Cost Comparison: Bike Hire or Your Own Bike on a Mallorca Holiday?

Bringing your own road bike or hiring a bike on Mallorca – a cost comparison

The cycling industry identified the beautiful Balearic island of Mallorca as a training destination years ago. Excellent infrastructure with short flight times and ideal year-round climate conditions guarantee the boom in cycling holidays. It is not only professional racers and cycling teams who are drawn here; the enthusiasm for sporty outings by bike among cycling holidaymakers from all over the world is also pushing up visitor numbers for cycling tour operators and bike hire companies.

You'll find bike hire in every corner of the island

As a cycling holidaymaker on Mallorca, the question arises whether to bring your own bike from Germany, Switzerland or Austria, or to hire a bike from a local rental company for the duration of your trip. For all the advantages that your own customised sports bike brings, the choice of high-quality hire bikes on Mallorca is vast. Whichever side of the island you holiday on, the number of local bike hire firms is extensive and lets you rent almost any type of bike. Whether a classic aluminium or modern carbon road bike, a rugged trekking or mountain bike, a comfortable women's or men's bike, a tandem, a children's bike or an innovative e-bike, the selection means every cycling-mad holidaymaker can find the right hire bike.

Alongside personal taste and technical considerations, the cost of transporting your own bike plays a decisive role when set against the hire costs.

Baggage costs vs. hire prices for a bike on Mallorca

A cycling holidaymaker who decides to bring their own equipment must reckon with baggage fees of roughly €30 to €75 per flight leg.

Looking at the baggage regulations of well-known airlines, travellers can find the exact prices for transporting their bike. With Lufthansa, Air Berlin, Condor and Ryanair, bike transport costs €50 per flight leg; with EasyJet it is €35 per flight and with Germanwings €40 for one leg. On top of this come any transfer costs at the departure airport as well as taxi or transport costs on Mallorca. In addition to the cost of using your own bike on the island, the organisation and logistics of a stress-free outward and return journey must also be taken into account.

Set against this is the option of hiring a bike. Anyone on a Mallorca holiday looking for enjoyment on two wheels is sure to find the right bike hire company. The number of rental firms online is enormous – Palma, Alcúdia, Playa de Palma, Santa Ponsa, the Serra de Tramuntana or Felanitx – there is scarcely a spot on the island without a bike hire company. Should you, against all expectations, fail to find a hire station nearby, many rental firms offer delivery and collection of the hire bike to your chosen holiday location.

Prices for hire bikes start at €8 per day for a children's or city bike; for a high-tech carbon road bike you pay between €15 and €40 a day. Weekly rates for a hire bike on Mallorca are considerably cheaper: at some rental firms a hire bike costs €30 per day but only €139 for the week – pedal system, water bottle and spare inner tube included.

All in all, the outlay for a hire bike or for bringing your own bike is similar. As a rule, the shorter the trip, the more appealing a hire bike becomes. If the cycling holiday is planned over many weeks, the relatively high transport costs may be worth accepting in order to ride your own trusty steed.