Inn-Bike /e-bikes4you - our story
We now have over 10 years of experience in the bike industry and have grown from a one-man business to around 50 employees during this time. Here we want to give a brief overview of ourselves, our company history and innovative projects.
2023
Fire in Kufstein shop
In the early morning hours of Tuesday, September 19, 2023, we experienced an unexpected and frightening incident in our shop in Kufstein: the washing machine in the kitchen had caught fire overnight. Our early shift employees were greeted by thick smoke when they opened the workshop and responded immediately by alerting the fire department. Thanks to the rapid and efficient intervention of the fire brigade, the fire was extinguished in a very short time. Unfortunately, the shop on Salurnerstrasse was no longer available and we had to look for a new location. In the end, we found what we were looking for just a few hundred meters away, in the former Billa store on Kinkstrasse, and spent the rest of the year setting up our new store there. You can find more information and videos about this in our blog posts about the fire, the outlook for 2024 and the announcement of the new location.
New shop in Kössen, Tirol
As of 01.01.2023 Bikesport Bichler is turning into Inn-Bike Kössen! Despite the rebrand, you'll find familiar faces helping you on location: Harry and Tina Bichler remain with us as staff and continue to focus on advising customers and servicing bikes in store. You're now able to get all your favourite brands in Kössen as well as Kufstein! You can find all contact details for this branch at inn-bike.at
We're looking forward to welcoming you in our Kössen shop for:
- Face to face advice on bikes, accessories and components
- Click & Collect
- Workshop for services and repairs
- Wertgarantie bike insurance
- Dienstradleasing consultation for employers and employees
- Financing cosultations
- Bike Fitting
Shop manager Harry Bichler
Bike gear and accessories in Kössen.
Showoom in Kössen.
New shop in Val Müstair, Switzerland
As of 01.01.2023 the Bike Patcher is turning into Inn-Bike Val Müstair! Thanks to this new location we're able to ship accessories, components and e-bike batteries domestically to our swiss customers. You're now able to shop online and pay in CHF with swiss VAT already included, delivery is quicker since your order doesn't have to be imported into Switzerland and you've got someone locally who can help you out if needed. You can find all information regarding our swiss store at inn-bike.ch
We're looking forward to welcoming you in our new Swiss store for:
- Face to face advice on bikes, accessories and components
- Click & Collect
- Workshop for services and repairs
- Financing cosultations
- Bike Fitting
You'll find everything you need in Müstair
Bikes from entry-level to highend
And of course a great workshop
New ÖBB Bike location in Baden bei Wien
Since we've opened our first 24-hour-bike-rental outside Tirol, we have - together with the ÖBB - rebranded Bike Tirol to ÖBB Bike.
Our first location outside Tirol is in Baden bei Wien, a lovely satellite town outside Vienna and perfect for day trips from the big city.
You can find the exact location on google maps and everything you need to know about renting a bike on our website.
New brands added: GASGAS and Husqvarna
In 2023 we also expanded our range and are proud to introduce two new e-bike brands: GASGAS and Husqvarna. These brands are based in Austria and complement our range to offer our customers even more choice.
Tirol Top 500
The last two years have not been easy for the bike industry and is reflected in our ranking of the Tyrol 500 companies with the highest turnover. Here we fell from 289th place in 2021 to 343rd place for 2022. We're still incredibly happy with a successful year in which, despite everything, we were able to increase our sales slightly compared to the previous year.
2022
Tiroler Innovationspreis 2022
Our innovative and 100% digital bike rental service Bike Tirol was nominated for the Tiroler Innovationspreis 2022. You can find additional information about the award as well as our proposal on the WKO website.
Our bike lounges enable you to rent a bike 24/7.
Check out our submission video here!
Together with the ÖBB we opened most of the Bike Lounges in 2021.
Tirol Top 500
Every year Echo Magazine publishes the Tirol Top 500, a list showing the top 500 local businesses with the highest turnover. Based on the published numbers from 2021 we managed to score the 289th place. Not bad for our first time on the list!
NextBike Bikesharing in Kufstein
Since may 2022 Kufstein offers residents and visitors bikesharing via NextBike. We're official partner managing the day to day redistribution and servicing of bikes. NextBike offers stations all across town where you can pick up and return your bike easily and conveniently. This means you can drive to the shops, work, the train station etc quickly and environmentally friendly without having to worry about car parking.
Stations are available at many locations in Kufstein including the hospital, train station, university and near shopping centres.
