I am coming in to Peoria for a wedding in a few weeks and was looking to possibly rent a road bike for the day to get a quick ride in. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to find any place that rents them out. On a related note, how is the Rock Island greenway for riding? Looks like I will be renting an Airbnb fairly close to it.
Posted Feb 16, 2022, 12:46 AM UTC
See if Bushwhacker rents bikes and you can get on the trail in the same parking lot. It's in junction city. The trail is great for riding too.
I think their is some type of app bike rental in that area across from the Mexican place near Eat/Evolve & Cheese Nuts, at least it (the bike rack) is full of bikes at night and it's not where Bushwackers is but the plaza itself.
There was. It was called zagster. Unfortunately, they went under in 2020 and the bikes are just frozen in time locked to those racks.
Went by today, it is now called city bike or something like that according to the signs.
City cycle was the service by company zagster. Defunct and unable to use.
Thank you for the suggestion. On the phone with them right now, and they do not rent, but they are very helpful.
No problem. I used to rent skis from them. So figured it was worth a shot. Hopefully they pointed you in the right direction.
They suggested Peoria Bike Coop - but they haven’t answers the phone any time I have tried calling, or the Trek store - who said they would rent but cannot due to low stock.
Try Illinois cycle and fitness. It too is located right on the Rock Island trail but right before it turns to gravel. Head south if they rent you a road bike.
https://www.illinoiscycle.net/
I'd give you my brother's Schwinn, just to get it out of my garage, but the shocks are locked and it's a mountain bike with balled tires.
The co op has weird hours.
Peoria Bike Co-op might be able to help / point you in the right directions for a rental.
Thank you, I was finally able to speak to someone there. They do not rent out bikes, but they are working with me to help me figure something out. They seem like good dudes. If anyone reads this thread in the future, this seems like the way to go, unless someone opens up a rental shop.
Peoria used to have Zagster bike share but they went out of business during the summer of 2020. 😏
Can’t help on the rental, but the greenway is the premier riding trail in the city. It’s a rail-to-trail route, so nice long, flat grades and very new (within the city), so the paving is in great shape. If you ride out past the city limits, the surface changes to a crushed stone/sand type, but it’s still a nice trail.
Thanks, if I can find a bike, it may be fun to see how well I can handle the flats. Here in Los Angeles, I get a ton of elevation gains, and little to no sustained flatland.
I used to ride in LA. Lived in Atwater Village and commuted downtown on the river path, then over the hill to Glendale Blvd. Since the high elevation point was mid-route, I always joked it was uphill both ways.
I’m not a hills guy at all, but once. Just once. I started in Griffith Park at the zoo, and made it over the peak over the fire roads. My greatest cycling achievement.
The River is about as flat as we get around here, but I guess my view is a bit off since I live on the side of the hill next to Griffith near the Observatory. Those are pretty normal routes for me, going up to the observatory, Hollywood sign. Starting by the zoo, I am assuming you probably did Trash Truck hill and looped back down around the golf course back to the zoo. That is a nice route. That hill going up Glendale Blvd isn't anything to laugh at either. That is a pretty sustained climb, even if it isn't the steepest hill in town. If I am going that direction, I normally eject and go around the Silver Lake Reservoir because the traffic gets a little nuts near the 2.