Good Neighbor Podcast: Delco
Bringing Together Local Businesses and Neighbors of Delaware County, PA (Delco"") and the surrounding Philadelphia Metro Region.
Good Neighbor Podcast: Delco
Jess & Ed Kline: Bringing Affordable E-Bike Rentals To Delco
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Jess & Ed Kline: Bringing Affordable E-Bike Rentals To Delco
In this episode of the Good Neighbor Podcast, you’ll meet Jess and Ed Kline, the husband and wife co-founders of KlineRentNride in Delaware County, PA, known as the premier e-bike rental company that provides pickup and delivery of rentable electric bikes for outdoor adventure. Listen as GNP Delco Host Bob Blaisse interviews them about their mission to bring accessible, joyful e-bike adventures to their home community, and how it all began unexpectedly during a vacation to southern Utah where, despite initial hesitation, Jess and Ed found themselves racing up canyon paths on electric bikes with ease, using just the right amount of peddling exercise they each wanted to invest. And come to understand how their experience sparked the couple to make powered rides and local vibes their mission in bringing accessible, joyful e-bike adventures to their Delaware County community, fondly called "Delco" for its unique vibe that now includes a growing e-bike riding population.
You'll learn how removing every barrier from being able to gain e-bike experience begins with timely delivery of rented e-bikes to a renter’s doorstep, trailhead or chosen starting point, and ends with convenient pickup, only one of the added services that sets KlineRentNride apart. And you’ll hear how the Kline’s fleet of inclusive e-bike models can accommodate riders up to 440 pounds, those who may desire a third-wheel e-bike for added stability, and other inclusive options for families with young children and riders seeking a foldable e-bike model to rent and take on vacation in a convenient 40-gallon size tote container.
Listen to the possibilities of experiencing the more than 400 miles of regional trails accessible in the Philadelphia Metro Region, without breaking a sweat, yet pedaling as much as you wish for exercise. Whether it's to connect with your community or you're simply seeking a novel outdoor adventure, this episode of the Good Neighbor Podcast will be an easy ride about an e-bike hike in your possible future.
KlineRentNride
KlineRentNride.com
Tel. 610-329-5126
--- About The Show--- Good Neighbor Podcast is a spotlight on local businesses in and around Delaware County, PA (“Delco” ) and Beyond... The executive producer and host, Bob Blaisse, is a community sponsorship advocate, business branding specialist, and publisher of several hometown magazines, including: Newtown Square Friends & Neighbors, Marple Friends & Neighbors and Newtown Edgmont Friends & Neighbors, mailed monthly to more than 12,000 homes in Western Delaware County, PA, and also available for reading online.
Welcome to the Good Neighbor Podcast
Speaker 1Hello, delco. This is Michael Barkan, welcoming you to the Good Neighbor Podcast, where fans of local businesses and their neighbors come together. It's my pleasure once again to introduce my friend and neighbor, our host Bob Lacey.
Speaker 2Thank you, michael Barkan, for that introduction. Everybody, welcome again to another episode of the Good Neighbor Podcast. This one's going to be fun, everybody. We're coming to you from Delaware County, pennsylvania, in the southeast corner of Pennsylvania, just above the state of Delaware and just west of the state of New Jersey, down in the corner, right across south from the city of Philadelphia, delaware County is what we call it, delco for short is the name that everybody uses here, and there's a real Delco vibe.
Introducing Klein Rent and Ride
Speaker 2We like to bring businesses from Delco and beyond to the world on the Internet through the Good Neighbor podcast and tonight this recording is going to be a lot of fun because this is different. There's a new business in Delaware County that's run by a husband and wife and what they're bringing to the people of Delaware County and beyond is entertainment, fun, something different. Let's let them tell us about it. Let me bring to the stage and welcome as our guest tonight a husband and wife couple, ed Klein, his lovely wife Jessica Klein, from Klein Rent and Ride. Welcome to the Good Neighbor podcast, jess and Ed.
Speaker 3Bob, thank you so much for having us. Thank you for inviting us to the Good Neighbor podcast. We're excited to be here and tell you about Klein Rent and Ride.
