Mountain Biking Solution Forums

ogamiitto

Hello all,

New here.

I have been looking for a van conversion that would allow me to get away mountain biking more often and cheaper!

What we need:

A double bed
Some where to cook (basic is fine)
A shower and toilet would be nice
Somewhere to sit and eat
Internal storage for two bikes.

I have found a lot of sport conversions on long wheel base vans with internal garages but they are very expensive.

As I am only likely to be away 1 or 2 days at a time I don't want to spend loads o money.

Can anyone recommend any companies that are doing anything like this?

Has anyone else sorted out internal storage for their bikes?

Our bikes are worth a couple of grand each and I dont want to risk them being stolen or damaged.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers

Andy

johnandcharlie

Hi Andy. I carry my bike in a trailer, along with loads of other stuff that doesn't fit in the van. It means I can have a smaller van that can go to more places. I leave the trailer on camp sites and can go out for the day without it, with the bike on a rack if I want to take it. I haven't had any security problems in almost 10 months of fulltiming. My bike isn't worth anywhere near as much as yours, but no one sees what's in the trailer unless the door is open. I can post some photos if it helps.

arg

Before owning current motorhome, I had a VW T5 which worked brilliantly for moving bikes around and doubled as a weekend camper. Atera offer some fantastic mounting solutions outside the van, I had their Giro AF roof-mounts, it was a stretch up to the top (I carried a folding step) but then they were well out of reach and hard for anybody to get to (as well as locked). Other times, I just put the bikes in the back of the van since there's loads of space in there.

It might not be easy to find but the vehicle had VW's sleep pack, allowing the rear to be used as a double bed. I carried a small camping stove and a few essentials stored in compartments. Sadly, no toilet facilities and a bit tight for anything more than a weekend but, I have to say, this would have been a dream vehicle a few years back when I was more serious about mountain biking (hadn't yet seen the motorhoming light at that time!) Either a T4 or T5 could be adapted, you need not necessarily buy a camper, for weekend you can manage without a fully integrated vehicle (i.e., camping stove rather than fixed stove, coolbox instead of fridge). I really, really liked the vehicle for day/weekend trips but it just didn't quite offer the flexibility of a motorhome. But then, it didn't cost as much either!

I'm posting being I'm also interested in internal storage of a mountain bike with my current van. I don't want an external rack for various reasons: cost, security, access, though I love them! The best I could find for internal storage was transport cases (flight cases) but they're expensive (£200ish) and quite a hassle, so I decided against them. Maybe somebody has come across transport bags that prevent the bike damaging the van but the ones I've seen/have aren't really so tough and pedals (etc) eventually tear through them and can damage the van. I'd be really pleased to find a truly well-padded bag that costs less than £50 and could be tethered within the van. Otherwise, it's looking like home-made!

Good luck with your search for a van. Please, if anybody knows how to transport bikes inside the van let me know as I'm missing my bike on travels!