[Closed] Lending and borrowing bikes

It'd be like lending out the wife...icky! 😯

I have a bike that is actively a 'loaner', it's built out of old/cheap/secondhand parts, and gets loaned on a 'bend & mend' basis.

It probably helps that I own three other bikes.

Would lend any of mine, although when I have a very posh bike I generally don't unless I know they'll look after it.

I've borrowed bikes off people, fortunately never broken one but i'd be more than happy to pay to fix something, even upgrade it, as a way of saying thanks, just Karma init.... I do think a Singletrack bikeswap ride would be a laugh, turn up with your bike and swap with someone who wants to try said bike. Hmmmmm, might develop that idea.

I have often lent out my bikes, including uplift days, but.. I'm very fond of my latest bike and would be pretty miffed if a friend damaged it before I had the chance myself.

Depends a lot on the situation. If it is an expensive bike and a complete novice on technical to them trails then there would be a higher chance of something actually getting bent or broken. I don't know how I would feel saying mate/relative/work college you just trashed a £70 rim that with a rebuild cost could be £90 -100 to repair when for them that could be the price of a bike.

If it is a gentle pootle on a fire road or whatever where they are less likely to do any serious damage then they could have whichever bike they wanted to use.

From a borrowing point of view I would be quite wary with anything expensive. 'Sorry mate I appear to have put a big gouge in your new kashima coated 40's'.

I've done this in the past. Unfortunately, some people don't have any concept of how much bikes are worth, or how to care for other people's property. I watched a lifelong mate drop my bike against a rock denting the frame. I had tactful words with him, to then be treated as though it was me who'd dented his £1500 frame.

I am fairly anal about looking after my kit and its taken a long time for me to afford decent kit, so I'll be buggered if I'm gonna have someone who doesn't give a toss about it ruin it. Yes, proper mates should cough up, but why risk a friendship - let them hire one!

yeah me and my mates have regularly swapped/lent each other bikes. Only conditions normally include returned in the same condition as you took it!

I once lent a bike to a mate when we went on a trip to the Alps. Unfortunately, the basement garage where they were stored got broken into one night. The scrotes stole mine but left the one I'd lent to him!

depends on who and what for. I'd lend any of my bikes out to most of my mates.

team mate at 24:12 this year snapped his BB early on - me and him shared my bike for the rest of the night. only downside is i was unable to blame the bike for my slow times!!

It totally depends on which of my mates asked tbh. Whilst out injured this summer I had a call from one of my riding mates to tell me that a mutual friend was planning to ask if he could borrow my bike for a 3 day trip to Scotland. This lad keeps his own (fairly expensive) bike in absolutely shit order, does no maintenance and can't or wont pay for much needed spares or repairs. This was about three weeks before the planned trip. Sure enough a week before the trip, he rang me and asked if he could borrow the bike. I had to tell him no. It's my only mountain bike and I don't see why I should allow somebody else to potentially mistreat it. When I asked him why he didn't want to take his own, he said it was always "breaking down". Other friends I would trust implicitly to bring the bike back in first class condition.

Would lend any of my bikes to anyone I know and trusted, on the basis of you bend you mend. If for any reason I didn't think they wouldn't look after it or sort any issues I wouldn't. My brother took my pride and joy Parlee Z4 to the Dolomites this summer; he had a blast, I was happy I aided in him having fun, win win to me!

Mine also has to be a 'depends'. When I've borrowed mates bikes I've returned then properly cleaned and lubed, and adjusted gears/brakes & even added components at my expense where needed. Unfortunately some I've lent mine to have been less generous - having to be pestered for a couple of weeks to return it, giving me back a dirty bike & expecting me to clean it, scratched paintwork, bent chainring teeth etc etc.

So, like any treasured posession, I'll only now lend my 'best' bike to someone who appreciates the gesture and I can trust to look after it.

Me and my riding buddy used to run a HT v-brake loaner for friends who fancied a go, worked well.

Whereas when I use to lend out whichever one of my FS's I wasn't riding we found that it meant friends then didn't want to buy their own, but wanted to carry on 'borrowing'.

But would I lend out my current bike?
No, except to my very-very-close riding buddy's, and only for their use.

Interesting - so some of you have had "friends" that tried to take advantage? weird.

I'd have no problems lending out a bike if I was riding as well, wouldn't do it if I wasn't there. That said I wouldn't expect the borrower to pay if they bust it ( assuming it was a genuine riding accident and not "I wonder what happens if i throw it off this cliff"). They are only bikes.

depends, and on what do you consider by "bend it mend it". I ride my bikes as they were intended but am also a bit (well, very) AR about looking after them (packing them carefully during transport etc), and consequently all my kit tends to look new or nearly new. I recently sold a Nomad which the buyer thought had been resprayed it was so tidy, despite it being flown to and ridden in the Rockies, used on uplift day etc.

