Bikes

Rivermount

Rivermount

Free Member
Joined
Dec 3, 2019
Posts
53
Likes collected
82
Location
West Berkshire
Funster No
67,161
MH
Van Conversion
Exp
Since 2019, a bit before lockdown!
Hi, I am interested in thoughts from those of you who take bikes with you in your vans. We are new to motorhoming, having only started towards the end of last year. We currently have at home two bikes, one being a Mountain Bike that is about 13 years old and the other a fairly unique bike which is even older but is a folding Mountain bike style bike, but not particularly light. We are not regular cyclists any more although do go out on them occasionally but not to do out and out off roading type stuff of serious mountain bikers. We have looked at the commuter type folding bikes of which there are many and considered these to take with us but don't really know what sort of distances and terrain that these could practically be considered for, i.e. are they really only suitable for a little pop to the nearest shop from a campsite? Would we be better to stick with full sized bikes if we would want to peddle say 10-20k for example? I realise this is a very open question as everyone is of different fitness levels and inclinations but would be interested in how you use your bikes if at all? Thank you.
 
We take MTB’ s with us wherever we go (recently updated to ebikes)

Providing you have the payload, bikes open up a whole new world (particularly on the continent) If i was thinking 20-30k a day then I’d definitely go for a full sized bikes, but that purely a personal choice.
 
Couple of light ish weight hybrid bikes, costs go from anything to anything depending on needs, but just good allrounders, road and tracks alike.
 
Last year we retired our, very good quality (but old) road bikes and mountain bikes in favour of modern, good quality adventure/gravel bikes. We have been more than happy with the comprises this exchange has meant, although we did go for an extra set of wheels each so we can have gravel tyres on one set and road tyres on the other, much simpler than changing the tyres to suite the ride.

Over the years the amount of money I have spent on bikes would make your eyes water and this last spend was equally as painful. We justified it by telling ourselves these would be the last proper, serious bikes we would probably have. Our spend on the two bikes, extra wheels, pedals had an upgraded chain set, came to just over £6,500, or there abouts.

However, the real downside of all of of our bikes, is that we would never dare leave them anywhere. If we stop for a coffee or lunch while out for a ride, we would only pick a place where we could sit by the bikes. We would never ride them to the shops, unless one of us stayed outside with the bikes.

So I guess, what I am trying to say is, if you want bike to get to A to B and a bit of sight seeing, don't spend too much, get a good lock and don't worry about leaving them outside a restaurant, shop or somewhere you aren't allowed to take your bike in. If you want bikes for the joy of cycling and covering long distances spend as much as you can afford or can bring yourself to spend. The better quality the bike the more you will enjoy riding it.
 
We are not cyclist normally, but find our E-bikes a must when we go away in our MH.
Other than the pleasure of just riding and exploring a little further afield places we visit with our MH, they also come in very useful for picking up supplies as aires and sites we stay on are not always close by shops.

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We bought a couple of Carrera hybrids from Halfords, about £250 each, good competent bikes, but no upset costwise if they get stolen... though we do lock them up most places we go to.
 
It depends on where you are going and what you are doing

We have Bromptons:
Brilliant for space, if needed they both can fit in the under bed locker
Great for a local run
I've done 20-30 miles on one on a regular basis
Every year you see dozens of them on the Dunwich Dynamo run (120 miles)

We also have Thorn touring bikes
They either fit in our garage or on the rear rack
Being Tourers they are very versatile, go almost anywhere.

We also have a couple of second hand Dahon folding bikes with 20" wheels
These are the 'pub run' bikes they will go off road happily

On longer trips we will often take 2 folders and 2 tourers or a combination of the above
 
LesW said:
We bought a couple of Carrera hybrids from Halfords, about £250 each, good competent bikes, but no upset costwise if they get stolen... though we do lock them up most places we go to.
Click to expand...
That's what we bought in Feb.. Not used them yet.May try them this week.BUSBY.
 
Depends how you intend to carry them. We like to travel with everything stowed in the van so fold up small electrics suit us. We find these ample for local sightseeing and shopping and easily stow in the garage of the van.
 
Armytwowheels said:
Last year we retired our, very good quality (but old) road bikes and mountain bikes in favour of modern, good quality adventure/gravel bikes. We have been more than happy with the comprises this exchange has meant, although we did go for an extra set of wheels each so we can have gravel tyres on one set and road tyres on the other, much simpler than changing the tyres to suite the ride.

