jadocs

My kids....yes under supervision until I am confident they are safe and understand how to care for it. Anyone else...no, unless it was a beater bike that I didn't care about.

bikemig 

I like keeping a relatively cheap vintage MTB around as a loaner. Those bikes are tough to destroy and easy to set up for different sized riders. But with the pandemic, I gave away the two specialized rockhoppers (one was from the late 80s, the other early 90s) that I used as loaners. I just picked up a Peugeot UO 10 for $40 that I'll likely keep as a loaner at least for a while.

aspalmat

This!

Bosco13

Yes, maybe, no. Loaded question.

Riveting

When he was visiting last year, I let my 27 yr old son borrow my number one for a 25 mile solo ride, because I wanted him to experience the awesomeness of carbon, Di2, and a power meter. Upon returning I simply got a "cool" out of him. In hindsight he should've gotten the "cool" trainer bike.

350htrr

I lent out my E-Bike once... Never again... I can usually get over 100Km out of it before the battery is dead/close to dead...(1 bar left) I got it back after 25Km of this dude riding it like a moped and the battery was stone cold dead... NOT a good thing to do with a $1,000 battery... (or any battery for that matter).

bmcer

My two bikes are like underwear. They're meant to fit my body and my style. And like my underwear, they don't get loaned out.

caloso

Re my kid, sure. We actually shared a pit bike for CX this year. And I have some friends I'd loan bikes to. Others not so much.

epnnf

When I was about 8yo, I let an annoying guy ride around w/my bike; we were @ baseball practice. After a few minutes, I wanted it back; he played chicken w/me; rode right toward me slowly; I didn't move- the front bolt-on axle tore into my leg- 16 stitches.

Cyclist0108

I gave a bike to a friend of mine after his house burned in the CZU fire and he lost everything. But it still managed to annoy me. One of the first things he did was put something like motor oil all over a freshly waxed chain because he thought it was too dry.




i have to learn to let go.

Cyclist0108

No good deed goes unpunished.

downtube42

My son, sure. He's a skilled artisan who cares about quality; his standards are higher than mine. It would come back better than it left.
My daughter's too short.
For friends/neighbors, if they are cyclists I'd loan them anything except my Fog Cutter; I want to be the one to scratch it first.

CAT7RDR

My three bikes are clipless and I do not have spare platform pedals in the parts bin. I also wear size 13 US shoes. So unless they have their own SPD or SPD-SL shoes, it is a non-starter. I would loan out my MTB to a trusted friend or family member but it is such a porker at 35+ lbs, no one would want it.

I would never ask to ride another cyclist's bike because it is a very personal item.

mrv 

Kid - yes, he's my kid. (My daughter's my kid too, but she rides horses. She bought her own. We don't share our rides. We're both happy with that.)
Friend - possibly, but not probably. Very unlikely actually.
Neighbor - no. He/she can buy my bike and take it. But no borrow.

I loaned a prized Schwinn Paramount w/ upgraded Ultegra 600 Tri-Color components to a very good acquaintance. He was training for a tri. He was cross-chaining up a steep climb and the derailleur went into the wheel.
He was transporting the bike in the back of his car, so I suspect the derailleur may have been misaligned at that point, then made then poor riding skills on top of that.
The bike shop realigned the hanger (steel is real, Dorothy!) and he bought a new 105 derailleur, and the LBS fixed the wheel.

So there ya go.

Riveting

You learned multiple life lessons that day. Don't loan out your stuff to annoying guys. And don't try to win at chicken, because the winners always lose.

Mojo31

Sounds like you need to find better friends!

huffman 

Family yes, but only with my backup bikes. I let a friend bring a coworker on a ride and I loaned him my backup mountain bike, 300 yards into the ride he had destroyed the rear derailleur, chain, hanger. Ride over! For the life of me I don't know how he did it. $278.51 later my bike was rideable again. They never offered to help with the repairs (both make way more money than I do), I never asked them for it. Me, I would have footed the entire bill. Ya live & ya learn.

Koyote

I've often loaned out a motor vehicle, so why not a bike? But in both cases, it depends on the person and the situation.

Regarding tools: we live in a ridiculously individualistic society. Given how long they will last with minimal maintenance, it is a bit silly for each household to have its own lawn mower, snowblower, air compressor, etc. It makes much more sense to share things. My neighbors have some tools that I lack, but there are other things that I can offer them. e.g., both of my next-door neighbors have air compressors, which makes it easier for me to mount tubeless tires. And I'm a very good baker. It all works out, as long as everyone is reasonable.

nesdog

Loan out my Domane? Uh, no.

Luckily, my daughter has no interest in riding my bike. She has a kinda hybrid mtb I got for her at a shop years ago. My wife has her own Giant.

Kabuki12

My daughter has a couple of nice road bikes that I helped her build. My neighbor loves his Harley so no interest in vintage road bikes. I hired a homeless guy to paint the floors in my shop and the third or fourth day he showed up on foot saying his bicycle got stolen. I had a mid level Specialized mountain bike I was no longer riding so I put it on the stand and tuned it up , the tires were almost new. He showed up at my shop a few days later with it rattle canned bright green . The whole bike , tires wheels everything, but not before changing the handlebars out for some ape hangers. The brake levers were tied up around the top tube! He said it didn’t work well so he made some changes to improve it. Never again! He destroyed the bike in less than a week. Oh and he swapped the nice alloy wheel with one of his buddies for a nutted Rusty chrome steel one. I would only loan or give a bike to someone I know well that would take care of it.

shrtdstncrdr

I'm not a bank or a credit union, so no. No loans.

Plus my kids have a couple bikes each.

I just realized how many bikes are here. I don't want to think about it...

Darth Lefty 

I’m not even ready to give my kids my Legos

Helderberg

I would lend a bike to go on a ride but for a log term, Bye and thanks, see you in a month, kind of burrow I don't think so. It would depend on the person as I am careful with my stuff so it would be hard for me to just let it out of the garage and wave. I made a living as a licensed plumber for 48 years and respected my tools as a means of making a living. I respected the tools of all of the other craftsmen on the jobs as their means of making a living so lending mine out would again depend on the person. I have a daughter that I let borrow anything she wants as she has respect for what they mean to me but even with that she doesn't return them in a condition that I would have if the situation was reversed. As far as anything breaking on something I have borrowed, there is no question as to my paying to have it repaired or replaced. This is the reason I have tools that I have used once and they now hang in my shop because if I have to repair/replace it for you I might as well buy it and have it. Honestly, I have not always been of this mindset. I used to loan out anything I had but got burned many times that now I really think twice before I offer.
Be safe, Frank.

OldsCOOL

Of my fleet of 10, 5 stay put (one classic racer I barely ride due to pristine condition). If those near me need a bike while we ride it’s a different story than the bike being out of my sight. I’m generous with my bikes but not unwise.

Inusuit

As others have said, it depends on the bike and the family/friend. As a general rule, I don't lend anything that would upset me if it didn't come back. The guy I ride with could borrow any of my bikes, books, firearms, chain saw, or tools because he takes very good care of his own stuff and has always returned what he borrowed. Son or grandson could borrow any of my things including bikes short term. Again, they take care of their own bikes so probably wouldn't need mine.