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Right, I will be buying 20 hardtail ebikes to do bike tours. The idea is that I will be providing custom tours all over Austria. One day it might be Vienna, next might be Salzkammergut, next day Kitzbuhel and so on. I want to be able to bring the bikes direct to the start of the tour and offer a full customisation package - organise and lead tours wherever they are needed.
In order to do this I need a van. With that in mind what would you guys recommend as a bike delivery vehicle? Which van would you recommend to carry 20 ebikes. I would rather not have a trailer as I might have to be parked overnight on the street and don't want to risk it to have the bikes in full view.
The bikes I'm getting are Ghost Teru. Here's the demo ones I took out the other day.
Respect. Cool idea. Good luck
As to your question, no idea, but I imagine a damn big one.
Have you worked out how close they can be? Top to tailed or whatever configuration?
Lwb high top sprinter
That's a lot of bikes you may find you need a top deck for some bikes and a few spares
Longest, highest van you can find, bikes stored vertically along the sides should give you room to keep the bikes organised and get whatever size you need without unloading most of them.
Yeah I'd be looking at some sort of dual level thing in a big van, or possibly vertically hanging them on each side, 10 per side - even that will be tight for space.
LWB high top Crafter/Sprinter/Ducato sized job I would imagine. You'd be wanting them in topped and tailed with bars spun and pedals removed to get them in easily. You might get 6-7 across the van with sensible packing in between and 2 deep so may need an upper deck storage.
I'm guessing you will also want to carry spares, tools, washing/cleaning kit and maybe a Genny to charge the batteries if you really are hiring one day to the next.
Maybe a Luton van might work better for this - much higher space inside and easy access. Security is probably your biggest issue though whatever you do.
Five pick up trucks, four bikes over each tail gate, and five drivers.
Leaves you free to relax
And much more time to worry about recouping his costs...
Don't buy a Luton van they are crap and don't have the carrying capacity of a LWB sprinter etc (I drove these things for a living so I know) LWB sprinter or the Fiat/Citroen equivalent is you best bet but you may need to be creative with the loading, other option would be a 7.5 ton truck but that would probably be overkill
That new aircraft carrier with no planes is still sat doing nothing, isn’t it?
Even assuming trade at a generous margin.
Your going to leave 20k worth of kit in a van.
As you sleeping across the front seat ?
I would also look for some kind of mains hook up like a camper so you can plug the van in at the end of the day and recharge all the bikes.
given your proposal, isn't getting punters to the start/end also required? I'd suggest a minibus and a custom box trailer - shouldn't be hard to figure out something that would work?
Your going to leave 20k worth of kit in a van
And tell lots of people ....
given your proposal, isn’t getting punters to the start/end also required? I’d suggest a minibus and a custom box trailer – shouldn’t be hard to figure out something that would work?
Bureaucracy here in Austria means to do that you need a taxi license and that takes a minimum of 3 years. I will tell them where the tour starts. Usually from train stations or river cruise ship docking areas (please come back Danube river cruises).
I also want to offer a personal touch e.g. if its papas 50th birthday, the surprise tour could start from his house and end at a party in a Vineyard with the family coming along on bikes.
Five pick up trucks, four bikes over each tail gate, and five drivers.
Leaves you free to relax
Um, not sure if this will work for me but thanks.
I would also look for some kind of mains hook up like a camper so you can plug the van in at the end of the day and recharge all the bikes.
That's a great idea, thanks.
Even assuming trade at a generous margin.
Your going to leave 20k worth of kit in a van.
As you sleeping across the front seat ?
I have to try. Unfortunately my usual clients are not here now - Chinese and American tourists.
It`s a risk I will have to take unless you have a better idea.
Sprinters are good vans but the Fiats, Citroen's Peugeot's are much better to load as the sides are much closer to vertical. Lower load height too and a higher payload as the van itself is lighter. The real market for sprinters is people who need something on the road 12 hours a day 365 days a year. As for 20K in the van we often have a lot more than in ours overnight, sometimes you have no choice.
The Santander cycle scheme in London have vans that move bikes around all the time. It’s as crafter/Ducati/sprinter based van but with a different back end, like a Luton van I suppose.
They use it in a different way but blimey they can fit a lot of bikes inside! Try researching how the BIG bike hire companies move their bikes around (Not the shops, the schemes)
Or a maxi mover, as they're half Luton, I'd make sure oys got load of anchors and look at 4g CCTV systems too.
I'm guessing you won't rent 20 bikes out every time.
So if you go for a massive van it could be half empty most of the time.
I would avoid a Luton van as per above comments.
A crafter or sprinter can always have a bike rack on the back and carry 4 outside when needed. Maybe a custom double rack with two rows? If a trailor isn't an option?
Then if you do need to take a full load you can remove front wheels or turn bars for those odd occasions.
When you do get the van id be racking it out in such a way that the bike locks are built in somehow for quick access and there's a charging station.
20 ebikes is a lot of Li ion batteries.
Have you checked the local regulations on transporting hazardous goods?
With 20 e bikes, you will need to consider pie transportation as well. Low loader?
I’m guessing you won’t rent 20 bikes out every time
True, I will will keep a few back in case there is a problem with a bike. I will probably be carrying 15 usually.
If you guys are in Austria after this bloody virus is gone, look me up. I will definitely give a Singletrack discount.
https://www.instagram.com/iolotours/
Best way to see what`s happening is to like and follow mw on social media.
I would also look for some kind of mains hook up like a camper so you can plug the van in at the end of the day and recharge all the bikes.
you would need to check charging current but i very much doubt you could do 20 off one genny or one hookup.
I drive a merc sprinter Lwb sometines and it is a cracking vehicle. Nice to drive and an absolute barn. It’s the tall version and I reckon you might have the height to have a shelf and carry two layers of bikes
Are the bikes taller than a texel?
Twin deck stock trailer?
Got ramps for ease of loading, tow with whatever you fancy.
We have ebikes stored in an ISO container for loaning out. Do not underestimate the space needed for getting access for removing plug covers, plugging in charging cables and checking displays in situ. Can be fiddly and really frustrating in a limited space and prevents achieving storage spacing would expect just from bike size alone. Also yet to come up with a good system for ordering sizes, no matter what I do I inevitably need to get one from the back!
What about a large Iveco or MAN TGE?
Probably best to remove the batteries if it's not too faffy.
Easier for charging and ensuring they are all used on rotation (much simpler than rotating the bikes that might end up at the back of the pile for a few weeks until a busy day)
And an E bike leaning against the van whilst you get the another one is a much less tempting steal without a battery fitted!