Bicycle Logo

Renting a Bike

Renting a Bike

Short- and long-term bicycle renting in Korea.

Need to rent a bicycle in Korea? You’re in the right place. What can I interest you in? What kind of ride are you heading on?

Just a short ride through a city park? No problem. Almost every park in Korea rents inexpensive leisure bikes.

Oh! You’re heading on an adventure? You want a sturdy set of wheels for the Cross-Country Route? Say no more. You’ve got options.

Long-Term Bike Rental

Long-Term Bike Rental

Looking for adventure? Not a lazy Sunday cycling cruise? You’re going to need a solid bike and a long rental period.

From brick-and-mortar bike shops to an Airbnb-style bike rental app, let’s explore how to rent a bicycle for a few days or more.

A picture of Seoryong Park (서룡공원) on the Nakdonggang Bike Path (낙동강자전거길) along the Nakdong River (낙동강) in Miryang City, South Korea.
Cyclists pause at Seoryong Park along the Nakdonggang Bike Path to look out at the winding River or grab grub at one of the many food trucks.

Bike Rental Korea

Bike Rental Korea (바이크렌탈코리아; map) is situated in Seoul’s Mapo District, nestled alongside the picturesque Han River and the Hangang Bike Path.

Its convenient location allows you to pick up your bike, then immediately embark on your cycling journey. Ride 200 meters (1 minute) to the Han River bike path (directions) or visit one of Seoul’s nearby intercity bus terminals.

The Bike Rental Korea shop proudly holds certification from the Seoul Metropolitan government’s Ddareungi (따릉이) system. All of their bike mechanics are maintenance certified.

Before and after each rental, the shop inspects and fixes each bicycle, ensuring 100% safety and quality.

Bike Rental Korea specializes in offering rental and maintenance services for long-distance cycling trips along Korea’s Four Rivers.

Bike Rental Korea rents a diverse selection of bikes, including touring (road) and hybrid models.

  • Long-term bikes for rent range from $25 per day.

You can receive discounts on bikes and accessories based on the duration of your rental.

Bike Rental Korea includes the following items for free in every rental:

  • Helmet
  • Phone holder
  • Abus bike lock
  • Front and rear lights
  • Front back and tool pouch
  • 14 multi-tool
  • Garmin mount
  • Rear rack

The shop loans the following accessories for an additional fee:

  • Panniers (two 20L packs) — $35 per week
  • Repair kit (mini pump, hex wrenches, tubes, & more) — $25

Bike Rental Korea offers transport from their shop in Seoul to the Cross-County Route’s start line in Incheon (map).

  • $64 for two people and two bicycles
  • $72 for four bicycles.
    • This service doesn’t extend to cyclists that rent from other shops or own their own bikes.

Near the finish line in Busan (map), a courier can ship your bike back to the shop in Seoul.

  • $96 for two bicycles
  • $127 for four bicycles.

Contact Info

Seoul Bicycle Rental

Seoul Bicycle Rental (서울자전거대여점; map) operates out of the Itaewon Neighborhood (이태원; map) just north of the Hangang Bike Path in Seoul.

They offer long-term road, mountain, and hybrid bicycle rental. Prices range from $25 to $30 per day, depending on the bike model.

All rentals include the following at no extra charge:

  • Helmet
  • Phone holder
  • Lock
  • Water bottle cage

Additional items are available for a fee:

  • Pannier racks — $10
  • Bike repair tools — $20
  • Small pannier — $10
  • Two large panniers (20L) — $30

Seoul Bicycle Rental provides a few transportation and delivery service options to customers.

  • They offer transportation for riders and their rented bicycles from their shop in Seoul to the start of the Cross-Country Route at the Ara West Sea Lock Certification Center in Incheon (map). $60.
  • The shop also delivers and picks up bike rentals in Busan, the end of the Cross-Country Route. To have your bicycles collected after the rental period, lock your bicycle up near the Nakdonggang Estuary Bank Certification Center (map) or your hotel in Busan and take a picture. A bike shop representative will come by to collect it. $100 return fee.
  • Not cycling to Incheon or Busan? You can return your rented bike from other locations in Korea. Delivery costs to the bike rental shop in Seoul vary depending on the drop-off location.