Over the years the amount of money I have spent on bikes would make your eyes water and this last spend was equally as painful. We justified it by telling ourselves these would be the last proper, serious bikes we would probably have. Our spend on the two bikes, extra wheels, pedals had an upgraded chain set, came to just over £6,500, or there abouts.

However, the real downside of all of of our bikes, is that we would never dare leave them anywhere. If we stop for a coffee or lunch while out for a ride, we would only pick a place where we could sit by the bikes. We would never ride them to the shops, unless one of us stayed outside with the bikes.

So I guess, what I am trying to say is, if you want bike to get to A to B and a bit of sight seeing, don't spend too much, get a good lock and don't worry about leaving them outside a restaurant, shop or somewhere you aren't allowed to take your bike in. If you want bikes for the joy of cycling and covering long distances spend as much as you can afford or can bring yourself to spend. The better quality the bike the more you will enjoy riding it.
Click to expand...

This is so true, one year we were on a very pleasant lakeside pitch at Lake Garda, both our neighbours and us had cycles. The difference being that ours were old, but perfectly serviceable and probably could be bought at a car boot sale for £25 each whilst next door they were worth substantially more. Our neighbours were keen cyclists and took great care to secure the bikes overnight with two motorbike chains. Sadly that didn’t prevent them being stolen overnight whilst ours were untouched.

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As LesW

We carry a couple of Carreras from Halfords.

Competent without being startling and cheap enough to lose if some toe rag decides to Nick them. We used to carry an eBike that cost almost £2k but, having been parked to a German motorhome that had two eBikes worth 3200 euros each taken from his bike rack overnight, we decided not to put temptation in anyone’s way.
 
We made the decision once parked up to use public transport,taxis or bikes. We have a cheaper e bike and a normal decathlon bike locked and covered on the rear bike rack. Always remove seats and battery from the e bike.
 
Brains said:
It depends on where you are going and what you are doing

We have Bromptons:
Brilliant for space, if needed they both can fit in the under bed locker
Great for a local run
I've done 20-30 miles on one on a regular basis
Every year you see dozens of them on the Dunwich Dynamo run (120 miles)

We also have Thorn touring bikes
They either fit in our garage or on the rear rack
Being Tourers they are very versatile, go almost anywhere.

We also have a couple of second hand Dahon folding bikes with 20" wheels
These are the 'pub run' bikes they will go off road happily

On longer trips we will often take 2 folders and 2 tourers or a combination of the above
Click to expand...
How many DDs have you done? I've been amazed by the range of bikes seen on it.
 
Rivermount said:
Hi, I am interested in thoughts from those of you who take bikes with you in your vans. We are new to motorhoming, having only started towards the end of last year. We currently have at home two bikes, one being a Mountain Bike that is about 13 years old and the other a fairly unique bike which is even older but is a folding Mountain bike style bike, but not particularly light. We are not regular cyclists any more although do go out on them occasionally but not to do out and out off roading type stuff of serious mountain bikers. We have looked at the commuter type folding bikes of which there are many and considered these to take with us but don't really know what sort of distances and terrain that these could practically be considered for, i.e. are they really only suitable for a little pop to the nearest shop from a campsite? Would we be better to stick with full sized bikes if we would want to peddle say 10-20k for example? I realise this is a very open question as everyone is of different fitness levels and inclinations but would be interested in how you use your bikes if at all? Thank you.
Click to expand...

I asked the same question of my brother last weekend about a suitable ebike especially as the bikes needs to be lifted onto the bike rack. I spoke about the new juicy bike which is 16.9 kgs he mentioned a German bike in the region of £10.000 He laughed when I said I would not pay more for a bike than I had for my car.
I have now given the good old DAWES a service and put the Dutchie to one side for the time being. The Dawes is a lovely ride and light enough to lift onto the van.
But I do like the look of the Juicy bike and the battery is hidden so maybe not so obvious the opportunist
The best bike is the one that you enjoy riding and feel comfortable on.
Maybe rent a few first before making the investment Good luck with your search

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Mattyjwr said:
How many DDs have you done? I've been amazed by the range of bikes seen on it.
Click to expand...

2015,16,17 and 18
Missed the 2019 as recovering from flu
I was supposed to travelling for this years one, so did not get tickets, but it's now been cancelled due to CV.

