# Has anyone ever bought a rental bike from a freeride/downhill park?



## davecfd (May 9, 2007)

So the area downhill park sells off their rental fleet at the end of every season. I've heard a few people say buying one of these is a bad idea because of the high rate of use, wear and tear, etc. Does anyone have any experience buying one of these bikes? The selling price is less than half the MSRP so it seems like almost too good a deal to pass up.


----------



## tpc1 (Jun 29, 2010)

I was just going to ask the same question. I just got back from looking at a 1 year old Scratch 9 from Highland Park. This bike was almost new, you really had to look to see any marks. And they were asking $3400 and retail is $5900.


----------



## ccspecialized (Dec 30, 2008)

I wouldn't. After seeing the way the rental glory's at northstar got treated every week all summer, those puppies are abused. On any given day some 5'10" 240lb chode is casing every jump on livewire on a medium bike that's set up for someone in the 170lb range.


----------



## davecfd (May 9, 2007)

ccspecialized - do you work at a park?

I'm sure the bikes take a beating during a season, do you really think it's enough to lead to component failure?


----------



## NS-NV (Aug 15, 2006)

Have you ever checked out the various Kona hate threads showing broken frames? The majority of them are former rentals.

All bikes and components have a lifespan. A bike park bike probably sees 5x more use in one summer than an average bike.

Those bikes are being sold at approx dealer cost. With a little shopping around an patience, you can get a similar deal on a similar age bike that has not been ridden.

You are basically buying a 5 year old bike at 2 year old prices, and it has had the crap kicked out of it.


----------



## ccspecialized (Dec 30, 2008)

davecfd said:


> ccspecialized - do you work at a park?
> 
> I'm sure the bikes take a beating during a season, do you really think it's enough to lead to component failure?


No but I had a season pass and was at northstar all 3 days every weekend.

A person who paid full price for a bike treats it with at least a tiny bit of respect. Rentals are like hookers, they get trashed around all the time by randos who don't give a **** about them. 
The majority of people who use rental bikes are complete hacks. At least buying used there was only 1 or 2 hacks who had a chance to mess it up.


----------



## FreeRidin' (Dec 26, 2006)

Speaking for the rentals at any of the Colorado resorts I would say go for it. I know a few people riding demo/rental bikes from both Sol Vista and Winter Park. They sell the bikes off every season. They are maintained very well, some of them look as well as function like new.


----------



## delirian (Jan 1, 2009)

not to sure on other shops or bike parks, but i know that the rental bikes from fanatyko (whistler) are a real bargain, i was told by scot the owner that they send all of their norco rental frames back to norco to be tested to destruction, so they can see how where and why they fail, so they can improve them for the year after, 
norco send them back new frames as warranty replacments, fanatyk also remove all the oem parts (except fork and shock) and put there own parts on for the rental season, then when they come to sell the bikes they put all the oem parts back on.
so basically you are getting a brand new bike, only the forks and shock are used, but they give them a service, 
as i said not sure how many other shops do this, but it could be worth looking into, there are bargains to be had, but besure to check it out properly first.


----------



## William42 (Oct 29, 2006)

some of them are maintained very well, and are great buys. Some of them are completely beat to sh1t. If you know what you're looking for, they can be a steal. If you don't, you could get one that's been completely bent over the table and ravaged.


----------



## lalocotequinta (Mar 28, 2007)

I wouldn't hesitate to buy any rental bike from Highland, the mechanics there do an excellent job at maintaining them.


----------



## jcook1989 (Mar 16, 2008)

It's not so much a maintenance aspect as I'm sure a lot of these bikes get several years worth of use and abuse in one summer. If you wouldn't mind buying a several year old bike that has the potential to have been ridden by complete hacks then go ahead and do it. 

It's a similar thing buying any used bike. At least you know with more certainty how this bike was used and can realize the beating it likely took.


----------



## PerfectZero (Jul 22, 2010)

I picked up a bike one summer from a shop near a park at the end of the season right before they switched back to snow mode. Just like buying anything used there's definitely a risk. I think a lot of it depends on how much you trust the shop to keep up with the maintenance and give you the straight story when you're buying it.

In my case I trusted the place's reputation, and was just looking for a starter DH bike to use a couple times a month. They told me a few things I'd need to get fixed, so I took the leap and got a pretty great deal.