Speaker 2Thank you, jess and Ed. It's been great that you I understand from your bio that you have been a person of service in Delaware County for 30 years as a former policeman and as a current first responder, having just stopped your career with Crozier Hospital. You both are really, I guess, honorary Delco-ites here. You're really people who have been in Delaware County and in Ridley and Folsom area your whole life. But you're bringing something new to the county and something that we all know. But we don't really see in Delaware County that much. It has to do with, from what I understand, renting some recreation. Tell us about. You know what is now known as Klein Rent and Ride.
Speaker 4Klein Rent and Ride. We rent e-bikes, electric bicycles. About a year or so ago our niece called us up, asked us to come out to southern Utah for a vacation and part of the vacation was a trip up into Snow Canyon and she rented some e-bikes. And I got to tell you I was very apprehensive about this. I think maybe Jess was a little too. I got a Mongoose out back in the garage that I probably haven't used for more than two decades. But we got on these e-bikes and it was a blast. Within five minutes we're racing each other up the street, we get up on these paths up into the canyon and it was absolutely awesome, wonderful.
Speaker 2So, ed, just the reason why it became so much fun is because, well, you hadn't done it really before, but I have to think it was also because you didn't have to pedal as much. Right, the e-bike, the electric bike, has the power of what a high-speed bike without pedaling, or is it even approaching like a moped or a motorcycle?
Speaker 3Well, it can be really anything that you want it to be. You can have zero assist with the bikes and have it on and just work, work, work, work. Or you can go all the way up to five and it has a throttle and you can use that on the hills Around town. I like to keep it on a steady three and then if I'm going up a big hill, just put it up at five and use that throttle a little bit and it just gets you right up that hill. It's so much easier and, as people of certain age, we really enjoy having a little bit of that extra.
Speaker 2Well, you can hear it in your voice, ed, tell me. I have to ask because I want to get to the point of you know things like well, what does renting mean and what does it cost, and all that. But we're not through yet this kind of newness of concept. Now, I think most people have traveled, they've gone to tourist cities and they've seen these e-bikes that you can, you know, rent here and then drop off there. Some people are kind of afraid to get on those kinds of things because they don't know, you know, if the bike's safe or not.
Speaker 2In this case we're not talking about a tourist town, we're talking about Delaware County and beyond, but we're talking about people who don't own their own e-bike and have heard about it or they're starting to hear about it and they want to be initiated into knowing what riding an e-bike can be. So I want to get to how hard it is. And then I also want to get to well, where would you ride it? How do you come by it? Do they have to come see you and rent it? And then we'll probably have to get on to what kind of bike it really is and what the cost is. So, ed, first question here, go ahead.
Delivery Service and Bike Options
Speaker 4We're renting an experience, an experience to feel young again, to get out in the environment, to get out in your community whether that's on a trail, riding through the neighborhood, going uptown to a park or an event being able to get in really close with your neighbors and enjoy, enjoy the environment, enjoy what already is out there. That is really hard to get when you're in a car and it's too much work. If you're on a bike, you're not going to, you don't have to get all hot and sweaty and go out for a hard ride and enjoy yourself and make it part of a bigger event, if you like, or something.
Speaker 2And take these bikes on on trails. When we're driving our car, sometimes you see signs for there's a trail. You turn your head real quick and you go. Wow, that is a long macadam type trail. Don't know where it goes. I'd like to know where it goes. Are they only walking trails, or can you take these e-bikes on those trails?
Speaker 4The trails in our area are multi-use, so you can bike on them, you can e-bike on them, you can walk and jog and run, and there's over 400 miles of paved trails in southeastern Pennsylvania that connect through Montgomery, chester, delaware, philadelphia counties, and there's plans to update those to over 600 miles of trails by 2030. So one of the connections here is being able to take people that aren't used to biking, aren't used to using the trails, and give them an opportunity, through an e-bike, to go out and really use this opportunity to connect with your community.
Speaker 3And Bob, we wanted to make sure too. So our bikes range if you're small or up to 440 pounds, we have a bike for you. That's important to us. We want to make sure, no matter your size, we have a bike that you can be on. That was very important to us when we were looking at bikes, because we want bikes for the person that normally would say I could never get on a bike, I'm too heavy. Well, that's not true here. Klein Rent and Ride has a bike for you, no matter your weight.
