A word of caution to females, if you enter this store without a Y chromosome, no one will listen to you. We wanted to rent bicycles to ride the Root River Trail. I was with my spouse. I am of a certain age, but ride everyday at home and log over 3,000 miles a year. The young male employee at the General Store looked me over and set out a grandma bike with a huge heavy frame, a double kickstand like a motorcycle, and a seat as wide as a Lazy-boy recliner. "Don't you have anything lighter?" I asked. He then proposed a purple bike with a big frame bearing huge welds that looked like it might be from Walmart. The seat was a little narrower. For my spouse, he brought down a Fuji hybrid with sort of weird handlebars. "Can't you give her one of those too?" my spouse pleaded on my behalf. "Something lighter?" But the cocky young male employee replied that there was no difference in the weight of the two bicycles, or if there was, I would not be able to tell the difference.
So after signing the "I promise not to sue you if I die" waivers and paying by check for two days' rental, we set off on the trail. About 3 or 4 miles into the ride we realized the tires were severely under-inflated. There are some bike fix-it stations along the trail, but none of the pumps worked. We finally went to a gas station in one of the towns that thankfully had a free air compressor pump and were able to pressurize the tires. So be sure to ask before leaving the store if they will pump the tires for you (but don't expect them to do it if you are a female, as you "won't know the difference").
The derailleur on my bike was damaged and it skipped gears - clunk clunk- clunk. It was also extremely noisy and made a rasping and grating sound in all but two of the gear combinations. Nevertheless, I completed my ride to Rushford and back - 38 miles. I decided that I would like to exchange the bike I had paid to rent for one that was not damaged and noisy so the next morning (Monday) we went to the shop. A sign in the front window said they would open at 3:00. I called the number of a cell phone, presumably the manager, a female who had returned my call when I had previously inquired about rentals. She had invited me to call or text that number "anytime" if I had needs or questions. I will say that this female is very responsive and courteous. She said the store would open at 10:00 (not 3:00) and I certainly could exchange the bike for a different one. "It probably got knocked over and damaged and no one told us," she said.
I set off again for the store and this time it was open and a different young male employee was in charge. I told him my story, how the shifting was all screwed up and it was extremely noisy. "Well," he countered, "the noise isn't coming from THERE. I can just fix this one for you." Now my spouse interceded and said, "Can't you just give her a different bike? One more like this?" he asked, meaning a hybrid. The negotiations went on. Young male offered a different purple bike. Finally, he gave my spouse a different Fuji hybrid and I took the one spouse had been riding. This was happening when there was clearly a full rack of hybrids in the store and they supposedly do not take reservations.
If you choose to rent from this place and you are female, prepare to be treated differently. read more