I know there has been some discussion about coming up with solutions for stashing bikes, so wanted to add to the conversation with a solution that has turned out perfectly for us.We’ve just completed our tour from Frankfurt to Paris and fortuitously found a place only an hour away from Paris where we have stored our E-Bikes long term. Incredibly friendly owner and his wife (ex UK) who bought an old farmhouse 18 years ago and have done a fantastic job renovating it. Also very conveniently, he runs a B&B with three self contained Gites. He used to advertise on AirBnB but had a number of bad experiences, so now would prefer to only deal with a smaller number of guests like ourselves who are cyclists/cycle touring. He and his wife are both cyclists and have a fully stocked bike workshop which is another big bonus. In the past he has run cycling tours in the area. He’s willing to do CDG Airport pick-ups and drop offs, store bikes, offer accommodation and generally help with the bikes in any way he can. He will charge our batteries as necessary and keep an eye on the tyres.The train station is less than 2km from his property and it takes 45mins to get to the centre of Paris.

This could also be an ideal solution for people arriving/departing from the airport with bike boxes and needing to get set up/packed up. I’m sure he would also be willing to have bike boxes on hand.After all the generosity he has shown us, wanted to put in a good word for him whilst potentially helping some others here whom this might be a solution for.His email is ian.satoor@orange.fr and his cycling Facebook page is Vexintrex.

Thank you for sharing this resource! One cyclist helping another. Perfect!

Fahrrad Kuchler, just outside of Frankfurt Airport will also store bike batteries.  They charge E7.50 per month.  The fee includes periodic charging, and payment is due when you pick up your battery at the end of the storage.  Rambling details below:

My wife and I just finished a European tour.  We used to ship Bridget's battery overseas, but the packaging requirements have gotten progressively more demanding, which has resulted in heavier and heavier boxes.  The last time we shipped her 5 lb battery it went in a 25 pound box, with air freight to match, and I realized it was cheaper to just buy a new battery in Europe.

So before our last trip I tried to email bike shops in the area of Frankfurt airport, and got nowhere.  I believe some filter somewhere thinks there is no legitimate reason for someone in Canada to email a German bike store, and so it casts out our email as spam.  Fortunately, Fahrrad Kuchler in Morfelden (just south of FRA) has an email form on their website, so I was able to get through that way.  We arranged to buy a battery, and when we picked it up the fellow told us about their storage service.

Riding from the airport to Fahrrad Kuchler is about 16 km.  The route is flat and stress free. 

This is another earned endorsement for Ian and Clare at Vexintrex. We are Canadian seniors who love biking in France, and always brought our own, but were compelled by our knees to capitulate to e-bikes. Understandably, we cannot fly with batteries. We researched renting batteries – hard to find and criminally expensive, then looked into buying batteries and storing them locally. Thanks to Carolyn's post we found Ian and Clare who graciously offered to hold our batteries at no charge. Ian then suggested that we consider buying e-bikes and storing them instead.

We thought this through again. This would eliminate airline fees, expensive oversize taxis, monthly bike bag storage, extra hotel days to allow for baggage delays, bike assembly, and the real possibility of our precious bikes being damaged, lost or stolen. All considered, if you have the capital, storing is cost effective and makes travelling overseas much more pleasant. 

Now to purchase the bikes: Easy, yet not. Someone expert and responsible must receive the shipment, confirm the specifications and condition, and photograph all serial numbers as required for the mandatory anti-theft registration in France. We had an issue with one bike not being as advertised. Ian repackaged it for us and facilitated its return. The online retailers were excellent, but be cautious. 

We had arranged to buy a bike; exceptional deal, battery upgrade, free delivery, via a slick online store near Paris. We had language issues and asked Clare to assist. The site was a sophisticated fake. Were it not for local friends and insights we would have lost C$4000. We found almost as good a deal at another online store, perhaps the one duplicated by the scammers - the interactions were eerily similar. Clare verified the company’s authenticity and we are now the owners of two new Moustache Samedi 28 Trekking bikes, safe and secure, ready to ride, waiting for us an hour out of Paris.

The supportive extras were provided by Ian and Clare at no charge, for the love of biking and bikers. If one insists on compensating Vexintrex for their kind assistance they may recommend a charity worthy of support. We are certainly grateful.

BJ McCaskill and Cheryl McLean
Winnipeg, Canada

What a wonderful story with such a good result Brendan. Ian & Clare are very special people and we’re so lucky to have stumbled across them. And even better that they’ve been of such great help to other cyclists.

I’m in constant contact with Ian and he mentioned a couple of great Moustache bikes had arrived (excellent bikes)! We almost used Upway ourselves. They operate out of Germany, France & The Netherlands and have quite an operation. Having Ian facilitate was the perfect solution which we didn’t have at the time we bought our bikes. Upway also buy back bikes which could be a great solution for people doing one off tours.

Hope you enjoy the bikes and have a great tour! Maybe a journal here?

Thank you for responding Carolyn. We do seem to be accumulating Moustache’s, two here, two there, …  We have Xroad 3's at home. Ebikes seem to characterize their country of origin: Dutch bikes feel Dutch, German bikes feel German. We prefer the French taste and feel in design.

Upway has been great, including a gracious return policy. Many of their “used” bikes have only 1 km on them. They are obviously clearances or bankruptcy sales. Our second Moustache was bought online from Joe Bike (Anglet). They were also excellent to deal with. Bike-Discount also has a nice operation.

 This is a great site. We appreciate the collective experience.