Speaker 2Well, being the lady here, Jess, may I say that you know, I think, as people get older, some people say I haven't ridden a bike for years, will I still get it? Should I be afraid? And you answered the question, that about how, if you're afraid, you don't even need to be around moving cars, you can get onto trails. But can we answer this question and put it to rest? Everybody can drive an e-bike. If you've ever ridden a real bike, a pedal bike, Absolutely Everybody.
Speaker 3My mom is 88, and she can get on a trike bike.
Speaker 2Wow, a trike bike. Now we're talking about three wheels, a little more balanced there, but also electric, so no pedaling required.
Speaker 3You don't have to pedal. You can always pedal, but you don't have to pedal.
Speaker 2And that's a plus right? Because if you want the exercise from biking, you get the benefit of both. You don't have to pedal hard, you don't have to pedal at all if you don't want to. But you know, just like they have exercise machines where you go and walk steps or pedal. Now you can pedal a little bit or as much as you want while you're riding an e-bike and, more importantly here you don't have to buy an e-bike. Let's talk about that a little bit, because as people are investigating e-bikes, they might have a lot of money or they might even know that this is a lot of hobby I want to take on real quick. But if they don't and they want to find out if this is the right hobby for them you are offering a way for them to become initiated in e-bikes by renting them. Tell us a little bit about that Meaning. Is it expensive? Do you get a better deal if you have three or four people in your group, and where would you pick the bike up?
Speaker 3Well, let me I'll start the first part. So our service is a complete delivery service. We will deliver to your home, apartment, airbnb, a trail, a park, wherever you want it. We will bring it and we will also pick it up. And we have four hour rentals, eight hours, three days a week. As a matter of fact, we have foldable bikes that we put in a 40 gallon container that you can load in the back of your car and we'll give you the charger if you want to take it down the shore for a week. But Ed can tell you about the price.
Speaker 2Ed, before you do that. This is grand. I mean, this is really probably the most important thing I've heard so far. What you just said, jess, is that your business and for everyone listening here we're talking to Jess and Ed Klein from Klein Rent and Ride. They're a business that rents e-bikes out of Delaware County, pennsylvania, but what Jess just got done saying there, I don't think I've ever heard this before. You're saying that your business that rents e-bikes will actually bring the e-bike to me and then deliver it in a tote. So what is it like a foldable bike that it can come out of the tote and then I can just open it up real quick when I want to use it and turn it on. Is that right?
Speaker 3Ed, our XP lights are foldable. You can tell more.
Speaker 4Yeah, and the XP lights are about 47 pounds a piece. They fit into the 40 gallon tainter. Like Jess said, when we deliver them we'll teach you how to unfold them, how to set them up, make sure they're sized to you. If you're going to take a long rental, for several days or a week, we provide the charger with the bike and the tote so that you can take it down to the shore or whatever you want to do. The bikes come with a battery that's rechargeable and the charger. Like I mentioned mentioned, we give you a helmet, we give you a lock so you can lock it up. If you're out riding around, you want to stop somewhere and have dinner or another venue of some kind, so we provide all of that. There's even a bag on the bike so you can put in your water bottle or whatever else you might need to carry around with you. And then we have larger bikes as well that aren't as foldable as the XP Lights, but they take the heavier weight riders.
Speaker 4We also have several options for children. So while in Pennsylvania you have to be 16 to operate an e-bike, that doesn't mean you can't fit the kids on the back, so we have full child carriers. We have a thing called an orbiter that you can put two kids on the back of the bike. And then we have full child carriers. We have a thing called an orbiter that you can put two kids on the back of the bike. And then we have trailers, or some people call them the caboose that you can add to the bike as well for smaller kids.
