The ultimate bike van: Modified VW Crafter

GCN presenter Ollie Bridgewood recently took on the mammoth 1,000km Tour des Stations ultra-endurance race in the Swiss Alps. Of course, we couldn’t expect him to do it alone, so we sent a support crew to help out, and we equipped them with what we think is the ultimate bike van for any adventure.

That’s one hefty tag, but the van is seriously impressive. It’s a VW Crafter that’s been heavily modified by CJL Leisure into the perfect accomplice for any cycling adventure, although it admittedly doesn’t come cheap, setting any prospective buyers back over £100,000.

So, what does that money actually get you? For a start, the outside of the van has been modified with chunky, off-road tyres designed to excel on rugged terrain, plus it’s been custom wrapped because, well, aesthetics matter too.

Moving inside, the whole van has been optimised with everything a cyclist could possibly need, from a comfy bed to a fridge-freezer to store all of your all-important cycling nutrition. Arguably most importantly of all, there’s a shower with hot water.

That covers the cyclist part of the equation, but what about the bike? When designing the van, CJL Leisure thought carefully about every little piece of space, and ingeniously there’s a bike rack under the bed. This is mounted to a tray that pulls out for easy access and acts as a workshop. Incredibly, it can accommodate four different bikes - so you will always have space for the right bike for any adventure.

All of these changes, in our humble opinion, make this the best available bike van for cycling adventures, but what do you think? Watch the video for a full breakdown of the van.

Oliver Bridgewood

GCN Tech Presenter

PhD Chemist turned cycling enthusiast, bringing the lab coat to GCN Does Science