which ebike for my new rental business

[billyjones454]

Hi!

After spending years on this site and building converted ebikes for fun, I have decided to start an ebike rental business in my area. I live in a very toursity area. My sisters came into town and I went to rent an ebike for the day, and they said they were sold out for the rest of the summer!

Anyway, I think to begin I'd like to do 2-3 cruisers and 2-3 mountain bike style. I want a higher end model, something in the $3000-$5000 range. I've seen a lot of ads for $1500 ebikes targeted toward people who want to start their own ebike business, but they all look underwhelming.

Anyway, has anyone had some personal experience with some brands/models that stood out to them? Thanks!

 

[Tommm]

Something cheap as possible, warrantly long and usable as possible.

I would look at the Sondors bikes, after doing the research on warranty experiences. The new Rockstar emtbs look and probably function as well as any emtb to the would-be renter, but start from $2500, with simpler offerings starting at $900.

 

[amberwolf]

Keep in mind that companies selling bikes (or anything else) may not honor warranties on them for business use like you intend, so you need to ask the company before buying if they will do so, and get in writing what they will and will not cover, before you start.


I highly recommend looking closely at existing rental bikes, and talking to the businesses that rent them out (specifically their techs) to see what works and what doesn't, so you can have bikes built for you that will survive the rental process, as well as satisfy the demands of most of the renters.

Depending on the area, you may want to ensure the bikes have nonstandard mounting hardware and screws for everything, so it is harder for theives to steal pieces of them. (like Uber's Jumpbikes that use seven-sided nuts on the wheel axles, etc).


Then look into insurance costs for them, both for theft and damage, as well as for the fires that can happen with them (becuase you''ll be financially responsible for whatever is destroyed by them if it does happen). As well as whatever other type of insurance is required locally for rental bikes, such as if the renter crashes it into something or is hit by a car, etc.


If you don't get insurance, you will probably want to start a good large savings account to cover costs of theft, accidents, fires, etc. It could cost a lot if you don't have insurance that covers it.

 

[2old]

I'd be looking in the opposite direction for something built like a tank, but reasonably priced. Radwagon would be a good place to start. Might be able to get a deal on the bikes because the exposure could be beneficial to the manufacturer. Consider selling them at the end of each "season", then getting new bikes for the next.