Paseo de la Reforma is one of Mexico City’s main thoroughfares, and you’ll see a lot of influencers posting videos of themselves biking down the roadway on a Sunday, the breeze blowing through their hair and the sun shining down on them.
“How did they get a bike?” is probably not what you are asking yourself as you watch one of these videos.
But that is what you should be asking yourself, if this is an activity you would like to try.
Here’s the thing: As we discovered with two friends, even though there are probably thousands of people biking on Reforma on any given Sunday, actually renting a bike can be frustrating and time-consuming.
It took our friends about an hour of downloading apps, logging into webpages, and requesting free bikes before they were ready to ride.
It was worth it at the end. We got to be out on bikes in the sunshine, enjoying the day. But we could have gotten started a lot sooner.
Here’s what we learned. Hopefully, these tips will help you get rolling more quickly than we did.
💸How to rent a bike from Ecobici
Ecobici is Mexico City’s bike network. To rent a bike, you need to download the app.
Top tip: Download the Ecobici app beforehand. This key step should save you time when you want to rent a bike. In the app, you enter:
An official form of ID, like your passport number.
A credit card number, which you use to pay for the rental and any surcharges. Our US cards work.
If you have a Mexico City Metro card (MI card), you can add it in the app and use it to access a bike. You can’t pay for a bike with a Metro card though. You need a credit card linked to your Ecobici app for that.
Tip: If you have trouble getting the app to work, try setting your account up from the website and then logging into the app once you’re registered. We don’t know why this helps.
📍Finding a bike
In the app, you can see where the closest bike racks are and the number of bikes they have available.
If you tap on a location, you can see how many open docks are available, which is useful if you are ready to return a bike.
You can also find this information in Google Maps.
It’s nice to see if there are bikes available close to Reforma when you’re ready to head over there, or if it makes more sense to rent one a bit further away and ride it over.
If you rent one from further away, you can use Google Maps to see the biking route from your starting point to Reforma. That can help you find roads with bike lanes, which may feel safer.
🔓Accessing a bike
When you’re at the bike rack, pick a bike and scan the QR code that’s between the handlebars, or use your MI card.
Follow the prompts in the app to choose your length of time. When your rental is successful, you’ll hear a loud click, and you can wheel the bike back out of the rack.
You can rent a bike for:
1 day: $128 MXN ($6.40 USD)
3 days: $253 MXN ($12.65 USD)
7 days: $425 MXN ($21.25 USD)
Annual plan: $566 MXN ($28.30 USD)
Tip: You can rent a bike for less than 45 minutes for free.
🆓How to borrow a free bike
There are stands along Reforma that rent bikes for free. The good news is, obviously, it’s free. The bad news is, you probably won’t be the only person who wants a free bike, so you might have to wait.
To borrow a bike, they will ask you for:
Information like your name, address, phone number, and age.
ID, like a driver’s license or passport, that they will hold and give back to you when you return the bike.
If you borrow a bike, you need to bring it back to the same location. That’s another negative for a free bike. Because Ecobici has bike racks all over the city, you have more flexibility in the start and end points for your ride.
Our friends put their names in for free bikes, but we finally figured out how they could rent from Ecobici while we were waiting for a free bike to be available, so they didn’t end up using the free bikes.
🚶🏼♀️You don’t have to ride a bike
Reforma is a lot of fun on Sundays, even if you’re not interested in riding a bike. It’s popular with both locals and tourists. You can walk, jog, or rollerblade and enjoy the activities, music, and general fun vibe.
You’ll see things like musicians playing instruments, people taking Zumba and yoga classes, kids learning to ride bikes, bike caravans of dogs that are available for adoption, and more.
However you decide to experience it, be sure to respect the rules. People will signal you to stop at intersections, so cars can get across. And you should stop at crosswalks when pedestrians have the right of way.
There’s a lot of good infrastructure in place supporting this event, and it’s easy to follow along even if you don’t understand Spanish.
❓What you should know
Hours: 8 am to 2 pm, typically.
Route: The area between Chapultepec Park and the Angel of Independence is probably the most interesting, but Reforma is closed to vehicles before and after that area, and there are other spurs that are closed as well.
Details: Follow Mi Bici CDMX on Instagram for up-to-date details on the roads that are closed, hours, and other activities along the route.
