My partner & I pre-booked bikes online from the Bike Rental Central Park company last weekend.
When we arrived at the offices, it was utter chaos as it was full of the touts they use to attract business, with their customers.
My partner had to change his bike before we left the shop as his seat was wobbly - although was told by the assistant, "They're all like that".
After walking our bikes to Central Park (you can't ride on the sidewalk), I found that the higher gears on my bike just didn't work at all, so had to ride in a low gear throughout the Park.
After a coffee in the Park, we returned to our bikes only to find that the bike lock supplied had jammed and we were unable to unlock it despite trying the right code several times.
I phoned the Bike Rental Central Park office and was put on hold until my phone ran out of credit as I was using a UK mobile. We had to walk back to the office and I asked to speak to the manager but was passed from person to person until eventually one of the assistants agreed to help and my partner rode back to the Park with him to take him to the bikes which the assistant eventually freed only by taking the bikes apart.
No-one in the office apologised for our negative experience and we were also refused a refund as we were told no-one in the office could authorise that and the manager of Bike Rental Central Park - whose name wasn't given to me - was on leave. The only compensation we were offered was another bike hire, which was the last thing I wanted. As well as being such a disappointing experience, it was our last full day in New York and the delay caused by having to sort out the bikes impacted our plans for the rest of the day.
I've since written to the parent company - Go NY Tours - to ask for a refund. They haven't responded. If I could give Bike Rental Central Park a minus score, I would.
Do yourself a favour - pay a bit more and go with a more reputable company such as Bike and Roll NYC.