Thought I’d ask you lot as you’ve all been there done it.

Next year is bringing days of 3-4 bikes, so we need a van.
We’ll also have a big gazebo, spares, tools, wheels.

Obviously with 2 bikes being DH the bars don’t turn fully. I could take bars off but that’s not really my plan.

So I was thinking of the rear wheel stands, 2 forwards, 2 backwards. But do I need bigger than a Transit, Vivaro etc?

Something more like this?
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/234732510191

Lower miles or age? Or 80-100k and £5000 less.

Budget, well it’s maxed at £17k but if the consensus is £9000 and risk older/higher, then that works of course.

Only required things are air con and decent seats.

Sprinter, if you’re going to go big, go big…

What are you going to do when your lad discoverers girls and kicks bikes into touch

What are you going to do when your lad discoverers girls and kicks bikes into touch

Still ride. Just with more space for myself. Lol.

What the future holds I have no idea. But I know the Kuga isn’t big enough next year for the plans.

If we take 3 bikes and he’s riding 1, as am I, it still means the 3rd bike needs to go somewhere.
Or race day, he’s on bike 1, I’m then left babysitting bike 2. Sure I can kinda fit it in the car, but 1. It’s very messy and awkward, 2 it’s not very secure.

Sprinter, if you’re going to go big, go big…

Sprinters are expensive, it’d be a Boxer more than a Sprinter I think.

I had one of these, sprayed it Harrods green. 1.7 4 dipped box, would do almost 65mph. Enormous rear box could get 20 bikes in easily. Used it as a camper. Had a translucent room. Was awful. Sold it for £700 which was £200 more than I paid for it. Would not recommend

XLWB Vito.

There’s three different lengths, compact, long (same wheelbase as compact with a longer load area) and XLWB (longer wheelbase and even longer body). Of all the vans I’ve driven it’s the one that feels least like a van, all day comfy, decent engine and gearbox, decent fuel consumption, I see 42mpg+ at 70 on the motorway and 35ish knocking around locally (mine’s the 113, 2.1 litre engine 136bhp). Lift up rear door is great when it’s raining.

Rocket dog, that takes me back to when we used to call the operator and ask to speak to Busby!

Incidentally, we thought about an L3 Vito unfortunately for me it was well out of our budget 😉
We ended up getting a L2 Trafic crewcab in 1.6l 95hp variety, which in light of current fuel costs wasn’t such a bad call in the end.

I’ve got a Peugeot Boxer and it’s fine. It’s only a SWB and it’s a massive cube with vertical sides and loads of room in the back. If I had somewhere to park a longer van I would have went bigger.

Vivaro’s are tiny in the back. Vito’s are glorified minicabs. Sprinters are massively overpriced.

If you’re starting a pro race team you’ll need as much room as you can realistically get. The Boxer/Duacto/Relay is a fine place to start looking. There’s a handy FB group full of knowledge and advice.

I’m super impressed with my Trafic. Mine’s only a SWB and easily fits 3 bikes on an internal rack I’ve made, 4 would be no problem. Decent price, drives well, What’s not to like?

I would post pics, but have no idea how to. It’s on my OnlyVans account though…..🙄

I had a LWB hi roof Transit – it’s surprising how much room 3 to 4 bikes, gear, tools and people take up when your working on them/riding/eating/spending the day living out of. Go as big as you can park at home.
Fiat Ducato – galvanized and better engine than Boxer and Relay, or MK8 Transit

it doesn’t state it but I imagine there’ll be £3k in vat to pay on the first van mentioned

Bigger is definitely better.
Just watch though, I’m 41, passed my test at 20 so missed out on some grandfather rights and can only do 3.5t without another test, bare that in mind if looking at very big vans.
Also, always take newer over lower miles, especially for Transita, Sprinters and other stuff which rusts badly.

If it’s going to replace a car and get used regularly for car stuff then get a transit custom/Vivaro sized one as you want it under 2.1m so it can go under barriers in car parks. If it’s an extra race and play day van then you might as well go bigger and get a taller van.

A Vivaro, Traffic or Transit Custom will be fine for most things.
£17k should be enough to buy something decent but basic. although van prices are pretty crazy at the mo due to supply issues.

Avoid Vitos as they suck for space and reliability.
Just get as big as you can justify

Gazebo = Berghaus AirShelter. Great bit of kit.

