Which cargo bike would be most maneuverable? With bakfietsen it seems a load would shift around a bit, which makes the whole bike wobbly. I’ve used kiddie trailers (Burleigh) without much sacrifice in maneuverability. I’ve seen these used for cargo, too. Even had a pizza delivered in one!
@ILikeToRide
He is complimenting himself over his victory over Joe with the prank…
@BMX Rider
Shutup
@Scooter
going green?
what does that even mean???
having plants just means that one may know a bit about aesthetics, or maybe they enjoy walking into the shop in the morning to a breath of fresh air…
@ Paul, I’m not sure why your comment needs to be so harsh. If not just crass and debasing. I’m simply wondering why so much energy is wasted when riding a 90lb bike.
I wanted to take an informal poll on who would actually buy a “box bike”. I don’t think a childish remark was needed. If you want to participate, I will mark you down for an individual who would purchase a Bakfiets.
Hey Michael R – referring back to your post on 7/1. I guess you were right. This is the far more practical choice than a sleek 28 pound bike to which you can add 50 pounds of trailer, kid and cargo when you want, but have as a sweet road rig for fast rides when you don’t. I mean it really is more practical to have a 92 pound bike to add your 50 pounds of kid and cargo. Plus you’ll probably fill the box since you have the capacity. So now you’re stuck with a behemoth that only qualifies as a bike because it has 2 wheels. You can’t ride it for pleasure, and when you get where you’re going you can’t lock it up in a standard bike rack. On the plus side, I can’t imagine that anyone would want to steal it.
Having lived as a car free parent for over a year now with two kids, trust me, there are folks who want these bikes and want them much more than adding a trailer to another bike.
Ninjoe, to put it another way, when you ride everyplace for transportation and usually have kids with you, the fast road bike ends up collecting a lot of dust, and you find you don’t really have much need to go out of your way for a rec. ride just to get a workout.
We built up a Surly Big Dummy to carry kids in like fashion and it has some tremendous benefits over using a trailer which we’ve done for many thousands of miles.
Bakfietsen ar very popular in Holland, you can haul your kids and cargo around in this flat country (exept for bridges and so on) and congested cities. They are stable and can carry more than an 8-Freight from Mike, even a 10 year old over 70 Km’s during a touring ride. The 8-Freight rides fine as well< I have no experience wirh a bakfiets… Kids sit in the “bak” at front on a bench or babies in their seats, parents wo cycle all year round even have a canopy on the bak. There are several brands in Holland, all derived from the original ones that have two weels and a pivot under the bak and steer by turning the whole bak whith the handebar at the rear end of the bak. Moste bakfietsen have no gears, some have a 3 speed hub.
It is great to see a bike like this in Yehuda’s shop, I wonder what’s next…. Recumbents ?? Velomobiles ????
My Aunt and Uncle live in Delft, NL. They don’t own a car. I think their lightest bike ways 40+ pounds. Their Bakfiets is the Family Truckster. Last time I was over there, I rode it on an outing for the day. Surprisingly nimble with a very smooth ride. The kids usually like to see where they’re going but all day they turned around so they could talk to me. We had a much better and more fulfilling (hard to stay close with family when separated by an ocean) time than them riding in a trailer and looking at my butt. Weight was a non-issue as the tallest hill we encountered was 10 feet tall or so – bridges over canals. That was a wonderful pleasure ride. If you’re not a family man, you’re excused for not understanding.
That was a wonderful pleasure ride. If you’re not a family man, you’re excused for not understanding. I agree that Dutch bikes are hard to understand for Americans who look at a bike primarily as a toy. I didn’t understand at first – “why do these people ride these pieces of crap – you’d think if you didn’t own a car you’d want a really nice bike”. A Bakfiets really isn’t that outrageously heavy for a Dutch bike. Their bikes are all heavy. Tough as nails and designed for a 50+ year lifespan spent totally out doors – including every night ans all winter – in a wet climate with near-zero maintenance.
My Aunt Paula is Dutch and has always used bicycles for transportation. She doesn’t know how to drive – I doubt she even knows hot to start a car. She could probably drop Lance Armstrong with two kids and a load of groceries in the box! The kids ride their own bikes now but they keep the Bakfiets for when they need to haul a lot of stuff. Like having a pick-up truck A Bakfiets really isn’t that outrageously heavy for a Dutch bike. Their bikes are all heavy. Tough as nails and designed for a 50+ year lifespan spent totally out doors in a wet climate.
