HJR

Hi all,

I am a really lucky bastard this Christmas as my wife and I will be going to Hawaii (Honolulu to be exact) for a three days. I was thinking that taking her out on a ride through some of the country side might be fun. No major training session nor a leisure ride on beach cruisers. I thought a nice 20 mile ride or so to get some exercise and enjoy the scenery. Now for my questions.

1. Anyone know a good bike shop that rents road bikes in the Honolulu area?

2. Having never been to Hawaii, how close are the beautiful coasts and vistas to Honolulu?

3. Can we ride out to them and back in around 20 miles, as I think that may be her limit?

4. If not, where should we drive out to and start?

5. Lastly, any suggestions on routes and/or destinations?

Thanks, in advance for any and all help.

HJR

UmneyDurak

Try doing google search, when I was looking in to it (future plans) I found 3-4 bike shops offering rentals.
I also found a lot of companies offering bike tours. Which basically consists of driving overweight tourists to the top of the mountain, then descending it on bikes.
I also found one which offered you authentic pro experience. Basically a group ride with their jerseys, and your own support car. The picture showed bunch of people riding in tight paceline, somehow I think the reality is quite different.

twahl

We have several members from the area that should chime in, but I'll add my two cents worth from being down in Waikiki in May of this year.

There are lots of mountain bikes available to rent. Road bikes are going to be hard to come by, but there was a shop specializing in triathlon stuff that I was told rented road bikes. Unfortunately I don't have the name, but call around when you get there.

I got kind of confused as to when I was in Honolulu and when I was in Waikiki. Everything is fairly narrow though, with a mountain that splits the island. There's a couple of blocks worth of main road it seems to me, then thins out to manageable roads, although from what I saw most of the downtown areas should be ridable without too much trouble. A lot of people commute and there's a lot of tourists, so they see a lot of cyclists and mopeds, which are also very common for rent. Anyway, the other side of the island if far less busy and very pretty. The whole place is pretty, I really wasn't excited about going but now I'm looking forward to going back.

EXCALIBUR

For mountain bikes and cruisers try: Big Kahuna Motorcycle Tours & Rentals, 407 Seaside Ave., Honolulu, HI 96815, (808) 924-2736. If you need a road bike, the place to go is: McCully Bicycle & Sporting Goods, 2124 S. King St., Honolulu, HI 96826, (808) 955-6329. A nice ride would be to start at Kapiolani Park in Waikiki. Head around Diamond Head, then through Kahala. Get on Kalanianaole Hwy. and ride out to Hanauma Bay. The round trip would get you the 20 mile ride you are looking for, as well as some great sight seeing. The weather in Honolulu is terrific right now. Remember to use sunscreen, drink lots of water, and have a great vacation. Yes, and Aloooooooha!!!

Check this out: McCully Bicycle & Sporting Goods

USAZorro

I second EXCALIBUR's recommendation for a route. Scenic and mostly flat. Your main worry will be looking out for tourists driving unpredictably. Have a great time.

HJR

Thanks, everyone.

Excalibur, I tried McCully and they do not rent bikes. Anyone have any other ideas. I've done a google search and everything I find is located on other islands.

Any more help?

stealthfixr

I am new to Oahu (only moved here 6 months ago thanks to US Air Force), but I was recently in BOCA bike shop and noticed they have a lot of rentals--of which were several nice road bikes with decent components. Their number is (808) 591-9839, if I looked it up right in the phone book.

The Hawaii Bicycling League webpage has a lot of good links--pls see below:
https://www.hbl.org/links.html

I've started riding with the HBL group riding on Saturday mornings at 0900 near the zoo in Kapiolani Park--very nice ride. It goes around the park, around Diamond Head, down towards the windward side, over Hanauma Bay, up the windward side to Makapu point, then back--about 30-something miles with several good climbs. No one gets dropped, and there are periodic stops to regroup.

Good Luck!

EXCALIBUR

McCully Bicycle & Sporting Goods is always my first choice. You might try: The Bike Shop Good luck.