Transport

dansims372

Could people advise as to what is the prefered van for transporting your mountain bikes.
I am thinking about getting a Volkwagen Transporter.

Any better suggestions.?

weeksy59

I use a Picasso. Fits 3 bikes and is 50mpg.

Surf-Matt

Vans are very "cool" and the VWs are good but:

They weigh well over two tonnes
They are heavy on fuel
They are slow (even the powerful ones)
They are a bitch to park

Compared to a car.

Just get a biggish car and a roofrack and bike carrier.

RichMTB

Mitsubishi EVO VIII

Nice big boot, fits two bikes with the wheels off no problem

Only 18mpg but by god I can get to the trails fast!

nicklouse

Surf-Matt wrote:

Vans are very "cool" and the VWs are good but:

They weigh well over two tonnes
They are heavy on fuel
They are slow (even the powerful ones)
They are a ***** to park

Compared to a car.

Just get a biggish car and a roofrack and bike carrier.

strange mine is less than 2 tonnes. is no worse than the car for fuel, yes it is steady to drive but you dont break the speed limits do you? I find it easier to park than my current car as long as i can find a suitable spot.

and the 2,5 T motors are not slow.

dansims372

I currently use a golf with a bike rack, i want a van so i have more storage space for spare parts etc, + being able to store a few bikes.

Fuel consumption is not that bad in vans, and transporters are not that slow really.

bails87

Depends what you need. If it's one bike then any car is useable, just put the bike in the back. I'f its 5 freeride bikes then a van or something similar would be more suitable. Somewhere in between then a big car or towbar/roof racks.

sellisnba

MERCEDES VITO seem's to be the alternative to the VW for a lot of surfers down here. Thinking of getting one myself. A friend has one and it seem's to be cheaper to run than his other half's 1.2 vw polo.

Surf-Matt

nicklouse wrote:

Surf-Matt wrote:

Vans are very "cool" and the VWs are good but:

They weigh well over two tonnes
They are heavy on fuel
They are slow (even the powerful ones)
They are a ***** to park

Compared to a car.

Just get a biggish car and a roofrack and bike carrier.

strange mine is less than 2 tonnes. is no worse than the car for fuel, yes it is steady to drive but you dont break the speed limits do you? I find it easier to park than my current car as long as i can find a suitable spot.

and the 2,5 T motors are not slow.

Sure you don't need to break speed limits but it's getting there that matters.

The T4 engine is 102bhp - that's not a lot.

The T5 is 130 or 174 PS - even the 174 takes more than 10 seconds to get to 60 - that's similar to a very average car. Yes the in gear acceleration is brisk but they are still not quick compared to most cars - yet I keeping getting T5s driving up my backside thinking they are an F1 car.

Sure the most basic and small T5s are just under 2 tonnes but many are well over that weight so it's an average.

I nearly got one and my bro in law has a T5 130 professionally converted to a "semi" camper and with bling 18" alloys and a few other bits - it eats front tyres, it's cr4p on fuel and a pain to park.

There is of course the "cool" image but very few "proper" surfers actually have vans.

CraigXXL

Check your insurance for the bikes as some policies won't pay out if it's taken from inside the car/van but do if it's on it.

Steve_F

I had a really good look into this a few months back.

The Transporter is a nice van and fairly car like to drive but seriously popular so reflected in the price.
Vivaro/Traffic/Primistar are also fairly car like to drive and the 140 brakes version doesn't hang about. Lot of reports about them eatting gearboxes around 80k but it probably depends on how sympathetic you are driving it - ones previously used as workhorses won't be the best.
Vivaro is a really nice van and probably the nicest to drive but the amount of Mercs I see eatten by rust is unbelievable. A friend is on his second and washes it every week - no rust problems and loves it.
Toyota Hi-ace - good god that thing was slow. Really useful door on the back that opened upwards like a car would which would give a great shelter to get the bike ready if it was raining.

The Toyota actually put me off my van search as it made me realise driving it would be cr@p and not worth the trade off against how often driving it would drive me nuts (I like driving as well as bikes). I decided on a Volvo V70 estate (diesel so not overly quick) and have only regretted it twice when getting changed outside the car in the cold after an uplift day. Definitely the right decision for me.

HTH.

dansims372

Cheers for the help guys, it has to be a van as i have no storage room in my flat for my bike so i need a van!

Surf-Matt

My bro in laws previous van was a Vito. Cost £5k. 8 months later it cost another £3200 for a new engine - OUCH!!!

Northwind

just worth saying, you don't really want to keep an expensive bike locked in a van, they're generally not all that secure. You could add extra security inside though I suppose but it's not ideal.

