August in Colorado / bike rental

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    • #204601

      Hi.  I’m UK-based. but am going to be in Denver for a week or so in August.  Me and my woman.  Ideally we’ll spend a good chunk of time in the outdoors, a bit of mountain biking, a bit of rafting, a bit of hiking….

      Here’s where I need your help.

      If we want to ride bikes we are going to have to hire them.  Is this easily done?  I will have a rental car so hiring MTBs away from trails means we will need to transport them on the rental car.  It sounds lame but I’m concerned that this is not going to be viable.  Does anyone have any advice re: getting hold of bikes.  In an ideal world we would drive to where the trails are, collect our bikes, ride, return the bikes, drive back to our hotel.  What are our chances? Any tips?

    • #204602

      <p style=”text-align: left;”>You could rent a mini van, fold the seats down and transport the bikes that way. Or just research bike shops that rent bikes close to established trail networks. Location could be any of the front range towns or locations in the mountains. You’ll likely have too many choices of shops to choose from.</p>

    • #204603

      Thanks.  Your last sentence sounds pretty encouraging.

    • #204604

      Renting a bike in the Denver area shouldn’t be a problem. If it’s a mountain biking destination in Colorado, it should surely have a bike shop or club somewhere nearby with a rental option. If there are several places that do rentals, shop around for the best rate. I’ve had rentals for several days in the past and have been cut some pretty good deals. You might also find shuttles to transport you to trail heads. Also make sure that they have bikes that would fit you and have the specifications you might want such as suspension travel, handle bar width, clipless or flat pedals etc.

    • #204610

      If you love single track biking I highly recommend Crested Butte.  Big Al’s bike shop rents high quality bikes and services them well.  Good luck!

    • #204621

      Breck and Crested Butte have bus systems to move bikes around if you need to.  Many shops have shuttles if you’re looking to do 1-2 rides (look at Monarch Crest trail.)  Also if you do gravity riding, Keystone, Trestle and others rent bikes at the bottom of the lifts.  Denver might be a bit trickier.

    • #204686

      Consider renting a UHaul van for your trip.  If you car camp, it could be cost effective.  Buy cheap gear and give it away when you leave.

    • #204777

      Some shops that rent bikes also rent bike racks, so that would help you logistically.

      Some towns have shops that rent bikes within riding distances of great trail networks.

      In the Denver metro area, the Golden Bike Shop is close to a number of trail systems.

      In Salida, you can rent a bike downtown and it’s a short ride to the excellent Arkansas Hills trail network, or you can ride to Poncha Springs (5 miles) to catch the shuttle to the Monarch Crest.

      In Grand Junction, you can rent a bike downtown and its a fairly easy jaunt to the awesome Lunch Loops.

      In Cortez, it’s 5 easy miles from the bike shop to the highly rated Phils World trail system

      Most of the ski towns have bike rentals in town and lots of trails right adjacent to town without having to ride far.  This includes Steamboat, Breckenridge, Vail, Crested Butte and Telluride.

      Another good option may be to see if any of the shops or manufacturers are having demo days that line up with your visit. Most often, they set up at the base of a major trail network.

    • #221090

      There is a lot of great riding all over the state, even close to Denver. It all really depends on how far you’re willing to drive, and how much time you have on your hands. At our Denver store we can get you set up with mountain bike rentals.

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