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Would The Sharing Economy Work With Your Personal Ride? Spinlister Thinks You Can Rent A Bike From Someone Like You

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Spinlister

A new trend in the last few years has been called “the sharing economy”. Uber is one of the best examples, where people use their own personal vehicles as cabs in their spare time.

A new company called Spinlister is thinking that people will do the same thing, but with their personal bikes. Instead of renting a bike when travelling that may turn out to be an entry-level Rockhopper, you can use the app to rent nice bikes from other riders like yourself. The app would be searchable by area, and show you the bike, the size, the cost and who is renting it. They are also doing skis and paddle boards as well.

Spinlister knows that most people would be apprehensive with the risk of letting their ride go to a stranger, so all bikes are insured for up to $10,000 when shared through the app.

What do you think? Would you rent out your bike to a stranger? Let us know in the comments. Click more to see a video explaining the full process…

www.spinlister.com

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13 Comments
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reye
reye
9 years ago

Where does Spinlister stand in regards to bike condition and safety prior to rental?

Charlie
Charlie
9 years ago

Sooo, you just give out your address to people to come round and take your bike for a ride? Anyone else thinking the amount of thefts would go up considerably…

Joseph Clemenzi
9 years ago

maybe a good resource for shops renting rigs out too

topcheese
topcheese
9 years ago

Only after you enter valid credit card information, do you have to provide an address for pick up. It doesn’t have to be your house. Download the app and read it for yourself.

Dave B
Dave B
9 years ago

Several years ago my bike club got an e-mail request from a couple visiting the area from out of town who wanted to rent a couple of bikes and asked for guidance. There are very few, if any, rental shops in the area and I offered to lend them a couple of mine at no cost once I knew a bit about them and what sizes they needed.

The loan worked out very well. They took good care of the bikes, enjoyed using them and even took my wife and and me out to dinner when they returned the bikes. This happened to work out well for all of us but I’m reluctant to conclude all such arrangements would.

James S
James S
9 years ago

No way. Never. Nope. My bikes are all very special to me and aren’t just some random commodity that I would whore out to strangers for profit. That’s not sharing, it’s renting.

I see so many bikes that are not well maintained that it seems really risky to ride somebody’s bike that you don’t know. There are also issues of fit. It’s just a really dumb idea. If there really is a big need for rental bikes, then bike shops can fill that niche. I want nothing to do with it.

David
David
9 years ago

This… is awesome! I have spares collecting dust 90% of the time, might as well put them to work. Snowboards too! N+1 FTW!

Jeff S
Jeff S
9 years ago

I am considering. Working from home in an urban area and having too many bikes anyway, extra bikes that I keep around for friends and relatives don’t see a lot use. Make somebodyelse’s vacation that much better and beer money. Might have to invest in a couple more locks.
My prized ride? NO!

peter
peter
9 years ago

This is great for special bikes, like a tandem or a bakfiets. For shops it is to expensive to keep those specialty bikes just for the occasional demand. For tourists such bikes are a great way to enjoy a city or park with their partner or children, you can’t take bikes like that on a train or a car let alone a plane.
But I agree, for normal bikes why wouldn’t you go to an official rental service?

Von Kruiser
Von Kruiser
9 years ago

Great idea… just be careful w/ your house and strangers. I have plenty of bikes which people could use (commuters, electric, cruisers, kids)… just not my favorites.

Guy
Guy
9 years ago

We had a customer of ours try this here in the bay area and the bike she hired was in the worst shape and down right dangerous. Bad brakes, worn tires, brakes barely stopped the bike, etc. and the person she rented it from ended up accusing her of being the one who damaged the bike and wanted her to fix the problems. Real good stuff there.

marcelo loureiro
9 years ago

hey guys, here is the Spinlister ceo, if you like to try our service feel free to contact me at marcelo.l@spinlister.com – I can respond any questions regarding, safety, insurance, quality of bikes and how our community is doing so far, our job is to help cyclists find a bike in an easy way no matter where in the world, and we have several bike shops listing their bikes as well.
thanks and ride safe !

Tim in Michigan
Tim in Michigan
9 years ago

People tend not to take care of what they don’t own. I would never rent my bikes to strangers. Bike shops can fill this need. Just because someone can write an app doesn’t mean its a viable idea.

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