Avoid Vitos as they suck for space and reliability.
Just get as big as you can justify

weird.

I’ve only had Vitos since 2006.
Literally zero problems.
I can get 5 fully built bikes in (2 DH, 3 enduro) behind the rear seats.
XLWB Tourer.

I think all vans can be OK, but all can have issues… like anything really.

The vito though may be a little small… But obviously a nice drive.

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/van-details/202211091527586?fromSavedAds=true&advertising-location=at_vans

This is currently leading… Movano. Going to have a look at it later.

^ that’s the right sort of thing, that Movano. I’d not want to have that as my daily driver, but if it’s in addition to a car then great. Ideally longer/longest is better as it make negible difference when driving/parking, but a huge increase in internal space.

I often debate if a longer/taller van than my current Transit Custom L2 would work better for us, but it doubles as my daily driver so probably not. All compromises.

Day to day i don’t drive.. I only really go MTBing.

Every now and again i go to town, but it’s 6 miles.. open air-car-park. Plus we have a low mile Focus if i needed that is the wifes car, but 99% of the time it’s here.

I’ve just been and test driven the Movano

[url=https://flic.kr/p/2o4ohCR]2022-12-06_10-11-36[/url] by Steve Weeks, on Flickr

Just seeing it next to the Vivaro it does show how much bigger they are… like, WOW… way bigger. The van itself was pretty nice, it drives well, spacious in the front and obviously fairly spacious in the back too. It does drive very very van like compared to say a Vito/Transit custom. Even the engine, just sounds and feels more vanny. But of course, that’s because it’s a van 😀

Don’t know why but i thought the Movano above had cruise which it doesn’t… but the reversing camera works well, has DAB and as i say, drives nice enough, comfortable seats, light clutch action. Gearbox, well the actuator isn’t the silkiest, but i think that’s just not being used to the vehicle and would soon be fine rather than a problem with it.

It’s certainly a thought/option.

Next year is bringing days of 3-4 bikes, so we need a van.
We’ll also have a big gazebo, spares, tools, wheels.

That load out is normal van territory. Any SWB Transit etc will easily swallow that and then some. I assumed you needed an extra row of seats, but obviously not if that Movano is an option?

NAh, 3 in the front is fine. The reason we needed the extra row in the previous Vito was becuase it was only 2 in the front. As long as we’ve got 3 decent front seats that’s fine. It’s quite rare that Mrs Weeksy will be coming with us, only likely for the Scotland trips.

the Movano has a fair bit of space in the front in terms of passenger seating.

I’m going to get a mate to shoot over with his Vivaro so i can throw a few bikes and things in it just to see how challenging it is.

Unusually for me, i’m not going to jump into this one as for the next few months anyway the Kuga will be fine for trips if needed. So it doesn’t need to be this weekend 🙂

It may be though 😉

I use a Vivaro Double Cab LWB – it will take 5 bikes (wheels on) using one of those rear wheel racks.. The van has 5 seats so flexible for group rides. It’s my only vehicle so used for everything including long trip down south to see parents where it sit on cruise down the M74/6/40, etc and I get out still able to walk after 7 hour run.

I’ve had it 4 years and before that I had the same configuration Vivaro for 8 years.
The Movano would be good if you are thinking of bed conversion, etc but they are definitely ‘van-like’ to drive (having worked at a Vauxhall Commercial dealer for 12 years and driven a few miles in them).

We have an ex-demo 18 month old Transit custom crew cab, LWB with a spec list that someone went a little bit mad on, which is what we were looking for, as we wanted to replace one car with a van to make life easier.

The Transit will take probably 5 bikes without taking wheels off & just having them stacked in. We have a full bulkhead, which takes some space as its a double cab model with twin front seats, which is good as it keeps the boot as an actual ‘boot’.

Whilst it’s got everything that most modern cars has in terms of spec, it still doesn’t drive anywhere near as well as an actual car & I’ll challenge anyone who seems to think it does (unless they drive really, really sh*t cars), but for a van, its not bad & considerably bigger than our friends T6.1 VW.

Appreciate its probably over budget, as they are still selling around £30-35k, but it looks like there are 2014-2016 vans well within your range.

I really dislike driving anything bigger, and for the sake of comparison, we have an SC Sporthomes XLWB Crafter which was an ex MX race van camper & that thing is a total PITA to drive anywhere (but great when you get there).

the Movano has a fair bit of space in the front in terms of passenger seating.

