The effort was important but insufficient. By offering 1,800 electrically assisted bicycles for hire each year, Rennes Métropole had made a voluntary gesture. But it could not satisfy the enormous demand of the population. Facing waiting lists of several months, the community had intensified its efforts by offering 2,000 VAE each year. Everything was going well until the arrival of Covid-19 and the shutdown of bicycle production, combined with the explosion in global demand. “We are not immune to supply difficulties. France is dependent on parts produced in Asia and we need to organize ourselves,” acknowledges Matthieu Theurier.
A fervent promoter of the social and solidarity economy, the vice-president of Rennes Métropole in charge of mobility has commissioned his services to develop a repair workshop for electrically assisted bicycles. The objective is simple: to extend the life of bicycles offered for long-term rental that subscribers did not wish to buy. “We realized that we sometimes had bikes that came back having been ridden very little and that it didn’t take much to restore them to new condition”, explains Aurélien Gautier, head of the bike project at Keolis.
Refurbishment of 200 bicycles per year
The public transport operator and the metropolis have therefore launched their “Back Market” for VAEs. To do this, they have chosen to join forces with Talendi, a reintegration company better known as Bretagne Ateliers. Rather specializing in automotive equipment, Talendi trained four people to take apart bicycles. “The bikes are washed and completely disassembled. Often, it’s the truing of the wheels that takes us the most time”, assures Mickaël, the manager of this small service. The chain, sheaths and cables are regularly changed and donated to the La Petite Rennes self-repair workshop. As for the batteries, they are tested on a test bench and replaced if necessary. “The next step will be to recondition them as well,” admits Matthieu Theurier.
The city’s objective is to refurbish 200 bicycles a year in these workshops. The equipment can thus be offered for long-term rental in a so-called “reconditioned” model. offered at 145 euros per year (to Star subscribers) instead of 155 euros for the new version. Before, bikes were offered to companies or offered for daily rental. Thanks to this reconditioning system, the metropolis has a better chance of meeting the still very strong demand for long-term rentals. And allows the social enterprise Talendi to diversify, which suffers from regular shutdowns of the neighboring PSA factory. “We are currently working on reuse. But why not start assembling bicycles tomorrow,” warns Daniel Lafranche, the site director.