Originally Posted by
politicalgeek
We have several shops doing rentals, including a new non-LBS bike rental startup. If I do rentals it'll be probably more as a way to hopefully brand and market: renting Yuba Mundo's for a day or folding bikes.
With gas prices hovering at close to $3.00 per gallon in much of the US, it doesn't bode well for the yearly ritual of boosting gasoline prices come spring (with continual hikes through summer). Another shot of $4.00 per gallon gasoline prices will clearly have an inflationary affect. Weary, debt-strapped consumers in the US might just seriously begin considering supplemental and alternate forms of transportation. If that happens, you may want to consider a range of moderately-priced folders as well as electric conversion kits and some inexpensive to moderately-priced e-bikes, like Currie's Ezips and Izips . (FYI--Amazon reported a 6,000 percent increase in the sales of e-bikes in 2008, the last time we had gas spike to/and above $4.00 a gallon--if you don't believe me, read these links
http://keetsa.com/blog/auto/the-worl...lectric-bikes/ http://articles.sfgate.com/2008-08-1...e-rider-pedals.)