CUSTOM COFFEE BIKES
A coffee bike is one of the most affordable entry points into the mobile food market, making it an ideal option for entrepreneurs starting their journey. Beyond its low overhead, the coffee bike offers extreme operational flexibility. In the hands of our custom design team, it becomes an impactful visual asset for your brand - combining a high-output workspace with the benefits of a full-scale mobile cafe in a compact, go-anywhere footprint.
HIGH QUALITY COFFEE BIKES CUSTOM MADE IN EUROPE
Karpatia designs coffee bikes with a focus on the ergonomics and efficiency of using them to sell coffee – with stellar design and the quality of the build and materials as a very close second. Although our bikes are made in Europe we do keep stock – allowing for fast delivery and customization for all orders.
With an ever growing network of coffee vendors riding around on our bikes we are acutely aware of the challenges and opportunities you will face – and the bikes are made better all the time to adjust for this.
All our coffee bikes can be outfitted with an electric bike motor or simply rely on pure pedal power. As we have no fixed partnership with a coffee brand or coffee machine fabricators you can go fully independent and save a tonne of money for your business in the long run. We can look in to the right option for your machine together, or you can source it yourself and we will install it for you.
A coffee bike cart is about the lowest bar to entry point you can get for a mobile food business – perfect for starting out. Not only is the initial cost low, the operational costs for repairs and insurance are virtually negligible too.
Neatly disassembled the coffee bike fits comfortably in the back of most vans – allowing you to sell much farther afield then you would ever want to cycle.
OUR COFFEE BIKES
FROM JUST $20k
Coffee bikes work well both as a standalone operating solution for newly minted entrepreneurs looking to get ahead of the peloton of traditional sellers as well as when they are made part of an existing café’s branding and sales efforts. With their small size they can go anywhere, making them perfect as a small service station for events and catering to be added to your fleet or for the office coffee lady doing the rounds.
Not being a real regular food truck means we can skip out on the often required triple-sink system and make do with a double sink, giving you a lot of extra room to work with. Our coffee bikes have tanks for clean and dirty water so you are self contained, with hot water available on tap because of the built in heating module.
The bike’s work surface is made from food grade stainless steel – same as a food truck countertop. Colors can be customized – any RAL color is possible. As well as a pure pedal powered unit or an electric e-bike – your choice.
OUR COFFEE BIKES
OUR PREFERRED COFFEE MACHINE
The stylish dual group Leva espresso machine is a vintage classic look, made from the highest quality stainless steel and milled with precision in to a beautiful coffee apparatus. Italian high end, timeless retro design. There is both a gas powered and an electric version of the Leva.
Specifications
- A separate large boiler for steam production (for example for the production of large amounts of cappuccino) without any impact on the quality of coffee extraction.
- Boiler and water pipes made of copper
- Automatic water refilling boiler
- 1 hot water feeder
- 2 espresso – frothing milk nozzles
- 3.5 gallon (13.5l) capacity
- 2700w , 230V (electric)
- 173.5g/hr gas consumption (3/8” diameter pipe, gas)
- Dimensions: 745x500x780(h) mm
However, although the length of the bike counter allows for a fully customized large piston barista machine – you can certainly go an entirely different route and serve cold brews, ice coffee or pour over coffee saving costs on the machine and weight on the bike.
COFFEE BIKE MUSINGS
TIPS, TRICKS AND FOOD FOR THOUGHT
Peddling coffee on a bike (see what we did there?) – what’s not to like? For one, selling outdoors in the rain or in the winter with a coffee bike is not for the faint of heart.
Less obvious downsides to owning a coffee bike are the necessary hustle – coffee is a great high margin product, but also hard to differentiate on if you do not plan ahead. You will really have to add the flair on top of our bike with your barista services and personality and go all out on your sales and marketing with local networks to secure coveted gigs and fixed concession spots.
Speaking of concessions – call your local regulator if your coffee bike will qualify as a food truck at all, or if it is a “hot dog” or other cart in your county or if you would even be the very first bike around town and as such would be well advised to have a real human health department official check it out and make a decision in person. If local legislation throws a spoke in the wheels of your coffee bike, you can always decide to go bigger with either a full coffee truck or somewhere in the middle with one of our modern tuk tuk solutions like a Piaggio or the new e-Tuk Vendo GT concepts.
No previous experience is really necessary to run a coffee bike – if you are feeling particularly bad about your latte art or had some salty feedback on your brews from friends and family you can always consider taking a course at a local coffee school like the Texas Coffee School (or.. just ask your local coffee shop or do a few shifts at the big green mermaid café).
There are literally hundreds of food truck builders.
so why karpatia?
Karpatia provides one of the best quality-to-value ratios in the industry. From 100% made in the USA, to high end European classics like Citroens and authentic conversions, we can do it all.
With Karpatia, you have an endless amount of possibilities. We will provide you with the best kitchen equipment and customizations such as full body wrap or painting. Working with us is fast and easy!
To keep your mobile business moving, we also offer a range of supporting services that aren’t limited to existing clients’ builds.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ABOUTCOFFEE BIKES
Learn more in our knowledge center ►Of course, we are based in Middlebury Indiana just 6 hrs drive from Toronto but we serve clients in all of Canada too.
Coffee is all about getting your sales and the right concession spot. Making a margin on a single cup is guaranteed – with a low food cost and great shelf life coffee gives you a good basis to invest comfortably.
Being profitable as a coffee bike, in the long run, is more about your ability to do sales and secure deals than the operational aspects of the business.
This depends on the county you are planning to operate in, so always check and confirm with your local health department or other authority that issues the food truck permits in your area before committing to any purchase.
Usually a coffee bike can be licensed as a cart or other mobile vendor without issue, but please check before placing your order.