I’m going to get a mate to shoot over with his Vivaro so i can throw a few bikes and things in it just to see how challenging it is.

more room (in the front and back) but then worse in every other way. Mind that the suspension is setup assuming a hefty load, even a SWB Transporter and the like is pretty bouncy without much in them, the bigger the van the worse that is. Then there’s the fuel economy and I bet it’s pretty hateful inside after a few hours on the motorway.

Something to bear in mind is that although you’re carrying 3-4 bikes, only 1 is being immediately deployed at a race (when you’ll have the most kit in). When not at a race it’s an absolute doddle to fit loads of bikes in any van. You don’t even need any stands, some bungee ties onto the sides and some padding is all you need and will be far more efficient for taking up space. E.g. 2 people, 4 bikes and a load of luggage for 3 weeks in France was a piece of piss (admittedly front wheels off for that van, but it was only wee). Then did similar in a Kombi without even bothering to take the rear seats out. Also did big trips in the Vito too, but it add some odd shelving in the back so wasn’t ideal, but still worked

Not seen it mentioned much but expect a movano to use pushing 20% ore fuel than a vivaro (size rather than those vans specifically), that extra frontal area takes a lot more pushing through the air.

I’ve a 59 plate mk7 swb hi top transit. Drivers seat is ok, I find the passenger seats awful, I can manage 90 mins max.
They used the same seats for the next model as well.

I’ve a friend with a 14 plate medium length hi top Renault, that’s huge inside, and significantly nicer to drive and be a passenger in.

Happy hunting:)

I have a 2012 lwb vivario sport with two seats in the back with very generous leg room. I can easily fit 2 long mtbs 2 bmx and gear in the back, if I didn’t have the rear seats 5 big bikes plus camping gear etc would be no problem. Air con 40 ish mpg on a run cruises on the motorway.

Had a deal lined up earlier on a Vivaro, PX on the Kuga was acceptable, then it was pointed out it was a non air con model!

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/266008639799

Sadly that’s a deal breaker.

Not today as it’s freezing lol. But some days for sure.

If you’re going full factory.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/155247536081?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=OgSfCoGvRwC&sssrc=2349624&ssuid=ZaZn4EUnST-&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

I bet it’s a money pit but that bus could be epic

Aye, panel vans and no air con happens a whole lot

Definitely get the bus, it’s about time Drop In TV had a reboot!

Lol she’d kill me if I bought that..

I think the no air con is because they’re mostly company purchase and no air is obviously cheaper for the bean counters.

We’ll see what tomorrow brings anyhow

It’s exactly that. If you go onto MB and spec up a Vito just now you’ll still see that the bottom spec has no air con (in the U.K. at least)

I just specced a Vito with the best of everything; £59K…😳

Would you want to go lower on the miles or happy in the 90s ?

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/van-details/202203263969255?supplied-price-to=17000&make=Renault&radius=1500&include-delivery-option=on&year-to=2022&model=Trafic&postcode=rg206qq&onesearchad=New&onesearchad=Nearly%20New&onesearchad=Used&advertising-location=at_vans&sort=distance&page=1

The “resin” floor looks like a disaster and the rear doors already have rust on them. Wouldn’t be for me

Those extra door locks on vans – mixed views. I’d rather not, they can attract extra attention and just something extra to go wrong. Not particular effective either, if they want in they’ll get in.

Best thing about biking last night with my Transit Custom: heated windscreen to melt the ice off that’d formed while I was out riding (-1degC pre-ride, -2degC post-ride. Windscreen’s difficult to reach the middle of from outside otherwise. And heated seats are great when you’ve got a large cab area to heat.

For what you want to carry, at a squeeze I’d get that in my SWB T5 with the second row of seats in. With the second row of seats out it’d swallow it no problem so not sure why you’d want something Sprinter/Movano etc sized.

If it were me I’d be looking at Transporters/Vitos/Transits. I’d also be sound deadening and lining the rear and front doors as a minimum to make it less “vanny” but thats a relatively easy DIY job.

Best thing about biking last night with my Transit Custom: heated windscreen to melt the ice off that’d formed while I was out riding (-1degC pre-ride, -2degC post-ride. Windscreen’s difficult to reach the middle of from outside otherwise. And heated seats are great when you’ve got a large cab area to heat.

It’s deffo a good point for the Transit Custom….