If someone borrowed a bike and put a big or scratch in say the frame, fork lowers or upper (unused) bit of stanchion, does this fall in the definition? Do they spend £250 on a new MCU or fork sliders, or £100 on a frame respray, or do I suck it up?

For that reason I wont lend my PAJ to anyone, but I would lend my second bike (a HT, nice quality but built from mixture of new and used parts) to most of my riding buddies

I wouldn't worry about a cosmetic scratch, I would expect one that was affecting its function like on a stanchion to be repaired

Interesting - so some of you have had "friends" that tried to take advantage? weird.

Not really weird TJ, everyone puts different values on posessions ... and friendship!

Bregante - Member
It totally depends on which of my mates asked tbh. Whilst out injured this summer I had a call from one of my riding mates to tell me that a mutual friend was planning to ask if he could borrow my bike for a 3 day trip to Scotland. This lad keeps his own (fairly expensive) bike in absolutely shit order, does no maintenance and can't or wont pay for much needed spares or repairs. This was about three weeks before the planned trip. Sure enough a week before the trip, he rang me and asked if he could borrow the bike. I had to tell him no. It's my only mountain bike and I don't see why I should allow somebody else to potentially mistreat it. When I asked him why he didn't want to take his own, he said it was always "breaking down". Other friends I would trust implicitly to bring the bike back in first class condition.

This ^ for me. If it's someone I know to look after stuff, then sure why not. If it's someone who has no regard for their own kit, then not a chance.

Thing is with friends who aren't into riding and have no idea of the cost of stuff, is it really fair to apply a "bend it, mend it" policy, unless you outline the potential cost for replacing bits.

TandemJeremy - Member
Interesting - so some of you have had "friends" that tried to take advantage? weird.

Eh? No need to be all psycho-analyst, is there? Some people take care of stuff, some don't. Some people can be relied upon to return stuff to you on time, some can't. Doesn't make them any less of a friend, just means that people are different.

Pub bike maybe, decent bike not a chance - not even "just round the car park"

As I sem to have spawned TJ's thread choice, I may as well add my 2 pence worth.

I'd lend/swap with a mate who rides regularly and have done so, swapped my Nicolai for his Mojo for about 30 minutes on one ride.

I have also previously leant my HT - now broken down & sold - to my next door neighbour for an off road dualathon as his orange 5 was overkill. This is the guy who got me into mountain biking.

I wouldn't however lend my bike (the now remaining Nicolai) to a complete novice irrespective of who they are, if they want to try the sport do what most other people do and either hire one or buy a BSO and give it a go.

I also agree with a lot of comments above that people outside of the sport will struggle to fathom just how expensive some bike components can be.

I mean imagine trying to explain to them how they've just knackered the stanchions on your £700 forks by leaning them against the corner of a brick wall/pointy rock and letting teh bike slide down.

People have different attitudes, some don't care about cosmetic damage and wouldn't notice if you put a big scratch on their bike, so wouldn't worry if they did that to yours.

Non bike riders don't understand the value of bikes and could ruin something without realising.

Slightly OT, but I lent a t shirt to a friend which he ripped to bits in a big off. He didn't replace the shirt, but continued to use it on DH days. Still makes me chuckle, I never said he could keep it. Hi Mark if you read this. 😀

stumpy01

Not intending to mean anything more than I found it "weird"

steve - not a dig at you.

I am just interested in peoples reactions.

I have two different stances on lending.

There are folks I ride with. They can borrow my bikes on a "bend it, mend it" basis - I've never had to repair anything based on anyone borrowing it, though, and quite often bikes come back working better. Certainly cleaner! Obviously this depends on me either having a spare bike at the time, or not riding - this isn't always the case.

Then there are "non biking" friends who fancy coming out to have a try. Again they're welcome to ride whichever bike I'm not (assuming I have two working, which is rare at the moment) but I generally take these folks out somewhere fairly tame, so the chance of damage is slim.

That said, I don't have particularly posh bikes (by MTBer standards!) and tend to build them for longevity.

Depends on who it is, but yeah I generally would. I lent my 2 week old S-Works Epic to a friend for a race a couple of years ago, as his bike hadn't turned up. It came back absolutely spotless, I'd happily lend him a bike again.

