Darren Liang knew he wanted to get into the business of renting out E-bikes, but wasn’t exactly sure how to roll out the idea — until he partnered with Surrey’s Alien E-Bike Rentals.
Located in Port Kells, Alien is building on a business plan to be an environmentally-friendly mobile E-bike rental outlet for franchisees who can bring the bikes to wherever people want to rent them.
In recent weeks Liang has set up his rental operations at False Creek in Vancouver, on the waterfront bike path at Plaza of Nations — a perfect location for those looking to ride the seawall to Stanley Park and back.
“With this model, the trailer and the van, it was a no-brainer, I was keen right away,” Liang said of the venture. “People come to me and they’re ready to roll from here.”
Solar power recharges Alien’s bikes in the custom van/trailer units, making them mobile anywhere in the region.
Liang can fit 16 of the E-bikes into the van, and could roll out 32 of them in the tandem van-trailer combination for planned expansion of his rental business.
“It’s a convenience thing that aims to be self-sustainable,” he explained, “so that if you’re out in the middle of nowhere, like a campground or at the base of a logging trail where people like to bike, you can actually charge all your batteries from that location without having to find a place to plug in every time.
“With this type of business, once your batteries run out, you can’t make any more money, right,” Liang added. “So going out to a campsite in the middle of nowhere, these can run for a whole weekend. The vans can be plugged in at your house as well, to charge them.”
Founded by James Healey in 2018, Alien is now looking to partner with franchisees in their “turnkey” concept, in a growing E-bike market.
“(Franchisees) can get involved and they’re all ready to go with trailers, vehicles and the e-bikes,” said Cameron Mein, managing partner. “It’s mobile, ready to roll.”
Alien’s imported two-wheelers are light, foldable and very easy to ride on diverse terrain, including roads and trails.
“They have high handle bars so people aren’t leaning over too far, and they have a step-through frame so people don’t trip when they get off,” Liang raved. “I’ve had family members get other E-bikes and fall off because their toe would catch the crossbar, it was too high. That’s a very important feature actually. And the fat tires are really comfortable, so when you’re going over bumps and stuff, you don’t have that really jagged feeling, it’s really smooth.”
Liang’s E-bike rental operation is set up across the street from the JW Marriott Parq hotel, by the casino.
“It’s a great location, obviously, and it’s a launching pad for us. What we’re finding is, a lot of locals walk by us and then come back another day with their family from out of town, from Surrey or Langley or Abbotsford or wherever, and then they all rent an E-bike and do the seawall. It’s perfect for that.”
Alien is online at alienerentals.com, or call 604-371-3695.