Summer Bike Rental in Crested Butte, CO

June 15, 2011 5:23 PM

What's the most inexpensive way to have a bike in Crested Butte for one month this summer?

I'll be playing at a music festival in Crested Butte, CO from July 15th until August 9 this summer. I would love to have a mountain bike for my entire stay, as I'll be housed a couple miles from town, and I'd like to take advantage of the supreme trails Crested Butte has to offer. I checked with a local store and they told me it would cost $900 to rent a mountain bike for one month!!! That is way outside my budget. Is there a way to get a bike for cheap, as an extended rental, or perhaps buying a used bike from someone? I wouldn't mind spending $200 dollars; maybe that is totally unrealistic.

posted by ReeMonster to travel & transportation around Crested Butte, CO (9 answers total)

Why not buy one on craigslist and sell it when you're ready to move on?
posted by juliapangolin at 5:29 PM on June 15, 2011

Checked craigslist already, just to see if anything was out there.. the pickings are slim but I'll keep checking up as it gets closer.
posted by ReeMonster at 5:31 PM on June 15, 2011

How are you getting from NYC to Crested Butte? There was just a thread about packing and flying bikes, or having them shipped via a local bike store. Is there some reason you can't take your bike with you?
posted by DarlingBri at 5:43 PM on June 15, 2011

Great advice and thanks for the link.. my bike is more of a townie for riding around NYC, not a mountain bike. I guess I'm curious if there are any good used bike shops where I could buy something for cheap, or someplace to take an extended rental where I DON'T have to shell out $900 bucks.
posted by ReeMonster at 5:50 PM on June 15, 2011

I'll second the buy used and resell suggestion. The only way you'll loose a lot is if you trash it. Feel free to get something even nice if you can afford to have the money tied up until you sell it. MUCH better than renting.
posted by Murray M at 5:52 PM on June 15, 2011

If you can't buy used in CO you could buy a bike for under $200 in NYC (there are like 100 on Craigslist) and ship that to CO, then sell it there?
posted by DarlingBri at 6:42 PM on June 15, 2011

I'm thinking the used bike stores in Crested Butte (if there are any) will probably not be the place to find the best deals, but used bike stores a bit further afield (or even Craigslist) could be a good bet. Consider Gunnison, Montrose, Grand Junction, or even Denver. If you're flying in or driving through any of those places, I'd suggest you check out used bikes there.
posted by forza at 6:59 PM on June 15, 2011

If you're flying into denver and are ok with a 10 year-old hardtail, I have a Klein Pulse you can have for a month.
posted by craven_morhead at 8:12 AM on June 16, 2011

Bikes ship free on Frontier Airlines (this is a relatively recent policy change).
posted by genug at 4:23 PM on June 17, 2011