bike rental

Looking for suggestions for company to rent 2 standard hybrid adult bikes from. Need to be directly along/very close to trail and looking for a four day rental in June.

Banning Class 3 bikes has become pretty common for recreational trails around the country, and is emerging as a nationwide standard. Banning Class 2 is a bit unusual, because they don't go any faster than Class 1 - and maybe more importantly, because almost no Class 1 bikes are sold in this country! Nearly everything is Class 2 or Class 3. I won't be surprised if the Legislature revisits this AGAIN in another year or two to rectify this.

It will be interesting to see how GFP enforces this and how the rental outfits respond, since the Mickelson sees so many rental e-fatbikes that are probably Class 3. Most should be "downgradeable" to Class 2 via the control panel by setting the max speed to 20 (even my lower-budget Class 2 Aventon e-bike has a menu-adjustable max speed setting). Also, most can become Class 1 by doing this plus simply removing/disabling the throttle: I have actually done this on my own rig, not to comply with any laws but simply because I prefer to pedal and never use the button. But I suspect that very, VERY few bike owners will actually do that.

Whether or not you have a throttle is a fairly meaningless distinction, so I suspect that enforcement will be mostly focused on the Class 3 bikes.

"Almost no class 1 bikes sold in the country"??? In Utah there are loads of Class 1 eMTB. They are slowly becoming acceptable on trails. Class 2 & 3 are still pariahs because of the throttle on the class 2 and the speed on the class 3. Maybe the issue here is I'm looking at eMTB, not all the other kinds of electric assist bikes that are not really suitable for single track. So.Many.Bikes.So.Little.Time.

I and my wife and friends ride class 3 e-bikes because they were the ones that are lightweight , not because they can go fast. We ride about 60-70% of the time with no power turned on. We use power on hills only and ride the same speed we do on regular bikes, average 11 mph or so. The restrictions I read about for class 3 bikes seem to tell me that we would be completely under the radar. Are people like us ticketed for being on class 3?

Well, if they enforce the law they just passed you SHOULD BE ticketed. If people can just say "I only use the power on hills and only go the speed of regular bikes" to avoid a ticket, then everyone will be riding Class 3 bikes using that logic. Why wouldn't they? I certainly would.

I'm not saying you would be ticketed, because I don't know how strictly they will enforce this new law. But the law won't have much teeth to it if all you have to say is "no worries, I never go over 11 mph, you can trust me."

Maybe not a great analogy, but let's say I carry burglary tools in my car. Can I tell the arresting officer, "no worries, I never actually use them." No one would believe me. Yeah, I know that's a stretch, but you get the idea. Legally, you're riding on a prohibited bike regardless of the speed you are going.

If they don't ticket everyone on a Class 3 e-bike, how do they justify giving anyone a ticket for riding a Class 3 bike? Selective enforcement almost never works.

Here's the legal thing: If you run over and hurt someone riding your Class 3 bike when you knew they were prohibited, do you risk being sued? I don't know, but I wouldn't chance it myself.

Either enforce the laws or tell legislatures to quit wasting time and money passing them. JMHO.

Full disclosure: I'm an old-school rider on a ME-BIKE who has had two major accidents since 2018 (one on the Mickelson) caused by E-Bike riders on throttled bikes. So, I didn't lose any sleep when South Dakota banned Class 2 and 3 on the Mickelson. We'll see if the new law actually works. I have my doubts.

I AM savvy enough to know that e-bikes ARE the future. It's the American way. That doesn't mean I have to like them! :)

My advice to anyone who finds the few hills on the Mickelson difficult to ride is to get off and walk your bike for a stretch. I have. You'll enjoy the scenery that you might otherwise miss and be ready to coast down the other side! It's a beautiful trail.

It's interesting that around here most e-bikers on local trails are 20-30 somethings that at least appear in rather good shape. Just an observation.

Dandy Don, you are correct about that. Almost every e-bike I saw on the Mickelson Trail last year was being ridden by a person well under 30 and probably closer to 20 years old. And in good enough shape not to actually need the electric assist. My local bike shop owner says e-bikes are the first choice of most young people. And they aren't shy about looking at higher-end models.

He predicts that within a decade regular bikes will be about as common as cars with manual transmissions. I find that hard to believe, but I still have (and like) RIM BRAKES on my Trek SL 6. So that shows you how far in the past I am. :)