It's not really a van or a car but I've a hankering for a Bongo... Seem like very versatile things, though the service cost is pretty high it seems. I'd sooner get a T4 or T5 camper but there's generally a cost difference, tidy Bongos are cheaper than ratty T4s from what I've seen.

Surf-Matt

Bongos are VERY popular down here - there's a big specialist dealer here too. Owners really rate them.

Northwind

Yeah, I've noticed that, the owners all seem to be fundamentalist bongoists Same with Delicas, which is my other random jones, a Deli with a poptop, mmm.

But most likely, I'll end up getting an octavia or a mondeo like every other biker does

Surf-Matt

Get a vRS Octavia and be more interesting than every other biker

P-Jay

I agree with surfmat, if it's going to be your daily driver too, don't get a Van. Not to mention they can be tricky to insure.

If it's a second vehicle for just biking and moving people (another word of warning, owning a Van means everyone you know, or have ever known, wil at some point need a favour...)

My mate bought a small transit and it's perfect for the job. It's a very light one. Doesn't weigh 2 tonnes as is front wheel drive which takes it quiter and more efficent. They we're designed for florists, engineers, bakers etc who didn't need the payload of the bigger RWD ones so they tend to have been well looked after. 2.0Tdi Car engine. Does about the same millage as my 2.5V6 Tdi Passat, aka not great, but OK, sits happily at 80 and unlike the one he had before you can hold a normal conversation in it at motorway speed.

bails87

Northwind wrote:

the owners all seem to be fundamentalist bongoists Same with Delicas, which is my other random jones, a Deli with a poptop, mmm.

I understood the word 'the', that's about it :oops:

Northwind

Result! I've become incomprehensible!

The Northern Monkey

Hyundai Coupe. Bike just fits,hardly any room for tools/equipment/me, can't get into muddy car parks, 20mpg if i'm lucky...... yea, that was a great choice on my part :roll:

Great laugh down country lanes though!

tdougan

Land Rover with a roof rack

Northwind

tdougan wrote:

Land Rover with a roof rack

I love that option. "I'm going to buy an enormous car for biking. But it'll still be too small to put the bikes inside. So I'll have to put them on the roofrack. In which case, I might has well have bought a Corsa"

butcher of bakersfield

RichMTB wrote:

Mitsubishi EVO VIII

Nice big boot, fits two bikes with the wheels off no problem

Only 18mpg but by god I can get to the trails fast!

Or you could get a Mitsibishi Legnum VR4 which is pretty much the same thing, but an estate. Fit 2 bikes in the back with room to spare.

dansims372 wrote:

Cheers for the help guys, it has to be a van as i have no storage room in my flat for my bike so i need a van!

There's absolutely no way I'd leave my bike in the back of a van on a semi permanent basis. If anyone finds out it's there, it'll be gone the next day. Along with half the contents of your van. Get some wall mounts and make it a feature on your living room wall if you have to.

DamonC

I am very happy with my Land Rover Discovery for this purpose.

I can transport 3 bikes inside (front wheels off) and 2 two mates anywhere we want. The other benefit is we can get to pretty much anywhere we want no matter the conditions. It has proved very useful in the recent weeks.

Get the rear windows blacked out to provide more 'security'.

dansims372

I cannot afford to run a car and van, so i will prob get a van, i cycle to work so thats not a issue, as i only drive to go mountain biking or shopping really.

Surf-Matt

bigbenj_08 wrote:

Hyundai Coupe. Bike just fits,hardly any room for tools/equipment/me, can't get into muddy car parks, 20mpg if i'm lucky...... yea, that was a great choice on my part :roll:

Great laugh down country lanes though!

20mpg?!! That can't be right! They are fairly quick but not exactly supercars!!

The Beemer makes a great allrounder - estate, very quick, good on fuel, comfy. Splendid.

Tempestas

I stick my bikes in my VW van

http://img693.imageshack.us/img693/7097 ... 067750.jpg

Gives me plenty of space to get changed in but....

....it's slow as hell and often results in an afternoon ride turning into a night ride, a period of repairs before setting off home and the chance of not actually getting home....but at least I can sleep in it not like a car...

handful

I can get my I-Drive in the back of my Alfa 156 Sportwagon with no problem at all. (with just front wheel off) I make sure it's well covered over though as I'm a bit anal about car cleanliness :oops:

Surf-Matt

Well we can get two bikes (minus front wheels) in the back of our TINY Jimny!

Bikes are NOT going inside the Beemer - they go on the roof!