That was a wonderful pleasure ride. If you’re not a family man, you’re excused for not understanding.
I would own one myself if I didn’t live on the side of a mountain and had shops close by.
I’ve got an old 4Runner that I drive – but not for pleasure. For that I’ve got my old Alfa Romeo. Buying a Bakfiets is exactly like buying a truck or an SUV (assuming you have the need – most who buy them don’t).
Dang – I don’t know why I can’t edit that post – it must have gotten confused. I can live with the typos in a long post like that except for “ways”. LOL weighs gosh darnit!
Have you noticed that all cyclist in the Dutch video welcoming spring were not wearing helmets? [http://www.24oranges.nl/2008/05/08/biking-through-tilburg/] Well, I guess if you have the road all to yourselves, you wouldn’t wear one. I won’t.
Hey NinJoe – How many bikes do you own? More than one? Why compromise when you can have a bike for cargo and a bike for cruising and a bike for speeding around and a bike for ….
Michael R – I have more than one bike, each that has a different purpose, so I see where you’re going. But in the context of the current arc, she has no bike, so if she is going to be a one bike owner I would have recommended something more (IMO) practical.
I have 3 kids, now ages 13, 10 & 7. Throughout the years I’ve used a kid seat (Troxel design which had a dedicated rack but could quickly be removed), Burley, & Trail-a-Bike, all of which left me able to have my bike in multiple configurations. I carried kid(s) + cargo, using a backpack when needed. I know that’s anathema to some “purists’. The bakfiets may be “sensible” as a pure cargo carrying device, but I stick to my stance that if you want someone to get into cycling this is not the way to do it.
NinJoe – more practical for hauling that Mommy load? Remember, she’s intending to get in shape by pedaling her mommy load. Your suggestion is like saying that it’s more practical to buy a sportscar with a trailer hitch than a pick-up truck when you’re a building contractor.
Hard to argue with the Bakfiets design – it’s a fairly old design, thoroughly tested by thousands of Dutchmen.
Besides as being big advocates of bikes as transportation one thing I’ve found over and over that keeps the average non-cyclist from getting on a bike and using it for transportation is that it seems daunting to have to figure everything out. A bike like the bakfiets is a very mature well thought through design that makes it about as much of a no-brainer going via bike with the kids as taking the car. Just get on and ride.
Remember that photo of the Yehuda lookalike I posted a while back? He builds the “small haul” cycle truck, which is kinda sorta an American made version of a bakfietsen. I’ve only seen dogs and cargo in the Small Haul, though, not children (yet).
I think a bak would be great for someone already in shape and with experience cycling. Give someone new a bike that is heavy, slow and hard to move around with out of shape legs and you are likely to turn them off
I’m curious about how something like that could fit in to traffic, you are basically forced to take the lane and you cant go on MUPS with out forcing everyone else off the path. I think an extra cycle would be better as you can fide the shoulder (when nessicary) or filter through cars in traffic
Chris & Anthony – we’re gonna have to agree to disagree here. While I can’t quibble with your comment (Chris) about practicality for carrying the mommy load, I still think that if a person is only going own 1 bike, it shouldn’t be that one. As we all know from real world experience, you can always find a way to pare down your load a bit when there’s just too much stuff. When I can’t fit the whole family and all our junk in the minivan I don’t buy a Suburban, I find a way to lighten the load.
We’re all on two (or three) wheels here. People make their own choices. Differences of opinion are why there are horse races. Let’s just leave it at that.
Well Gilbert, It’s not that you don’t feel the weight. You certainly do. The Bakfiets I rode was like a big ‘ol Cadillac. Soft, a bit…well, flexy is the wrong word…floaty I guess is better? Comfortable. Not particularly precise.
Riding any Dutch bike is certainly an experience…..not sure how to explain…at first you feel like you’re riding a total clunker but then find out it goes pretty good and once you get it moving it doesn’t want to stop. Yeah, like a beat up old Cadilllac with a giant V8. Granted, the ones I rode were well used. Seemed really old but hard to tell as the design hasn’t changed in many decades.
