A friend is traveling to Seattle for a few days and would like to rent a road bike. He’s staying near the convention center, but probably willing to Uber to a shop in another neighborhood. He has called around and is striking out. I suggested Spinlister. Any recommended shops that rent road bikes? Thanks!
If he is Rapha RCC member they do canyon rentals if they are available. But he must be rcc
Great idea, @ericallenboyd. It’s only $100, but the local club in our city closed last year, so it might be a tough sell.
well if you can get a bike then it might be the best choice.
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FYI, you can’t see bookings until you are actually RCC.
I had it for a several years because I wanted to rent bikes in LA, Tokyo and HK, I was in one of the three every month for work. After joining I realized bike availability was absolutely horrible. I could never find anything even close to my size avail. I wrote Rapha a few times about this and was met with shrugs. Hopefully others have been more successful. I’m no longer RCC.
So you may want your friend to call the clubhouse directly to see if they even have avail on the days in question.
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Rapha is criminally mismanaged. They’re out of almost everything almost all the time.
My impression is that they have nobody to maintain anything either. It seems as though there is a market space here that they have screwed away. The elitism (imo) that Rapha exudes puts many cyclists, especially new ones who aren’t loaded, off.
That’s awesome to hear and I know the NYC club was doing cool things 10 years ago. Maybe I’m wrong. I’ve always loved the concept, but from what I have seen in LA and other places, the RCC was strong, the clubhouse was just ok. But I’m sure it changes as much with managers as it does with regional differences?
Seattle has always been a great bike community. Lived there in the late 90’s…if you can call Mt. Vernon Seattle.
I don’t see Rapha as elitist. You can get a classic jersey for $80 and their regular shorts for $100ish (I hate bibs so I don’t know what they charge for them). I usually buy higher end jersey which is about $150-$170 but I know many brands that charge more for a pro/aero fit jersey. The appeal of the brand (to me) is that they are far less garish than most cycling kit. If anything, the aesthetic of their kit might appeal to an elitist consumer but I’d argue that most people that like their look but are turned off by a perceived price problem should recheck that they’re actually riding in more affordable kit.
The issue (to me) is that they can’t keep anything in stock. I’ve been on the list for a particular jersey for 2 years. Every now and then, I get an email but I login within 2 minutes and it’s out of stock already. I’ve never even seen the navy blue arm warmers in stock ever. I’ve mentioned this to them and they say “Yeah, so and so is very popular.” So what? You’ve had plenty of time to see how popular and to ramp up production accordingly.
Recycled Cycles might rent bicycles, if not Cascade Bicycle Studio rents higher end bikes (or used to before the pandemic). Free range cycles might also rent.
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Is he going to want to rent 3 or 4 times in the next 10 years? Buy a bike bag, travel with own bike. Pays for itself.
All US airlines basically treat the bags as standard luggage now, as long as bike and bag are under 50 lbs. I ride a 61cm aluminum cross bike with OEM wheels, 40mm tires, and I was able to get it, all assembly/disassembly tools, including a Topeak Joe Blow w/tank, seat pack and hand pump, etc into the bag at around 46-48 lbs…
If its a one-off… sorry, I can’t help with shop suggestions.