Subarus, pickup trucks and SUVs dominate the mountain bike crowd and are great for everyday driving but for extended adventures your bike really wants a van! Your bike deserves a better life than being drug behind your car while in the rain, snow, down a muddy road or at the local pub terrified of being abducted by some scumbag. The beauty of an unassuming white panel van: bike inside, bed inside, all yer shit inside. There’s no need to put up/take down camp and you can sleep almost anywhere (sans hotel). All this equals more time to enjoy riding your bike.
My van lust began the moment I set foot in a Brian Lopes edition Sportsmobile Sprinter van awesomeness. I spent plenty of time researching and talking to people about the options with other vans. In the end we ended up going with a 2014 Mercedes Sprinter due to its proven track record and glowing reviews of the new 4 cylinder diesel and 7 speed transmission combo. The 4 cyclinder diesel averages 25+ mpg and has more than enough power for our needs.
Professionally converted vans are super nice but can be very expensive. We decided that we would complete our van together to meet our specific needs. Luckily, I have a great adventure partner that requires a few more modern conveniences than myself. We initially started with the basics of a bed, cooler, 2 fans and a few storage containers. After 20,000 miles worth of trips, we figured it was time to spruce things up a bit. Stay tuned for the next installment of Crankjoy Adventure Van when we will go into the dirty details of our bikes transporter.
