# Rent a Commencal eMTB in Colorado



## honkinunit (Aug 6, 2004)

I noticed that Commencal is now renting bikes out of their US home office in Golden. You can get XC, Trail, DH and eMTB. The eMTBs are $90/day, which is not out of line with renting a good bike anywhere else around here. Golden is in Jefferson County, just outside of Denver, and they have hundreds of miles of trails open to eMTBs, as well as Golden Gate State Park and Staunton State Park being nearby and open to eMTBs. You could rent from Commencal and hit some good trails right out of their parking lot after a couple of miles on the paved bike path.

If you are visiting the Denver area or even just passing through, it might be a cool thing to do. The Commencal office is just a few minutes off of I-70. Yeti and Spot are in the same industrial park as well.

https://rent.commencal.com/golden/en/


----------



## ruthabagah (Jun 4, 2018)

honkinunit said:


> I noticed that Commencal is now renting bikes out of their US home office in Golden. You can get XC, Trail, DH and eMTB. The eMTBs are $90/day, which is not out of line with renting a good bike anywhere else around here. Golden is in Jefferson County, just outside of Denver, and they have hundreds of miles of trails open to eMTBs, as well as Golden Gate State Park and Staunton State Park being nearby and open to eMTBs. You could rent from Commencal and hit some good trails right out of their parking lot after a couple of miles on the paved bike path.
> 
> If you are visiting the Denver area or even just passing through, it might be a cool thing to do. The Commencal office is just a few minutes off of I-70. Yeti and Spot are in the same industrial park as well.
> 
> https://rent.commencal.com/golden/en/


Good to know. I was looking to rent a couple of bikes for some out of states guest for a meet up this sunday at Staunton.


----------



## rider95 (Mar 30, 2016)

I am planning my trip to CO now will be in Denver sep definitely adding this


----------



## dustyman (Feb 13, 2007)

Good to know. The 2018 has been getting great reviews. I'm trying to find a demo in So CA. This looks like the bike to beat for 2018.


----------



## ruthabagah (Jun 4, 2018)

Seems to be only open Monday to Friday.... 

Bummer


----------



## honkinunit (Aug 6, 2004)

ruthabagah said:


> Seems to be only open Monday to Friday....
> 
> Bummer


Yes, I noticed that. I'm guessing that if you wanted the bike over the weekend you could pick it up Friday afternoon and return it Monday, but I don't know that for sure. It is Commencal's US office so they work M-F.


----------



## rider95 (Mar 30, 2016)

I registered on there site and they called me I asked were I could ride a e bike on what trails Commencal said Jefferson county was very e bike friendly and that anywhere Reg mt bikes could go e bikes could too.


----------



## ruthabagah (Jun 4, 2018)

rider95 said:


> I registered on there site and they called me I asked were I could ride a e bike on what trails Commencal said Jefferson county was very e bike friendly and that anywhere Reg mt bikes could go e bikes could too.


Nice. You didn't ask if they would rent over a weekend by any chance?


----------



## rockymtnhi (Sep 29, 2013)

Good to know! Here’s another option. BikeSource in Littleton has a Specialized Turbo Levo and Kenvos for demo. Cost is $75 per day.


----------



## honkinunit (Aug 6, 2004)

rider95 said:


> I registered on there site and they called me I asked were I could ride a e bike on what trails Commencal said Jefferson county was very e bike friendly and that anywhere Reg mt bikes could go e bikes could too.


Yes, Jeffco opened their trails to Class 1 ebikes. All state parks are also open to ebikes, even the only MTB trail (Rattlesnake Gulch) in Eldorado State Park near Boulder, which must drive the Boulderites insane. Golden Gate and Staunton State Parks have great trails nearby, open to ebikes.


----------



## honkinunit (Aug 6, 2004)

rockymtnhi said:


> Good to know! Here's another option. BikeSource in Littleton has a Specialized Turbo Levo and Kenvos for demo. Cost is $75 per day.


The Kenevo is insane, it is a basically a gravity bike with a motor to get you back up to the top of the runs. I may have to rent one.

