[Shades]

I’m going to be in Berlin for 2 days and fancy exploring by bike; not a great fan of being stuck in museums/exhibitions and endlessly hopping on/off trains and buses, so just want to take-in as much as possible (poss with some planned routes).  Spotted the usual ‘Boris Bike’ style schemes but are there any recommendations?  Just need a reasonable urban/hybrid style bike; the ‘Boris bike’ style ones always look a bit heavy-duty. Need to keep the whole process simple to make the most of the 2 days.  Spotted organised bike tours but guess you can get a map and ‘DIY’?

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[Shades]

Bit of feedback post my

Bit of feedback post my Berlin trip; was there for 2 and a half days.  Pre-booked a bike tour with Fat Tire cycles in Alexanderplatz; perfect 3.5 hour very informative tour around the main sights and got used to cycling in Berlin.  They had a whole programme of different tours.  Bikes were 3 spd hub heavy duty modern shopper style cruisers (rack, mudguards, chain cover, fat city tyres, hub dynamo lights), but that’s what everyone uses and Berlin is ‘pancake flat’.  The shop did have hybrid/tourer bikes but we just held onto our tour bikes, left some ID as ‘deposit’ and we’d just settle up when we returned them (all quite informal).  Bike infrastructure in Berlin is good; not perfect but drivers are generally pretty courteous to cyclists.  Lycra, high viz and helmets are practically non-existent; everyone just wears normal clothes.  I saw one sole roadie on the Saturday morning.  There are no shortage of bike hire outlets and most hotels have bikes for hire.  Our bikes had fitted frame/wheel locks and we were given a basic cable lock but sensed that bike theft wasn’t a problem.  Beyond the tour we did everything by bike; if I was there again I’d get a faster bike and head down to Potsdam (again all flat).  You can take bikes on the trains; might be some restrictions at busy times though.  Saw a fair amount of Bromptons as well.

I don’t live in London but there wasn’t the ‘tension’ between motorists and cyclists; to copy a Boardman phrase, “I just saw people in normal clothes riding bikes”.  Like I said, Berlin cycle infrastructure isn’t perfect and we were, at times, in busy traffic but not getting the sh#t dished out like UK motorists.

[Stratman]

I just found a hire place
I just found a hire place next to the hotel, and went for a ride around. aimed for the Tiergarten, Brandenburg Gate, Unter Den Linden. They had fairly standard hybrid bikes, and I noticed a few other places around as well. Probably worth asking the concierge when you get there, the hotel may even have some bikes available.

[Author]

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