donrhummy

I looked online and found three bike stores that rent high end bikes but they all have horror stories! I am afraid to commit to any of them. Can anyone recommend a good shop?

The shops I found (each with some good reviews but ALL with multiple horror story reviews)
West Maui Cycles
Maui Cyclery
South Maui Cycles

zacster

I rented from Boss Frogs in Kihei. They gVe me a Fuji carbon bike with 12/27 rear that suited me just fine.

scozim 

Just got back from Maui and also rented from Boss Frogs in Kihei - had a Cannondale Super Six. Great folks and great riding bike. Had no problems at all.

Cosmic Hawk

Just for the record, Maui Cyclery is a great shop! Not sure what the online horror stories are but I live here! Old post but since there are so few in the Hawaii forum, I figure it was worth adding a sentence.

dustind2103

I would recommend Island Triathlon & Bike in Honolulu. Rented a BMC ALR and loved it.

kevrider

i will revive this thread with the same question, adding Kona and Kauai. I'm planning to island hop and would like to rent a bike on all three islands. I have found a few mentioned above for Maui, plus Bike Works Kona and Big Island Bike Rentals; i have nothing yet for Kauai. any recs/experiences appreciated.

Bsgs87

I live in Kona and can tell you that bike works is a great shop and they rent all kinds of road bikes. Ask for Vern, if he is working he is a great guy.

busygizmo

We're heading to Maui in October and planning on attempting Haleakala.

Any updates or recent experience with rental shops in Maui?

We are staying in Maalaea so pretty centrally located. Leaning towards Maui Cyclery because they are in Paia so drop off would be convenient. Also they say they have some high end bikes with disc breaks, my GF has become very fond of these on her new bike. I need to call to see if they have one in stock in her size.

Krank Cycles also have carbon bikes with disc brakes although they use SRAM which is not not what we are used to and they are a little further away.

Another question is how many day ahead is the forecast typically accurate for Haleakala? Any good recommendations for weather?

Any other recommendations?

Thanks

zacster

The forecast on Haleakala is accurate for about 5 minutes. I'll give it to you now. Rain and hot at the lower elevations, once through the clouds, sunshine and cold.

Good luck on the ride. I "only" made it to 6000' before I had to quit. By far the longest climb I've ever done, and probably for most people since there aren't really any other climbs like Haleakala of 10000' continuous climbing. It is a lot of climbing, and it is relentless. Can't wait to try again, but at 62 my years of being able to do this are running out.

Some advice:

Scout the route out beforehand in a car.
Don't get sick before the ride.
Have someone bring clothes for you to the top, you'll need them for the descent, and you don't want to carry them up.
Train with climbs.
Train with climbs.
Train with climbs.
Lose a little weight.
BRING YOUR OWN BIKE! As nice as my carbon Fuji rental was, I wished I were on my own bike.
Did I say to train with climbs?
Eat at every chance you get. There isn't much once past about 4000'. And the last water is at the ranger station.
Don't miss the turn past Makawao. See my first point.
Don't let the steep climb between Makawao and that turn dissuade you, it is pretty short in the grand scheme of climbing Haleakala.
The switchbacks are the killer, if you make it past them you'll be OK, but it is still all uphill. I didn't make it much past them. They are steeper than the rest of the climb, plus you can see how high each goes and that is very discouraging.
Whichever bike you choose, make sure it has one last low gear beyond what you think is necessary. Mine had a 12-27 cassette with 50/34 front. I'd have liked either a triple or at least a 30 rear.
Go early, at dawn's ass crack.
Have someone waiting for you at the bottom with a beer and food. My brother-in-law happened to be having lunch with the family at the restaurant in Paia right at the corner. He ordered me a beer and I ate both his kids' meals, since they weren't eating them.
If you have children, sacrifice the first-born to the volcano gods. If not, a goat will do.

kevrider

i just rented from Maui Cyclery, it was a good experience. i had a Scott Solace Disc, 105/hydro, 50/34 with 11-32. they swapped the stem for me and mounted some blinky lights, it already had SPD pedals. i would use them again.

i concur with the early start advice. if you plan to see the sunrise, you need to make a reservation. my ride report is here:
https://www.bikeforums.net/general-cy...ot-really.html

busygizmo

Thanks for the info.