I haven’t ridden one of these bikes that are being marketed as “city bikes” here in America. My commuter is an old Mountain Bike with city tires, a rack, fenders, a Nitto Albatross bar and bar-end shifters. Completely different. ‘Cept for the bars.
Well, have you ever ridden an old three-speed Raleigh? It’s pretty much just like that but not as elegant. More Caddy than Rolls!
Dave is right, I’ve never seen anyone wearing a bike helmet in Europe. Except for the ones who ride road bikes unbelievably fast. No, not like the NYC messengers, they are fast and the lanes are designed to allow that.
I’m glad someone finally mentioned Jan VanderTuin’s Long Haul cargo bike. I bought mine 10 years ago and thought I’d be seeing hundreds of them around by now. Unfortunately it does take a while to get one because he builds them out of the Center for Appropriate Transport (CAT) in Eugene which has about 10 other really amazing projects going on (read up about them on their site).
He has made some with the “box” like the Bakfiets but mine is more of the open container which I have also seen folks put seats and a belt system for kids on.
I worked for 8 years on these bikes and they really are great machines. Maybe now with all of the changes and the minds being opened we’ll see more of these style bikes coming around. Maybe some other small independent frame builders will start making them- giving credit to Jan for being the father of the American design of course (based off the Dutch Long John).
These Bakfiets do take a bit of getting used to, especially the weight and turning radius, particularly with the turning wheel being so far ahead of where you are sitting, kind of like being at the back of a tandem, only you’re in control.
The other thing to get used to is keeping the thing upright when it’s loaded and stopped. They have done a pretty good job of keeping the centre of gravity low, but if you really go to town on loading it, it can get pretty hard to control when you’re stopped. As soon as you’re rolling, it’s not a problem at all. This design might be a bit more heavy-friendly with two front wheels. You could also dispense with the kickstand.
I build cargo bikes (and I’m booked through April right now) but I don’t make anything like a bakfiets. Mine are sort of a cross between a BMX bike and an Xtracycle, with an optional box or flatbed. Right now I’m having a hard time getting the 3″ wide rear tire I need to carry the load, I was using the Kenda Kraze, but if somebody knows of a decent tire in the 20″x 3″ size I would really like to know about it. I shop through Plano Cycle for my supplies…
Modern Cargo Bikes always have at least three gears. Only the old, Dutch, really heavy types did not have gears.
We were the first in our (Dutch) village to have a cargo bike, a three-wheeled Christiania bike. That was five years ago. Now they are so fashionable, you can see at least three or four cargo bikes (usually two-wheeled, exactly like the one Yehuda sells) at school when the school is out.
We love our cargo bike. Indeed, we do not have a car. Our family counts at the moment 5 persons and I think more than 17 bicycles (sorry, lost count …). Each bike has its own purpose. With the cargo bike we transport kids, of course, and the weekly shopping, which just fits in, and everything else we have to transport. When the cargo bike has a flat tire, I am desperate. How to transport my stuff? I even transported once six large wooden pallets, which would not fit in a car but did fit into and on top of the cargo bike
Sometimes I take a picture of the cargo bike, when it is loaded with so many stuff and/or kids that you wouldn’t believe it if I told you. Luckily, the area where we live is quite flat
Mind when you drive a cargo bike: make sure your gear is not too heavy and don’t exert too much force. It can damage your knees on the long term (wear), but it can take years before this will show. And it can’t be reversed.
=v= Jan VanderTuin’s Long Haul is great; glad someone mentioned it. George Bliss in NYC has built bikes with wheelbarrows and even larger tipping containers in the front. Not so good for carrying kids around in, but greater for other uses!
I want the same!!
if they wouldn’t cost that much, I would already have one
I’m shocked that Yehuda and Joe don’t carry the Burrows 8 Freight.
<http://www.velovision.co.uk/mag/issue9/8freight.pdf>
Flo…payback comes quick. I hear that comment about any bike that costs more than $99 at xmart.
@Dave: Cool – I like that rig. Hadn’t seen it before.
Looks more like a Long John than an 8 Freight:
http://www.longjohn.org/galerie/galerie_en.html
Ah hah! I was correct in my prediction. Yes, I know, sometimes I scare even myself.
