Would you lend a bike ?

[ADarkDraconis]

I would if someone really needed it for transport to work, school, etc. and it would help them out. I would not if they just wanted to play around and go galavanting through town for something to do on it, that is why we have rentals round here.

 

[nickyboy]

Yeah, why not. It's only a bike at the end of the day

 

[subaqua]

Yes,

have offered several times when people in local area have been hit or bike damaged by others. its a lump of metal at end of day ..

 

[Slick]

Yes,

have offered several times when people in local area have been hit or bike damaged by others. its a lump of metal at end of day ..

Shh, he didn't mean it.

 

[slowmotion]

I borrowed somebody's bike to do the London-Brighton in 1979. I didn't ask his permission either. Yes, of course I'd lend somebody my bike.

 

[tom73]

Yes the only person who'd fit mine is my mate who'd be mortified if he damaged it no matter what damage. But more importantly I trust him no matter what.

 

[Nigel-YZ1]

I lent my old MTB to someone long term. He dismantled the gear selectors when bored one day and lost the top covers. Now he's asking how much new tyres cost as he decided to show off and lock the back wheel up at high speed and has flat spotted it.
So my answer is no. Never again.

 

[Gixxerman]

I lent one to a work collegue. It got stolen. She did pay me some money to compensate me for the loss. I wasn't that bothered as it was just a Halfrauds Apollo double bouncer BSO that I used as a rat bake.

 

[SkipdiverJohn]

Mr R's sister wants to borrow Boudicca (my Brompton) for a couple of months...
Just wondering what to ask for as surety... a kidney perhaps?

Given the secondhand value, I reckon £1k in cash might just about cover it! Personally, there's no way I'd lend out a bike like that, as presumably the intention is to use it for commuting.

 

[mikeymustard]

I lent one to a work collegue. It got stolen. She did pay me some money to compensate me for the loss. I wasn't that bothered as it was just a Halfrauds Apollo double bouncer BSO that I used as a rat bake.

mmm rat bake!

 

[Gixxerman]

mmm rat bake!

Ha ha. A Freudian slip. Didn't Monty Phython have a sketch feauring rat pie?

 

[minininjarob]

Simple would you lend out a bike or not?

It depends. If it's one of my personal bikes I've invested some cash in I won't let anyone ride them at all, except a couple of close riding friends maybe. My 1994 Kona Kilauea I will not let anyone ride at any time ever as the bike means a lot to me for personal reasons.

However this leaves me torn as I love to get people into cycling and want them to enjoy what I enjoy. So I have a couple of bikes I can lend out, an MTB which is my size and one of my wife's old bikes which is a much smaller size. I wouldn't want to lend them out on a long term basis, I would prefer to source a bike to give to them FOC or sell cheap to them if I can't afford to give it away. I've done this a few times and built bikes for people really cheaply.

The main problem isn't that I couldn't fix any damage, I could probably afford it too, but I don't like to be annoyed at someone - I really appreciate when people lend me stuff so I look after stuff more than I would my own possessions so it makes me very angry when people don't do the same for me. To stop me falling out with people I just try to sort out a bike they can own themselves (or other item) then if they damage it the only person it will affect is themselves......

Dont know if any one has seen this video clip but great cyclist but not one i would lend a road bike to?
http://digg.com/video/this-is-the-greatest-cycling-video-of-all-time

Interesting fact - the Pinarello Dogma with carbon wheels Martyn Ashton rode in Road Bike Party 1 suffered no damage during the filming except for a couple of scratches and a single puncture.

 

[Moodyman]

On a similar discussion in another forum, someone commented they would "rather share their wife than share their bike".

That is the strength of connection people have with their bicycle.

Personally, I'd share my bicycles so long as I knew they were going to be ridden sympathetically.

 

[Black Sheep]

I have leant bikes out to people over the years, mainly when we were going biking to the same place, one friend had a spoke in the rear wheel fail on her, just a random thing when she was riding along a path, removed the spoke and joked to go easy on it.

My two bikes aren't high value but are hard to replace,

The inbred was built from parts, many scrounged off other bikes, it's kind of an evolution of a Specialized hardrock bought in 2003, the frame of which was bent in 2006

The road bike was my dad's having been un-lovingly restored (it looks like crap) by myself

no one else rides them, more because I'm fussy about things being in the right place, meanwhile I ride the wife's bikes if the mood suits, I bought her mountain bike and built her road bike so she doesn't get much say (or seem to care about the fact)