Bike and Roll NYC

We did the «Bike the Brooklyn Bridge» tour and had a great time. The site says it’s moderate in difficulty, but the group peddled at a very comfortable pace. Young children may have a challenging time navigating through all the pedestrians, cars, taxis and buses.
We started in Battery Park and rode counter-​clockwise around the bottom of the island, rode across the Manhattan Bridge, spent about 45 minutes in Brooklyn (didn’t stop for pizza, though), back to Manhattan across the Brooklyn Bridge, through Wall Street to the Hudson River before heading back to Battery Park. Their site indicates it’s 12 miles but it didn’t really feel like it. Also, they have a map of the route at their physical location but not on their site. (I suggested they post it.) And our tour guide Dan was excellent: he was friendly, knowledgeable, funny and made sure all of us (~15 cyclists) were safe.
The Bike And Rolls are a great way to see a city. I did the one in DC and liked it just as much. You get to learn about a new city while burning a few calories for about the same cost as a taxi ride across town.

This review is for the Bike and Roll in Liberty State Park. We stumbled upon this gem where two reservations were no shows, so we talked the tour guide into a one hour tour instead of the usual two. Our tour guide Matt Warwick was super fun, relaxed, and friendly. The segways were a blast to roll around on. Easily the highlight of the weekend, and we couldn’t recommend it enough for locals and tourists alike!

We used Bike and Roll to reserve a bike for the Five Boro Bike ride. They were extremely efficient with checking the bike out to us the day before the ride. I was impressed by the quality of bikes they provide. We had Trek Verve 3 and Trek FX 3. Bikes were in good condition. They will make adjustments to the seat and pump your tires. There is a large bag attached to the handle bars for storage of your personal items. There is no light or flat kit with the bike. We picked our bikes up in Battery Park after visiting the Statue of Liberty. I would highly recommend using them to rent a bike.

We did the Segway tour in Liberty State Park and Jon was our tour guide. We had a great time. We got to ride all over the park and he would stop at points of interest and explain and give us the history. He met us at the ferry when we arrived in the park and made sure we were taken care of from then on. It was definitely worth the money and we would do it again.

This review is actually for the Liberty State Park Segway tour provided by Bike and Roll NYC. Our Segway tour was on May 21, 2014 and we met our two guides in Liberty State Park right next to the Ferry Ticket window for the Statute of Liberty. Our gorup was a total of six and we had no other parties with our tour, which was great. Our group consisted of two people in their 40’s, and four in their mid 20’s, all related. Only one male (me, in my forties) and five females (my wife is in her forties, the others are all 20 somethings). Two male guides, Jay and John, both were awesome. Jay seemed more outgoing whereas John was informative and also outgoing. We hit it off with these guys right away, so even though the tour is really fun it was the guides who made it extra special.
I would highly recommend this Segway tour and even suggest requesting these guides, although I’m sure other guides would be fine. The tour stays within the Park, but Liberty State Park is huge and there is a lot to see, both within the park and the views of the lady Liberty and all the surroundings (lower Manhattan). Tour lasted all of 3 hours (maybe a little longer) and we were laughing and joking the whole time, our guides also participated in the fun. None of us had done Segways before so we really had no idea what to expect, but our experience was really better than we could have hoped. Segways are fun, easy to learn to control, and having great guides provided by a good company made this one of our best outings while spending 5 days in NYC.

Great bikes. Wonderful, patient service. Treated the tourists kindly and the price was decent.

Bikes are fine. Service horrible. So if you expect poor service, they will meet your expectations. The girl that set us up on our bikes gave us terrible directions. She told us to take a path but neglected to mention very important info that the path was so narrow we practically had to just walk our bikes most of the time. When we got back we saw an alternative lovely path with no construction, but it was not given as a choice. You would think the vendor would know which paths to take!

Zuersteinmal, die Fahrräder sind top in Schuss und das Personal im Battery Park ist sehr freundlich. Wenn man dann noch geführte Touren bucht, kriegt man einen kompetenten Führer, der einem viel zeigt, was man sonst so nicht unbedingt bemerken würde. Man bekommt neben einem Helm auch eine Lenkertasche für den Transport sowie Wasser für geführte Touren.
Was die Kosten betrifft, kann man auch Fahhräder nur mieten, jedoch sind die Touren auch günstig. Wer clever ist kann bei Buchung im Internet 5 Dollar sparen.
Auf jeden Fall jeden Cent wert egal ob Miete oder geführte Tour.