I wonder if they give you a charger for the day as well?


----------



## rockymtnhi (Sep 29, 2013)

honkinunit said:


> The Kenevo is insane, it is a basically a gravity bike with a motor to get you back up to the top of the runs. I may have to rent one.
> 
> I wonder if they give you a charger for the day as well?


Yes, charger included with demo rental. I own the Levo. It takes about 3 hrs to recharge the battery.


----------



## watermonkey (Jun 21, 2011)

rider95 said:


> ....anywhere Reg mt bikes could go e bikes could too.


I certainly hope that's not what they're really telling people, because you all know that's not anywhere close to the truth.


----------



## honkinunit (Aug 6, 2004)

watermonkey said:


> I certainly hope that's not what they're really telling people, because you all know that's not anywhere close to the truth.


On the Open Space trails in Jeffco, eMTBs can go anywhere an MTB can go.


----------



## ruthabagah (Jun 4, 2018)

watermonkey said:


> I certainly hope that's not what they're really telling people, because you all know that's not anywhere close to the truth.


I have rented a bike there a couple of times and they make it really clear where you can or cannot ride (USFS).


----------



## Klurejr (Oct 13, 2006)

rider95 said:


> I registered on there site and they called me I asked were I could ride a e bike on what trails Commencal said Jefferson county was very e bike friendly and that anywhere Reg mt bikes could go e bikes could too.





honkinunit said:


> Yes, Jeffco opened their trails to Class 1 ebikes. All state parks are also open to ebikes, even the only MTB trail (Rattlesnake Gulch) in Eldorado State Park near Boulder, which must drive the Boulderites insane. Golden Gate and Staunton State Parks have great trails nearby, open to ebikes.





watermonkey said:


> I certainly hope that's not what they're really telling people, because you all know that's not anywhere close to the truth.





honkinunit said:


> On the Open Space trails in Jeffco, eMTBs can go anywhere an MTB can go.





ruthabagah said:


> I have rented a bike there a couple of times and they make it really clear where you can or cannot ride (USFS).


This is all speculation. Until someone can post up a link to the website governing the trails in question that outlines in very clear terms whether or not eBikes can be ridden there, this thread will be closed. Please PM me the link and I will paste it in here and re-open the thread.


----------



## Klurejr (Oct 13, 2006)

Jeffco rules and regs on eBike use:

https://jeffco.us/3618/e-bikes



> Based on several factors including 2017 research, existing resource impact studies, state laws, and enforceability, Jeffco Open Space is piloting a program that allows electric bicycles (e-bikes) on *Jeffco Open Space managed trails*.
> 
> Class 1 e-bikes are allowed on natural surface trails *within the parks*
> Class 1 and Class 2 e-bikes are allowed on paved trails *within the parks*
> ...





> Regulations
> FEDERAL
> E-bikes are classified as motorized vehicles and are only allowed on motorized trails, including Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and National Forest (USFS) lands.
> 
> ...


What I take from this is that for trails managed by JeffCo, Class 1 eBikes are allowed, Class 2 and Class 3 are not allowed on natural surface trails. As long as the users are discussing Class 1 Ebikes on JeffCo trails please do not harass them with comments claiming they are not allowed.

On the flip side, please do not discuss riding Class 2, Class 3 or DIY unregulated eBikes on these trails.


----------



## ruthabagah (Jun 4, 2018)

Thank you


----------



## Walt (Jan 23, 2004)

Over the next few years, the Jeffco trails will be an excellent test case - they are popular and crowded (within a 30 minute drive for essentially the entire Denver metro area) and a mix of old-school adopted social trails and newer designed-for-bikes stuff. 

There have already been problems with bikes (on Apex) that resulted in some one-way climbing only trails due to shuttlers, so the LMs are paying attention and will presumably monitor this closely. 

Literally a perfect test case. In 5 years we'll know whether e-bikes can coexist on MUTs.

