Pedicabs for sale

Which pedicab should you buy and why?

In this post we take a look at the Maxpro Ecotaxi Pedicab, and give you six compelling reasons why it is the best pedicab on the market.

So you’ve decided you want to get into the pedicab business, you are excited about the prospect of being your own boss, and of being paid in cash to ride a bike. You are interested in maybe establishing a fleet of bicycle taxis, and are looking forward to getting some advertising on the back of your pedicabs. Or using the trikes for a grocery delivery business.

 

At Tikki Tikki pedicabs we have over 10 years experience in the business. We’ve had a pedicab business in 5 countries. Over the years we’ve worked with all the pedicabs and rickshaws available, both mechanically, and as drivers. We often get asked which is the best cab to buy, and why? Well, there are three major pedicab manufacturers in our minds, the Mainstreet, the Maximus and the Ecotaxi.

Today we are going to tell you why the Maxpro Ecotaxi by H7 Engineering, far outranks it’s competition, and why they are money well spent.

1.Advertising

The Ecotaxi and it’s sister the Ecopromo are by far the most stylish and well thought out pedicabs for advertising – the bike is divided into sections so smaller vinyl printed boards can be Velcro’d or zap-strapped on to the existing frame. This eliminates the need for a professional to come and fit an expensive vehicle wrap – great if you have small clients like a restaurant or bar wanting to advertise with you on a small budget.

2.Getting the wheel off

Pedicabs go around corners with lots of weight in the back, sometimes the wheels buckle – this is not the case with the Ecotaxi. The Ecotaxi is fitted with the beefiest little 23″ moped wheels which never ever buckle. On inferior cabs that use bicycle wheels, you will need to get the wheel off after a buckle, and change the spokes and replace the rims – what a hassle and an expense. The Ecotaxi’s wheel can be taken off in 30 seconds (should you ever need too). It’s competitor the Cycles Maximus for example, has a wheel that takes over 2 hours to release and re-attach! The guys behind the Ecotaxi have really thought about how the bikes are used, and they have designed the axle so that it is slightly inset into the pedicab width, this means that if you rent your pedicab to someone, there is little to zero chance of them bending the axle in a crash or ping with street furniture.

3. The frame

The frame comes with a 3 year warranty and Maxpro tell us they have never seen one bend, they are rock solid. We have three 12 year old ecotaxi trikes in our fleet that still run beautifully! We’ve seen some horrible pedicabs made in China that have frames made out of toffee. Seriously, the Chinese pedicab imports squeak and creak and fell like jelly – we think they should be banned under safety grounds as the axles snap, the wheels fall off and the electrics set on fire. Fortunately the Ecotaxi’s frame and build quality is solid, and will keep you rolling (squeak free), for many years. Don’t waste your money on the Chinese-made pedicabs, you will be out of business in a year.

4. Amazing brakes

Two huge 180 mm disc brakes on both sides of the axle give the Ecotaxi some awesome stopping power. The ‘Magura Big Twin‘ brakes allow great free-wheel spin (the test of a well made and aligned pedicab). The Ecotaxi frame is precision built with millimetre clearance on it’s calipers. The Mainstreet, for example, has one big (clunky) disc in the middle which constantly needs adjusting by tightening and loosening the axle bolts or shimming the caliper. The Mainstreet pedicabs lose their free wheel spin every couple of months or so, and have to be reset so the brake pads don’t cause drag on the disc, they are poorly engineered in this respect.

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5. The axle splits into two.

You might not think that this is important, but with a less well engineered bike, this is not a feature. Pedicabs generally have the brake discs inset from their hubs, i.e. they are only accessible by removing the bearings. If you couldn’t split the axle (like on the Maximus), you would have to split the differential. Splitting the differential can take a novice up to 10 hours of dirty labour, the job requires specialist tools like cir-clip pliers and slide hammers. The Ecotaxi has no such problem, and a disc change only takes an hour, great if you need to get your fleet up and running asap.

6. Great customer service and shipping

Ecotaxi  have speedy customer service, an online parts shop with fast international shipping, and they know the pedicab industry inside out. Ecotaxi are the most popular pedicabs in Europe for a reason, and they will surely be in the business for years to come. You can even buy a cool cargo trike from Maxpro, should you want to diversify your business with deliveries!

Maxpro’s pedicabs are designed for some rough action. Your business will operate late at night, in the down town party scene – you will need a quality product if your idea is going to survive. If you want to be in the pedicab game for a long time, we suggest you buy the Maxpro Ecotaxi by H7 Engineering -we have been in the pedicab business for a long time because of them.

We’d love to answer any questions or comments you may have about pedicabs below. Please leave a comment below.

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