Fitz & Follwell

We did the Montréal Highlights tour on Canadian Thanksgiving Day and it was a wonderful experience. My partner is a serious cyclist and I am an absolute beginner, and we both had a great time. I was a little concerned by the reviews that mentioned a big hill at the end of the tour, and although it was challenging it was definitely manageable and I felt like a champ when I got to the top! Our guide Catherine was fun and friendly and had a lot of great information about the city to share with us. The city-​streets portion of the tour was great and we felt safe in the bike lanes the whole time. The ride along the canal was beautiful, and lunch at the Marche was a real highlight! Without a doubt, this is the best way to see the city!

If you re here in Montréal you must do this bike tour! There are several options on which ones to do but I recommend to do the food and hidden gems tour. Here you get to see Montréal in another light. We were able to see local neighborhoods and local shops where you wouldn’t really be able to do on your own. We had montreals famous bagels (Anthony Bourdain came here), we went to the Market Jean Talon (Anthony Bourdain came here as well) where they have fresh cheese vegetables and meat. For lunch we picked up sandwiches and beer/​cider. Cider was the best pick. It was a 5 hour bike ride. Let me mention our guide Micheline. She was the sweetest/​funny/​informative guide. If she’s you re guide consider yourself lucky!

Before heading to Montréal for our business trip, we did some web research regarding bike tour companies in the city. Based on strong reviews and exceptional initial (fast) responses from Emilie, we selected Fitz & Follwell. In short, the F&F team exceeded our expectations.
As stated above, Emilie was quick and informative prior to our visit when we fired questions using the company web site. She helped us decide on which tour to take and was valuable in answering other questions. Emilie, nice work!
As a side note, another Montréal bike tour store listed on trip advisor never responded to questions sent to their store web site (still waiting for a response…)
After arriving at the store the morning of our 5 hr tour, we were quickly set up with our bikes and helmets. This included bottled water and team members who made sure our bikes were properly prepared and adjusted. Our entire group was quickly set up and comfortable with our nice bikes.
We were introduced to our tour guide, Catherine, who was simply fabulous. Catherine, with her great instructions and explanations (your English was superb!) provided an informative and memorable tour of the city and navigated our group through some busy areas of downtown. Not an easy task, but she guided us through tough intersections confidently and safely.
The best part of our tour through multiple areas and neighborhoods of Montréal was listening to Catherine’s background and descriptions of what we were seeing. Yes, she took us to lunch at the market near the canal for pizza and beverages (double IPA for me!) and ice cream later. But we saw so many neat areas of the city. I can’t describe what it was like moving through this wonderful city on bike. So many sights to take in! We especially enjoyed the canal portion leading into old Montréal and riding through the different neighborhoods.
If you’re looking for a top notch way to see Montréal, with an extremely pleasant guide, go to Fitz & Follwell and ask for Catherine. My wife and I considered this bike tour the highlight of our short stay in Montréal. High marks to Catherine and the team at F&F. You won’t be disappointed.

Fantastic service! They we’re nearly out of rentals for the day, but they worked to fit us in. Great bikes in excellent shape. We didn’t take a tour but I think they would be great for it. Everyone in the shop was very helpful in directing us to the right paths and easy rides. Totally recommend.

What a great place to rent bikes! The people who work here are so nice and knowledgeable. The bicycles for rent are new and work great and don’t have advertisements on them. There is no better way to see Montréal than by bicycle and this place is the best!

The Hidden Gems bike tour was a fantastic way to explore the city as locals would. Fitz & Follwell is located in a charming shop that provides cool yet comfortable bikes with super knowlegeable guides. Jeff and Aaron took us through Montréal’s local parks, to the famous and stunning Jean Talon Market, ending with a serene picnic at Parc La Fontaine. Our guides provided information about the city with charm and humor. I absolutely recommend this company for anyone wanting to learn more about Montréal whilst getting fun exercise.

Love this place :) Great, knowledgable staff and amazing accessories.

Love this place! We rented bikes for 24hrs and rode around Montréal! Great bikes, great customer service, and a totally fun experience!