-Walt


----------



## ruthabagah (Jun 4, 2018)

Walt said:


> Over the next few years, the Jeffco trails will be an excellent test case - they are popular and crowded (within a 30 minute drive for essentially the entire Denver metro area) and a mix of old-school adopted social trails and newer designed-for-bikes stuff.
> 
> There have already been problems with bikes (on Apex) that resulted in some one-way climbing only trails due to shuttlers, so the LMs are paying attention and will presumably monitor this closely.
> 
> ...


You are totally right, that this is an excellent test case that is closely monitored locally and at the national level.

I predict that within 5 years over half of the bikes on these trails will be EMTB thought.

I rode the APEX trails on Saturday and out of the 30 or some riders that I met on the trail, 8 were riding ebikes.

I rode Staunton on Sunday, and out of the 20 of so riders i met on the loop, 5 were on ebikes.

Colorado may not be a template for the rest of the nation, but it is shaping to be an interesting test case, with a mix of allowed trails, but also lot of USFS / BLM land still off limit.


----------



## Klurejr (Oct 13, 2006)

Walt said:


> Over the next few years, the Jeffco trails will be an excellent test case - they are popular and crowded (within a 30 minute drive for essentially the entire Denver metro area) and a mix of old-school adopted social trails and newer designed-for-bikes stuff.
> 
> There have already been problems with bikes (on Apex) that resulted in some one-way climbing only trails due to shuttlers, so the LMs are paying attention and will presumably monitor this closely.
> 
> ...


It is very much needed and I am curious to see how it turns out. Thanks for the info Walt!


----------



## Harryman (Jun 14, 2011)

It'll be interesting to see how it shakes out in Jeffco and CPW. 

When CPW agreed to their pilot program they didn't really know anything about ebikes or what the law allowed, so they're now a bit leery about them in some parks, less in others. They'll revaluate at some point in the future.


----------



## ruthabagah (Jun 4, 2018)

Harryman said:


> It'll be interesting to see how it shakes out in Jeffco and CPW.
> 
> When CPW agreed to their pilot program they didn't really know anything about ebikes or what the law allowed, so they're now a bit leery about them in some parks, less in others. They'll revaluate at some point in the future.


Interesting. I have not heard any concern from the CPW so far. I am wondering what they are.


----------



## Harryman (Jun 14, 2011)

ruthabagah said:


> Interesting. I have not heard any concern from the CPW so far. I am wondering what they are.


They didn't know that the bikes they were presented as representative of Class 1 were 250w while the law allows 750w. Some parks have a single point of entry, which keeps out people on out of class ebikes out for the most part, whlle some have multiple, unmonitored trails into them. Cherry Creek for instance. The people I know aren't freaked out or anything, but they did feel a bit misled by whoever fed them the initial info in 2016. They'll keep an eye on things and see how it goes.


----------



## ruthabagah (Jun 4, 2018)

Harryman said:


> They didn't know that the bikes they were presented as representative of Class 1 were 250w while the law allows 750w. Some parks have a single point of entry, which keeps out people on out of class ebikes out for the most part, whlle some have multiple, unmonitored trails into them. Cherry Creek for instance. The people I know aren't freaked out or anything, but they did feel a bit misled by whoever fed them the initial info in 2016. They'll keep an eye on things and see how it goes.


Got it. And it's totally normal to review an impact. Nothing wrong with that.


----------



## Walt (Jan 23, 2004)

Klurejr said:


> It is very much needed and I am curious to see how it turns out. Thanks for the info Walt!


I should have also mentioned - they (the county) have actual rangers who actually patrol/listen to complaints/write tickets. If you dig back on the CO board you'll find cases where riders blew by rangers and got in serious trouble.

So there is at least some enforcement of rules. If things go well (which I hope they do) other places without that enforcement capability will have to decide what to do. I am hoping they are keeping careful track of what the rangers encounter and how much enforcement (ie, preventing non class 1 bikes) is needed, if any. It will also be interesting to see how the bike/ebike/hiker/horse user ratios change, if they do.

-Walt


----------



## Leebherron (Jan 21, 2004)

Subscribed !


----------

