What to Check on a Rental Bike Before You Ride into the Mountains

At home, you know your bike. You know how the brakes feel, when you last changed the chain, and which noises are normal. A rental bike is different. You meet it five minutes before the ride.

My clients usually ride bikes from rental shops I work with in Riva, Torbole, Arco, Limone and Tremosine. Before every tour, I check each bike at the shop. Here is what I look at, what I can't check, and why it matters.

Frame size and saddle height are important too, but they are a different topic. The shop chooses the frame size for your height, and they know their bikes. If you are still deciding which bike to rent, read hardtail or full-suspension.

New in spring, worn in autumn

Most rental shops at Lake Garda are run by professionals. They replace their bikes often, and many of them buy new bikes every year. So at the start of the season, you have a good chance of getting a new bike in perfect condition.

But rental bikes work hard. A different person rides them almost every day, often for many hours. By autumn, many of them show wear.

Part of the reason is how people ride e-bikes. On a normal bike, when the climb gets hard, you shift to an easier gear. If it is still hard, you shift again. You go slower, but the chain and the gears are not under stress.

On an e-bike, many people do something else. They stay in a hard gear and switch to Turbo, the strongest assist mode. The battery empties faster, and the chain and the gears get much more stress.

On my tours, I tell people to shift to an easier gear first and use Turbo only when they need it. But I can't check every gear change. So the later in the season you rent, the more carefully you should look at the bike.

What you can check at the rental

This part takes a few minutes, and you don't need to be a mechanic.

Tyres. Look at the tread. The knobs should have sharp edges. If they look round and worn, show the staff. Then press each tyre hard with your thumb. It should feel firm. If you are not sure, ask the staff to check the pressure. One check at the rental is enough. If the pressure is right when you leave, you don't need to pump the tyres during the ride.

Brakes. Squeeze both levers. They should feel firm and stop well before the handlebar. Then look at the brake pads: there should be plenty of pad material left. If you can't see it, ask the staff to show you. Look at the discs too. They should be straight, and you should not hear them rub when the wheel turns. Pads usually last a long time. If they are thick enough at the start, they will be fine for the day.

Battery. On an e-bike, the battery should be at 100%. Turn the bike on and check before you leave. Make sure the battery is locked in place and does not move. Some shops charge the batteries outside the bikes, so if your bike has a battery cover, check that the cover is back on.

Scratches and cracks. Walk around the bike and look at the frame, the fork and the wheels. If you find a scratch or a damaged part, show it to the staff before you leave. It is the same as renting a car. It is fair to you and to the shop, and nobody has questions when you bring the bike back. If you find a crack, don't ride that bike. Ask for another one.

Suspension. The fork usually has a lock. Here is what it is for. With every turn of the pedals, the fork moves down and up a little. Part of your energy, and part of the battery, goes into this movement instead of moving the bike forward. So on a long ride, it makes sense to lock the fork on the climbs. But on the way down you need the suspension, so always unlock the fork before the descent. Ask the staff to show you how the lock works.

Then, with the fork unlocked, push down hard on the handlebar. The fork should go down and come back up smoothly, with no knocking. On a full-suspension bike, push down on the saddle too. The rear shock should work the same way. Look at the places where the shock is attached to the frame: nothing should move there, and the bolts should be tight.

This tells you that the suspension works. What happens inside, you can't see. And if it breaks in the forest, nobody can repair it there.

What you can't check

Some parts are deep inside the bike. You can't see them, and you can't test them at the rental.

The freehub. This mechanism sits inside the rear hub. When you pedal, it makes the wheel turn. When you stop pedalling, it lets the wheel spin freely. If it breaks ten kilometres from the rental, neither the pedals nor the motor can move the bike. You walk and push.

Before it breaks, a freehub often makes a strange sound. But there are many types of freehub and many kinds of sound. Usually only an experienced mechanic knows which sound is a warning.

The wiring. An e-bike has cables from the control unit on the handlebar to the motor and the battery. On bikes that have done many kilometres, a cable can develop a bad connection. Then the whole system simply turns off. You can't see this at the rental.

Nobody can promise that nothing will break. Even a good bike from a good shop can have a problem on the mountain. It happens.

Ride the first kilometre near the shop

Don't ride straight to the mountain. First, do a short loop near the rental. On this first kilometre:

• Brake with each lever, one at a time. Check which lever is the front brake. It may not be the same as on your bike at home.
• Shift through all the gears. The chain should move smoothly and not jump.
• Try each assist mode, from the lowest to Turbo.
• Test the dropper post, if the bike has one. This is the seat post you can lower with a lever on the handlebar. Press the lever and sit down: the saddle should go down. Press it again when you stand up: it should come back up.
• Listen. Creaks, clicks and any strange sound from the chain, the gears or the wheels are a reason to go back.

If something feels or sounds wrong, go back and show it to the mechanic. Near the shop, this takes a few minutes. On the mountain, the same problem can end your ride.

One more thing before you go: what to pack for a ride at Lake Garda.

On a guided tour, this is my job

On my guided tours, I choose the bikes to fit each rider's height. At the rental, I check every bike before we leave: tyres, brakes, battery, suspension, noises.

For the things nobody can check, I carry tools for emergency repairs. Not every problem can be fixed in the forest, but many can. Even with a broken freehub, there is a way to make the wheel turn again. It is not perfect, but often it is enough to ride back. I wrote more about this in Why Hire a Guide?

But most problems can be found at the shop, if you look for them. So if something is wrong, we solve it before the start. Not twenty kilometres from the rental.