I think with this sale the kickstand is now in the top 5 bakfiets retailers in the US. LOL!
LOL BAKFIETS
Who would buy a bike with a box on the front? Can I get a show of hands? I will count myself as one who does NOT want one.
Does anyone know if a shop here in the states carry this Bakfiets style bicycle?
I noticed another plant in the third panel, I wonder if the strip is going green? Any thoughts?
Yehuda seems awfully excited in the second panel, I don’t recall him ever being such a happy-go-lucky type.
Which cargo bike would be most maneuverable? With bakfietsen it seems a load would shift around a bit, which makes the whole bike wobbly. I’ve used kiddie trailers (Burleigh) without much sacrifice in maneuverability. I’ve seen these used for cargo, too. Even had a pizza delivered in one!
@ILikeToRide
He is complimenting himself over his victory over Joe with the prank…
@BMX Rider
Shutup
@Scooter
going green?
what does that even mean???
having plants just means that one may know a bit about aesthetics, or maybe they enjoy walking into the shop in the morning to a breath of fresh air…
@StarrJones Clever Cycles of Portland (Ore variety) stocks them. They say: “Our flagship offering. Say BAHK-feets. Plural is bakfietsen. It
Why does the baby have the same hair and shirt color as Yehuda?
@ Paul, I’m not sure why your comment needs to be so harsh. If not just crass and debasing. I’m simply wondering why so much energy is wasted when riding a 90lb bike.
I wanted to take an informal poll on who would actually buy a “box bike”. I don’t think a childish remark was needed. If you want to participate, I will mark you down for an individual who would purchase a Bakfiets.
Hey Michael R – referring back to your post on 7/1. I guess you were right. This is the far more practical choice than a sleek 28 pound bike to which you can add 50 pounds of trailer, kid and cargo when you want, but have as a sweet road rig for fast rides when you don’t. I mean it really is more practical to have a 92 pound bike to add your 50 pounds of kid and cargo. Plus you’ll probably fill the box since you have the capacity. So now you’re stuck with a behemoth that only qualifies as a bike because it has 2 wheels. You can’t ride it for pleasure, and when you get where you’re going you can’t lock it up in a standard bike rack. On the plus side, I can’t imagine that anyone would want to steal it.
Having lived as a car free parent for over a year now with two kids, trust me, there are folks who want these bikes and want them much more than adding a trailer to another bike.
Ninjoe, to put it another way, when you ride everyplace for transportation and usually have kids with you, the fast road bike ends up collecting a lot of dust, and you find you don’t really have much need to go out of your way for a rec. ride just to get a workout.
We built up a Surly Big Dummy to carry kids in like fashion and it has some tremendous benefits over using a trailer which we’ve done for many thousands of miles.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/25872288@N06/
Because Rick doesn’t want to buy a pen of another shade of brown. And blue. This is what I would call going green. Not having a few plants around.
Yehuda is becoming a slick salesman.
Look at this site for more info – it could take your next 2 hours or more!
http://bakfietscargo.blogspot.com/
Hey guys,
Bakfietsen ar very popular in Holland, you can haul your kids and cargo around in this flat country (exept for bridges and so on) and congested cities. They are stable and can carry more than an 8-Freight from Mike, even a 10 year old over 70 Km’s during a touring ride. The 8-Freight rides fine as well< I have no experience wirh a bakfiets… Kids sit in the “bak” at front on a bench or babies in their seats, parents wo cycle all year round even have a canopy on the bak. There are several brands in Holland, all derived from the original ones that have two weels and a pivot under the bak and steer by turning the whole bak whith the handebar at the rear end of the bak. Moste bakfietsen have no gears, some have a 3 speed hub.
It is great to see a bike like this in Yehuda’s shop, I wonder what’s next…. Recumbents ?? Velomobiles ????
http://www.ligfiets.net/index.php3?&TC_LANG_language=en
I like this comic strip with a serious tone and try to read it every day.. Keep up the good work!
Is that silverish structure under the box and next to Rick’s note a kickstand, or some sort or display stand used by the bike shop?
