Buying vs. renting bike in Barcelona for trip into France...return by train/bus

I am posting this for my 23 yr old son (I'm a librarian...its what I do!):

He's joining friends in Barcelona, Spain who are bicycling from there to Nantes, France. He will go only partway as he needs to return home to work earlier. He's hoping to rent a bike in Barcelona, leave a little luggage (from previous traveling w/o bike) and return with bike on trains from wherever he ends up at the end of the time he has.

Is this reasonable? Certainly renting or buying a touring bike doesn't seem to be a problem. We've identified likely outfitters that do that. But on other forums I've read that travelling with a bike on trains is more doable in theory than in practice. On the other hand, selling a used bike in a strange town in a very short period of time seems awkward as well.

Any advice welcome. Thank you!

Possible but reasonableness is something you need to consider yourself.

It's possible to travel with a bicycle on many but not all French trains if you know how to do it. See
http://www.freewheelingfrance.com/planning-a-trip/bikes-and-french-trains.html

It is also possible to travel on many Spanish trains too, but he may need to take a train to (near) the border and then another train to BCN, rather than a long-distance international through train, those tend to be the trains you can't take a bicycle on.

I suspect the easiest/cheapest thing to do is buy a cheap bike and abandon it. I'm assuming from your profile that your son needs to get back to the USA, and he has a return transatlantic ticket to BCN. If it is GB you need to get back to, take a train to a channel port and the ferry, easier than going via BCN.

An alternative, easier approach might be buy a cheap bike and abandon it/give it away.

Thanks so much for the reply. Indeed he has to figure it out for himself. He is flying back to States. I will forward to him. Thanks again!

Try craigslist or similar sites for bikes in Barcelona.

You can easily get most trains with bikes but as @iviehoff said the TGV which is most trains in that area is not set up for bikes. Another consideration is airport ... one airport is further north near the French border, if going there it's not as far. In general if luggage is light flying with a bike is not always pricey, so he could take it home.

I just did this very same thing in France. Craigslist is indeed a good place to start and is where I scored my bike which I paid 75 Euros for. As I've posted recently, Virgin Atlantic does NOT charge extra for bikes. Kinda wish I'd known that as most airlines sock it to you for excess baggage. And while I'm sure everyone on this site has deeper pockets than me, I actually did sell my bike at the last campground I stayed at in England. By the way, Camping Masnou is a great place for your son and buds to hang their hats while in Barcelona.

Thanks for the helpful replies with some great ideas. I am forwarding.

It may partly depend on what type of bikes and what type of cyclists your son's friends are and what route. A cheapish bike from somewhere like Decathlon might be fine to get to Nantes, but if his mates are riding high performance bikes through the Pyrenees he may be left behind.

What sort of charges for renting are you talking about? How long are they planning on taking?

He also needs to consider luggage, rack, comfortable saddle, etc.

As ever, without more info everything is speculation.

It's a great idea, with more info we may be able to help a bit more.

Thank you all

Here are some of his replies to my forwards.

"That all makes sense. The [more] information doesn't exist unfortunately. I think I'm leaning toward buying a relatively decent bicycle, getting it back to Barcelona by train (still uncertain how well that will work), and then either trying to sell it again or just take it back to the US. I could then sell it here or just have a nicer bicycle...

I'm definitely going to be spending a fair-amount on gear for this. bike, panniers, etc. I'm thinking about using two bike panniers as my main-pack for the whole trip if I can turn them into a backpack somehow."

His departure for Europe is now imminent, and he has several days in Barcelona with his more experienced friends before departing on the bike trip itself, so I'm trusting he'll figure it out.

THank you all again!

He rented a bike in Barcelona and just crossed into France on the Pirinexus route. Not sure when he's turning around but I know he's having a fantastic trip!

I'm with your son in spirit. Yesterday I bumped into a young guy on a bike and used it for an excuse to spiel off a few tales about my recent cycling adventure. He was kinda floored and I just got buzzed again recounting my tale. What a fun way to see the world!

I don't get much info but I know they were graciously hosted by someone whose son is biking in China and treated kindly by strangers so he was happy to do the same.

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