Bikes for Cycle Tours

Effluo

Hi Guys,

We bought a cycle tour business in France a few months ago and all has been going ok so far.
The business came with 8 bikes, we've bought a few second hand bikes too and a couple new 100euro bikes also.

Unfortunately over the last week or so our bike numbers have started to deteriorate.(which i'll post about at a later stage)

And we're wondering what kind of bikes we should buy for the best user experience, lowest maintenance and cost effective over the bike's lifetime.

The tours are 3 and 5 hours long, the customers are generally just regular people and not particularily sporty.
All tours have hills in them, which are of a moderate gradient and a little bit of a challenge to most non-bikers.


We've heard of other popular bike tours using "Beach Cruiser" bikes, we rented one out with only three gears, but the particular model we tried would not be suitable for our tours. Especially going up the hills!

What is your opinion of these?


There's a bike in the local bike shop on sale from 400euro to 240euro which we were looking at. It's got disc brakes, an aluminium plate for the rear derailer and click gear changes thingy(if you know what I mean).

I'll cycle :cool: to the store and get a model number for ye


So really... We just don't know whether a 150euro bike is the way to go, second hand or 230euro+

So remember,
1. the best user experience
2. lowest maintenance
3. cost effective over the bike's lifetime


That's it for me,
Really appreciate all responses

thanks

IM0

just get a bike, anyone who cycles will tell you what you DONT want to hear [get better more expensive bikes], anyone who does tell you what to get wont cycle much belongs more in a business forum tbh.

TinyExplosions

Planet X do nice bikes....

I'll get my coat...

Bunnyhopper

Cycling Safaris used to use Trek T30 bikes. I think they use some Giant equivalent now. The Treks are £350 list price but you might be able to argue for a better deal if you're buying more than one at a time and are likely to be a repeat buyer.

An advantage of that sort of bike would be that they come with mudguards, rack, chainguard, etc. already installed.

Cycling Safaris used to sell off the old bikes at the end of the season so that might be worth considering - could work out cheaper in the longer term than running them into the ground.

Best of luck with it.

blorg

I would get entry-level aluminium hybrids from a reputable brand. Avoiding suspension which can go wrong and be a maintenance hassle. Disc brakes also add to the cost and are completely unnecessary. 21 gears is fine.

Buying €100 bikes and secondhand is a false economy IMO. You will only have problems that will end up frustrating your customers and potentially ruining their holiday. Which is not going to be good for your business.

As you are in France something like this from Decathlon at €259 could be a good bet but ideally for general use/rental to the public I think you should be looking at hybrids with wider tyres- 700x35c minimum. Something like this is good, especially as it comes with a rack already but as pointed out in the reviews it is very very heavy and I am not sure with what you are doing whether you actually need a rack in the first place (mudguards probably a good idea.)

At home here the sort of thing I would be suggesting would be the likes of a Dawes Discovery 101/201 or Trek 7100. Key thing to look for is reasonably good (Shimano or SRAM) entry-level components, sturdy wheels, and preferably no suspension. That Trek linked by Bunnyhopper would be good.

You are going to have to find someone to repair these on an ongoing basis so maybe worth talking to a local shop who could supply the bikes and do a deal for fixing them.

I know some bike touring operators will sell their bikes off at the end of each year and buy new the next. Also have a look at these guys who have quite expensive custom bikes but presumably they last.

petethedrummer

Fair play to you for starting/buying a business but you better educate yourself on bikes and bike fixing pretty quick if the main focus of the business is bicycles.
http://bicycletutor.com/

Also beware BSOs
http://www.southcoastbikes.co.uk/articles.asp?article=NO_BSO

Chainreactions and Wiggle often have huge discounts on bikes.
http://www.wiggle.co.uk/c/cycle/7/Hybrid_~_City_Bikes/?rn=112#2,20
http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Categories.aspx?CategoryID=508&CurrentPageIndex=0&SortExpression=PRICE_ASC

Could someone running a tour company go to a wholesaler and avoid the bike shop in the middle? Also have you taken your bikes out for a spin? How do you find them? Would you be happy to ride them around for a week?

Hang around this forum and you will become a bicycle nerd in no time. Good luck with your venture.

Effluo

Cheers for the replies guys.

I was thinking a bit more about this all and our experiences thus far.

We've had a few of the €100 bikes get written off in the last few weeks, but something which we've noticed is that the smaller bikes generally for women and children haven't been breaking at all. And all the write off's thus far have come from big guys + cheap bikes.