----------



## norton05 (Sep 20, 2005)

I've seen rentals that are clapped out and almost worthless at season's end, and rentals that look barely used- and this is from the same resort! I think the best thing to do is carefully examine ex-rentals in person before you buy, since they are all going to be different. There's no way I would buy one without seeing it in person.

If you do get an ex-rental, be sure to get them to throw in new tires/grips/brake pads!


----------



## alex55 (Jul 29, 2007)

I bought a Kona Coiler from winter park. It worked well when i first bought it but since it already had a year of rental abuse, everything was pretty worn out. I had to replace the seals in the fork and replace almost all of the components. They're good if you have some replacement parst on hand but if you don't want to replace everything, look elsewhere for a used bike. even if a different bike is a little older, it should be in better condition because, it most likely wasn't ridden all day, everyday for an entire summer by someone that most likely wasn't an experienced rider (i.e. harsher riding style, more crashes, etc.).


----------



## tpc1 (Jun 29, 2010)

The Trek i looked at was almost perfect. It had brand new tires, brakes, chain , cassette and front chain rings. What made me consider it was that even the down tube did not have a nick in it. But we were a few hundred dollars apart on the price so i held off.


----------



## lalocotequinta (Mar 28, 2007)

tpc1 said:


> The Trek i looked at was almost perfect. It had brand new tires, brakes, chain , cassette and front chain rings. What made me consider it was that even the down tube did not have a nick in it. But we were a few hundred dollars apart on the price so i held off.


Was that Mark or Andy you were dealing with? They are pretty honest and reliable people. If they tell you the bike is in good condition(as you said it is) you can trust them.


----------



## 274898 (Nov 29, 2005)

I'm sure they are just beat down and tumbled down a few rock gardens like sticks and stones or karpiel. I can just see them tumbling end over end down a rock chute after someone bailed out and let the bike go.


----------



## tpc1 (Jun 29, 2010)

No it was at a shop outside Boston, they bought 5 of the bikes from Highland.



lalocotequinta said:


> Was that Mark or Andy you were dealing with? They are pretty honest and reliable people. If they tell you the bike is in good condition(as you said it is) you can trust them.


----------



## ccspecialized (Dec 30, 2008)

aliikane said:


> I'm sure they are just beat down and tumbled down a few rock gardens like sticks and stones or karpiel. I can just see them tumbling end over end down a rock chute after someone bailed out and let the bike go.


I watched a guy ghost ride his rental bike off the moss drop on sticks. He was "trying to get the angle."


----------



## SV11 (Jan 2, 2011)

NS-NV said:


> Have you ever checked out the various Kona hate threads showing broken frames? The majority of them are former rentals.
> 
> All bikes and components have a lifespan. A bike park bike probably sees 5x more use in one summer than an average bike.
> 
> ...


LOL, you actually make it sound worse than it really is. Yeah the bikes see more use, but you make it sound like pro rider's are abusing the bikes. The majority of people who rent the bikes are novice riders, so yeah I have a hard time figuring out how these group of riders thrash and abuse bikes. It's more conjecture than reality, I have yet to see a pic of a broken garbanzo. I've checked out the thread you mention and the majority are not rentals.


----------



## VTSession (Aug 18, 2005)

NS-NV said:


> Have you ever checked out the various Kona hate threads showing broken frames? The majority of them are former rentals.
> 
> All bikes and components have a lifespan. A bike park bike probably sees 5x more use in one summer than an average bike.
> 
> ...


I worked at a ski resort bike shop that did DH riding during the summer and fall and we sold off a whole fleet of Kona stinky DH bikes after they had about 2-3 seasons on them. The fleet was about 50 bikes and none of them ever broke. I'm not a huge Kona fan, but all these bikes help up great. We sold the bikes for around $800 each (original MSRP was $1800). We sold almost all of them within a few months. Were the bikes beat up? Sure. But they worked perfect and were repaired and maintained after every ride.

The people who bought them loved them and we never had any issues with customers coming back with broken frames.

The reality is that DH mountain biking is crazy expensive and people who buy used bikes from a DH park are guaranteed a functional, working DH bike for cheap. Its a much better alternative to buy a used DH bike off some dude and having no idea how mechanically sound the bike is.


----------