Here are some other services Seoul Bicycle Rental provides:

  • Riders can book an English-language cycling tour in Seoul. Contact them via KakaoTalk or WhatsApp for more information or to reserve in advance.
  • If you experience a breakdown, you can contact the shop and receive assistance on the bike paths.

Contact Info

Bike Nara

Bike Nara (자전거나라; map) is a Giant retailer in the Seoul’s Hongdae Area (홍대; map) a kilometer north of the Hangang Bike Path. Their name translates to Bike (자전거; /ja-jeon-geo/) Country (나라; /na-ra/).

Besides its retail business, the shop rents road, hybrid, and mountain bikes for short and long-term periods.

Bike Nara offers both daily and weekly (7-day) bike rental.

Rental Prices

  • Touring Bikes
    • Road and hybrid bikes.
    • Shimano Claris to Tiagra groupsets. Aluminum frames.
    • Daily: ₩20,000 ~ ₩25,000
    • Weekly: ₩120,000 ~ ₩150,000
  • Sports Riding
    • Road bikes.
    • Shimano 105 to Ultegra groupsets. Aluminum and carbon frames. Rim and hydraulic disc brakes.
    • Daily: ₩50,000

All rentals include a helmet. Weekly rentals include a rear rack, lock, toolkit, and a spare tube for free. You can store your luggage at their store during your cycling adventures.

Optional Add-Ons

  • 20L Waterproof Pannier — ₩20,000 per week
  • Return from Busan — ₩50,000 per bike
  • Luggage Delivery to Busan — ₩10,000 to ₩20,000

You can fill out their online reservation form to check availability and reserve the bike of your choice.

Daily Rental

Bike Nara’s bikes are a step-up from your usual short-term offering. Grab a set of high-quality wheels, then zoom around the Han River bike paths until sundown.

Contact Info & Hours

  • March to October — 9:30 AM to 9 PM
  • November to February — 10 AM to 8 PM
  • Public Holidays — 10 AM to 8 PM
    • Closed on Tuesdays

Riding on a weekend or holiday? Take the Seoul subway’s Line 2 or Line 6 to return your rental to Bike Nara’s shop. Get off at Hapjeong Station (Exit 5), then hit the bars in Hongdae.

Bike Trip (Jeju)

Bike Trip (바이크트립; map) is a bicycle rental company based on Jeju Island. Besides renting bikes, they offer tours and can ship personal bicycles to and from Jeju.

Bike Rental

Bike Trip rents intermediate and advanced mountain, road, and electric bicycles.

Rentals include a helmet, lock, lights, top tube bag, puncture kit, and mini pump.

Optional Add-Ons

Bike Trip will store your luggage in their shop during your ride.

For an additional ₩20,000 (₩25,000 peak season), they’ll deliver your bike to your hotel. They can also drop you on or scoop you off the Jeju Fantasy Bike Path.

Bike Trip’s shop sits about 750 meters (half a mile) from Jeju International Airport. Hop off the plane. Take a taxi or endure the 12-minute walk.

Cycling Tours

Bike Trip runs road and mountain bike adventure tours around the island.

The East Coast Road tour (₩34,000) starts at either Gimnyeong Seonsegi Beach (김녕성세기해변; map) or Woljeongri Beach (월정리해수욕장; map). It travels 28 kilometers along the coast. It ends near Seongsan Ilchulbong (성산일출봉; map), one of Jeju’s top highlights.

The Eastern Inland tour (₩44,000) offers an off-road tour of Jeju. It starts in Bijarim Forest (비자림; map) and travels 25 kilometers to Seongsan Ilchulbong. The tour price includes an intermediate MTB.

Bicycle Shipping

Own a bike in Korea? It can be a hassle to carry it onto an airplane or ferry. So Bike Trip offers a delivery service.

Drop your bike off at one of their affiliate bike shops in Seoul, Yongin, Goyang, Busan, Daegu, or Daejeon. They’ll ship it to their store on Jeju Island.

