Bikes in Vancouver

[shiner6]

Has anyone rented bikes to tour Vancouver before or after their cruise? How easy/difficult is it to get around Downtown and Stanley Park? How many hours did you do?  We are a family of seven ranging in age from 9 to 71.

[rover16]

Didn't rent one, but saw lots of them in racks waiting for customers. Downtown is easy to navigate, don't know about the Park.

[AryMay]

The first time we visited Vancouver (in 2014) our hotel provided free bikes for use. Touring by bike was a wonderful way to see the city and especially Stanley Park. 

 

Here is the blog post I did from our morning bike ride around the park:  Biking in Stanley Park

[TiogaCruiser]

We rented bikes from a concession near the gates to the park. That was 12 years ago. It was a nice ride.

[shiner6]

1 hour ago, AryMay said:

The first time we visited Vancouver (in 2014) our hotel provided free bikes for use. Touring by bike was a wonderful way to see the city and especially Stanley Park. 

 

Here is the blog post I did from our morning bike ride around the park:  Biking in Stanley Park

Thank you! Your blog is just beautiful!

[cowmilker]

We have a turn around day in Vancouver during a B2B and are planning to rent bikes and go to Stanley Park.  This is helpful.  AryMay, thank you so much.

[Kateybell]

As a local, riding biking around the park is a must do if the weather is good. there are a couple of rental places just before the park and you can get single or double bikes. It’s about 10-11km around but will take awhile to do as there are sooo many spots to stop along the way. 

[Galley Slave]

We rent bikes every year when we go to Vancouver on our sailboat, pre Covid.  We use Spokes Bicycle on W. Georgia.  You can walk along the waterfront from the cruise port.  We ride through Stanley Park, English Bay, and False Creek.  You can stop on Granville Island for lunch, snacks, crafts.  Then you take the little passenger ferries back to mainland.  It is flat all of the way.  There are good signs along the bike paths.  I would not ride downtown, there are too many cars, no bike lanes.  Look at street map of Vancouver to gauge route based on ability of bikers. You can also walk and take passenger ferries to Granville Island.  We used the bike rate for 3-4 hours if I remember, last time in 2018.

[shiner6]

5 minutes ago, Galley Slave said:

We rent bikes every year when we go to Vancouver on our sailboat, pre Covid.  We use Spokes Bicycle on W. Georgia.  You can walk along the waterfront from the cruise port.  We ride through Stanley Park, English Bay, and False Creek.  You can stop on Granville Island for lunch, snacks, crafts.  Then you take the little passenger ferries back to mainland.  It is flat all of the way.  There are good signs along the bike paths.  I would not ride downtown, there are too many cars, no bike lanes.  Look at street map of Vancouver to gauge route based on ability of bikers. You can also walk and take passenger ferries to Granville Island.  We used the bike rate for 3-4 hours if I remember, last time in 2018.

Thank you! This is exactly the type of information I was hoping for!

[martincath]

Hopefully the opening hours of Ezeeriders will improve as tourism ramps up - their Seawall location is the most convenient for cruisers, and at least back in the day were also significantly cheaper than the likes of Spokes right outside the park. Walk a mile less and pay less = win-win!

 

Edit - I thought they'd closed, but apparently Trevor Linden Fitness do still rent bikes within the convention centre west building, and prices look pretty good there too. Tandems might not be a bad idea, so that your older members can have a pair of younger legs provide the power ;-)

 

If you are in a hotel, do check if they have free bikes - as mentioned above it's become a fairly popular perk for hotels to offer.

 

And stick to the Seawall and pathways, rather than riding on the roads within the park or streets without separated bike lanes unless you're all comfy with urban cycling. The hill up to Prospect Point is also pretty durn steep! You may also find this map of local bike path network useful; they even have a few hints like how to use 'bike boxes' in case you haven't come across them before.

Edited May 22, 2022 by martincath