[DaveX]

Hey all,
My wife and I will be visiting Zurich, Oberwil-Lieli specifically, from the USA for a few days in August and we're considering trying to to some mountain biking if trails and bike rentals are easily available. I consider both of us XC/All mountain riders so not looking for any intense lift serve downhilling. We will have a car though is most likely won't be much of a bike hauler. Also not looking to drive many hours outside Zurich, maybe 1 to 2 hours max.

With that said, does anyone have any recommendations on where to ride? Ideally this would be somewhere we could also rent bikes. Would love to get input, thanks!

 

[boelkow]

Hi Dave

I think there are plenty of options for you to consider. First of all, the region of Uetliberg and Albis has some nice trails to offer. This would be great as you could basically start your rides from your doorstep in Oberwil-Lieli. A route I would recommend for example would be this one: Albishorn | singletrailzh. A map source I would suggest you have a look into is: https://www.schweizmobil.ch/en/mountainbiking-in-switzerland.html. I use it often to plan my rides in advance. For further inspiration, these websites present some nice routes around Zürich, that would be fairly easy to access from where you'll be staying: https://www.outdooractive.com/de/mtb-touren/zuerich/mtb-touren-in-zuerich/1467873/ and singletrailzh | Die schönsten Singletrail-Mountainbike-Touren der Region Zürich..

As for bike rental, your best bet would be to rent in Zürich. There are plenty of shops that rent MTBs of all sorts. Unfortunately I don't have experience with any of them, so I can't give you recommendations.

If you are willing to travel a little further, there are plenty more options to choose from. Zürcher Oberland, Innerschweiz and Toggenburg are regions, that are within an hours drive from Zurich and that have quite a lot to offer.

I hope I was able to help you out a little. Don't hesitate to ask if more questions arise, I'll try to answer them as best as I can

 

[DaveX]

Thanks you so much! This is massively helpful and gives me a great starting point for my research. I was also informed by wife this morning that my in-laws who we are traveling with may want to visit Zermatt. So lots to look at now.

 

[boelkow]

Glad I could be of help. Zermatt is a major tourist hotspot in the Swiss Alps, so you should have no trouble renting a bike there. And of Course there's plenty of awesome rides available around Zermatt as well. For further information I'll link the mtb section of Zermatt's tourism website: https://www.zermatt.ch/en/bike

 

[MSU Alum]

Bumping this, as I do love Zermatt!

When we go there, we almost always go to Vieux-Valais da Nico for dinner. I think they open at 4:00, always ask us if we have reservations, we always say no and they always give us a table anyway. After a few visits we realized they have a small bar, so that's where we go to sit. I think it has 5 or 6 seats. The food.....well, the tomato sauce starts the day as fresh tomatoes, that's for sure!

The trails are probably best ridden as downhills, if you are looking to ride single track. Rent when you get there. (I think we rented at Slalom Sport).

boelkow, if you have info as to guides, costs for them and appropriateness of tips, I'd like to hear.

 

[DaveX]

Bumping this again. Looks like we've settled on riding at Hoch-Ybrig. We're very excited but need to figure out rental bikes and I'm not having much luck finding a place to rent from. The language barrier in doing Google searches is not helping! Anyone know of a place to do rent bikes around Hoch-Ybrig?

 

[romulin]

In Zürich you could rent here.
https://www.bikehub.ch/

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[1 Speed]

Hey all,
My wife and I will be visiting Zurich, Oberwil-Lieli specifically, from the USA for a few days in August and we're considering trying to to some mountain biking if trails and bike rentals are easily available. I consider both of us XC/All mountain riders so not looking for any intense lift serve downhilling. We will have a car though is most likely won't be much of a bike hauler. Also not looking to drive many hours outside Zurich, maybe 1 to 2 hours max.

With that said, does anyone have any recommendations on where to ride? Ideally this would be somewhere we could also rent bikes. Would love to get input, thanks!

Interestingly enough, when you wrote this, I was living not too far away... as it happens, I actually live in Oberwil-Lieli now. I come from Kansas City where we had more than 100 miles of wonderful XC singletrack when I left in 2005. Sadly, I've never found anything more than a 100-200 meter long piece of reasonable singletrack since moving to Switzerland. I was also an IMBA trail designer/builder/trainer.... so, my version of what's sustainable trail can be quite different than the AM/Enduro/DH crowd.

If you want to ride gravel, there are thousands of miles/kilometers of gravel roads and paths but as I said, not much in the way of XC riding.... at least that I've ever found and I've asked about anywhere I could.

Hopefully, you had a great trip way back when.

 

[celswick]

I just came upon this thread. Just today I learned we are going to Switzerland in May.

I know there are lots of great things to see and do there, but I know I’d like to spend at least one day mountain biking there. I’d need a rental, of course.

I’m going to look at the links provided above (I know this is an older thread) and take it from there.


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[romulin]

I just came upon this thread. Just today I learned we are going to Switzerland in May.

I know there are lots of great things to see and do there, but I know I’d like to spend at least one day mountain biking there. I’d need a rental, of course.

I’m going to look at the links provided above (I know this is an older thread) and take it from there.


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Where are you heading?

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[celswick]

Where are you heading?

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We will be staying in Pfaffikon SZ. We'll have a rental car, but not sure if I can haul a bike in/on it. A bike rental at/near the trails would be ideal. I've also read that many trails are closed until June because of snow. We will be there May 8-18.

 

[romulin]

I'm not local there but I've been test riding a bike just nearby there, 2 weeks ago. A little wet at times but by the time you're there, it will be good. It's hills there, not alps.

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