Since we are only planning on riding only this one day it would be a lot of effort and expense to fly with our own bikes, we'll just have to be diligent about getting measurements and setting the bikes up as well as possible.

Early start is on the agenda, I'm normally someone who prefers later starts but my GF wakes up early and likes to get going. We've done two week-long bike rides in Colorado, including last year, where hitting the road early was mandatory to avoid possible lightning storms in the afternoon. They also had lots of climbing and altitudes well above 10K in both rides. Last year's ride included Mt. Evans which climbed 7K over 33 miles to 14K. It isn't as steep and there is a 3 mile descent in the middle but it wasn't too bad except maybe the last few miles where the altitude really kicked in.

We live at sea level and really won't have a chance to acclimate but have enough experience climbing above 8K to know that some days the altitude doesn't bother you and some days it kicks you hard. The heat and humidity will undoubtedly be an issue too. We'll have to train as hard as we have time for and hope for the best both in terms of our fitness and the weather, not a fan of cold wet descents.

I've been reading as many trip reports as I can and plan on having a cue sheet so we don't miss any of the turns, sounds like you're in for it if you miss any of them.

That sounds perfect since my bike is a Scott CR-1 so the geometry and ride should be similar. Did you bring your own blinky lights or did they provide them? We ride with a bright tail light all the time and definitely would like to have one for this ride.

Thanks.

kevrider

the mechanic dug up the blinkies, but it's probably better to bring your own. i don't think they normally provide lights, it was just mentioned to illustrate good service. it was good fortune that he found a set.

busygizmo

Thanks, makes sense to bring our own. Might invest in some front lights too.

busygizmo

Anyone else have any rental experience on Maui they would like to share?

Any other non-cycling related things to do that you recommend? Snorkeling, surfing and the road to Hana are on the agenda.

Thanks.

zacster

When you go to Hana, continue around the south side of the island. It is a different world. Also visit Lindbergh's grave on that side. I drove the entire way around, against the wishes of the car rental company where it is considered "off-road". There is a road the entire way, even if it is rough in places. Drink the coffee, both Maui grown and Kona. Go skinny dipping at Little Makena. Take a private air tour (my son is a pilot and he took his sisters, but not me and my wife). Stop by and say hi to Willie Nelson in Paia. Stop in Makawao in the up-country. It is on the way up by bike, but may be worth a visit on its own. It was basically closed on the way up and I was too tired and sore on the way down.

busygizmo

Those all sound good, especially the loop around the island and coffee! Didn't know about Willie Nelson hanging out there, wonder what the odds are of a sighting. It's our first trip there so we are excited about seeing someplace new. Not sure about the plane trip, my brother is a pilot and has taken my parents up but I'm not sure how I would feel about a small plane since heights have always been an issue for me.

busygizmo

Quick update, we rented from Maui Cyclery and both got Scott Solaces that worked great. The guys at the shop were very friendly and helpful.

Ride up Haleakala is everything advertised, great climb overall but it is long and the last half mile is pretty tough when it gets steep. We lucked out on the weather because there was a big storm mid-week that had rain and clouds lingering for a couple of days. We had pretty much perfect conditions riding up but had to deal with rain and clouds from about 6500' to Kula but it wasn't cold so just a rain jacket sufficed. I cramped a bit towards the top but otherwise the climb went pretty smoothly. I would highly recommend it to anyone interested in doing it.

Rest of the trip was great too, lots to see and do on Maui. We did the drive to Hana in reverse (counterclockwise) and we really enjoyed that, had the road almost to our selves for half the day. Stopped at the Sacred Pools (not recommended), Waioka Pond aka Venus Pool (highly recommended), Hamoa Beach (highly recommended) and a couple of other waterfalls along the way. Lots of snorkeling, a little surfing and loots of good food.