Stations are also available along the Inn promenade so you can enjoy a short tour along the river.
You can also find NextBikes near shopping centres and supermarkets.
Tradeshows and Events
This year, we took our brand new show trailer to a number of the biggest (e-)bike tradeshows in Germany and Austria, but also organised smaller shows in house. Our inhouse events were mainly for local businesses to help them educate their staff about business bike leasing.
Our team warming up with coffees at the Bike Festival in Vienna.
Always something to munch on! The team enjoying a snack and a break at the E-Bike Days Munich.
Just one of many in-house events, we welcomed staff from a number of local businesses to introduce business bike leasing.
New location for bike rental service Bike Tirol
In the beginning of August, Bike Tirol opened an additional bike rental location in Kirchberg in Tirol. Together with the ÖBB and Sport Rudi, we are now enabling visitors and locals alike to (re-)discover the area around Kitzbühel. The rental bikes are location at Sport Rudi, are however available 24/7 as usual.
Kirchberg in Tirol now has a Bike TIrol 24-hour bike rental service.
Bikes are located inside Sport Rudi.
You can also use one of our helmets for added safety.
2021
We're one of the best webshops in Germany!
We were so excited to be one of the top three online shops for e-bikes in Germany! The price, „Deutschlands beste Online Shops“ was awarded through ntv and the German Institude for Service Quality (DISQ).
10 year anniversary
June 11, 2021 saw our 10th anniversary and was celebrated with a small, covid-conform internal gathering.
For the 10th anniversary, our new, modern store is festively decorated.
The first book is already written! A photo book for the company anniversary.
Ten years of enthusiasm and passion for cycling.
The 24-hour bike rental service Bike Tirol opens with three locations
But even before our anniversary in June, we were able to celebrate another highlight. After months of preparation, our new innovative bike rental service Bike Tirol launched on May 1. Kufstein, Wörgl and Matrei am Brenner now boast fully digitalized Bike Lounges, where customers can rent and return bikes around the clock. Offering cross-country hardtail mountain bikes as well as e-trekking bikes holidaymakers and locals alike can book, rent and return bikes just using their smartphone.
At the VCÖ Mobility Award ceremony on August 26, 2021, our innovative, fully digitalized bike rental service Bike Tirol was honoured as an exemplary project.
The rental station directly at the train station of Matrei am Brenner, a state-of-the-art Bike Lounge.
The entire rental process is done using your smartphone.
Unlock the pre-booked bike via the Bike Tirol app and start cycling.
2020
The pandemic sends shock waves through the bike world
What began as an ordinary year turned into an unpredictable whirlwind for us all. After dealing with the initial shock of the corona virus and mandated store closures, we were incredibly privileged to be one of the industries that boomed during the pandemic. We saw an unprecedented run on bikes and were barely able to fill demand. The bike boom gripped the entire industry, warehouses were emptied and we had all hands on deck.
Specialized is added to our inventory
In 2020 we also started working with Specialized and were able to add another high-end brand to our range. With over 40 years of experience, the company now serves broad market segments from MTBs and road bikes to city and touring bikes.
Our first Specialized bike arriving - very exciting!
Manni - our workshop quality control specialist examines the new arrival.
Ever since the first day, Specialized is a big part of our product range.
We're moving into bigger premises!
To top it all off, we moved into a new, larger retail store at Salurner Straße 2. New, additional office space for the e-bikes4you.com team was also set up at the Kiefersfelden location.
Our new shop is bigger, brighter and more modern.
As well as bikes, we also offer accessories, shoes and helmets.
Our break out meeting area - right next to the coffee machine!
2019
Switch from an e-bike-only webshop to all bikes
We made a big decision in 2019 - we switched from only selling e-bikes in our e-bikes4you.com online store to also selling bikes without electrical support. This turned out to be great strategic decision and gave us a great boost during the pandemic.
Always on the lookout for new, high-quality products and brands, we added mountain bikes from the innovative and exclusive Spanish manufacturer Mondraker to our range.
We also became one of the strongest distributors for Bosch motors and batteries in Europe.
Having envisioned a digital bike rental system, Hans-Peter Gratt partnered with Communalp, who worked with us on the Bike Tirol project all the way to the realization of full-scale operations.
2018
Idea to create a 24/7 bike rental is born
Inn-Bike starts to offer bike rental. This was great for tourists, but also allowed locals to better test bikes before buying them.