Speaker 2To bring your family on a trail hike. Well, that's amazing. I want to do. I think we have to for the listener benefit. We have to give them an idea of what this costs. But most of us who have ever traveled and seen these rental e-bikes it's not that expensive anyway in those cities and here's the benefit of actually having it delivered. So a powerful message. But I do want to ask this question it's a lot, ed, to rent a bike. A business that rents a bike, people driving bikes, people maybe thinking they might fall off or they got hurt or the bike wasn't right that rents a bike. People driving bikes, people maybe thinking they might fall off or they got hurt or the bike wasn't right. Your company is fully established, fully insured and has been doing this to the point where no one should have any fear about dealing with client rent and ride.
Speaker 4Yeah, so we obviously have insurance on the operation, the liability. There is a waiver form that you'd have to fill out when you provide the rental and the four-hour rentals. All of our rentals right now are 20% off through the summer. Four-hour rental is less than 50 bikes for one of the XP lights, it's a couple more bucks for the larger bikes. And then there's, like we said, there's eight hour, multi-day and week options as well.
Speaker 2Well, it's exciting. If you would like to get a chance to speak with Jess or Ed Klein, let me give out the phone number to our listeners, if you don't mind. And, by the way, you're going to want to go to the website because you'll be able to see what Klein's rent and ride bikes are, these e-bikes, the website for Klein rent and ride, and when I say rent and ride, there's an N in the middle there. So the website is, as the business name is, klein rent, the letter N and the word ride Kleinrentandridecom is the website and the phone number is 610-329-5126. They're very accessible people who will be able to answer these questions. And the big question I want to know right now, ed, if you don't mind sharing is it expensive or is this going to be a nice thing that I can surprise my wife and say honey, we're going to have a great Saturday afternoon here and it's pretty cheap?
Speaker 4Yeah, it's less than 50 bucks a bike for four hours Wow.
Closing and Contact Information
Speaker 2Wow, I did not see that coming. I mean, I would have thought that you know, it would have been a kind of a hundred dollar day per bike. For the experience, because of the delivery really delivery and pickup you're able to deliver and pick up for less than 50 a day per bike for the whole day for eight hours right now, with the 20 sale, we're under that 50.
Speaker 3That's four hours for four hours for four hours that Right now, with the 20% sale, we're under that $50. That's four hours.
Speaker 4For four hours. For four hours.
Speaker 4That's almost enough A little bit more, but we're definitely into getting it to you and picking it back up. We're servicing Montgomery County, chester County, delaware County and Philadelphia right now and we expect to expand that sometime in the future. But again, for those listeners out there that are still going to spend their week at the shore you rent it, we drop it off to your house here in Delco or beyond, you put it in the back of your car, in the tote, you take it down to the shore with you for the week and when you get back we pick it back up from your house.
Speaker 2Awesome, what an awesome experience and what a great business that we now have in Delaware County. I think it's the first and I think it's going to probably be getting a lot of press because there's exercise here. There's kind of a green hobby here. There's a new interest, there's a new hobby to be able to exercise while recreating through something that you might have had a fear of doing, while recreating through something that you might have had a fear of doing. And thankfully this couple, jess and Ed Klein, traveled to Utah, found out that it wasn't that difficult to drive an e-bike, so much so that their now mission really in their kind of new career in a post-retirement beginning, is really going to be to bring e-bikes to the people of Delaware County. Ed, really what an amazing Good Neighbor business.
Speaker 2I'm so glad that you have been a guest here today on the Good Neighbor podcast. Thank you so much. Well, thank you for bringing your business to Delaware County. We look forward to hearing from you and I want to do this again to be able to give our listeners an update on, maybe even bring some experienced renters onto the next episode to tell us what it's been like. Everybody reach out to Ed and Jess Klein. The number is 610-329-5126. And you can see their website at kleinrentandridecom. Thank you, jess. Thank you, ed, for being a guest on the Good Neighbor Podcast.
Speaker 3Thank you, Bob.
Speaker 2All right, I really appreciate it.
Speaker 4Have a great night. Thank you for listening, for being a guest on the Good Neighbor podcast. Thank you, bob, I really appreciate it have a great night.
Speaker 1Thank you for listening to the Good Neighbor podcast hosted by Bob Lacey. This is Michael Barkan inviting everyone to get on the Good Neighbor team. Nominate your favorite local business to be featured on an upcoming episode by going to gntdelcocom or by calling bob at 610-557-3745.