Seattle is dark and cold in comparison coming home.

zacster

Glad you enjoyed it! Now you make me want to go back. I hadn't thought of doing the drive in reverse, we actually weren't going to go all the way around, but once we went past Hana we just kept going. It really is quiet past there.

I've been back into training and I keep thinking I'd like to make a second attempt since I didn't make it the first time. There are a bunch of things I'd do differently, like not carrying my stuff up to the top, and not being sick the entire week before. I would also try to do it at a different time of year since the first time it was end of December. It wasn't conducive to training in NYC at that time of year.

And since our trip we order Kona coffee directly from the farm every now and then. We also had bought a packet of black lava salt that we use sparingly in a few dishes. It adds something to the food that even the French sea salt doesn't do. And maybe since I've lost weight I'll fit into my Hawaiian shirts again.

busygizmo

It's a spectacular climb both from a pure climb and aesthetically that I wish was more accessible, I'd definitely put it up with any climb I've done. I've done a couple that may be more scenic (Logan Pass in Glacier NP, Washington Pass & Artist Point both in Washington and I'm fond of Lassen NP) but nothing compares in terms of scale.

I was worried about training since I don't like to ride in the rain these days and in Seattle and we got weathered out of two late season rides we had planned but got lucky the last two weekends before our trip allowed us to get a couple of 3-4 hour rides in. Can't imagine training for this in December. We wanted to go after Labor Day to avoid crowds. Late October seemed like a good time but we did have a big storm come through that could have screwed things up if the timing were different. We got lucky in that we didn't end up renting ahead of time and found bikes available on short notice to fit the weather forecast. Seems like 2 days out is the most that it is reliable. On the gearing front the bikes had 50/34 up front and 11-32 on the back. Found myself spinning the second and third lowest gears most often, probably 25 & 28, but was glad to have the 32 for the final half mile and the short hill past Makawao. My own bike only has a 25 so that would have been pushing it.

Ideally I think if the climb was the only purpose of visiting Maui I'd try and get 2-3 rides in beforehand to acclimate as opposed to not ridding for a week and then showing up for the climb, but since this was vacation and my GF had agreed to indulge me by riding one day that is what we did. She felt fine until the end of the switchbacks right before the entrance and was in suffer mode after that but gutted it out to the top. Pizza and libations at Flatbread in Paia were enjoyed.

I don't know if we'll ever make it back to Maui so I'm glad I was able to tic this off my list, Kauai is on our wishlist as is revisiting the Big Island.

If you go to Maui regularly or plan to go again good luck with another attempt. Avoiding getting sick is mostly out of your control, both of us worried about it every time a coworker or someone else around us was coughing in the weeks before out trip.

We didn't bring home any coffee but enjoyed it there along with a local vodka made from Pineapple, also found another brewery I really liked called Koholo that I'm hoping will start bottling so I can get it over here.

kevrider

strong work, that is a long way up. i know we like to climb for the challenge and accomplishment, but that is one ride where i've daydreamed about doing like gravity style. shuttle to the top, bomb the descent and shuttle up again. i have not done any mtn bike rides that way, but it is intriguing.

zacster

I have to figure out how I can get a trip in to Maui again, this time with the bike. I want that photo in front of that sign. And I won't get sick, nor will I take my stuff with me. I'll see if one of the tour companies will take my extra stuff up the mountain.

I can fly for free, but my time is not. It is a very long flight from NYC, and hard to get on a flight to Hawaii on standby. My son the pilot says it is easier to get flights through Tokyo, but that's a long way around. He also says it is much easier to get on a flight leaving, which never made any sense. And I have to find out about standby with a bike. It still won't cost anything, and they do put luggage on hold until the passenger is cleared to board, so maybe it's OK. Meanwhile I still work 9-5+.

busygizmo

The descent is pretty pleasant, road quality is mostly good except a little near the top and it's mostly in the 5-6% range that I prefer. I don't like bombing descents much above sustained 40mph so long 8+% sections I end up braking a lot.

