Trip: Bangor and London, Mid-May. Bike Rental/loan??
 

I'm going to a work conference near bangor, UK from May 17-23rd. After that, my GF and I are going to spend a few days in london. We will be using mostly public transportation.

A couple of questions.

1. Are bikes "OK" to take on the tube and trains? If we rent bikes on the 17th to bring up (via train) to bangor, is that ok? I assume it is, but I want to check.

2. anyone care to recommend some good morning routes near Bangor? (Caernarfon to be exact).

3. Anyone know where I can rent a bike (or two) cheap for a week or so? Most shop probably only rent higher end ones... but a mid 80s or 90s bike with downtube shifters would be OK with me! Maybe someone on here has a few beater bikes he/she would lend out?

Bikes OK on trains, subject to space. You need to reserve space for them on mainline trains, so check with the operator.

Bikes not OK on tubes, unless they are folding bikes. They won't let you down to the platform with a non-folder.

When in London, if you're just tooling around town you may as well use the Barclays bike hire scheme. There are stands everywhere and it saves hassle, potential theft etc. Obviously no good if you want to really ride, but excellent for tourists/sightseers in the city.

Try beicsmenai in Caernarfon for bike hire. As you'll see, they also recommend local routes. No real point in hiring a bike in London and lugging it all the way to Wales on the train.