That’s the thing’s kickstand -
Here’s where to buy one in the US:
http://clevercycles.com/store/?c=web2.68
My Aunt and Uncle live in Delft, NL. They don’t own a car. I think their lightest bike ways 40+ pounds. Their Bakfiets is the Family Truckster. Last time I was over there, I rode it on an outing for the day. Surprisingly nimble with a very smooth ride. The kids usually like to see where they’re going but all day they turned around so they could talk to me. We had a much better and more fulfilling (hard to stay close with family when separated by an ocean) time than them riding in a trailer and looking at my butt. Weight was a non-issue as the tallest hill we encountered was 10 feet tall or so – bridges over canals. That was a wonderful pleasure ride. If you’re not a family man, you’re excused for not understanding.
That was a wonderful pleasure ride. If you’re not a family man, you’re excused for not understanding. I agree that Dutch bikes are hard to understand for Americans who look at a bike primarily as a toy. I didn’t understand at first – “why do these people ride these pieces of crap – you’d think if you didn’t own a car you’d want a really nice bike”. A Bakfiets really isn’t that outrageously heavy for a Dutch bike. Their bikes are all heavy. Tough as nails and designed for a 50+ year lifespan spent totally out doors – including every night ans all winter – in a wet climate with near-zero maintenance.
My Aunt Paula is Dutch and has always used bicycles for transportation. She doesn’t know how to drive – I doubt she even knows hot to start a car. She could probably drop Lance Armstrong with two kids and a load of groceries in the box! The kids ride their own bikes now but they keep the Bakfiets for when they need to haul a lot of stuff. Like having a pick-up truck A Bakfiets really isn’t that outrageously heavy for a Dutch bike. Their bikes are all heavy. Tough as nails and designed for a 50+ year lifespan spent totally out doors in a wet climate.
That was a wonderful pleasure ride. If you’re not a family man, you’re excused for not understanding.
I would own one myself if I didn’t live on the side of a mountain and had shops close by.
I’ve got an old 4Runner that I drive – but not for pleasure. For that I’ve got my old Alfa Romeo. Buying a Bakfiets is exactly like buying a truck or an SUV (assuming you have the need – most who buy them don’t).
Here’s a great Bakfiets video:
http://www.longjohn.org/galerie/galerie_en.html
Google “Bakfiets Iman” for another one (religious bigots need not apply).
Chris
Dang – I don’t know why I can’t edit that post – it must have gotten confused. I can live with the typos in a long post like that except for “ways”. LOL weighs gosh darnit!
I nominate Chris for the longest single post award. Great info dude.
And no, that wasn’t sarcasm.
Darn, that wasn’t the video link. This is:
http://www.24oranges.nl/2008/05/08/biking-through-tilburg/
It’s tough editing in the little bity window – should have pulled it out into my text editor.
Not sure about buying a fiets, but I am going to buy Rick’s book.
Show of hands…anyone else bought one?
I think I’d rather have a Christiania Bike:
http://www.christianiabikes.com/
less long, more wide, lovely to ride. Just wish it would fit through my front door.
Saw one in Vancouver a few years ago. Maybe available from Jorg & Olif, who import and sell Dutch bikes on the net
Have you noticed that all cyclist in the Dutch video welcoming spring were not wearing helmets? [http://www.24oranges.nl/2008/05/08/biking-through-tilburg/] Well, I guess if you have the road all to yourselves, you wouldn’t wear one. I won’t.
Me
Me too!
Count me in!
I’m in the process of buying one now, before I didn’t notice the buy button.
Hey NinJoe – How many bikes do you own? More than one? Why compromise when you can have a bike for cargo and a bike for cruising and a bike for speeding around and a bike for ….
Disclaimer: I don’t work for a bike shop.
Michael R – I have more than one bike, each that has a different purpose, so I see where you’re going. But in the context of the current arc, she has no bike, so if she is going to be a one bike owner I would have recommended something more (IMO) practical.
I donated a few weeks ago and will be buying a book soon. Right now I’m dead broke, however! Good thing I only have to buy gas once a month or so!
I see the number of donators has at least doubled since I donated a few weeks ago. Nice one, guys and gals!
Rick – any chance of a print-on-demand poster? I’d love one of the Sunrise strip……
From the Clever Cycles blog:
Why? Because we expect to be sold out of nearly all our most popular products! We
I bought the book. I received the book on the 30th of June and the book had the same days comic in it! Well done Rick!
