Rent-a-Bike Ripoff

[Brandane]

**I bought a bike in supermarket in Portugalone hols for less than the cost of hiring something of similar quality for two weeks. At the end of the trip I asked the landlord to tell me the words for Free. Please take. wrote them on a sign and attached sign to said bike in road outside villa. Two hours later there was a knock at the door and a very happy man had a, nearly new, ok quality for the intended use, bike.

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I went to Florida in 2009 and tried to hire a bike; the only type I could find were those American cruiser style things which didn't appeal much. I went to Orange Cycles in Orlando and found a nice Specialized Sirrus, second hand, for $200.
I covered quite a few miles over 2 weeks, and was tempted to bring it home, but the airline wanted $150 (in retrospect that wasn't bad, but at the time I was thinking $150 to ship a $200 bike .... ) so I decided to try and sell it. Pawn shop tried a pi55 taking offer for it, so the afternoon before I left I took it back to Orange Cycles - they offered me $100 for it, which I took. They had made $100 for nothing, and I had 2 weeks bike rental for $100! The real value of the deal was that it got me back into cycling and when I came home bought a Specialized Tricross (which coincidentally I have just packed for an imminent trip - to Florida!).

The Sirrus at Longboat Key....

 

[StuartG]

A very simple example which ignores the lease / ROI / depreciation aspect of the vehicles themselves....

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Yes if it is 5 v 10 - invented numbers to give the required result? But if it is 20 v 10 then it is a very different story. Plus 20 bikes take far less space than 10 cars which means you can have all the bikes in the shop ready whereas car rental you have at least two locations (front house, park and maybe valeting). Car rental (in holiday areas) is one vehicle per family. Bike rental is typically 2+ per family which gets you volume in units. Plus opportunity for group tour rental. Oh and remind me why you put rental insurance costs are the same when the bike/car ratio is more like 1:20?

That's for starters. I don't think you would want me at the back of your business planning meeting. But then that's the story of my career

 

[GrumpyGregry]

Ok... we can only conclude that those who rent bikes out are avaricious grasping scum who prey on weak minded muppets who are on holiday.

They are probably amatuer landlords in their spare tine.

Btw most large fleet rental firms self-insure. Or did when I last toiled in EC3. Captive risks I could ask a swedish underwriter but, even if I understood the answer, things are done differently here.

 

[screenman]

It costs money to run a business, something many fail to grasp.

 

[Vapin' Joe]

It costs money to run a business, something many fail to grasp.

And only a fraction of the money taken over the counter ends up in the owners pocket.

 

[Leaway2]

.
I went to Florida in 2009 and tried to hire a bike; the only type I could find were those American cruiser style things which didn't appeal much. I went to Orange Cycles in Orlando and found a nice Specialized Sirrus, second hand, for $200.

I did the same. I was working in San Francisco. I bought an ex rental Trek for $80. They replaced the brake blocks and gave it a check while I had a coffee across the road. I brought it home. My Son has it now. The company even let me ex it .
http://www.summitbicycles.com/about/summit-bicycles-burlingame-ig218/

 

[DCLane]

In November last year I rented a bike in Hong Kong for the day - £12 which I thought was great value for something that isn't insured as a car is, together with not being traceable.

This August I'm off to South Africa and want to use a bike. Rather than hire one for 2 weeks I'll buy a second-hand utility bike and donate it to the charity I'm volunteering with when I leave.

 

[srw]

Ok... we can only conclude that those who rent bikes out are avaricious grasping scum who prey on weak minded muppets who are on holiday.

They are probably amatuer landlords in their spare tine.

Btw most large fleet rental firms self-insure. Or did when I last toiled in EC3. Captive risks I could ask a swedish underwriter but, even if I understood the answer, things are done differently here.

Mostly self-insure. Having done reserving for a large rental scheme in my youth, 15 years ago they still used an insurance company to smooth out the largest claims. The analysis was a nightmare - next to no reliable data and a different arrangement each year, resulting in an awful lot of guesswork.