Working on something that has been near and dear to my heart for the better part of a decade. Of course, it involves bikes. But much more. High-tech, you ask? Yes, if you count carbon, DA-10 or Campy 11-speed. Web 2.0? Absolutely. Tweetable? Yep. But at its core, the concept is uniquely human and personal. As in you, a devoted cyclist who loves to ride and travels on business — or for pleasure.
So here’s a few quick focus group questions: When you’re in a hotel, do you wish you had a few hours and your beloved bike to really see surroundings and stay fit? Would you kill to have a pro team car pick you up at the lobby and serve as personal guide, logistics maestro and protector so you could experience some of the best training spots for a given city or area? I mean, seriously, the places (including beyond category tour-quality climbs) where the pros might even been seen when in town? Would you enjoy circuit-training on a TT course? Or maybe a less-intensive experience that provides you with great local intelligence and a “self-guided” cycling survival kit? How about a “townie” cruise in the heart of downtowns?
Think about it. I am. A bunch. Every day. And meeting with some pretty cool folks to explore and test the concept. Please share your thoughts here at BikeCrave.
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This is a fantastic idea. I would any day love to try out some such service and explore the city I am in or the trails/climbs it has to offer.
In any case, there are would be a passionate bunch of cyclists in all major cities and they would be doing their rides regularly and this system can see if more people can tag along when they are traveling!
Would be interested in hearing about more of this.
If you ever plan to take if off the ground add Bangalore (India) to your list cities and we will do the rest here
wow! that would be so incredible! i would love to have something like that!
I don’t know if I need the full service, although it certainly would be nice. The hardest part I have when traveling with my bikes to new cities is knowing which streets, routes, etc are bike friendly or have low traffic. Often times I rely on contacting local bike shops.
For me the ultimate service while staying at a hotel would be as follows:
- contact hotel concierge in advance with key measurements of my bike setup
- arrive at the hotel and the concierge will have a bike delivered which is set up to my specs by their contracted LBS
- the bike will also be equipped with a Garmin preloaded with the best local routes
- an email will contain route descriptions
Happy riding!
Pradeep – Bangalore! What a beautiful city – it seems like a life time ago. When I was young(er) and unattached I had the great pleasure of traveling your country for a couple of years. My journeys brought me through Bangalore several times when traveling South to Kanyakumari. Beautiful memories!
This is a great idea. I can see it ranging from profitable business to grassroots bike borrowing. I put together my website as a way for tourists and local cyclist to find a see new routes in San Diego based on what they want. Now there are sites like mapmyride.com that do a great job doing what I was doing so I have drastically slowed down adding rides. I try to live by the idea that I am teaching my 2.5 year old, “Sharing is cool”. Let share ride info and bikes if we can, and for those that can I think a bike concierge would be really cool.
Thanks for the feedback! I’ve been bouncing the concept off of cyclists, both craved, and not-quite as craved. Testing it more this week. Meeting w/ a bike company rep, and hope to begin draft B-plan over Labor Day weekend with a tech startup / VC star who shares same passion for riding on road — and dirt.