We also have some mens bikes which would have been a little more expensive and bought around 2 years ago which need repairs now and then, but have had no major problems. So what we're thinking is just to get us through the season we might buy more expensive big bikes and then less expensive small bikes.

Does this seem logical at all?

There's a bike in the local shop which was 400euro and is now 240. It's called "vtt scrapper 5.5" can't find any info about it online at all.

It has lots of bells and whistles and we were thinking it might be good for a guys bike on the tour.
Here's a really crappy image

Can ye offer any advice in regards to this specific bike?

penexpers

If none of the tours are off road, I wouldn't bother with suspension. Adds weight to the bike and means increased effort to get up the hills.

mo_bhicycle

Suspension and disc brakes will also require more maintenance.
You really need to educate yourself about bike maintenance quickly. Nothing worse than renting cheap unmaintined bikes.
Do you cycle much?
Have you tried many bike types on the routes your customers take?

Effluo

mo_bhicycle wrote: »

Suspension and disc brakes will also require more maintenance.

Do you cycle much?
Have you tried many bike types on the routes your customers take?

I test out all the bikes a few times a week and before a tour I give each a quick test.

And been on the tours many times.

We keep the bikes in good working order, in so much that all the gear changes are smooth, brakes work and they're always good rides.


I guess the main problem we have is that we go into a shop and you're either paying 100euro for a bike with no aluminium protector for the rear derailer or you're paying over 200euro and then you get suspension, disc brakes and the little aluminium plate.

There seems to be no real middle ground.

The bikes which we've had and are broken due to the frame being bent from a damaged derailer. The aluminium plate stops that and we kind of figure for a man's bike this part is a must.

I'd be intrigued to hear why you think disc brakes require more maintenance. The guy in the shop said they were p much the same, although he could have been just trying to sell us them.

Cheers btw

mo_bhicycle

Effluo wrote: »

I'd be intrigued to hear why you think disc brakes require more maintenance. The guy in the shop said they were p much the same, although he could have been just trying to sell us them.

I was talking about hydraulic disc brakes in particular (which I think the bike you mention has but I'm not sure ... not too much details online about it)
Park Tool page on hydraulic disc brake maintenance: http://www.parktool.com/repair/readhowto.asp?id=126

I really think you need to re-read the posts by Bunnyhopper and Blorg. Buying €100 bikes .... or even €200 bikes for a bike tour business is a very bad idea.

If all you are seeing in your local bike shop is rubbish €100 bike or bikes with suspension for over €200 then you need to find a new bike shop.

Effluo wrote: »

The bikes which we've had and are broken due to the frame being bent from a damaged derailer. The aluminium plate stops that and we kind of figure for a man's bike this part is a must.

Are you talking about a derailleur hanger? http://www.pearcecycles.co.uk/images/sbc_hanger_f_large.jpg

seamus

Effluo wrote: »

I guess the main problem we have is that we go into a shop and you're either paying 100euro for a bike with no aluminium protector for the rear derailer or you're paying over 200euro and then you get suspension, disc brakes and the little aluminium plate.

You might need to customise a little then to get what you want buy the bikes, and then any extra bits afterwards.

You're presumably talking about a derailleur guard. This comes as stock on most cheap bikes, but very rarely only anything which is even remotely dipping into the sports category.

This thing

You can get more slimline ones, but for your purposes the above should work. I presume if you speak to a LBS, they might be able to sort something out for you.

This could also be sorted by a simple fix - do any of your bikes have kickstands fitted? Very cheap to buy, quick to install and most people will use them rather than drop the bike on the ground. Point it out during orientation and ask your customers to use them when they're getting off the bike.

The bikes which we've had and are broken due to the frame being bent from a damaged derailer. The aluminium plate stops that and we kind of figure for a man's bike this part is a must.

Presumably because the bikes are being dropped against things. This is why disc brakes will be a nightmare for you, because the discs will warp when the bike is dropped on its side. At least with most other failures, including a bent mech, you can probably nurse the bike home. But with a bent disc the bike is effectively unrideable unless you completely remove the brake caliper, and you're going to have to leave a customer standing at the side of the road waiting for pick-up.
Most cheap bikes with discs will have cable disc brakes as opposed to hydraulic. They are very low maintenance - the pads last far longer than regular cantilevers or v-brakes, but if you're constantly getting bent mechs, then discs won't last long.

Can't really improve on blorg's post tbh.