Got an email from them this morning promoting this…who will be first to be crazy enough to try this for a race? (no tri bikes though, I think they might have abandoned that market)
Rent a highish-end bike for a week for 200 bucks…BMC, Cervelo, Pinarello
Here’s the blurb:
Buying a new bike is something that should be easy. But with each passing year more and more information piles up – catalogs, rider reviews, word-of-mouth, forum postings, magazine “shoot-outs”, and countless other tests and testimonials. You owe it to yourself to make an educated choice, but in trying to assimilate a truly mammoth body of information it’s easy to suffer from “paralysis by analysis.” There’s only one cure to this, of course, and that’s to ride your dream bike – not just read about it. Well, now you can – no matter where you live in the continental United States.
Competitive Cyclist has partnered with some of the finest road and mountain bike brands the industry has to offer to serve as an authorized Demo Center. We’re located in Little Rock, Arkansas – just a short distance from the epic climbs of Mt. Nebo and Mt. Magazine, a billion miles of empty farm roads suitable for a whole season of spring classics, and the IMBA recognized epic trails of Syllamo and Womble. But just because you don’t live near Little Rock doesn’t mean you can’t try one of our demo bikes. In fact, our demo program is specifically designed to** ship the demo bike right to your door via UPS Ground**.
We have size runs of many of our top models. Each is built with quality high-performance components as we’d like for you to ride it like you’d build it! It’s the best of all worlds: We’ll ship a top-notch bicycle to your doorstep, and you get a full week to ride the daylights out of it on the roads or trails you know best.
How does the program work? It’s simple: A demo costs $200. This covers the cost of both the outbound and the inbound UPS Ground shipping plus a nominal fee for 7 days of riding. The bike will arrive at your door fully tuned-up and only minimally disassembled (you’ll simply need to attach the bar to the stem, insert the seatpost, and attach the wheels). You’ll get clear assembly instructions and a pre-printed UPS return tag. We want you to spend the week riding the bike, not fretting about putting it together or getting it back to us. The demo period is 7 days. We ask that you ship the bike back to us on the next business day after these 7 days are complete. If you choose to purchase a frameset or bike from us within 60 days of returning the demo to us, we’ll credit $100 of the demo cost towards your purchase. When you book your demo, if the size & model you choose is available it will ship the next business day. If it’s currently on demo, our site will indicate the earliest available date the demo can ship to you and the day on which you can expect it to arrive. You’re also welcome to visit our facility in Little Rock, sign out a bike, and hit the wealth of beautiful roads we have here in Central Arkansas. For $50 a day you can test any of our bikes. We’ll fit you to bike(s) of your choice and show you some great ride options. If you ultimately buy a frameset or bike from us from us, we’ll credit that $50 towards your purchase