-
Drop Bar Touring Road Bike Hire
The Marin Gestalt 2 is a drop-bar road bike that puts comfort-first. It balances fast riding on the road with the ability to venture on to light gravel sections too. Shimano Tiagra 2x10 drivetrain and hydraulic disc brakes ensure the performance and reliablity you need to explore farther afield.
For multi-day cycling holidays we can equip these bikes with a luggage rack and panniers. These bikes are ideal for the North Coast 500, Speyside and Moray Coast, Caledonia and Hebridean Way.
We only have a small number of drop-bar touring bikes and just one or two bikes in each of the five sizes. Make sure to book early for the best chance of reserving one of these bikes for your first choice dates.
The drop-bar touring bikes are fine for light cargo but not suitable for the biggest panniers or camping unless you have very light and compact "bivvy" camping gear.
We can fit a rear luggage rack suitable for a pair of panniers that have a 50 litre capacity per pair. That should be plenty if you are travelling between guest houses or hotels. They are easy to take on and off.
We have withdrawn bikepacking style bags from the range we offer for hire due to the high incidence of damage to bike frames despite our best efforts with various frame protection tapes. We'd be much happier if customers used panniers but if you feel it is necessary to use your own bikepacking bags the following conditions will apply:
We'll supply frame protection tape.
Each bike comes with helmet, pump, lock, lights, seatpack, inner tube and patches, tools and chain joining link. There are two bottle cages on every drop bar touring bike but these need to be replaced with fabric handlebar bottle holders when the bikepacking bags are fitted. There is more about the available accessories here.
Bikes are fitted with flat pedals as standard. We have a limited quantity of clipless pedals available for a flat price of £5 regardless of the duration of the hire. The types we stock are Shimano SPD & SPD-SL and Look KEO. Please enter the required quantity in the SPD box when booking and state the type and which bikes they are to be fitted to in the Extra Info section.
The standard saddle is fairly typical of a road bike and not particularly padded or severe. We have a few slightly wider saddles available and some gel saddle covers. Best to request when booking.
We are happy to fit your own pedals or saddle and it's fair to say that the most comfortable saddle is likely to be the one with which you are most familiar.