NinJoe – with a child that age she’s likely to always have a bunch of stuff to carry. The Bakfiet is sensible in that context.
I have 3 kids, now ages 13, 10 & 7. Throughout the years I’ve used a kid seat (Troxel design which had a dedicated rack but could quickly be removed), Burley, & Trail-a-Bike, all of which left me able to have my bike in multiple configurations. I carried kid(s) + cargo, using a backpack when needed. I know that’s anathema to some “purists’. The bakfiets may be “sensible” as a pure cargo carrying device, but I stick to my stance that if you want someone to get into cycling this is not the way to do it.
NinJoe – more practical for hauling that Mommy load? Remember, she’s intending to get in shape by pedaling her mommy load. Your suggestion is like saying that it’s more practical to buy a sportscar with a trailer hitch than a pick-up truck when you’re a building contractor.
Hard to argue with the Bakfiets design – it’s a fairly old design, thoroughly tested by thousands of Dutchmen.
I agree 100% with Chris on this one.
Besides as being big advocates of bikes as transportation one thing I’ve found over and over that keeps the average non-cyclist from getting on a bike and using it for transportation is that it seems daunting to have to figure everything out. A bike like the bakfiets is a very mature well thought through design that makes it about as much of a no-brainer going via bike with the kids as taking the car. Just get on and ride.
@ Michael R…”Why does the baby have the same hair and shirt color as Yehuda?”
Uh oh, I hope the mama isn’t some old girlfriend of Yehuda’s!
Human Powered Machines in Eugene, Oregon, make thier own Bakfietsen, and the local messengers use them extensively. I want one!
http://catoregon.qwestoffice.net/hpm/longhaul.htm
If you want a cargo bike but stay with a USA-made bike, there’s Worksman, which comes in a wide number of configurations:
http://www.worksman.com/frontload.html
Rats, I guess wrong yesterday.
Remember that photo of the Yehuda lookalike I posted a while back? He builds the “small haul” cycle truck, which is kinda sorta an American made version of a bakfietsen. I’ve only seen dogs and cargo in the Small Haul, though, not children (yet).
Rene, in Holland cycle helmets are virtually unknown outside cycle sport. They have an enviably low injury rate too.
Yehuda knows about these things and he doesn’t wear one either.
I think a bak would be great for someone already in shape and with experience cycling. Give someone new a bike that is heavy, slow and hard to move around with out of shape legs and you are likely to turn them off
I’m curious about how something like that could fit in to traffic, you are basically forced to take the lane and you cant go on MUPS with out forcing everyone else off the path. I think an extra cycle would be better as you can fide the shoulder (when nessicary) or filter through cars in traffic
Chris & Anthony – we’re gonna have to agree to disagree here. While I can’t quibble with your comment (Chris) about practicality for carrying the mommy load, I still think that if a person is only going own 1 bike, it shouldn’t be that one. As we all know from real world experience, you can always find a way to pare down your load a bit when there’s just too much stuff. When I can’t fit the whole family and all our junk in the minivan I don’t buy a Suburban, I find a way to lighten the load.
All she said was “the little one”. Maybe she’s the Nanny!
I do the same thing NinJoe. Besides, The Van fits more than a ‘Burban anyhow.
But I just can’t figure out a way to stick 2 kids and associated gear in my Alfa Romeo.
First time I’ve seen comments hit the 2 page mark. Wow, keep em coming guys
I thought Yehuda did have some interest about the hot blonde at the java store:
http://www.yehudamoon.com/index.php?date=20080507
I guess a biking woman is better for him!
We’re all on two (or three) wheels here. People make their own choices. Differences of opinion are why there are horse races. Let’s just leave it at that.
Well Gilbert, It’s not that you don’t feel the weight. You certainly do. The Bakfiets I rode was like a big ‘ol Cadillac. Soft, a bit…well, flexy is the wrong word…floaty I guess is better? Comfortable. Not particularly precise.
Riding any Dutch bike is certainly an experience…..not sure how to explain…at first you feel like you’re riding a total clunker but then find out it goes pretty good and once you get it moving it doesn’t want to stop. Yeah, like a beat up old Cadilllac with a giant V8. Granted, the ones I rode were well used. Seemed really old but hard to tell as the design hasn’t changed in many decades.
