Peer to peer bike rental - now there's an idea

Just spotted this story: http://www.fastcoexist.com/1678935/spinlister-peer-to-peer-bike-sharing-gets-rolling about a new service, currently rolling out in the US, which allows people to rent their bikes out on a peer-to-peer basis, including protection from theft and damage, similar to buyer-protection via Paypal.

An interesting concept, certainly, and with variable price-points, you can justify renting out a beater or your favourite bike. I, for one, would be happy to lend bikes out, given the protection. Price a decent ride at £20 a day in Cambridge and you could get all sorts of hipster tourists paying your bills, surely? You could probably even build something up (as if we need another excuse) just for rentals - you could be making a profit pretty quickly, especially in Cambridge where the bike is a way of life...

What do you guys reckon? Would you lend your pride and joy out to a stranger?

great idea. insurance particulars are the problem thought right.

Yeah, I guess so, although 'like for like replacement' via the site seems to make sense. I guess the best approach would be to build a bike and keep all the receipts for proof of cost in case something goes awry...

Update on this from Techcrunch this week:

http://techcrunch.com/2012/05/17/spinlister-100-a-week/

So I'm currently in New York for work and I've just arranged to rent https://www.spinlister.com/bikes/1 from tomorrow morning until Sunday afternoon - site/booking worked really well and it turns out I'm actually renting from the CEO of the site - so I'll be sure to ask him when we can all hawk out our own fixies to stupid tourists...

Now all I have to do is work out the traffic - wish me luck!

So I'm currently in New York for work and I've just arranged to rent https://www.spinlister.com/bikes/1 from tomorrow morning until Sunday afternoon - site/booking worked really well and it turns out I'm actually renting from the CEO of the site - so I'll be sure to ask him when we can all hawk out our own fixies to stupid tourists...

Now all I have to do is work out the traffic - wish me luck!

I'm back! All went to plan and the website worked well - bike was less of a success, basically fine, but apparently I'm too snobbish to ride in anything but mechanical perfection nowadays. Fortunately I had a multi-tool with me, so was able to tweak and tighten to my desire and a quick trip into a bike shop got some air in my tires (Thank God) and got me on my way.

Apparently the plan is to expand into the UK fairly soon (they need some deals on things like insurance) and potentially that'll include the ability to upload from and rent in Cambridge.

I for one still think this is a great idea - There's no better way to see a new city than on a bike and those horrible hybrids you can rent everywhere don't make things fun, so this is a great idea.

Hey all, So I'm hoping the weathers going to be nice tomorrow and was planning a ride along the busway with my S/O however her bike is a piece of shit city shopper. I've been trying to sway her into getting a new bike (fixed) so she can enjoy the longer rides with me. I was wondering if anyone on the forum would be willing to rent a bike to us for the day? She's around 5"6' so anything <54cm would be great. I don't expect (or would want) anything expensive just a smooth running beater would do. I realize I'm fairly new to the forum and don't actually know any of you in person but I would be happy to leave my laptop/s and passport as collat for any loan.

Sorry I have nothing to offer, but you could always hire a bicycle from Station Cycles for £10 for the day if nothing pops up?

Sadly I sold exactly the bike you want a few weeks back...

No spare bike, but I have a tandem...? It works as a single speed, need to get a new wheel sorted that'd accept gears. Might take a little getting used to, give me a shout if you're interested? I'll only be back from college at 4 though, could be a little late.

Haha I think I'd have to pass on the tandem I wouldn't know where to begin, thank you for the offer though. Probably gonna grab something geared from one of the hire places. If anyone does come across anything cheap in the Cambridge area give me a shout :)

Fair enough, thought I'd mention it. If you ever want to give it a go let me know, also sheldon has a decent introduction to tandem cycling http://sheldonbrown.com/tandem.html