Loan Out Your Bike?
 

Nephew is in town for two weeks and asked to borrow my bike. Nobody has ever asked before. I know it sounds petty and cheap but I just hate do it. He just wants it for trips on my "off hours" but I'm just too attached to this thing. I said " please take my car ", I know it's not right promoting more people driving but it's My Bike!! My Bike!!!! How selfish can I get? Maybe it's time to detach myself from material things, but man, It's my bike. He says going to the pub at night is no fun unless he can cruise around afterwords. I'll probably give in, he's young and a good kid. Anybody else this stingy with their bicycle?

Well, if you had reservations about letting someone else using your bike, it probably should be out of the question if they also have been drinking?

Depends on how close you are. The only people I'd loan my new bike to are my immediate family, and they're hundreds of miles away.

It makes sense to be cautious; someone with a cherished car or motorcycle or...etc would also think twice before loaning it to someone else.

Finally, it sounds as if he's asking to use your bicycle after being out drinking. I would hope you wouldn't loan him any vehicle in such a situation.

Tell him, you can use it if you can answer this question:

You get to the pub and the only two places to lock it up are an empty rack part way down a dark alley, and a crowded rack outside the front window, which one do you use?

(It's a trick question. Both answers are wrong: The dark alley is a prime spot for a thief to work on the locks away from prying eyes, out front it risks getting scratched and pranged up by other drunkards getting their bikes.) ;)

This is why you have a spare beater!

Find a cheapie on cl and let him have it. I wouldn't let anyone use my bikes to go pub crawling. Not even my Varsity

To me it would be almost like asking to borrow my wife..... not quite but almost.

NOBODY borrows my bike...it's built to fit me and me alone. That, and the Alium pedals make it a bit tough for anyone else to ride it (NO! I will NOT change pedals for you!)

It's my only transport -- not to be trifled with....and OMFG HE[[ NO NOT FOR A PUB RUN!

25 years ago, I had spent two years obtaining exotic components to build the coolest, lightest, fastest, one-of-a-kind road bike ever made.

My brother borrowed it, went pub crawling, wrecked it, and had it stolen. He did that with my car, too -- bent it in half.

I still would lend my bike to a select few people, but not to most people.

That's what the rainbike is for. Nobody touches the Brodie.

I'd make him use my beater, get yourself a beater bike.

Lots of places rent bikes pretty cheap...tell your nephew to rent one. I sometimes ride my fiancee's bikes and have no problem letting her borrow any of mine...but that's about it. I'd potentially let a few of my cyclist friends borrow bikes, the ones that know how to bike and how to treat a bike, but, to be honest, they would need to have a bike that is at least as expensive as the bike they want to borrow.

sorry, but no way... I would lend out my beater but not one of my trusted steeds...

Sounds pretty clear from reading the posts what's best to do.

Everybody here pretty much feels the same way about their bikes as you do of yours, so people are sensitive to your position.

Me, I'd buy him a garage sale beater. The weekend is still young.

I, too have decoy bikes for the same purpose, or for backup if my main custom (though cheap) one would go down. If you decide to lend it, don't count on getting it back in good condition, for sure.

There's no freaking way I'm loaning out my bike. No freaking way. It's in tune. It's lubed. It's trued.

No freaking way.

That's my ride to work.


Plus, a couple weeks ago, my wife said, "Let's borrow the neighbor's six-seater golf cart."

I said, "We don't need to do that."

Well, we borrowed it, against my better judgement, and broke it. Six hundred dollars of damage.


You shouldn't ask to borrow things, and you shouldn't be asked to lend them.

Get a job. Buy your own, or rent it.

I think the biggest reason I wouldn't loan my bike out is that its adjusted for me. Unlike a car, it doesn't just take a flick of the switch and a pull of a lever to make adjustments for it to fit someone.

Couple that with the fact that even I don't ride my bike after I've gone to the pub/bar. I don't because its always dark when I leave, not because I'm inebriated. I mostly have a drink or two the whole night, its more of a social thing than a drinking thing. But that's for another discussion. The point is, I'd be very nervous about someone using my bike, and even more so if they've been drinking and its at night.

That, and only one of my friends is familiar with how to use brifters :p

$15 - $30 garage sale bikes are super easy to find, so I can't understand how every doesn't have atleast one spare beater.

Check the local newspaper's garage sale listings or get on craigslist and look up garage sales in your area with bikes. You might be able to find somebody's old Huffy for super cheap. Let your nephew use that. Then, keep it and use it for errands around town.

I used my good bike for commuting and long weekend rides. I'd never leave it outside a store or something. That's where a cheapy beater comes in handy. :thumb:

Good luck.

Case in point, a quick look at craigslist:
http://portland.craigslist.org/clk/gms/789145681.html
Hopefully it's still on tomorrow...How much could he possibly want for a used Magna? There's your beater right there.

Another one open for tomorrow. They don't specify the type of bike, though
http://portland.craigslist.org/mlt/gms/790001929.html

If your nephew is anything like my nephew... then you aren't being selfish or stingy.

Not being stingy at all... Don't do it, and like everyone else said, get that beater bike for him!

What? You only have one?

Well that is (was) my goal. But I've figured out that ideally you have a commuter, a utility/hauler, a nimble fun weekender go on long rides feel good about being alive bike and an absolute pile of crap that you secretly hopes get stolen (well almost because you don't want to walk home). So to my nephew goes the old Fuji Noodle. It's the bike that sits inside my fenced yard and outside my locked shop. It's a mixte frame that's freightfully flexable. Totally scarry to ride, not one to stand up for the power climb with. It's real purpose is to sit there and be the sacrifical lamb. Just maybe the thief will think he has scored and haul ass with the Fuji.
And yes it's another discussion but I enjoy a trip to the pub at night, now and again. And judging by the bike rack I'm not the only one. And I bet some of those guys work up there at the Bike Gallery. Get off work and coast down a couple of blocks! And some of these places around here can make an outstanding beer.

bicycles & toothbrushes: neither should be lent out.

I'd have no problem with it as long as it wasn't when I needed it to go to work, and as long as I thought he was reliable enough to not get it damaged or stolen. I've never been able to understand why people develop such close relationships with objects.

Last time I loaned my bike to my brother he drilled holes in the seat stays and attached a two horsepower motor. :(