We returned to Fitz & Follwell Co three days in a row during our week-​long visit in Montréal. The shop is trendy, has lots of quirky bike stuff, and has bicycles that are good for comfortably riding around the city. The staff are pretty hipster, youthful, and über friendly. They took the time to fit us properly to our bikes, hook us up with baskets or panniers, and make sure that our helmets were the right size.
First, we went on a five hour bike tour led by Catherine, a bicycle mechanic, and a photographer. She was knowledgeable and entertaining. I greatly impressed how she kept our large group of about 20 riders close together — even when crossing busy intersections (there weren’t many of them). There were a couple people who were not physically fit; however, they easily kept up with the group. One bike got a flat tire and the mechanic quickly swapped bikes with that rider so that the tour could continue without stopping. She fixed the flat in no time and caught up with the group.
For us, it was important to be exposed to bike riding in the city proper, in the neighborhoods, and on the paths. She showed us dozens of important sites and taught us history and facts. What I liked best about the tour was when we stopped for food! First we stopped at Marche Atwater (a year-​round farmers market) where we ate lunch. Catherine got us local pizza and fresh berries from some of the booths. Then brought us to another booth for bottled drinks — even a whole host of local beers! The price of lunch was included in the cost of the tour. Next, we stopped for gelato. It was the perfect amount of food.
Next, we rented brand new All City bicycles for 24 hours. They gave us a deal because of the tour. We also got helmets, locks and lights. The All City bikes were beautiful and functional and the sportiest bikes they had. We took them on a 50 mile ride to and from a pow wow! It involved riding on pavement, gravel, and horrible dirt roads. Needless to say — those bikes are broken in!

Great accessories! After I was sold an item that turned out to be defective, my concerns were addressed promptly and to my satisfaction. It’s great to find a place with a unique inventory that stands behind their products.

The highlight of my trip to Montréal so far. Martín, my guide for a four-​hour neighborhoods tour, is a native of the Montréal area and a total pro. The bicycles and helmets were solid and in great condition. The destinations and routes were on point. Finishing off with a light picnic at Parc La Fontaine was a fantastic final touch. Book thee a bike tour here, anon!

My husband and I did the Hoods and Hidden Gems tour this past weekend and LOVED it. We wanted to get away from downtown and see the ethnic, funky neighborhoods and we did just that. Our tour guide Frederique was fantastic along with the rest of the staff. Not «touristy» or commercial in any way, really unique, interesting and fun. The bikes were really comfortable and smooth and unlike another reviewer who gave them 4 stars because they thought $ 100 for 5 hours was expensive, we thought that was an incredible bargain and would have paid a lot more for what we got.
If you go to Montréal, do this.

Great service and a knowledgeable staff, Fitz & Follwell is one of my favourite bike shops in Montréal. Even though they’re specialty seems to be leisure bikes, they’re well equipped to tune/​repair any bike that rolls through the door. They also have a great selection of locks, helmets and other bike accessories/​paraphernalia.
Oh, you can also rent bikes here at a very reasonable rate. And while I haven’t been on one, I hear that their bike tours of the city are fantastic.
N.B. During winter months, they also offer a variety of different services (cross country ski rental, snowshoes, etc).

Excellent service and value. We wanted to kick around Montréal for 4 hours and not worry about finding a Bixi station every 20 mins so Fitz & Follwell’s rentals were perfect. They offered nicely maintained LInus bikes and Bern helmets in all the sizes (this means a great deal to me as someone with a comically large skull). The store has a great design and carries everything you would need to get around town.

Engage Fitz & Folwell to bring Montréal to life with a private or group tour.
We contacted Fitz & Folwell for a private walking tour of Old Montréal. Jean Phillip was our guide and he was amazing. Foremost was his passion for his hometown of Montréal. This was nearly equalled by his knowledge of. Montréal history from its founding to the present day. All Americans will enjoy his Québécois accent to his English.
We trumped along a great many rues with guided vision revealing the importance and stories of the buildings around us and the people who built and lived in them. So much more than admiring the charming exterior we got context for the land.
If you haven’t hired a tour guide before I encourage you to do so when visiting Montréal. It really brings an unfamiliar place alive.

