A Bicycle Named Desire

I had a great time riding around New Orleans on bike. Great service and reasonably priced. Mr. and I rented bikes for two days and had a ball. Staff were friendly and helpful.

When looking up bikes rental places on the net, I came upon ‘A Bicycle Named Desire’ and just loved simple, streamlined website as well as their mission statement! So I looked no further in deciding. They are conveniently located to the French Quarter, Frenchman St, Marigny, Bywater, the River Front and the Ninth Ward. You can bob and weave on your cruiser and check out the lovely houses and quaint neighborhoods, stopping to have a coffee and eat at quaint restaurants along the way. And when you get back, you can check out all the cool, fun things they have for sale in the shop. It’s hard not to want to buy everything in there! They take care of you at Bicycles Named Desire and I will proudly wear my new found T-​shirt! Thanks Guys!!!

Rent from here! They are the best! Trish is awesome and they really do hook it up with no extra charges. I was surprised to see that baskets, lights and helmets were included. Bikes were in good condition, we asked for the Public ones and they were a great ride.
The shop is cute too, they sell a lot of stuff from local artists.

I highly recommend A Bicycle Named Desire for your bike rental needs when visiting New Orleans! We loved having bikes for the afternoon… it’s a fantastic way to explore the city, and easy to do since so much of Nola is bike-​friendly.
They have great rates too: only $ 20 for 4 hours or $ 25 for a full business day (open until 5pm) or $ 35 for 24 hours. The bikes were large and comfortable, easy to ride. Comes with locks and a map too.
My lock broke when we were at the park and all we had to do was call them and they had someone meet us within 15 minutes with a new one! Very professional and friendly!

Great place. Very quick. Good equipment and very nice people. Reasonable pricing. And they sell the book 9 Lives.

I love exploring cities by bicycle (you cover so much more ground and feel like a real local!) and was thrilled to find this place for bike rentals during our New Orleans vacay (thanks, Unilocalers!). The employees are top-​notch, incredibly friendly, and helpful and more than happy to make suggestions on bike routes depending on what you’re hoping to see and they provide useful maps with bike-​friendly streets.
We chose to do a 1-​day rental which includes a helmet, basket, bike lock, and a comfy cruiser bike — all for a very reasonable price. New Orleans is quite flat so cruisers are perfect but I needed to practice a bit in Washington Square since I’m used to road bikes with gears. After a few rounds around the park, we were off for a day of adventure!
Our exploration by bike included Crescent Park in Bywater and we rode all the way down Esplanade through Marigy and Bayou St. John to City Park. Our favorite part was biking on Esplanade and checking out the adorable houses and B&B’s.
This cleverly named bike rental shop is really a gem and biking through all the unique neighborhoods was really a highlight of our trip.

Spent a few days in NOLA after our cruise and decided to see the area on bikes. This was an excellent place to rent bicycles… Accommodating and friendly staff who made great suggestions in places to go.

This hurts — terrific rates, incredibly friendly staff… they provided me with interesting itineraries and suggestions, a couple of which I did wind up following and enjoying — could not have been easier or more pleasant to deal with, or more desirous of being helpful.
However, the bikes are quite rickety, and I had a major issue with my (first) one. One of the spokes came loose and punctured my rear tire — I was fortunate to be near one of the lunch spots they recommended, so I was able to grab lunch and wait for them — and they were quite prompt at getting out to my location and replacing the bike with a new one — so major credit as well for dealing with an issue in an efficient manner. However, I thought the replacment bike looked as potentially damage-​prone as the other, so I was a little concerned and maybe more reserved than I’d normally be riding.
Now, New Orleans’ roads are rough, and you probably shouldn’t plan to look for (nor should you want) a fancy racing bike — given all the great reviews and the obvious enthusiasm for their city and their customers that the proprietor has, I’m sure it was mostly just a case of bad luck/​timing. But you have such a short window on a vacation to enjoy your time and experience that any setback such as this is impossible for me to completely overlook, and does give me pause in recommending their bikes.

Popped in here to rent a bike during Jazzfest and was 100% pleased. The bikes were comfy cruisers in good shape, prices felt appropriate, the staff was very helpful, and I even picked up a couple of unique souvenirs in the shop. I’ll be getting a bike from here on my next return to NoLa.

After deciding it would be easier and cheaper to rent a bike for Mardi Gras than to find a bike box, pay the airline fee, disassemble the bike, carry the box to the airport, and reassemble the bike upon arrival, only to repeat the process four days later we were on the lookout for bike rental shops in New Orleans.
If you’re heading to New Orleans for a visit, biking is one of my favorite ways to see the city. For less confident bikers and tourists, coordinated bike tours sound like a great option. For those of you more familiar with the city and comfortable navigating streets with or without a bike lane, check out A Bicycle Named Desire. They offer the big tire cruisers which are great for New Orleans because chances are you aren’t going anywhere in a hurry and the big tires soften the unavoidable bumps you’ll encounter on the streets of the city.
I was pleasantly surprised when I got in touch with ABND two weeks before Mardi Gras and they still had bikes available. However, I wouldn’t count on that last minute availability as I saw a note on their website warning that reservations for Jazz Fest ended March 1. As I was reserving from out of town they sent me a paypal invoice. The rental was $ 110 for 4 days– $ 35 for the first 24 hours and $ 25 each additional day. Extra important, they include a light, lock, helmet in the rental. Their shop is cute, great place to grab unique, artsy gifts on your way out of town.

This place was amazing! I Unilocaled to find a bike place. They had great reviews and was 3 blocks from where we were staying. Cali was absolutely awesome! Check in and out was a breeze. Rode through the lower 9^th ward with some suggestions from her. I absolutely recommend!!!

