Shifting Gear Adventures FAQs
relax bike vacation
Does Shifting Gear Adventures provides bikes?
No, Shifting Gear does not provide bikes, but we can make rental bike arrangements were ever possible.
Do people travel with their bikes?
Several factors go into answering this question. For those uncertain of whether bringing your own bike is the right answer, Shifting Gear can help you evaluate the trade-offs. One primary factor is the personal preference a traveler has for being on their own bike versus riding a rental bike. The number of days and miles planned for riding can be a key factor. It also can depend on the level of comfort individuals have for the assembly/disassembly required for travelling with a bike or the support provided for this by the travel company. Guided Shifting Gear trips will have 1-2 guides adept at bike transport assembly/disassembly; unguided or self-guided trips may not have this support.
What is the cost for travelling with bikes?
In most cases, air travel (domestic or international) will have extra baggage fees for bike travel cases. It is important to check with your airline’s baggage rules to determine what this additional charge may be. We have seen and experienced several airlines flying into Europe which do not charge an extra fee for a bike case, if the traveler is checking only one other bag. For domestic travel, Shifting Gear would recommend shipping a bike, versus using the airlines baggage option. In only rare cases, would this option not provide a significant savings and it provides very good convenience. Contact us for more details on this option.
Does renting a bike make sense?
Several factors go into answering this question. For those uncertain of whether renting a bike is the right answer, Shifting Gear can help you evaluate the renting option. One key factor is the personal preference the traveler has for being on his/her own bike versus riding a rental bike. For many cyclists, the quality of available rental bikes, will have a large impact on the decision of whether to rent. There are many destinations, where high quality road bikes can be rented, so often the “rent vs bring my own” decision can come down to looking at cost and convenience. For sure, renting a bike makes the air travel portion of a trip easier, as moving a bike case through airports does take some effort. Shifting Gear can help you evaluate the trade-offs and will provide a service of setting up rental bikes for you (note, Shifting Gear does not maintain a fleet of rental bikes).
What type of trips does Shifting Gear Adventures provide?
Our primary adventure trip model is to provide great cycling experiences at modest, affordable prices with a focus on clean, comfortable lodging and ample opportunity to experience the culture and beauty of our destinations. We strive to locate our travel in locations that provide access to some of the world’s best cycling coupled with having multiple dining and recreation activities within easy reach.
Are Shifting Gear Adventure trips guided?
Our travel model is geared around two primary modes: guided travel and self-guided travel, with the focus of either of these models to minimize travel stress to enable you to relax, bike and thoroughly enjoy your adventure vacation. Both of these models come with a level of support that provides all lodging arrangements, ground transfers, baggage transfers, guide books with recommended riding options, recreation and dining recommendations along with all the travel advice we can offer.
What happens if I have a problem with my bike on a trip?
Guides on Shifting Gear Adventure guided trips can provide assistance with minor adjustments or mechanical problems and will assist on finding solutions on bike problems that they can’t remedy. Cyclists on both guided and self-guided trips should always carry flat tire repair supplies and be able to repair their own flat tires.
What are the requirements to customize a trip?
In general, we can provide a custom itinerary for a group as small as four travelers in either a guided or self-guided format. However, we often find, a custom trip becomes much more cost effective when you’re group size is at least six travelers. Also, it can be possible to make minor customizations within our fixed itinerary trips and we’re happy to work with you on determining if we can accommodate your ideas.
How much training do I need to do in preparation for my trip?
Obviously, this answer depends on how challenging your trip will be (see Ride Levels) for added information here. I can assure you, I’ve never been on a trip where someone commented they did too much training! One thing to remember, your training is not only conditioning your muscles for this trip, but also conditioning your more sensitive areas to be comfortable for longer periods of time in the saddle.
How do I train to climb mountains if I live in the flatlands?
Good question! This question could be answered with a small book, but the short answer is develop a plan for 1-2 rides per week that are focused on gaining climbing strength. Two simple ideas here are:
- Find any hill, even if it’s short, and do multiple repeats of going up the hill. You should work your way up to at least 30 minutes of hill repeats. For a variation, you can alternate climbs between low gear, high cadence (75-100rpm) efforts and higher gear, low cadence (50rpm) muscle tension efforts.
- Take advantage of windy days, by riding into the wind for 30 minutes or more. A solid 10-15mph headwind is a decent simulation of a climbing effort. Of course you can’t be drafting your riding partners for this to work!
What kind of gears does my bike need for my trip?
An even better question! For any trips that include anything more than some rolling hills; in other words, trips that could include climbs longer than one-half mile, we would strongly recommend either a compact crank set (50/34) or a triple crank set (50/40/30) for the front gears and at least a 26 tooth sprocket as the largest rear gear. Many of today’s bikes can work with a 28 tooth or even an 29 tooth sprocket, which we would highly encourage for any trips with sustained climbs of over a mile in length.