Hi all,

I'm going to be in Seattle for 6 days in late August and was hoping to bike around since I'll have a lot of time on my hands. I wanted to see if anyone knew of any options for a cheap bike rental.

I'm just looking for a beater cruiser or road bike, as compared to a brand new hybrid that would cost me $40/day from a shop. I would be happy to volunteer or arrange some sort of work-trade for use of the bike.

If anyone has any ideas, please respond or PM me.

Thanks!

-Itty

What size would you need, and do you know where you will be staying?

East Hill

54 or 56 cm top tube. my friend just got a job in seattle, so i'll be staying with her, wherever her temporary residence is. she said it would probably be downtown somewhere.

Too bad...I would have lent you one for your stay, but you are too tall!

Anyone else able to come up with a suggestion?

East Hill

I only know that Montlake Bicycle shop rents road bikes, as long as you have a credit card with a large enough limit to pay for the bike should anything (and they mean anything) happen to it. I don't know the cost, probably more than you want to spend.

I don't have anything near that range, but you might take a look at the Cascade Bike Club rentals page. They list area shops with rentals - I'd call Aaron's, Montlake, Recycled Cycles, and Bike Station to see what they can do for you.

You might also post a similar message on the cascade message boards or at point83.com - another local club - a bit more boisterous than some :-)

http://www.cascade.org/Community/rental.cfm

cool thanks for all the suggestions. i will probably try another one of those message boards and see if i get lucky.

from what i've seen in terms of bike rentals, it would be cheaper to bring my tools with me, buy a beater off Craigslist, and then fix it up a little, as opposed to renting a bike per day or week.

i was contemplating also contacting one of the bike collectives in the area.
http://www.bikecollectives.org/wiki/index.php?title=List_of_Community_Bicycle_Groups#Washington
do any of you know anything about them? i was thinking i might be able to volunteer some time in exchange for a bike to use.

i was contemplating also contacting one of the bike collectives in the area.
http://www.bikecollectives.org/wiki/index.php?title=List_of_Community_Bicycle_Groups#Washington
do any of you know anything about them? i was thinking i might be able to volunteer some time in exchange for a bike to use.

One of the collectives on your list is Bikeworks. They seem to be good people who do good things. I donated a couple of old bikes there recently; they had a pretty decent selection of used bikes ready to go, and a bunch of used bikes that people had dropped off that weren't ridable. Maybe if you offered to fix up a bike and drop it off when you were done with it?

Also, Recycled Cycles sometimes has a decent selection of used bikes, ready to roll...

cool thanks for the tip on bike works, and for all the help from everyone.