Prices start at ₩79,000 for round-trip shipment, and ₩49,000 for a one-way. MTB, hybrid, and heavy e-bikes cost more.

Bike Trip will also ship your helmet, saddle bag, and top tube bag for free. They insure every bike for damages incurred on their journey.

Contact Info

Wright Brothers

Wright Brothers (라이트브라더스; map) is a platform that offers a variety of services:

  • It’s an online portal for customers to sell their used bikes.
  • Bike stores can list their new bikes for sale on Wright Brothers website.
  • Wright Brothers runs a rewards program for folks who cycle instead of driving a car. The cyclists can link their Strava account to their Wright Brothers account and receive discounts for kilometers ridden.

Wright Brothers also offers short-term for foreigners and long-term bike rental between 24 to 48 months.

In downtown Seoul, Wright Brothers keeps a showroom in Some Sevit and an office in the Yongsan District.

Contact info:

Contact Info

Lycle App

Lycle (라이클) is a Korean sports equipment renting app. Similar to Airbnb, it offers a market for individuals or shops to lend surf boards, camping equipment, and bicycles to the app’s users for short- and long-term durations.

Warning

A screenshot of Lycle's home screen.
Lycle’s home screen displays options to rent bikes, surf boards, camping equipment, and ski gear.

Lycle is a Korean-language only app. Side effects include the inability to read the text, loss of app functionality, and blind tapping syndrome.

However, detour the language barrier by reading our short guide to reading Hangul. Or take screenshots of the Lycle app and translate using Papago (Google Play; App Store) or Google Translate (Google Play; App Store).

One more roadblock! You need to verify your identity to rent a bike from Lycle. Like the Bike Passport app, this requires a domestic phone number and ARC card.

Fear not! We’ll look into a few workarounds.

The App

Lycle connects bicycle renters and borrowers. Renters include retail stores, renting shops, and individuals. They set rates based on bike type and the rental duration.

When you open the app, you’ll find four buttons.

  • A screenshot of the bike rental map on the Lycle app.
    You can find short- and long-term bike rental options near you on the Lycle app.
    자전거 (bicycle)
  • 서핑 (surf)
  • 캠핑 (camping)
  • 스키 (skiing)

Let’s tap the 자전거 (“bicycle”) button. A map opens with pinpoints representing bikes for rent. Zoom into any region in Korea and new pinpoints will populate the map.Tap one of these buttons and you’ll find a list or a map.

Let’s tap the 자전거 (bicycle) button. A map opens with pinpoints representing bikes for rent. Zoom into any region in Korea and new pinpoints will populate the map.

A screenshot of a bike for rent on the map section of the Lycle app
Some bike renters have more than one bike. Scroll right to see all their options.

On top of the screen sit two categories.

  • 단기대여 (short-term rental)
  • 장기대여 (long-term rental)

Tap the second option to find bikes available for long-term rental. A fresh group of icons will fill the map. Tap one and a picture will pop up at the bottom of the screen.

If the shop or individual rents more than one bike, swipe right to view them all.

Let’s click a picture and check out the stats on your temporary wheels.

Bike Profile

A screenshot of a bicycle profile on the Lycle bike rental app.
Below the profile pic of a bike, find info about the renter and the bicycle’s stats.

Welcome to the bike profile page. Here you can see key stats about the bike, contact info for the renter, and their location on Naver Maps.

First, let’s translate the buttons below the bike’s profile pic.

  • 위치보기 — View location
  • 락하기 — Contact
  • 매장리뷰 — Store reviews
  • 권장 신장 — Recommended height of rider 
  • 주요스펙 — Main specifications

Click the 연락하기 (contact) button under the bike’s profile picture. The app will direct your phone to call the renter’s shop.

Tap 위치보기 (view location) and Lycle will send you to the renter’s location on Naver Maps.

Bypass the App

Lycle doesn’t provide you with much info about the renters on their app. You’ll get a pin of their location, their phone number, and some reviews. But the app provides no more info.