We also expanded this concept and worked with hotels and tourism associations in Austria and Germany to offer rental bikes during the summer season.
The elaborate organization of many smaller and larger individual initiatives in the rental business finally led to the vision of creating a network of fully digitalized rental centres. The idea for Bike Tirol was born.
BionX, one of our key partners folded at the end of 2018 and we transferred to working closely with Bosch.
At Hotel Rehlegg in Berchtesgaden, Inn-Bike provides TREK and Focus mountain bikes for rent.
2017
Retrofit kits now available online
Up until 2017 we only sold after market kits to convert non-e-bikes into e-bikes in our online store. In 2017 we switched to selling complete e-bikes.
TREK's Powerfly e-mountain bike range marked the beginning, followed by the Focus JAM² and BOLD² e-mountain bikes introduced in spring 2017. These Focus bikes set new standards in the e-mountain bike market with their barely visible, integrated Shimano Steps motor and their unique concept of battery placement.
In addition to Focus bikes, e-bikes from the traditional German brand Kalkhoff were added to the range, along with other bikes from the city and trekking bike segments. With Triobikes, manufactured in Denmark, E-Cargobikes supplemented the assortment of e-bikes4you.com and Inn-Bike.
2016
Showroom in Kiefersfelden, Germany
In addition to Focus bikes, e-bikes from the traditional German brand Kalkhoff were added to the range, along with other bikes from the city and trekking bike segments. With Triobikes, manufactured in Denmark, E-Cargobikes supplemented the assortment of e-bikes4you.com and Inn-Bike.
We also opened a new showroom in Kiefersfelden just across the border in Germany.
Hans-Peter Gratt and successful local businessman Thomas Böhme met in 2013 as part of Inn-Bikes road biking club. A few years and bike tours later, in 2016, the two decided to collaborate and expand the online shop. From then on, the range of accessories also included brands like BOSCH and RELO. Thomas Böhme, a technology enthusiast and strategist, took on co-responsibility in the company and started helping on site with the sale of the retrofit systems.
The new premises for the online store offer enough space for a modern showroom.
The online store is preparing for the sale of e-bikes from 2017.
From an online store for retrofit systems to a full range of e-bikes.
2014
Electra bikes now available
Stylish Electra bikes were added to the Inn-Bike product catalogue in 2014 thanks to a business take over by Trek, who were our biggest supplier at the time. These bikes are a real eye-catcher and were a perfect addition to our range.
Summer in the City - here's the right bike!
Bike accessories, just as colourful as the bikes!
Bikes, clothing and accessories on show in the old Inn-Bike shop.
2013
BionX available in store
Hans-Peter Gratt imported his first BionX retrofit motor from Canada in 2007.
After opening his store, he offered customers the opportunity to convert normal bikes into e-bikes with retrofit systems from BionX and gained a lot of notoriety in Kufstein and the surrounding area.
Hans-Peter Gratt relied on e-bikes long before the e-bike market became the growth market of the bike industry.
In order to offer bike enthusiasts the opportunity to turn their existing bike into an e-bike using a BionX retrofit kit, Hans-Peter Gratt created the online platform e-bikes4you.com in 2013. In its early days, the online store's range was limited to retrofit systems, drive kits and accessories. In the stationary specialty store Inn-Bike, bikes with and without motor assistance were sold, and the range grew steadily.
2012
Bike club Inn-Bike Stars
"Team Inn-Bike", a local road biking club with the goal of bringing cycling enthusiasts together was launched. Over the years, rides, technical training sessions, workshop days, but also barbecue parties and training camps created a community around and beyond the bicycle business. In the following years, the club changed its name to Inn-Bike Stars and is still thriving today.
2011
Founding of Inn-Bike
Hans-Peter Gratt, the founder, owner and managing director of Inn-Bike, wanted to share his passion and enthusiasm for cycling with as many people as possible. So, in 2011, at the age of 19, he took the opportunity to set up a small bike store in Kufstein. With a lot of love, a former garage became a cozy bike store opening on June 11, 2011 under the name Inn-Bike.
In the beginning, Inn-Bike was a TREK Proshop that primarily offered the entire TREK bike range as well as accessories from TREK's house brand Bontrager. The bikes of the traditional German company Diamant were also there from the beginning, as TREK had already taken over the oldest German bike manufacturer in 2003.
Opening of Inn-Bike on 11.06.2011 at the Inn promenade.
Here burns the fire of passion for cycling.
TREK Proshop - small but nice. Bikes and accessories.