The Ultimate Bike Renting Guide For Istanbul by Bahadır Efeoğlu
Istanbul is a huge city and you can’t visit everywhere on foot. Traffic is a big problem and probably you wouldn’t prefer spending your time stuck in a bus. There is one option left which is cycling! Believe me you will get a different taste from the city when you are pedalling through it. Ok, Istanbul might not be the safest or most bike friendly city, however there are nice and safe routes for you. You can check the bicycle routes of Istanbul from
here.
Most probably you don’t have a bicycle and you need one. It is pretty easy to rent a bike in Istanbul. If you have visited the Prince’s Islands, then you know what I am talking about. However it is not always easy to find a bike shop, and rent bikes in Istanbul. Mostly, every neighborhood has at least one shop, but it is hard to locate.
So here is your magical guide for renting a bike in Istanbul!
How is the pricing ?
Pricing is on a daily or an hourly basis. There are no standards for the pricing, and it may change depending on the type and the condition of the bicycle. In general, you can rent a bike for 5TL/hour and 15 TL/day to 30 TL/day. These are the average prices I know but daily rent should not pass 50 TL unless you want to rent a special setup bike.
Where can I find these bike shops ?
Well as I said, there are many of them scattered around the city but I will share the well known ones.
Also keep in mind that, shop owners may not understand English. Just in case you need, renting = kiralamak in Turkish.
Firstly, you can rent bikes from the bicycle stations located all along the seaside of Asian side. These bikes are like Boris Bikes of London or CitiBikes of NYC.
You can rent up to 4 bikes with your credit card by paying a 50 TL/each deposit.
Hours Price
0-1 Hours 2 TL
1-2 Hours 3 TL
2-3 Hours 5 TL
3-5 Hours 8 TL
5-7 Hours 11 TL
7-10 Hours 14 TL
All Day (24 Hours) 25 TL
There are 10 stations at the seaside. The closest one to Kadıköy is in Caddebostan. You don’t have to return your bike to the station that you rented from, you can return it on any ISBIKE stations. You have to be harsh when you want to pull the bike off the station.
Local Shops
These are the some known bicycle shops where you can rent a bike. Do not forget to ask for a helmet when you rent a bike.
Bisikletevim is my favorite stop for buying equipment and getting my bike fixed. They recently opened this half bike shop – half cafe place. They sell many cool bicycle accessories and if you know the bicycle fashion you may know Brooks. Bisikletevim has one of the largest Brooks collection for sale in Istanbul.
One more interesting fact about this place is they have showers in the downstairs for the use of cyclists.
Location
Adress: prof.dr.ali nihat tarlan cad. no:25/a, Bostancı / Istanbul
Telephone: +90 (216) 445 12 61
Bike & Outdoor is one of the popular and trusthworty bicycle dealers. They have good quality bikes for rent.
Location
Address: Barbaros Bulvarı, No:63, Beşiktaş / İstanbul
Telephone: +90 (212) 259 74 76-77
Location
Adress: Fenerbahçe Mahallesi, Lalezar Sokak, No:8/A, Selamiçeşme, Kadıköy / İstanbul
Telephone: +90 (216) 301 14 10-11
Delta is also one of the well known bicycle dealers and they have their own cycling team. They organize tours and events for cyclists.
Location
Address: Bağdat Cad. No:9/A, Kızıltoprak, Kadıköy / ISTANBUL
Telephone: +90 (216) 450 66 30
Address: Nispetiye Caddesi No:13-C Levent / ISTANBUL
Telephone: +90 (212) 281 56 40
Atilla Bisiklet has two shops in Istanbul both located on the Asian Side. You will notice many professional cyclist wearing jerseys of Atilla Bisiklet.
Location
Address: Barbaros Mahallesi Nuhkuyusu Caddesi NO:68/A Altunizade, Üsküdar / ISTANBUL
Telephone: +90 (216) 474 76 06
This one is close to the Bostancı Ferry Station. If you take the “Deniz Otobüsü” seabus from Bakırköy to Bostancı you can rent bikes from here.
Location
Address: Ali Nihat Tarlan Cad. Kitapçı Mehmet Süleyman Sk. Ada Apt. No:22/A Bostancı / ISTANBUL
Telephone: +90 (850) 226 45 66
