Choosing a pedicab rickshaw???
Choosing the best rickshaw is all but easy. Pedicab-type vehicles come in a variety of styles, with different features, and of course at different prices. So what to look at when buying a rickshaw? Well, it depends on what you need the rickshaw for – if you need it for advertising purposes you will have to look at different features than when looking for a vehicle for small good transportation. To help you choose the best model tailored to your needs, we’ve listed some of the most important features that a good quality pedicab should have.
Tips on buying a pedicab: what to look at?
ADVERTISING SPACE
Mobile advertising campaigns on pedicab-type vehicles proved very successful for many businesses from small companies to international giants. For rickshaw operators, offering their vehicles for marketing campaigns equals additional - and often quite significant - profit. And that’s why this type of pedicabs has been more and more popular. So if you are thinking of buying a pedicab that you could be used for mobile advertising, advertising boards on the vehicle will be one of the most important features to look at. Make sure that you check the size of the ad boards (with non standard ones you will have to pay extra for a custom poster size) and also the quality of the board as you don’t want a poster to get wet or damaged.
MAINTENANCE
Maintenance can give you a headache, that’s for sure! If you are thinking about running your own fleet of pedicabs, maintenance should be one of the main features to look at. The cost of pedicab rickshaw maintenance can range from £7 to £25 per hour, just for the labour. The easier the bike is to maintain, the less time it will take to get it fixed and the less money it will cost you. To give you a real life example, changing one broken spoke on Cycles Maximus pedicab takes approximately one hour. Doing the same in other pedicabs, such as Main Street or Maxpro, takes as little as 10 minutes. The 50 minutes you saved on maintenance gives you around £6 saving on one pedicab – and if you have a fleet of ten, that’s £60 saving on fixing just one broken spoke.
RELIABILITY
Reliability is definitely one of the most features to look at when buying a rickshaw bike. It’s not hard to guess that vehicles that break down easily will be difficult to rent out or use for any other businesses and, as a result, will give you more problems than money. Reliable vehicles are developed by professional engineers, and have solid construction made of good quality materials, and all necessary safety features required by the law. Good brands have usually very good reputation on the market so sometimes you just need to rely on some word of mouth to make up your mind.
AVAILABLITY OF SPARE PARTS
Spares can be a problem for many pedicab operators. If your vehicle breaks down or you just need to replace some parts, waiting for the spares means your vehicle is out of use and you are not making any money. So before buying a pedicab, it is important to ask the manufacturer about the cost of spare parts and the average waiting time. For example, buying pedicabs directly from China usually means that if something goes wrong, you are left on your own.
PRICE
Although very important, price should probably be the last thing to look at. Making sure that the pedicab has all the features you need and that it is reliable and easy to maintain should come first. Pedicab prices differ, depending on the features and quality. Very cheap products are usually of very poor quality and don’t conform to the safety regulation. Quality comes at a price but it certainly pays off in the long term.