29er mnt bike demo rentals available?

[ColoScott]

Who offers mid to upper-end 29er bike rentals/demos? I am coming into town in August for 10 days to visit family (Rochester), and am interested to ride the Oakland County trails. My home ride is a Trek/GF Rumblefish, doesn't necessarily need to be an equivalant, but close at least. Hard tail do the job in the O.C., or do many ride F/S? Thank you. Scott

[punkerfinger]

Trail's Edge over in Milford is the nearest shop I know of that rents mountain bikes. It's about 30 minutes from Rochester, but just up the road from a few very good trails (Pontiac Lake Rec. Area and Highland Rec. Area).
As far as FS vs. HT, it's a mix. There's certainly nothing in Oakland County that requires full suspension, but plenty of people just prefer them. As for rentals, though, it looks like Trail's Edge just rents FS bikes (Cannondale RZ120).

Here's the link: http://www.trails-edge.com/rentalservices.htm

[ColoScott]

Thank you for the heads-up, spoke to Trail's Edge and reserved a 29er Salsa Spearfish for a week...thank you Trail's Edge for stepping up the rental fleet! I see you are in Rochester, understand Bloomer is a good ride. Thinking maybe also Independence Oaks? Addison Oaks? Bald Mountain? Any suggestions please let me know. Def going to hit Highland & Pontiac as well.

[c0nsumer]

Thank you for the heads-up, spoke to Trail's Edge and reserved a 29er Salsa Spearfish for a week...thank you Trail's Edge for stepping up the rental fleet! I see you are in Rochester, understand Bloomer is a good ride. Thinking maybe also Independence Oaks? Addison Oaks? Bald Mountain? Any suggestions please let me know. Def going to hit Highland & Pontiac as well.

To be honest, Bloomer will probably be really confusing unless you can get someone to show you around. Independence Oaks also doesn't have any trails open to bikes.

I'd say (in no particular order) if you're wanting the area's more challenging / interesting trails:

- Bald Mountain North Unit (Fast, flowy, wide, open.)
- Addison Oaks (Tighter, Smooth, flowy, next door to Bald Mountain. Ride between the two.)
- Stony Creek (Spiderweb, but find route maps here)
- Pontiac Lake
- Highland
- Potowatomi

[punkerfinger]

Agreed on Bloomer. It's a good trail and I ride there pretty often, but it's a little schizophrenic and hard to follow if you're not familiar with it. They have recently put up some signs so it's less confusing than it used to be, but there are still some confusing trail splits and some new trail that hasn't made it onto any of the maps yet.

As mentioned before, Pontiac Lake and Highland are two of the most challenging trails in the area and definitely worth hitting. Addison/Bald are really fun fast trails that link up to form a 17-mile loop. You can see a map of how to link them here.

[ColoScott]

Highly appreciated guys, thank you! Will hit Highland when I pick up the bike at Trails Edge. The family lives right off the Paint Creek Trail (Livernois & Orion), so I can see this as an "out-the-door" ride up the trail, do the Baldy / Addy loop, then back. Growing up in Rochester (a little nostalgia here), hanging out at all these parks, hikes up to that Stoney Creek look-out hill with a 6er...really looking to cruising around on the mtb. Again, thank you for the info, if you ever need a heads-ups for a trip out to Durango, Moab, Fruita just let me know.

[knick]

Awesome to hear trails edge was able to hook you up. Great bike shop....

Let me know if you want someone to ride with when you get hear. I have rode most of the trails
on that list and can show you the decent routes of stoney, bald mountain/Addison oaks, and pontiac (no route ad its a loop).

[jalopy jockey]

For Bloomer it's confusing but not bad if you have the legs. The rule of thumb assuming you park in the park is if you want out go UP.

[kyleRIG29er]

I think the D's are going to finish marking the last couple confusing spots, and it should be fairly straight forward. Or if you post in here, I'm sure one of us can show you around Bloomer.

[ColoScott]

I am interested to pick up some rides with you guys, and join in if there are any group rides. Be in town August 2 - 12th, staying in Rochester. (H.S. reunion party at Mr B's on the 3rd)
Read in a post about the lack of women riding around SE MI, entirely different story out here; hotties all over the trails, and many are bad-ass riders.

[utabintarbo]

The best group rides in the area are on Tuesday (Tree Farm), Wednesday (Stony Creek), and Thursday (Addison Oaks). The Tree Farm is in Novi, but well worth the trip out there. In addition, I'm sure that you will have little trouble finding a guide for almost any other day/trail.

[ColoScott]

cool, I will plan to make a few of the groups rides.