a custom bike?", I eventually asked. The answer was yes. Not surprising. If you ride over 100 miles a week and own a bike worth as much as a used car, bring it (but read the "cons" section).
Cons
Unfortunately the list of negatives is rather long. For starters, you will have to get your bike to our Tour de France starting point in Pau. This will mean lugging a bike box to the Paris airport, claiming it there from "Special Baggage", cramming it into a taxi, paying extra to the cab driver for oversized luggage (not a racket but actually a legal requirement under French transport regulations), and storing it in your tiny Paris hotel room. You'll likely repeat the process back to the train station or airport for the trip down to Pau. I should also add that French transportation personnel will take every opportunity to apply a surcharge or simply yell at you for being complicated. Once on tour, it's never smooth sailing because you'll constantly worry about your bike. Our guides will eventually have to move the bike so there is a risk of scratches or light damage. I remember a former Spyns client (TDF 2009) tearfully cradling his beloved Trek because of a light scratch to the underbelly.
Shipping: the solution?
If you do plan to bring your bike, ship it. It will cost you between $200-$300 one-way. Return shipping from France is normally too expensive as you pay in Euros so I'd recommend bringing your bike back post-tour to save some money. By shipping, you avoid the many hassles discussed above but there are some risks as we learned last year. Four former Spyns clients had their bikes held by French Customs. Apparently their paperwork gave the impression the bikes were going to be sold in France. Their bikes were eventually sent home but not after a few sleepless nights. There were also a few bikes that arrived late. In both cases we scrambled to find bikes while desperately trying to locate the lost or delayed velos. For clients planning to ship their bikes this year, we have a "pre-shipping checklist" explaining the above.
In closing, you'll enjoy your Spyns Tour de France trip with our without your own bike. Using one of our rental bikes is a stress-free way to enjoy our 2010 tours. Although the fit may not be custom-perfect, you won't lose sleep over the inevitable wear & tear that comes from moving bikes to 3 different regions.
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For additional information about Spyns 2010 Tour de France trips, please call 1.888.825.4720, email info@tdf-tours.com, or visit http://www.tdf-tours.com/.