Beware of pricing!!!
We rented a couple of bikes recently and were told that it would be fourteen dollars each. The staffmember very clearly said fourteen dollars each. When we went to drop back the bikes it turns out she meant fourteen dollars each PER HOUR. Thats a massive difference in pricing. Felt like a bit of a shake down to be honest.
Apart from that the bikes are fine.

Making it a goal to bike in every city I visit.
This Bike and Roll was near our hotel in the Financial District but a little difficult to find depending from which direction you go. If you follow the bike arrows on the pavement in Battery Park towards the Staten Island Ferry you can find it.
The price was OK, but there was no other competition close by.
The bike was a comfort bike and had enough gears and good brakes. The tires could have been pumped more and I may request that next time. There is a small basket big enough for a water bottle, camera and purse/​wallet and a lock.
After that follow the signs, go through Battery Park and go have fun along the Hudson River Park! There is a separate bike lane but a lot of people walk through it so watch out.
Got up to about 42^nd st and back in almost an hour. Saw much more greenery than I knew existed in NYC. Next time will save more time to go all the way up!

merde. good people, bad bikes. no twerk i had rented the bikes on a rainy day which didnt bode well for me or the place ya know. eh meh had better. weels coulda been badder

Got a deal from Travelzoo to do the bike and boat tour at a discount. It being our first day in the city, we arrived a bit early to Bike and Roll at Battery City Park. We checked in, signed the waiver, met our guide, and waited for our tour to begin at 9am as well as others to show up. No one else showed. It was my bf and I and our guide. He was a nice, spunky, chap but he didn’t do this tour too often. So, when I asked him what a certain building was, he responded he didn’t know. Oh well, there are only a couple buildings in the city.
I will say this, Bike and Roll let’s you see a huge chunk of the city very quickly. We cruised up the Hudson on the bike path and then cut over (through traffic and city streets… it was a little scary) and headed over the Brooklyn Bridge. That bridge is pretty inclined. And, it would take FOREVER to walk it. Was glad to be on a bike. From there we cruised through Brooklyn Heights and jumped on a water taxi that took us out by the Statue of Liberty (great photo ops), and up the Hudson and dropped us off somewhere in midtown. From there we biked on a path back down to Battery Park along the Hudson.
Our guide pointed out interesting things like where stars resided. I found this to be fun. Overall, we worked up a sweat, got to ride on a bike and boat and got a great feel of the city. I do think the guide could have been a little bit more informative. And sometimes, as he was ahead of us, he would shout info back to us. I was closer and able to hear but my bf was back more and couldn’t hear. Not sure what it would be like if there were more riders. Perhaps they stop more?
They also offer straight bike rentals sans tour. This would be a perfect way to discover Central Park. They also have different sites and tours all over town. Check them out.

⁹⁄₁₁ tour was awesome and moving! Lib was an excellent guide and was fun and knowledgable! Highly recommend.

Condensed version (extremely long version below):
— See Statue of Liberty/​Ellis Island at 9AM, enough time to join bike tour.
— If you’re petite, 17″ bike is the smallest size.
— Be okay with some car traffic. Wall St, Chinatown, and Brooklyn neighborhoods are in shared lanes.
— Riding on the Brooklyn and Manhattan bridges is awesome, disregard this incline being difficult business if you are a regular commuter (it was a breeze).
— If weather is even a little cloudy, call their office multiple times to make sure your tour is still available. If you’re not getting there 15 minutes early, call to let them know you’re still coming.
If you’re seeing the Statue of Liberty, you can squeeze in this tour as the location is visible from Castle Clinton where you depart. I took the very first ferry from Statue Cruises (9AM) and was able to see both without rushing (I wasn’t able to get monument tickets for the Statue though and only walked around the island). Keep in mind that the ferry leaves Ellis Island on 25 and 55, and the ride to Battery Park is about 15 minutes. I got back to Battery Park at 1PM, checked in with Bike and Roll, ate lunch in WTC, and joined the tour at 2PM.
If you’re a petite rider, their smallest bike is a 17″ step through. Have them remove the water bottle holder so you don’t smash your sensitive parts every time you dismount. There’s only one guide, I may have misread, but they make it seem like one leads and another watches the end. I was the only customer so maybe that’s why one guide (this was also during a weekday). The tour itself is mostly on bike paths. There’s a little part through Wall Street and Chinatown where you’re in car traffic which was a little crowded, but my tour guide John was pretty good about keeping me safe by ringing his bell and yelling liberally. I’m fine with ringing my bell, but not really a scream-​at-​drivers type person. Chinatown is similar to China where cars don’t want to share the road with cyclists, although China is 10x worse. Don’t fret, this part is very short. The other Brooklyn neighborhoods like DUMBO and stops by Fulton Ferry had almost no car traffic. Both bridges were awesome. Even on a foggy day, the view was awesome and just the architecture of the bridges is inspiring.
Now this cancellation business. They tried to cancel on me twice. First time, they asked me to leave from Pier 84 instead of Pier A because of the overcast skies. I get there 5 minutes early, and they left without me! Said they didn’t think anyone else was showing even though their office called me that morning. They rescheduled me for the next day and emailed me that morning to cancel due to the weather again. But because I’m the only person under 40 to not own a smartphone, I didn’t read that email until I got back to my hotel that night (they should’ve called). So when I showed up at 1PM to check in, the rental guy said no tours that day! He called the office, and they must’ve sent a guide to that location just to accomodate me. Hope this was helpful for fellow tourists, keep the above points in mind!

