This article shows some of the potential things to do with a downtown bike rental store. It also highlights some of the economic benefits of having the trail system connected as downtown workers have now put places such as the SouthSide Works and business district in their range of lunch options due to the ease of cycling there.
Friday, April 18, 2008
By Larry Walsh, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
The 5-year-old who handled a bike with skills beyond his years.
A 78-year-old woman who rented a bicycle for a month to train for 150 mile ride on the Great Allegheny Passage.
European visitors who are used to getting around cities on bicycles.
Tom Demagall and his fiance, Britt Keefer of Monroeville, saw them all — and more — during their first year of operating the Golden Triangle Bike-n-Blade rental shop at 600 First Ave., Downtown.
Their full-service bicycle and inline skate shop, between the First Avenue Garage and the PNC Building, opens for the season at 10 a.m. tomorrow. It’s a short walk from the garage or from the large public lot next to the Greyhound Bus station.
They have about 40 bikes, including two recumbents, one tandem and one three-wheeler. The fees are $8 an hour or $30 a day for the single bikes and the recumbents and $12 an hour or $40 a day for the tandem. They have child trailers at $7 an hour with a rental bike or $10 an hour if you bring your own bike. Rentals include a helmet.
Inline skates, sizes 6 to 14, are $5 an hour or $20 a day.
“Things went great last year,” said Demagall, 34. “Now that I’m organized and have some knowledge about who rents bicycles and how to reach them, I am hoping for an even better season this year.”
NEWSLETTER