Originally Posted by
oddjob2
UM also started with a $5/day and $75/semester rental program on brand new Fujis. The semester rentals program are about the price of a LBS tuneup + parts. Only starting with 33 bikes, but at those program prices, it will only grow.
This will likely hurt both bike retailers and flippers. Nearly 30 years ago, before Internet buying of PCs, the UM fall campus Dell, Gateway, and Mac deals really decimated the local personal computer market.
Maybe some...that's $150 a year. There are high end flippers and low end ones. I sell ready to go MT bikes for about $70 bucks which is pretty much $20 for stuff and $50 to me. Remember that Walmart sells bikes for $79, so this isn't going to upset the market except for perhaps college kids who know what a "Fuji" is. It looks more like its going to take people who have no intention of riding and making it more available as it seems like an easy system. Those who want to own a bike will buy a bike.