At Tournride we’ve spent more than two decades renting bikes for the Camino de Santiago. In all that time we’ve learned that looking after the Camino and looking after our bikes are the same thing: every bike crosses the same rivers, woods and villages the pilgrims do, and we want them to stay as clean as we found them.
This page sets out our sustainability commitment in concrete, verifiable terms: how we clean each bike without polluting, how maintenance extends the fleet’s working life, what we do with a bike when its rental life ends, and which operators share this standard with us. No empty labels — practices we already followed, made explicit here.
Why it matters to us
The Camino crosses some of the best-preserved landscapes in northern Spain: the vineyards of Navarra, the Meseta, the mountains of León, the woods of O Cebreiro, the Cantabrian coast. Every year thousands of pilgrims cross its rivers and streams. A bike-rental company moves a lot of material along those same paths —chain grease, cleaning products, tyres, batteries— and it’s in our hands to do it responsibly or not. We choose the former, and we measure it.
100% biodegradable cleaning
Each bike rides an average of 7 to 10 Camino stages before returning to the workshop, and it comes back with dust from the Meseta, mud from O Cebreiro and salt from the Cantabrian air. We wash it entirely with 100% biodegradable products —the X-Sauce system: degreaser, frame soap and wax lubricant— precisely so that dirt and residue don’t end up in the rivers and aquifers the Camino crosses.
It’s no small detail: conventional degreasers and lubricants are persistent pollutants. Choosing biodegradable alternatives, bike by bike and season after season, is one of the highest-impact decisions within our reach. We show it step by step in how we clean every Camino bike with X-Sauce.
We look after every bike in detail
We have our own workshop, and every bike is thoroughly checked before each Camino: drivetrain, brakes, tyre pressures, torques and, on the e-bikes, the battery and motor system. For us maintenance isn’t about looks: it’s reliability and safety for the pilgrim who’s going to spend a week on that bike, far from home. A well-kept bike is one that won’t leave you stranded in the middle of the Meseta —and, along the way, a bike that lasts many more years, which is the most basic form of sustainability.
When a bike reaches the end of its rental life, it doesn’t go to the skip: we recondition it in our workshop and give it a second life, selling it to someone who wants to keep riding it. We launched our shop website this year, but we’ve been selling reconditioned fleet for many years: it’s pure circular economy, extending the life of every frame and component as far as it will go.
And a line we draw clearly: the rental fleet is made up of current, serviced bikes; a retired bike is sold reconditioned, not rented again. When you book with Tournride, you ride a bike that’s ready to go.
Operators who share our standard
We’re not the only ones who care for the Camino. We work alongside operators who share this same demand for quality and respect for the route, and we’re proud to name them.
We are proud partners of longest established Camino de Santiago Customised Tours Specialist — Follow The Camino, which holds the highest sustainability commitment on the market and is B-Corp certified.
Via Compostela — For over 40 years, Via Compostela has guided walkers along the Ways of St James, in France, Spain and Portugal. Tailor-made journeys, luggage transfers, carefully chosen accommodation, personalised advice: every detail is designed so that all you have to do is walk. Via Compostela states that it has a sustainable-development policy and is in the process of TRAVELIFE certification.
Original (French): «Depuis plus de 40 ans, Via Compostela accompagne les marcheurs sur les chemins de Compostelle, en France, en Espagne et au Portugal. Voyages sur mesure, transferts de bagages, hébergements choisis avec soin, conseils personnalisés : chaque détail est pensé pour que vous n’ayez plus qu’à marcher.»
Are you a travel agency or tour operator who shares this standard? See how to work with Tournride.
Book your bike for the Camino
The most direct way to support this model is to ride with us. Choose your bike on our Camino de Santiago bike rental page, or start with our guide to cycling the Camino de Santiago if you’re still deciding route and dates.
