General Cycling Discussion - Sharing your bike?

Do you let others ride your bikes?

As a rule I do not! There are just a couple
people that I will let, just a test ride so to
speak.

One LBS, one of the employees asked if he could
take the bike for a spin and I said "sure"! He was
gone sometime. On his return he had nothing but
good stuff to say about the bike. It is a $10 thrift
shop find, Spalding ATB, twelve speed. I had told
them how sweet a ride it was and he wanted to see
for himself. He was in full agreement that it was a
"keeper"!

Blaa Blaa Blaa, sorry,

How do you feel about letting some one take your
bike for a spin??

$10 thrift shop bike? I'll let anybody ride who I think will bring it back. $1000+ road bike, probably not unless I really trust them not to crash or mess it up somehow.

I've let people I know well.

I have one bike I'll share. A old Schwinn ATB. All the rest, no. Someone who doesn't have a bike generally doesn't put much value on a borrowed one.

it would depend on which bike and how experienced the other rider is. i sure as hell wouldn't let a novice on my titanium ultegra road bike, but someone who knows how to ride such a machine, sure, as long as i trust them. the fact that someone would need SPD shoes to ride it anyway would automatically weed out anyone who shouldn't be on it.

for my other two lower grade bikes, i would be far more lenient in who i allowed to ride them.

My bike is too small for anyone.
I have a fg/ss that is too big for me but I'll let anyone try the fg if they want lol. They never listen when I say "don't coast"
I have a mountain bike - sure I don't care.

I'll let a few friends ride/test ride my bike. But borrowing is a different story.

I won't ride yours, don't even think about riding mine.:D

How about this? I had one guy ride with us for about 4 months. Kept talking about moving out of state within 4 months. 2 months down the road he asks to borrow my tandem for a bike ride half way across the country. :eek:.......I don't think so!:twitchy:

I let friends/family ride my bikes, but I worry about them the whole time they're gone.

Generally no, but I do have a folding bike that I rarely ride. I now consider it my guest bike. I can loan it to visitors. It's a "one-size-fits-all", so no need to worry about sizing.

It's currently on loan to a friend here for business from Texas.

I'd probably swap combs with someone before I'd loan out one of my babies for the weekend. A test-ride, maybe; as long as we're swapping bikes and riding together.
Other people just aren't as mechanically empathetic as I am. They cross-chain, they ride through puddles, and they spill sticky drink mix all over their bikes.

If you are riding with me? Probably. Take it and ride it without me around? Not likely.

Aaron :)

Isn't that like sharing your wife?

Isn't that like sharing your wife?

I think I'd be more likely to share the ...

Naaaah. I'm not going to say it. :)

I have before but I wouldn't unless it's one of my really good friends. Most people wouldn't take care of my bike as I do. I last lent them out about 4 years ago and when I went to these guys house, my bikes were leaned against the side of the house in full sight from the street and none were locked. That was the last time they were lent out. Borrow my bike for more than a day, never.

I would let most people I know ride a bike of mine if they wanted to try it, like for a few miles. However I would not let someone borrow a bike to use for a while.

Telling people "no" and not looking like a jerk is sort of an art.

I won't ride yours, don't even think about riding mine.:D
:

Beanz is right on the money. No - never - don't even ask.

$10 thrift shop bike? I'll let anybody ride who I think will bring it back. $1000+ road bike, probably not unless I really trust them not to crash or mess it up somehow.

By chance it is a nice bike, mid 70's Spalding, lugged frame, alloy wheels, Kenda slicks. Rides
like a dream and it came this way, just needed cleaning up, and a spot of oil. Near mint condition.
I know it is not an old classic British bike, but it is a nicer than average beater. Put new pads on
it today. Rode it about ten miles.

BTW, any one need a wife? Mine will be 40 in a few months and I was planning on dumping her
anyway.. Just send bus fare.,,,,,, What the hell, I'll pay half.

About 15 years ago my son bought himself a brand new Gary Fisher Joshua mountain bike. BEFORE HE EVEN HAD A CHANCE TO RIDE IT he suggested I take it for a Saturday mountain bike ride with a group of friends. I told him that I couldn't ride his bike before he did, "What if I wipe out and ding it up?" "Dad, he said, It's a mountain bike. You're supposed to wipe out and ding it up."

I smoke a pipe and I would no more let someone ride my bike than I would share my pipes.

Yech! That's just wrong !!

Tough call. On the one hand, it is just a bike. On the other hand, I've sustained damage from letting people use my bikes. Once I loaned a bike to a tall guy who pulled the seatpost past the min-insertion mark. The result was a bent seat tube. Currently I'm going through cash-replacement due to a frame crack that I believe may be the result of a loan, but I cannot be certain. Another time I loaned an expensive bike to someone whom I thought was experienced, only to hear him grinding and shredding my drivetrain by shifting under load going up hills.

So I guess I've developed a certain amount of caution. I'm especially wary of larger, heavier, taller borrowers. I still take new people riding and will often loan a bike in order to do that, but I am more thoughtful about whom I loan to, and I'm more willing to say "no" these days than in the past.