What an awesome bike shop! Our group of four, all visitors from the east coast, experienced friendly, efficient customer service, received awesome recommendations for sites to see, and were set up with all of our biking needs – which made the two of us who hadn’t been on a bike in YEARS super comfortable. Cali, who was running the shop, was awesome, and on our next trip to NO we will def be doing another bike day via A Bicycle Named Desire!

Great prices, way better deals than what you find in the French Quarter. And I felt like I was really supporting a local business. Maps and locks were included, helmets optional. The cruiser bikes are comfortable and have baskets to make for a very pleasant hours long bike ride throughout the city. They were super friendly, provided explanations to all my questions regarding navigating the city, and made great suggestions that only locals would tell you about. I highly recommend this bike rental shop!

We are family from Europe with 2 kids (3 & 5 years) and love New Orleans so much that we have returned to the city for the 3^rd time in 3 years!
This time we got a nice set up of bikes thanks to a friendly place called A Bicycle Named Desire — 2 adult cruiser bikes, 1 baby/​small child seat and a trailer-​cycle for our older kid. It turned out to be perfect combination.
Even though our older kid can ride a bike, it would be to crazy for a 6 years old to ride the streets of NOLA independently, so this trailer-​cycle attached to adult cruiser allowed all the freedom and joy that bike can offer to kid with controlled safe riding at the same time.
Anyway, our few days experience of riding the streets of New Orleans gave us a totally different dimensions of this magical place and we’ve discovered so many things in the city and it’s surroundings we would never see bike-​less. :)
All the thanks go to the friendly people at A Bicycle Named Desire!!!

rented from ABND once more on our annual Halloween trip to NOLA in October, 2014.
Same positive experience as the last time.
Great staff, so helpful and friendly. Not only did they provide info on a discreet, locals-​only Halloween parade (which was a highlight of our trip), they made specific arrangements prior to our arrival so my wife could get a bike with the sort of brakes she is used to, so she was very happy as well.
I am also pleased to note that the flimsy baskets used last year have been replaced by American-​made WALD baskets. These are sturdy enough to hold a bag, your lock, groceries, or a case of beer – which is a good thing to have on board while you cruise around the city.
they also provide contact info and if you have any troubles with bikes they can be at the shop in like 15 minutes. You simply don’t get service like this at some of the other rental places in town.
We took our bikes all over the place this year, and while a cruiser wouldn’t be my choice at home, they are fine for the flat riding in NOLA.
So glad I found this place. Can’t wait to rent from them again and go on some more adventures down there.

The bikes were great, and Cassady was so helpful with everything, including restaurant and club recommendations. I would use them again in a heartbeat.

Great prices, nice bikes. Didn’t take a tour with them but will next time we are here. The shop has a lot of local art and info about local artists. The staff is very helpful and friendly. Recommend highly!

We signed up for their sister company’s Culinary Bike tour at the start of our week in New Orleans and it was a great way to get a crash course in all things NOLA. Not only did we get to eat great food, but our tour guide was totally awesome and helped us reconfigure our plans for the next few days of our trip, and I would personally get recommendations from local over a Fodor’s guide any day.
We had such a good time on the bikes during the bike tour, that we rented some bikes from A Bicycle Named Desire a few days later. Their pricing was great, they were friendly and personable. They adjusted the bikes and our helmets until we felt good and comfortable.
That day, we rode our bikes for 6 hours around the city… I only wish the street were a little smoother than they currently are in some areas, but I suspect the city is working on it.
This is a great bike shop and i highly recommend them for anyone looking for a great way to get around NOLA while burning a few calories (not many, because the city is flat).
You can see some photos of our culinary bike tour on our food and travel website here:

Good
Service
And prices.
Comes with helmets,
Maps, baskets, and lights. Only has cruisers.

What drew me in originally about A Bicycle Named Desire is the fact that it satisfied several of my inner geeks at once. The marketing geek in me loved the cleverness of the name, the theatre geek me loved that the name is inspired by the fact that the business is at the actual Kowalski address, which in turn tickled the history buff in me. I decided to go with ABND even though it was the bike rental place furthest away from my hotel. I am REALLY glad I did.
I heard an interesting thing recently about research that Disney did asking their visitors when they’re vacation starts and the answer is before they leave their home. Working with Cassady in setting up my bike reservation showed me how true that was. Through a casual e-​mail exchange. he helped me through deciding how long I’d have the bike and what the rate would. I should also mention that this e-​mail exchange was happening after 10pm — I sent one of those to-​do list kind of e-​mails expecting to take care of it when ABND replied in a day or so and I was delighted to get reply within 15 minutes. Now I’m not saying to expect that kind of experience every time; they’re small business owners and I hope they take a break from work every now and again!
Cassady was on duty when I arrived to pick my bike up and he greeted me like an old friend. The business itself doubles as a retail location, primarily with with wonderful local art. In short order, Cassady got me outfitted with an adorable black cruiser which he had me ride to make sure it fit well. You also receive a lock and lights, and an optional helmet.
Let me give you a quick PSA here: take the complementary helmet and wear it. I know, I know… you’re afraid to muss your hair, but you’re in a city you’re not familiar with, and the possibility that you’ll make the wrong move exists. (Besides you should always wear your damn helmet!)
Here’s the thing. It’s pretty impossible in NOLA to not have a good time. I was there for a conference for work, and I was still having a good time. BUT there is nothing that tops the experience of getting on that cruiser and riding away. You will have a feeling of independence. You will start seeing things you can’t from the point-​of-​view of a pedestrian or car driver. You will be doing it all with a zero carbon footprint.
When I returned my bike, I got a t-​shirt so I can tell people over and over again about this wonderful little place. I will recommend it to one and all.