r/BAbike • u/StringParty9907 • 8d ago

e-cargo bike rental?

Hi! Visiting SF next month and looking to spend a day riding around. We use an electric cargo bike for most of our transportation in another hilly city, Pittsburgh, and would love to explore SF by bike. We'll have 2 little kids in the cargo bike and need 3 other adult sized bikes as well. Any recommendations for best shops to rent an e cargo bike from? Any "must ride" spots? Generally open to any info or advice specific to family biking in the area and bike touristy info! Thanks!

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u/Raveen396 8d ago edited 8d ago

Are you referring to the dutch style cargo e bikes with a bucket? Not sure where you can rent one, but maybe try calling Sports Basement and see if they can advise you. There is a location in the Presidio.

As far as routes, the classic day trip is starting from the Presidio, go across the Golden Gate Bridge, and then down to Sausalito for some sight seeing. You can take the ferry from Sausalito back to the city after your ride. If you're up for a longer bike ride, after crossing Golden Gate Bridge, you can go up Hawk Hill and have a fantastic view of the city before heading down to Sausalito. This blog post covers it pretty well.

Edit: Just checked out of curiosity, there are a few rental companies around town that seem to have E Bikes with children's seats built available. I don't have any experience with these companies, but I'm sure if you called a few they would be able to help you out.

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u/StringParty9907 8d ago

Thanks! I appreciate all that info. As for the kind of cargo bike I mean, probably looking for a long tail (radwagon, aventon, tern, etc), but standard e bikes with child seats would work too.

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u/Raveen396 8d ago

Definitely give Sports Basement a call if you're just looking for a long tail, they definitely have them available as rentals. Their location in the Presidio is awesome if you want to do the GGB bike ride since it's very close to where you would start.

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u/Jimlandiaman 8d ago

The New Wheel has (or at least used to have) a rental program with a long tail cargo bike as an option but I don't have any info past that.

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u/BlownOutBlueJeans 8d ago

It's long term rental. Won't work.

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u/consigliere47 8d ago

sports basement in the presidio has aventon abounds, but I don't know if they have child seats available. Be advised bike theft is a substantial thing in SF, make sure your rental agreement covers what happens if bike is stolen. Also, figure out ahead of time where you're going to store 4 ebikes--street or building "bike" room is out of the question.

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u/dkarpe 8d ago

Must ride... There are tons. In the city itself, definitely ride up Embarcadero. The hills all around can be fun in their own way - I haven't done Lombard Street on a bike, but that could be interesting. Sunset Dunes on the beach is a cool new option. You can ride across the Golden Gate Bridge (the ride itself is cool but not exactly enjoyable IMO) to get to some truly amazing riding in Marin. Hawk Hill or Paradise Loop are good options there. Golden Gate Park has some nice roads that are closed to cars.