Only advice I'd give is go up kind of early to avoid what seems to be the afternoon cloud band that brings rain below the summit. Although too early and you'll be dodging packs of downhill tours. Still find it odd that someone would pay to ride down a hill in a group of unfamiliar riders of unknown descending skills. There was a group of riders that we ran into at the top and they had all rented road bikes and had a support van take them to the top and then follow them down for their ride. We didn't bomb this one since we were on unfamiliar bikes. I'd be curious how fast racers could get down from the top to Paia, probably as impressive as the time it takes them to go up.

busygizmo

Having your own bike is always a plus. I can't complain about my rental but my older Scott CR1 is easily 2 pounds lighter than the disc equipped one I rented and my position wouldn't have been altered any. The descent would have been more fun since I feel like I know how my bike reacts to hard braking and cornering too.

Definitely easier to get there from the west coast, conversely we'd like to go to the Caribbean but the expense and logistics are much more difficult for us.

My brother is a pilot so my parents can fly free but I don't get anything much from that unfortunately. My GF's sister is a flight attendant so my GF used to fly standby a lot on her passes but that has gotten nearly impossible to fly with the last few years. Hope you can make it work out, fun place in general and great climb.

Of course if you are just looking for a challenging climb there are closer options like Mt. Washington or Pikes Peak and Mt. Evans in Colorado. We rode Mt. Evans as part of a week long ride last year and it is a pretty interesting and challenging climb. If Colorado was within a days drive I'd take a long weekend and attempt Pikes Peak sometime but 4 days of driving or flying there makes it probably something that I won't get a chance to try. It looks like a spectacular climb though.

https://www.pjammcycling.com/5.--pikes-peak--co.html

More likely I'll just have to look for climbs I haven't done in Washington, Oregon and Northern California although next year we are planning to fly to Italy to ride in the Dolomites.

Leinster

My wife surprised me with a trip to Maui for my birthday. Yes, she's amazing.

We were staying in Napili, so I rented from West Maui Cycles. They have Specializeds, so I originally reserved a Tarmac, which would be the most similar geometry to my CAAD10, but then I called up and their Tarmacs only have 36-28 low gear, whereas the Roubaixs have 34-32. They had no trouble switching my reservation.

As it was, I only used the 34 twice; once just before the park entrance, and again for the last half mile.

The blog on the WMC website turned out to be the perfect template for the climb; Start early. Break it up into 3rds (Pa'ia to Kula, Kula to Ranger Station, Ranger station to summit, refilling on fluids at each stop). Drink lots of electrolytes. Have money ready for the park entrance. Bring lots of food.

It turns out March is a good month to attempt Haleakala (mild temperatures, overcast skies, light rain cooling you off and sucking out a lot of the humidity), and a bad month to visit Maui (mild temperatures, overcast skies, rains, and winds that make the water too choppy for snorkelling).

My wife drove sag. By which I mean she met me at each of the stopping points. I ditched my jacket, arm-warmers, and all other superfluous grams in the car at the Ranger station. (Real life conversation; "Don't take off your headlight." "But but but grams..." "There's a sign right there saying *Cars use headlights in foggy weather* and you're on a bike and it's foggy. Keep your GD headlight on." "Oh, you saw that one too...")


I passed a guy stopped at the side of the road at about 6,000ft. He looked in a bad way, but insisted he was going to continue. I found out on Strava later that he did summit, after 8.5hrs in the saddle. He's kind of my new hero.

We drove the descent. We couldn't find parking in Pa'ia on a Friday afternoon, so ended up getting a crappy fast food late lunch.

It's a big mountain. It's not the hardest I've done (Aubisque via Soulor) or the prettiest (Lac de Cap de Long) but it is definitely the biggest.

busygizmo

Congrats on the ride and having a supporting wife!

Bummer you couldn't get a decent post-ride meal, have to admit that is one of the motivations for our rides.

That link you posted was probably the one I referred to the most, really spot on.

Thanks for the mention of the Lac de Cap de Long climb, looks spectacular. Odds are I'll never get a chance to ride it but it will go onto my mental list. I've recently become interested in attempting the Raid Pyrenean one of these days and that does come tantalizingly close to that climb but with all the mileage and climbing involved in that ride it would be hard for all but the strongest riders to add that to the itinerary.