Hire bike thru velib or maison rue libre

Hi. In paris for 4 days and were thinking of hiring a bike for a day as it is a bike friendly city. Was reading about Velib and Paris respire but realise that one needs a chip credit card or Amex for it. I have none of these. Is velib then better or should one hire from maison rue libre or fat tire bikes ? Thanks

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Velib is not really a rental service. You are supposed to use the bike for a short sprint, then put it back in the rack for another user. The longer you keep it, the higher your fee will be.

For a full day%26#39;s rental, just get one from %26#39;roue Libre%26#39; or another service and then you don%26#39;t have to deal with taking/returning the bike all through the day.

…paris.fr/abonnements_tarifs/les_tarifs/au_d…

http://www.parisvelosympa.com/GB/index.html

www.bikeabouttours.com/_new/bike_rentals.htm

parisbiketour.net/uk/paris-bike-rental.php

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Velib payment is restricted to %26#39;chipped%26#39; cards or AmEx, so that%26#39;s out for you, anyway. Also, they will put a 150€ hold on your card.

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I agree that Velib is for short trips (1/2 hr to 1 hr, 1 hr costs a Euro). I can%26#39;t recall the cost for a 7 day subscription but it was very reasonable. There is a deposit on your credit card but that is just in case you don%26#39;t return the bike. I%26#39;m sure bike rental agents also take a deposit. The big thing is that you need a car with a chip in it.

So rent full time from a bike rental place if you plan to use the bikes a lot.

Now, in terms of bike friendliness. I just returned and have biked in Paris 10 years ago and recently. Certainly Paris is much better for bikes than 10 years ago but it is not Amsterdam or Copenhagen. There are more bike lanes but the cars, taxis and buses still rule more than fully bike friendly cities. Just be careful on very busy roads, use the bike paths and take the side roads more ofter as you%26#39;ll be farther away from the exhaust fumes and motorbikes.

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thanks all%26gt; that was super useful