How could bike riding really get less than a 3. So much of the Bike and Roll experience is about the hours when you’re not really with them. Here are the great parts that they control:
— you get a lock and water bottle holder
— helmets are available
— maps available upon request
— bikes are in good condition
Things that weren’t as great:
— There seemed to be a lot of options (prices, bike styles, rental lengths), but we were just told to fill out a form. Then, we were handed bikes. The billing and bike choices were really unclear.
— Receipts are only available at the location where one rents the bike. If you return it to a different spot, your receipt is at the original place. Get a digital system, folks!
— It was expensive relative to some of the other rental places that we passed once we got to Central Park

Friendly staff, good trek bikes, kinda pricey, limited selection, $ 3 waiver for lost or stolen bikes… If bikes are stolen it’s still a $ 100 deductible.
We didn’t have any issues, but just a little pricey… $ 44/​day per bike.

Having lived in New York before, a bike tour was a great opportunity to see the city in a different way. We took the Brooklyn Neighborhood Bike Tour and was taken away from the more touristy sites. Our guide Bob, a native of Manhattan, was amazing. He knew a lot about the city, was super friendly, offered to take pictures of us and gave suggestions of places to eat after. Visitors (new and returning) and residents can have a lot of fun with this tour.
For those worried about the safety, the tour took us over designated bike paths — some 5 days old! The bikes were practically new as well. Groups are small, but the fact that there were only two people on our tour made it seem like we had a private tour.
A must do!

Dank des New York Passes haben wir uns hier für 4 Stunden Räder geliehen.
Es lief alles super reibungslos. Wir haben die Pässe vorgezeigt, mußten 100 Dollar Kaution zahlen und dann standen auch schon 2 Räder für uns bereit.
Sie waren super bequem und sehr hochwertig (Comfort Bike)! In einer Lenkertasche gab es noch ein Bügelschloss dazu und eine kostenlose Karte für Manhattan, Brooklyn, Staten Island, etc.
Nach 4 Stunden haben wir die Räder gegen 5 Dollar Aufpreis an der Station Central Park wieder abgegeben.
Die Strecke vom Süden am Ufer des Hudson Rivers hoch, über die 90^th Street durch den Central Park ist eine super nett angelegte Strecke mit herrlicher Aussicht nach Jersey rüber. Pause haben wir am Peer i gemacht, wo der Hot Dog noch besser war als bei Nathan’s.
Weil es so schön war, haben wir danach auch den Gutschein für die Konkurrenz «Central Park Bicycle Rentals & Tours» eingelöst.
Deren Räder waren längst nicht so bequem und hochwertig. Teilweise war der Lenker etwas locker, es hatte keinen Gepäckträger und der Fahrspaß war längst nicht so groß wie bei den anderen Bikes. Für unsere 2 Räder gab es auch nur 1 Bügelschloss.
Fazit: Bike and Roll ist auf jeden Fall zu empfehlen!!!

I’ve been to two other locations (near the Intrepid and Governor’s Island) of Bike and Roll, but by far this is their best location. Quick helpful service. They gave me a discount card for my rental ahead of time because I mentioned previously going to the other locations, but my girlfriend who wasn’t with me had our frequent renter card. Also, was gone for about two and a half hours, but they only charged me for two hours. I would definitely go here again despite the fact that the bike paths in this area are more crowded than near the other two locations I visited.