I lent someone else some M-Frames years ago on a ride, he said at time "I wouldn't, I'll break them", I said "don't be silly, here, take them". He dropped his tool box on them in the boot of his car, snapping the frames, then refused to replace them because "he said he'd break them". I'd not lend him a bike.

steve_b77, that stanchion against a corner wall thing sends shivers down my spine! 😯

I'm lending my mate my spare bike this weekend. It's rubbish but he's new to it and just wants to have a go. Doubt anything will get broken but if it does it's all old stuff anyway so it doesn't matter.

I'm happy to lend my bikes to certain people on a 'you brake it you mend it' approach but I don't like borrowing other peoples bikes as I'm worried about doing something major

I have lent most of my bikes out, only to people I know well mind.

Some even on loan for a couple of months, best bit is each time the bike came back sparkling clean & lubed up.

Steve I would lend you any of my bikes as I know yours are well looked after, and you would do the same with mine but TBH you would struggle to reach the pedals on my bikes 😉

I would happily lend to most mates, although I do run my brakes continental style so people are less keen to borrow.

I would lend a bike to a compotent mate/friend /associate
I would lend my bikes to my bestest friends
I would lend my bikes to anyone if I was riding with them
I would not lend them to people I know vaugely or not that well

Someone at work wanted to borrow my bike to go for a ride - not happeneing not even considering it

Just depends and you break you pay

I'd lend it to someone I i know's a good rider and rode similar value bikes regulalry.

If my BIL wanted to borrow bike I'd want to borow his car (a choice of an original Escort Mexico with a 2.3 pinto engine or a 105e with a 1.8 crossflow and track cam). On ballance I'm more likely to do damage to the cars 😀

Bregante - Member
It totally depends on which of my mates asked tbh. Whilst out injured this summer I had a call from one of my riding mates to tell me that a mutual friend was planning to ask if he could borrow my bike for a 3 day trip to Scotland. This lad keeps his own (fairly expensive) bike in absolutely shit order, does no maintenance and can't or wont pay for much needed spares or repairs. This was about three weeks before the planned trip. Sure enough a week before the trip, he rang me and asked if he could borrow the bike. I had to tell him no. It's my only mountain bike and I don't see why I should allow somebody else to potentially mistreat it. When I asked him why he didn't want to take his own, he said it was always "breaking down". Other friends I would trust implicitly to bring the bike back in first class condition.

I have to say I would agree with bregante as well - a mate who don't maintain his own bike would not get one of mine for a trip away for 3 days

My and a non-biking mate went to do the Llanberis Path on Snowdon. I lent my "big" bike to him and borrowed my normal riding buddy's "big" bike for me to ride. Doubling the trust!

I trusted my good, newbie mate to be responsible, but I did give him a quite do's and don'ts to cover the basics.

I've always been pretty free with lending bikes and cars etc.

Good friend had his motorbike stolen after Christmas, and I offered him the loan of my BMW R1100S, as I was abroad and not using it. £40 to add him on the insurance and he rode it for 6 months before replacing his Triumph.

Lent plenty of bikes to people over the years too, generally whenever I bring a new bike out to India it is commandeered by a friend for a week or so to try out 😆

Cheers, Rich

Hmm.. I'm not keen on lending or borrowing tbh.

As a former kayaker, this MTBing marlarky can be expensive. I don't earn a huge amount and riding is my main hobby. Mates have offered me bikes to ride in the past, usually when more travel was required than my old 3" fuel could provide. However my feeling was - if I can't afford / justify spending the money on buying a bigger bike then I can't afford / justify having to repair or replace someone elses should the worst happen.

The same goes in lending. If I know that the other person isn't happy spending money on buying or getting their own repaired then I am not happy to loan mine to them. However now i have two really nice bikes and if it is a mate who just wants a try out, or needs a bike and I know they would look after it, then I would be reasonably ok with it.

Like many of the others have said - it all depends on who and why...

I've lent bikes to people before, so that they'll ride with me (i.e. friends that would like to get into biking but can't afford a bike!).

Was very tempted to find someone to loan one or more of my bikes to while I'm not riding on a longer term basis than just a ride, but decided against it as I know my bikes are safe and loved in my garage 😛

I lent my tandem out to a person from this forum about two years ago. I've not seen it or them since.
Never mind, lesson learnt.

Really Monksie? That's a bit off. Wasn't somebody called Jeremy was it?

To the original question: I would lend any of my bikes out to most of my friends, but there are some people who just seem to break loads more stuff than everyone else.

And I wouldn't want to borrow somebody else's bike if I knew they were a bit anal about it or if it was brand new.