Bicycles- We recommend that you bring your own bike for cycling in Italy. We have noticed that a person is more comfortable, less likely to make an unpleasant mistake, and will have a better biking experience in unfamiliar terrain, if he is riding a bike that he knows well. Cyclists are accustomed to riding their own bikes and are rarely satisfied with a different bike. The enjoyment of riding one’s own bike should outweigh the inconvenience of taking it abroad. If you opt for airport pickup there should be a minimum of inconvenience transporting a bicycle. We can help you reassemble the bike if you need assistance. If you plan additional travel in Italy, we will be happy to store your bike and cycling gear, or just the bike case, until you are ready to leave Italy.

A hard case will insure that your bike arrives in good condition. Of the many we have seen over the years, we have been most impressed by the TricoSports IronCase. It is extremely well designed and gives no indication on the outside that it contains a bicycle.

Rental bikes- A local bike shop (See "Italy's 'Best' bike shop" by Lennard Zinn in VeloNews, April 9, 2001) will rent to participants at the Italian Cycling Center, good quality road bikes with aluminum, carbon fiber, or chrome-moly tubing frames, Ergo shifting, and triple or compact cranksets to provide low gears for the mountains. The cost is €25 (cash only) for each day that the bike is in your possession.

To have a rental bike waiting for you when you arrive, contact: Cicli.the.Best@gmail.com. Give the bike store as much of the requested information mentioned below as you can, and allow as much time as possible for them to arrange for the availability of the proper size on your dates.

To prepare a bike for you, the bike store would like to know your correct age, height, weight, the kind of cycling you do, and the kind of pedals you use. They can provide standard Look, Look Keo, Time, Shimano SPD road or mountain bike pedals, or standard pedals with toe clips and straps. If you do not use any of these pedals, you must bring your own. It would also be helpful for them to know what kind of bike you ride at home, the distances and speeds you generally ride, and the measurement from the center of the bottom bracket axle to the top of the saddle (in line with the seat tube), as well as the distance from the center of the handlebars to the nose of the saddle.

When you arrive you will find a rental bike hanging in the bike room with your name on it, and equipped with a pump and a saddlebag with tire levers and a spare tube.

We recommend that you bring your own water bottles and helmet, and an extra inner tube or two. We do have water bottles and helmets available to borrow, however, we cannot guarantee that you will find a helmet that fits you as well as your own (most of ours are large).