That’s good for individual renters who don’t want their info available to the public. But some renters on Lycle are brick-and-mortar bike shops. Lycle’s anonymous pins shield you from contacting the shops directly.

There’s a way around. More below!

Bike Stats

Now let’s dive into the basic stats listed on a Lycle bicycle profile.

  • 종류 — type
  • 브랜드 — brand
  • 연식 — year
  • 무게 — weight (metric)
  • 프레임 — frame material
  • 변속기 — gearing/components 
  • 브레이크 — brakes
  • 사이즈 — size

Here are some bike types you’ll find listed.

  • 로드 — road
  • MTB — mountain bike
  • 하이브리드 — hybrid
  • 전기 자전거 — e-bike

Reserve

Don’t have a domestic phone number or ARC? You’re heading towards a cliff! Turn back now!

To reserve a bike on Lycle, you must verify your identity, then register with the app. 

Finished? Good. Now:

  • Log in (로그인).
  • Choose your bike and tap the 날짜 선택하기 (choose a date) button.
  • Select your start date (시작일) and return date (반납일).
  • Under 필수 상품 (required product), select the number of bikes you need.
  • The total price will appear below.

Lycle insures bike rentals for up to ₩200,000 in damages. The borrower must pay for repairs exceeding that amount.

Tap “예약하기” to reserve.

Bypass the App

Lycle acts as a middleman between renters and borrowers. Can’t sign-up for the app? You can still use the app as a directory.

Like mentioned before, Lycle’s “연락하기” (contact) button provides you with the renter’s phone number. If you can speak Korean, you can arrange a rental directly from the bike shop.

Can’t speak Korean? Tap the “위치보기” (location) next to the “연락하기” (contact) button. The Lycle app will send you to a pin of the renter on Naver Maps. If it’s a bike shop, Lycle will give you the business’s name, but no other information. Don’t let that stop you! 

Copy and Paste

Want to find the bicycle renter outside the Lycle App? Here’s the workaround.

  • Take a screenshot of the Naver Maps listing.
  • Open the camera function on the Google Translate app (Google Play; App Store).
  • Tap “Import” and select the Naver Maps screenshot you just captured.
  • Highlight then copy the bike renter’s name.
  • Paste the bike renter’s name into Naver Maps.

Ta-da! Naver Maps will give you the bike renter’s full listing, which often includes a website, Facebook page, and more contact info.

(You don’t need Google Translate if you have experience typing in Korean. Just install a Korean keyboard and retype the bike renter’s name into Naver Maps.)

Search the Map

Here’s one more tool to find long-term bike rental in Korea.

Choose a rental shop on the Lycle app, then click one of the above links. It will send you to a Kakao Map populated with either bike retail or bike rental shops.

Zoom into the Kakao Map and find the matching Lycle pin. Contact the bike shop, and arrange a rental.

Short-Term Bike Rental

Short-Term Bike Rental

Short-term bicycle rental options in South Korea.

It’s Sunday. You head down to the river or your local park for a leisurely ride. But where can you find a bike?

You’re in luck. Bike rental stalls hang out in almost every park in Korea. Even better, pop-up shops near major recreation attractions rent a smorgasbord of mobile devices, from bicycles and electrified scooters.

Check out this brief guide to short-term bicycle rental in South Korea.

Seoul Bike

Seoul Bike is a bicycle sharing system operated by the city of Seoul. It allows anyone to rent a bike from automated racks for short periods to sightsee or cruise across town.

Bicycles rent for ₩1,000 per hour. After the first two hours, Seoul Bike charges ₩1,000 for every additional thirty minutes.

When finished, return your bike to any of the hundreds of Seoul Bike racks around the city.

How To Rent

How do you rent a Seoul Bike? Simple.

  • Register with the Seoul Bike website. Receive a 4-digit code.
  • Buy a transportation card and deposit around ₩60,000.
  • Register the transportation card’s 16-digit serial number with your Seoul Bike account.
  • Choose a bike from any Seoul Bike rack. Swipe your transportation card or enter your 4-digit code.
  • Grab your wheels and go!