I haven’t ridden one of these bikes that are being marketed as “city bikes” here in America. My commuter is an old Mountain Bike with city tires, a rack, fenders, a Nitto Albatross bar and bar-end shifters. Completely different. ‘Cept for the bars.
Well, have you ever ridden an old three-speed Raleigh? It’s pretty much just like that but not as elegant. More Caddy than Rolls!
@Rene
Dave is right, I’ve never seen anyone wearing a bike helmet in Europe. Except for the ones who ride road bikes unbelievably fast. No, not like the NYC messengers, they are fast and the lanes are designed to allow that.
And for the Australian readership
http://www.cargocycles.com.au/
I’m glad someone finally mentioned Jan VanderTuin’s Long Haul cargo bike. I bought mine 10 years ago and thought I’d be seeing hundreds of them around by now. Unfortunately it does take a while to get one because he builds them out of the Center for Appropriate Transport (CAT) in Eugene which has about 10 other really amazing projects going on (read up about them on their site).
He has made some with the “box” like the Bakfiets but mine is more of the open container which I have also seen folks put seats and a belt system for kids on.
I worked for 8 years on these bikes and they really are great machines. Maybe now with all of the changes and the minds being opened we’ll see more of these style bikes coming around. Maybe some other small independent frame builders will start making them- giving credit to Jan for being the father of the American design of course (based off the Dutch Long John).
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1367/1255366788_579deac06a.jpg
These Bakfiets do take a bit of getting used to, especially the weight and turning radius, particularly with the turning wheel being so far ahead of where you are sitting, kind of like being at the back of a tandem, only you’re in control.
The other thing to get used to is keeping the thing upright when it’s loaded and stopped. They have done a pretty good job of keeping the centre of gravity low, but if you really go to town on loading it, it can get pretty hard to control when you’re stopped. As soon as you’re rolling, it’s not a problem at all. This design might be a bit more heavy-friendly with two front wheels. You could also dispense with the kickstand.
I build cargo bikes (and I’m booked through April right now) but I don’t make anything like a bakfiets. Mine are sort of a cross between a BMX bike and an Xtracycle, with an optional box or flatbed. Right now I’m having a hard time getting the 3″ wide rear tire I need to carry the load, I was using the Kenda Kraze, but if somebody knows of a decent tire in the 20″x 3″ size I would really like to know about it. I shop through Plano Cycle for my supplies…
The Triobike might be a good bet too;
http://bicycledesign.blogspot.com/2008/02/triobike-revisited.html
The front can be a cargo or kiddie carrier, converts into a stroller, and the rear converts into a regular two wheeler.
@Mark R.:
Modern Cargo Bikes always have at least three gears. Only the old, Dutch, really heavy types did not have gears.
We were the first in our (Dutch) village to have a cargo bike, a three-wheeled Christiania bike. That was five years ago. Now they are so fashionable, you can see at least three or four cargo bikes (usually two-wheeled, exactly like the one Yehuda sells) at school when the school is out.
We love our cargo bike. Indeed, we do not have a car. Our family counts at the moment 5 persons and I think more than 17 bicycles (sorry, lost count …). Each bike has its own purpose. With the cargo bike we transport kids, of course, and the weekly shopping, which just fits in, and everything else we have to transport. When the cargo bike has a flat tire, I am desperate. How to transport my stuff? I even transported once six large wooden pallets, which would not fit in a car but did fit into and on top of the cargo bike
Sometimes I take a picture of the cargo bike, when it is loaded with so many stuff and/or kids that you wouldn’t believe it if I told you. Luckily, the area where we live is quite flat
Mind when you drive a cargo bike: make sure your gear is not too heavy and don’t exert too much force. It can damage your knees on the long term (wear), but it can take years before this will show. And it can’t be reversed.
=v= Jan VanderTuin’s Long Haul is great; glad someone mentioned it. George Bliss in NYC has built bikes with wheelbarrows and even larger tipping containers in the front. Not so good for carrying kids around in, but greater for other uses!
Looks like there is a frame builder in Portland, Oregon making a boxbike called a Metrofiets. It looks amazing!
Check it at http:/www.metrofiets.com
Looks like there is a frame builder in Portland, Oregon making a boxbike called a Metrofiets. It looks amazing!
Check it at http://www.metrofiets.com