Riding and renting in North Salt Lake City

[Keith A]

We are planning a trip to Utah and will be out there this spring. We will be visiting a variety of locations, including some hiking in Zion National Park. I will also be visiting a cycling friend in North Salt Lake city and plan to go on a ride with him. I'm sure he has some routes to ride, but I wanted to see if there were any "must do" rides out there. Even though I live on the flat coast in Florida, I do enjoy riding in the mountains -- just not sure how the elevation will affect me.

I'm looking for a place to rent a decent road bike. My friend mentioned giving this bike shop is SLC a try...
http://slcbike.com/about/rental-bikes-pg131.htm

Are there any other shops I should consider?

TIA.

[bking]

I would have said Contender Bikes, but the site doesn't show rentals. I keep a CAAD 10 in our SLC office, and if a 58 square fits you, you'd be welcome to it.

Rides, pick a canyon, Emmigration or Mill Creek a bit more relaxed; Cottonwood Big or Little if you want to suffer some. I like Alpine Loop just south of SLC, east of
Lehi. You can't go wrong.

[alvinholbrook]

I like Contender Bicycles in central Salt Lake City for most things. They hosted a few events with Moots, Chris King, and SRAM while NAHBS was in SLC. They're certainly one of the best shops I've been to in the area.

That being said I've only been in SLC for six months or so, and I haven't been to every single shop, nor have I done every single road ride there is out here. There is good mountain biking close by though!

[Keith A]

Thanks for the replies so far, keep them coming. I'll check out Contender Bikes.

bking -- Thanks for the offer and a CAAD 10 would have been great, but a 58 is a bit to much for me. I can work with a 54 to 56 cm TT length.

[p nut]

I've heard good things about Contender. If you'll be in North Salt Lake, I'd also check out Bountiful Bicycle (few miles north). Good guys there. They're a Specialized shop, with few other brands available.

Or Millcreek Bicycle. You can then ride Millcreek Canyon, then ride few miles south on Wasatch Blvd and ride up Big Cottonwood Canyon. Then a few miles south, and head up Little Cottonwood Canyon. You'll get your fill of riding in the mountains.

One other cool ride from North Salt Lake is taking Legacy Trail bike path up to Layton, head west towards Antelope Island. They've got buffalo roaming around there, and scenery is beautiful. Not much climbing, but should be ~100 miles. If you don't have time for that, either drive up further north, or take the Frontrunner train up to Layton. This is just a random GPX I found, which starts further down in Salt Lake, but outlines the route well.

https://ridewithgps.com/routes/4073013

If you have time to ride out in Park City, that would be a good option as well.

As bking mentioned, Alpine Loop is great--one of my favorites. But there is still snow at the top, which won't clear for at least another month? Plus, we're supposed to get snow this week. Unfortunately, I just sold my dedicated road bike, but if you do head down this way, I've got a 56cm Warbird you can ride. Not exactly great road bike, but not bad, either.