I wanted to give it 4.5 stars only because of the price. It is a tad bit pricey ($ 100 for a 5 hour tour) but the ride was worth it. We had Catherine as our tour guide and she was so awesome. She is super sweet and super fun. Her persona just gets you in the mood and you aren’t shy to ask any type of question. Try to pick a tour where she is your guide.
The tour itself was great. I just moved here a month ago and my bff came down to visit me. I wanted to do something special and active and this was perfect. We rode through downtown, through Old Town and then back up to the Plateau. I was a little wary of riding a bike through out the city, but after doing this tour, I realized how accommodating Montréal drivers are of bikers.
Do this!

Found this shop thanks to a Unilocal Elite event that I attended last week (great tour, super fun!) I have been wanting a bike for a long time and after visiting this super friendly and fun store, I decided that now was the time. I picked up my bike on Friday and am in love! It was a team effort getting me fit, picking the right bike and installing the basket so that my little French Bulldog can ride with me. Everyone here is helpful, knowledgeable and just all around easy to deal with. Fabulous accessories as well, hellooooo wine rack!

We went on the «Hoods and Hidden Gems» tour on our first full day in Montréal, and it was the absolute perfect way to start our trip!
I love biking through new cities because it allows me to see so much more than I would on foot. Montréal is especially great for touristic biking, as it turns out, because it is blessed with many bike lanes and remarkably considerate drivers. (NYC drivers could learn a few things from them!)
Fitz & Follwell outfitted us with helmets, well-​designed rain capes, water bottles, bike baskets, and Dutch-​style bikes that were comfortable and perfect for the city’s terrain.
Our guide Martin was full of energy, charisma, and insider knowledge. I think it would be impossible to not have a great time around him! He took us through a variety of gorgeous neighborhoods and down delightful bike paths that we likely would never have seen on our own, all while giving us a flavor of each community’s spirit. He put us all in a great mood, and by the time we broke for a delicious lunch and wine, everyone in the group felt like a friend.
I’m already dreaming about coming back to do one of Fitz & Follwell’s winter tours!

i have no idea of how well their bike rental service is nor of the tour guides but i love their shop offering! if you have a bike and been following the interesting crafty accessories cycling scene, this is the place where you can buy some of it like the hand painted bells to the leather wine rack or lock holder to the awesome nutcase helmets to the wood fenders. anything you’ve read on the internet, you can probably find it here. i wasn’t able to find wooden crates though but i’m sure they’ll carry them eventually.
it can be pricey but if you want to give your bike some charm, gotta have to pay a premium i guess
staff is bilingual but they are more fluent in english than french though. i have no problem with that but some might do

As a tried and true Montrealer, I can say without a doubt that this is the real deal. I didn’t come to this conclusion quickly, either. Living nearby to the boutique, I passed by often and started going in to browse. Since then I’ve bought a helmet and my boyfriend has bought lots of other odds and ends for his bike. We’re always greeted with a smile, and if they don’t have whatever it is we’re looking for, they either order it or point us in the right direction.
I always wondered about the tours, and the perfect opportunity arose last year when we had an out of town guest visiting. We went on the (lower) Main walking tour and were really impressed. Although I am quite familiar with the Main, having family who worked on it when I was a kid and having an interest in all things food and architecture related, I still learned a few tidbits of information. And learned about a few places I didn’t yet know about.
This summer we had guests again, and this time we took the hoods and hidden gems bike tour. And it was great! It visited many of the locations I visit regularly and/​or would take guests to. I learned a few things. And best of all I got to ride a wonderful bike in a big group. Cycling pretty much everyday, I’m comfortable sharing the road, but it was such a nice experience having peopling watch out at intersections, and have cars give us space. It was also nice to have our guests bike within the relative safety of a group, rather than be stressed out in a one on one situation. I can honestly say that this was a great tour!