You must deposit a refundable ₩50,000 to ride a Seoul Bike.

City & Country Park Rental

Local bicycle rental booths populate most city and country parks around the country. They rent a variety of bikes by the hour, from cruiser to hybrid to tandem bikes.

Below, find a list of park bike rental services in Seoul and Busan. While the list isn’t comprehensive, it reflects what to expect when renting bikes from the other hundreds of regional parks across Korea.

A picture of the Nakdonggang Bike Path (낙동강자전거길) in Busan City along the west side of the Nakdong River in South Korea.
Find bicycle rental stations in the Nakdong Estuary Parks along the Nakdong River in Busan.

Seoul

In Seoul, the Hangang Park system along the Han River encompasses eleven smaller parks. All offer bike rental stations with an assortment of bicycles.

Hours

  • March, April, September, and October — 9 AM to 6 PM
  • May to August — 9 AM to 7 PM
  • November to February — 9 AM to 5 PM

Rental Prices

  • Standard Bicycles — 1st hr: ₩3,000 / Additional 15 mins: ₩500
  • High-End Bicycles — 1st hr: ₩6,000 / Additional 15 mins: ₩1,000
  • Tandem Bicycles — 1st hr: ₩5,000 / Additional 15 mins: ₩1,000

Busan

Like Seoul, Busan’s larger parks provide bicycle rental shops.

Want to ride a part of the Cross-Country Route? Head to Samrak (map), Hwamyeong (map), Maekdo (map), or Daejeo (map) Eco Parks along the Nakdong River. Rent a bike from a local stall.

Hours

  • March to October — 9 AM to 6 PM
  • November to February — 9 AM to 5 PM

Rental Prices

  • Standard Bicycles — 1st hr: ₩3,000 / Additional 15 mins: ₩500
  • Kids Bicycles — 1st hr: ₩3,000 / Additional 15 mins: ₩500
  • Tandem Bicycles — 1st hr: ₩6,000 / Additional 15 mins: ₩1,000

How To Rent

Renting a bike from a city or county park requires less tech than Seoul Bike.

  • Hand over a photo ID.
  • Fill out a form and pay a deposit.
  • Return the bike before closing time.
  • Pay any additional rental fees. 

You’ll receive a helmet and kneepads for free.

Kakao T-Bike

A picture of a Kakao-T bike parked near Taehwa river in Ulsan, South Korea.
Kakao bikes are a convenient way to commute and go for an afternoon ride.

Cruise down any big city bike path and you’ll notice clusters of yellow cruiser bikes parked pathside. Say hello to Kakao T Bikes (카카오 T 바이크).

Like many major Korean companies, Kakao Corporation’s business portfolio includes an ever expanding list of sectors. They just don’t run Kakao Talk and Kakao Maps. They operate Kakao T (Google Play; App Store), an app that lets users call taxis, carpool, and rent either electric or regular bikes.

Rental Prices

  • Electric Pedal Assist Bikes
    • First 15 minutes — ₩1,500
    • Every additional minute — ₩100
  • Regular Bikes
    • First 20 minutes — ₩500
    • Every additional 10 minutes — ₩200

How to Rent

Renting a Kakao T Bike involves the most tech. But renting is simple once you’re in the system.

  • Create a Kakao account. (You need a Korean phone number.)
  • Install the Kakao T app (Google Play; App Store).
  • Register a domestic card or PayPal account.
  • Pay a refundable ₩10,000 deposit

Once you open the app, tap the “Bike” icon.

After you read instructions, a map will pop up with pins marking each available bike. Tap an icon to see the bike’s status. If it’s electric, you can check the charge left on the bike’s battery.

Find the bike in the real world. Spot a QR code emblazoned below the back of the saddle (seat). Scan it using the Kakao T app. Up pops instructions on how to unlock and ride the bike.

Kakao T Bikes don’t have docking stations. When you finish riding, you must leave the bike within its designated service area so workers can find, fix, and charge the bikes if necessary.

Can I venture outside the service area? Yes, but you’ll pay a ₩20,000 fine if you don’t return it to its service area.