Any reccomendations of a place to rent a bike? I'll be staying downtown LA, but will have a car, so it doesn't have to be actually in LA.

If you're going to be on the Westside or South Bay, Triathlete Zombie (http://triathletezombies.com/index.cfm) rents road bikes.

Rental Services
Looking for a bicycle to use during your stay in the area? Have a visiting friend or relative who needs a bike to ride with you? Want to try something new? We rent bicycles from each of our locations and we rent triathlon wetsuits from our Manhattan Beach store. Call us to describe what you need and we'll work with you to find the right rental equipment for your event or vacation.

I don't know that there's much around downtown, bike-wise or anything. Why are you staying there? Unless you're going on business, the whole place practically shuts down during the evenings and weekends.

Laguna Cyclery in Laguna Beach rents road bikes. Unfortunately it is about 50-60 miles South of LA. Riding in Laguna itself is crap, but there are nice places to ride just some 2-3 miles North or South of Laguna Beach. I personally would recommend you going South to Dana Point and San Clemente.

Laguna Cyclery (http://lagunacyclery.net/index.cfm)
240 Thalia St
Laguna Beach, CA 92651
Phone: (949) 494-1522

Bicycle Ambulance in Santa Monica rents bikes. The proprietor, Tony, is a very nice man. Not sure what he has in stock to rent, so call ahead.

707 Pico Blvd
Santa Monica, CA 90405
(310) 395-5026

Or if you don't need anything fancy, just buy one of his refurbished, inexpensive bikes and donate it to a charity at the end of your stay. :)

You can ride straight down to the beach bike path from the shop. The bike path is crowded and nutty on weekends, but a pleasant ride on the off-hours.

Incycle Pasadena rents bikes. They are about 10-15 minutes northeast of Downtown. Call for selection.

Thanks guys.

Hollywood Pro:
http://www.hollywoodprobicycles.com/rental.php

Can take the Metro Red Line (subway) to the Hollywood and Highland station and walk a block east. The downtown subway station is at 111 S. Hill Street. Lot of people take their bikes on the subway, there usually plenty of room as long as it isn't rush hour.

I ended up renting from Hollywood Pro Bikes. Very nice guys, and a very serviceable bike.

Road out to the Coast, up and down the beach, up Topanga Canyon, then across Mulholland and back to the Shop. All in all a very nice ride.

However, I'd have to say the traffic riding from Hollywood to the Coast, particularly until you get past the 405, would not make it a good ride for the faint of heart.

^Need to head south to Santa Monica Blvd and then go west if you want more room and a bike lane. They took out some of the bike lanes along Sunset Blvd and Melrose and many other "major streets" in the Hollywood area are pretty tight to ride in comfort. Some of the sidewalks are wide enough to be a lane...lol.