Late one night back in 2018 from Sandusky, Ohio, Danny Perry messaged the mayor of Tiffin.
Perry had just seen his future drive by.
“What do you think about bringing party bikes to downtown Tiffin?” he asked.
The mayor thought it’d be a great addition. Before The Tiffin Pedal Company could be born, Perry had to hunt for his first bike. He researched companies all over the globe and finally settled on a bike from Spain.
“It wasn’t exactly how I wanted it,” Perry said. “The welding wasn’t great, the seats didn’t stay up, the battery wasn’t awesome.”
So Perry reached out to Sarka.
Known for innovative thinking and their ability to engineer solutions, Sarka took a look at the bike from Spain and worked with Perry to reverse engineer it, improve it, and make it into something Perry could feel proud of.
Perry has bought every one of his party bikes from Sarka ever since.
“Once we found Sarka we had something good going,” said Perry. “It was a very different experience. With the first bike, I took a leap of faith sending money overseas to a company I was pretty sure was real. With Sarka, we can sit down together and tweak ways to improve each bike.”
There are a few standout innovations Perry loves most about Sarka’s bikes. “You can move the bike by pedaling or utilizing electric assist. Our first bike (from Spain) didn’t have reverse functionality, so I had to push it out of storage,” said Perry.
The back seat design is another unique feature of the Sarka bikes.
“The back seat faces forward on most bikes you see,” but on the Sarka bike, the team decided to install two bench seats that face each other instead. “It’s perfect for grandparents or people with kids, and it makes it easier to accommodate more groups.”
That’s right—grandparents and kids. People sometimes think that party bikes are filled with just a bunch of people bouncing around to bars. While that tends to be the most popular, some of Perry’s favorite groups have been a group from a nursing home and little kid birthday parties.
“We had a whole group of 80 year olds hop on and ask if they could bring beer,” Perry said, laughing. “The kid birthday parties are a blast, too. We take them down to the park so they can play kickball and then go downtown to get ice cream. They bring a lot of energy and fun.”
The Tiffin Pedal Company offers a variety of other tours, too, including a history tour that showcases which businesses used to occupy the historic buildings downtown.
“There’s so many angles you can take,” said Perry.
Today, the Tiffin Pedal Company runs tours in several other communities around Northwest Ohio, including pedal companies in Findlay, Upper Sandusky, and Bowling Green.
“I’ve always loved entrepreneurship and having something I can control myself and build a brand,” said Perry. “This was something cool, a perfect fit for me because I love meeting new people, talking to people, and bringing this new energy to town.”
That’s an important part of planning for a party bike business, said Perry. “You need to work with the city to make sure that it’s something they want. We never want to go into a town where we aren’t welcome.”
Perry met with the mayor and city council to work with them to make sure a party bike would be a good fit. Besides buy-in from the local government, the layout and terrain of the city is another important factor to consider. Although the party bike can manage some steep hills and inclines, too many can pose a challenge.
But with the right city and the right fun-loving spirit, a party bike business can be a real blast.
“It’s a unique, fun business to get into,” said Perry. Are you ready to explore bringing the party bike business to life in your town? Explore the features of a Sarka Party Bike or download our Party Bike Business Guide to get more tips from the pros.
