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Customer experience Fun2Go duo bike - Steve Birgel
At La Kutch, I take people who don't have many opportunities to get outdoors on bike rides. I accompany care home residents, people with limited mobility, and sometimes entire families. My job is to give them back a little freedom and to build connections through my vanRaam Fun2Go bikes.
An insight gained from fifteen years in the medical and social care sector
My name is Steve Birgel. I founded in 2021 in Strasbourg. It’s an organisation that enables older people and those with disabilities to enjoy bike rides whilst being looked after by our team. After three years in a business incubator and a year as a micro-business, we’ve expanded. Today, there are two of us running the business: Baptiste Carré and myself.
Before founding La Kutch, I spent fifteen years in the medical and social care sector, working closely with people with disabilities. I was a medical equipment supplier, dealing with wheelchairs, hospital beds, cargo bikes and so on…
I eventually came to a double observation. The first was that there were very few, if any, outdoor activities designed for people with reduced mobility and older people. Getting out and about, getting some fresh air, was not part of almost anyone’s daily routine. The second was that even though adapted bikes do exist, they are too expensive for an ordinary family who wants to take a grandparent out once or twice a year.
So I had a very simple idea. Instead of selling the bike, why not offer rides by the hour, with a guide, and no need to buy anything? I wanted something fun, safe and easy to organise. That’s how La Kutch was born. We now have three guides, two Fun2Go bikes and our schedule is constantly full!
To promote ourselves, we organise events, sometimes in partnership with our retailer Cycl'Hop in Obernai, France. This year, we co-hosted a stand at a cycling fair in Strasbourg and took part in the Nuit du Handicap. We always receive the same warm welcome. More and more people want to give it a go. Cycl’hop also has an excellent technician. When one of my seats had a defect, it was replaced very quickly.
A thousand rides in one year thanks to the side by side Fun2Go bike
In 2025, we went on over a thousand rides, covering around six thousand kilometres on our two Fun2Go bikes. Our bikes are out almost every day and our schedule is fully booked until September.
Most of my time is spent in nursing homes. I have contracts with EHPADs (nursing homes) and give rides to residents who’d like to go out. The trips can last as little as fifteen minutes, but sometimes over an hour and a half. It’s a group of people who are often overlooked in comparison to those living at home, yet their desire to get out and about remains just as strong. The rest of the time, I work with foster homes, specialised care homes or private individuals. I see some of them every week, others every fortnight. We end up getting to know each other really well!
I tailor the itinerary to each person. We ride along the Bruche Canal and pass its locks. For sports fans, we go past the Meinau Stadium, Racing’s ground. But the best part is when we head to a place that really means something to them. We might go to visit a friend, pop in to see family, or sometimes pay our respects at the cemetery. Those journeys really mean something special.
To keep going for longer, my Fun2Go is fitted with an Extra battery pack as I sometimes cover more than fifty kilometres in a day. I’ve also added a Rotatable seat with a lift-up armrest to make it easier to get people on board, and a Mirror. The comfort of the seat makes all the difference during long trips. And sitting side by side makes it easier to chat. We look at the scenery, we chat, we laugh. Sometimes, people also tell me that it makes them feel good to reconnect with city life, the sound of buses, traffic and pedestrians…
The people I carry often tell me that we’re offering them a genuine space of freedom. That’s why I do this job.
When families also want to ride
In Strasbourg and the surrounding area, there is a fantastic network of cycle paths. You can easily get about, without any worries. Sometimes, we take a parent on the Fun2Go and the rest of their family joins us with their own bikes. It creates some truly convivial moments.
More and more people are asking me if it’s possible to rent bikes without a guide for a day, so they can cycle at their own pace in complete privacy. It’s a project we’re working on, to allow families to get together and share some quality time.
What really drives me, deep down, is very simple: it’s seeing the positive impact cycling has on the people we accompany. Seeing someone get back into exercise, hearing the sounds of nature, and seeing people again is priceless.
Steve Birgel, founder of in Obernai and Strasbourg, Alsace, France
Bike : Fun2Go duo bike
Pros & Cons
- Very sturdy
- Easy to use
- A bike that brings people together
- Suitable for all audiences
- A heavy bike
