Truckee Biking Overview
Truckee and the entire Tahoe area has tons of options for biking, whether you are looking to ride the paved Truckee River paved trail or shred the lift served bike park at Northstar Resort. Views of the famous Lake Tahoe are just one of the fabulous features of most rides around the area.
Where to Ride Bikes in Truckee & Tahoe
Truckee River Legacy Trail
This 4.6 mile trail is great for families and winds along the Truckee River. It starts at a park and offers resting points along the way with information about local wildlife and benches for resting.
Tahoe Rim Trail
If you only have time for one mountain bike ride in Tahoe, this is it. The most popular section is the intermediate/advanced 24-mile Tahoe Rim & Flume Trail, which is a high altitude IMBA epic ride through some of the most stunning views in Tahoe.
The entire Tahoe Rim trail is a 165-mile long distance trail that forms a loop around the Lake Tahoe Basin. Bikes are welcome on the majority of the Tahoe Rim Trail, but they are prohibited by federal law from Desolation, Granite Chief and Mount Rose Wilderness Areas.
Northstar Bike Park
Northern California’s only lift served bike park, Northstar Bike Park offers adrenaline pumping features, technical descents, and anti-gravity opportunities across it’s 48 miles of trails. A season’s pass gets you unlimited access to not just Northstar, but also Kirkwood, Vail, Breckenridge and Keystone. Northstar is so fabulous, we nominated it one of our top 10 downhill bike parks!
Truckee Bike Rentals, Tours & Lessons
We spent 6.3 hours researching Truckee, CA bike rental prices, locations, and more. Here is the criteria that we used:
- The shops must be rated higher than 4.2 stars (google)
- If the shops offer online reservations to save you time
- The quality of brands and models. After all, you are shredding some of the gnarliest trails in the world.
Bike Truckee is the most centrally located bike shop in downtown Truckee. This is your go-to shop for in-town cruisers for riding around town. But don’t confuse them for ‘cruisers only’, the mountain bike lover in your group is still going to be happy with their Specialized Stumpjumper and Enduro rentals. What we love the most is their instant online booking.
- Rating: 5.0 ⭐️ (26 reviews)
- Types of bikes rented: Mountain bikes, cruiser bike rentals, and e-bikes.
- Brands carried: Specialized and KHS
- Northstar Resort Downhill Park Bike Rentals
If you’re looking to rent bikes for the downhill park at Northstar, we recommend renting from the Northstar Performance Demo, conveniently located right at the base of Northstar Resort in Truckee. They have true Downhill bikes with pickup right at the park, choice of Standard, Premium or Demo bike. They also rent kids bikes and kids downhill bikes, and trail e-bikes.
- Rating: 4.3 ⭐️ (32 reviews)
- Types of bikes rented: Mountain bikes, kids bikes and e-bikes.
- Brands carried: GT, Trek and Norco
Note: Rentals have been discontinued during COVID. Prices for demo bikes from Ibis, Rocky Mountain, and Santa Cruz
- Rating: 4.9 ⭐️ (20 reviews)
- Types of bikes rented: Mountain bikes and E-MTBs
- Brands carried: Alchemy, Ibis, Santa Cruz, Julianna, Rocky Mountain
- The BackCountry
The BackCountry Lake Tahoe is a centrally located shop with lots of parking and offers a variety of summer and winter gear rental. What we like about them is their strong selection of mountain bike brands and high end options but still being able to offer bike rentals for all levels. They have full-suspension mountain bike rentals, hardtails, and even cruisers and kids bikes for those that are looking to explore the bike paths.
- Rating: 4.6 ⭐️ (56 reviews)
- Types of bikes rented: Mountain, road, cruiser, e-bike, kids, trailers and tag-alongs.
- Brands carried: Pivot, Scott, Kona, Yeti
- Dirt Gypsy Adventures
Dirt Gypsy offers tours, rentals, and shuttles in the Northern Tahoe/Truckee area. What else could you want? Well, maybe a few more choices of bike brands.
- Rating: 4.6 ⭐️ (10 reviews)
- Types of bikes rented: MTB, gravel, e-bikes, kids
- Brands rented: Giant / Liv
- Tahoe Sports Hub
Tahoe Sports Hub is an outdoor retailer that provides all sports equipment from skis, snowboards, snowshoes in the winter and kayak, paddlesports, and bike rentals in the summer. They are a great one-stop-shop for a multi-activity weekend.
- Rating: 4.6 ⭐️ (148 reviews)
- Types of bikes rented: Cruisers, E-bikes, mountain.
- Brands rented: Trek