I think it's something every cyclist should try to do at least once in a lifetime
 
Last edited:
Brains said:
2015,16,17 and 18
Missed the 2019 has recovering from flu
I was supposed to travelling for this years on, but it's now been cancelled due to CV.

I think it's something every cyclist should try to do at least once in a lifetime
Click to expand...
I did 2016,17,18 and 19. Great fun :)
Looking forward to 2021.
 
Sometimes we can be away for a few weeks without using the bikes at all, other times we use them almost everyday. it just depends on where you stay. I sometimes I threaten to leave them at home, but the thought of not having them with us "just in case" quickly changes my mind. We have 1 folding and 1 full size Wisper e-bikes.
 
Brains said:
Sounds like the beginning of a cunning plan ......

Park motor-homes up at the finish, and get transport to the start
Click to expand...
I've taken the coach organised by Dunx Cycles in Lowestoft... We end up with a full English breakfast and a snooze before heading home...

Ps... Picnic in the park before departure :)
 
I think the bikes will give you range and options, something a bit limited when on foot only. Something we learnt is that being able to carry "stuff" becomes a topic and it's worth buying a decent solution for that, we fitted a nice front bag that clips on/off easily and you can carry it around the shops with you. Rear racks are also worth looking at.
 
Mattyjwr said:
I've taken the coach organised by Dunx Cycles in Lowestoft... We end up with a full English breakfast and a snooze before heading home...

Ps... Picnic in the park before departure :)
Click to expand...

I've always ridden to the start (6 miles) and then after the compulsory Full English at the Flora Cafe at Dunwich, taken the Southwark Cycles coaches home which dumps me 4 miles from home.

I feel for the people of Sundbury and Dunwich, the feeding station at the Fire Station was their big fundraiser for the year, and the owners of the Flora Cafe, who amazingly manage to feed upwards of 3,000 people with a Full English in under 4 hours are going to probably loose their entire year of revenue.
As well as all the Pubs, WI's, Scouts, Rotary Clubs and other pop-up's who will also be loosing out big time.

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Brains said:
I've always ridden to the start (6 miles) and then after the compulsory Full English at the Flora Cafe at Dunwich, taken the Southwark Cycles coaches home which dumps me 4 miles from home.

I feel for the people of Sundbury and Dunwich, the feeding station at the Fire Station was their big fundraiser for the year, and the owners of the Flora Cafe, who amazingly manage to feed upwards of 3,000 people with a Full English in under 4 hours are going to probably loose their entire year of revenue.
As well as all the Pubs, WI's, Scouts, Rotary Clubs and other pop-up's who will also be loosing out big time.
Click to expand...

It will be a dull year without it :(

Do you do the pub crawl or aim for sunrise or both? We leave around 8pm and aim for sunrise.
 
I’ve seen one of those fold up bikes with the small wheels and even road bikes going round Bedgebury mountain bike track near me and that’s rated a red route, although I would say it’s pretty tame compared to Cannock Chase MTB tracks Follow the dog and the Monkey trail.
So a light weight hybrid, that is to say this usually means a mountain bike style frame with maybe 1.5” wide tyres and 21 or so gears.
We take our mountain bikes every where we go but only leave them locked un attended if it feels okay to do so.
When we do leave them with the van they are secular locked to the van, in an enclosed awning.One of the locks I use weighs more than half what my bike weighs!
 
Bought ours nearly 9 years ago on bike to work scheme, £1k each reduced to £750 with scheme. There Hybrid Giants and still running on same batteries. Take them most places, there great allrounders. Just think about insurance and security if you buy new. Look at Bubble insurance really good. Good bike locks are essential, I take pedals and batteries off when stowed. At least one bike is anchored to something practicaly immovable (ie M/H, especially in present situation) then other one anchored to 1st bike. We hire car very rarely.
 
Mattyjwr said:
It will be a dull year without it :(

Do you do the pub crawl or aim for sunrise or both? We leave around 8pm and aim for sunrise.
Click to expand...

I avoid the pubs, if i had a couple of pints I'd never get to half way.
First beer for me is after breakfast whilst waiting for my coach slot
 
Brains said:
I avoid the pubs, if i had a couple of pints I'd never get to half way.
First beer for me is after breakfast whilst waiting for my coach slot
Click to expand...
Do you arrive before or after sunrise?

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