The Bakfiets Cargobike

Mama Bakfiets Race

A fantastic display of bakfiets finesse from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2cy0UmakZck.

Pure Joy

Pure cycling joy put to music via 24 Oranges

Cargobike Long Review

Here's a really thorough review of a long cargobike from a local family that has owned one for about a year now. Thanks Matt!

De Bakfiets Imam

Barcelona Bakfiets

Sagrada Fabakfiets.
Originally uploaded by supertsaar

Supertsaar on Flickr, one of a handful of Bakfiets owners in Barcelona, has recently posted some nice photos of his family out and about in their lovely city.

A mellow Amsterdam ride

Napping Kids

A sweet video from the Netherlands of 3 kids sacked out for a long ride. Makes for a peaceful moment for dad!

Cargobike Restoration on Transportfiets.net

When I'm an old man with more time for garage-based pastimes I want to restore old cargobikes back to their former glory. I suppose I'll have to dredge the Amsterdam canals and ship a cargo container full of rusyt bits back from Amsterdam, but those details can be worked out later. This hobby would certainly provide an excellent excuse to travel the backroads of Europe! Check out Transportfiets.net - an amazing resource for all sorts of old workbikes, bakfiets and Long John style bikes, bakkersfiets, etc. It's in Dutch, but has many wonderful historical photos.

Thanks to Henry at WorkCycles for pointing out this site on his blog.

What got me going on Bakfiets?

This is an excerpt from a comment I wrote on the Bakfiets flickr group discussion board earlier this evening... I haven't had nearly as much time to write on the new cargobike as I would have liked over the past year, so I thought I'd share it here as well. I'm trying to make this more of a blog about the role this bike has taken in my life this year rather than random collection of Bakfiets tidbits.

"A couple years ago, just after we moved into our leafy old Portland neighborhood, I kept having sightings of this luminous and energetic being - a beautiful blond Dutch woman with cute little kids - whizzing around on a classic black, short wheelbase Bakfiets. I would often see the bike sitting in front of the bakery or local hair stylist or pass her as she disappeared behind the green of a roundabout with a big load of groceries then go home mumbling over and over to myself

b - a - k - f - i - e - t - s - . - n - l

trying to remember the proper spelling until i sat down immersed for long Google sessions. Anyway, it's just as Mikael & Aaron from Copenhagen Girls on Bikes understand so well - attractive women going about their daily lives on city bikes are a most powerful influence...

Long story short: she started it...

The bike was such a strange beast, unlike anything I'd ever seen, let alone ridden. As a road and touring bike nut of 20 plus years I'd long experimented with putting together the ideal load carrying city bike and the capacity of the Bakfiets box blew me away. The design had an incredibly visceral and emotional appeal for me as the new father of two young children born during a most brutal and wretched oil war. It seemed like such a fantastically elegant way to ferry your children around a flat neighborhood such as ours and the ultimate two-wheeled middle finger to the flocks of overbearing, "safety" obsessed matrons in Hummers, Yukons and Escalades. To have my children grow to know the sights, smells and sounds of our neighborhood while we ran our daily errands deeply appealed to my idyll of city life. It's been one of those rare possessions that inspires you to live a simpler, more peaceful life with greater connection to your community and it has helped bring to light more clearly than any way I know the dehumanizing vulgarity of the automobiles we've been lifelong brainwashed to love."

What got you going on Bakfiets? Write and tell me more!

Pumpkinfiets

On a crisp and bright autumn afternoon 11 month old Ben is quickly adapting to his newly discovered ride. Today we took an excursion to get some more pumpkins at the neighborhood market since carved-too-early jackolantern #1 had already collapsed into a brown heap of moldy slime (but isn't that a key part of the season and holiday - death and renewal?). The fall colors have really reached their peak and the gutters and sidewalks are brimming with a rainbow of dry leaves. For cargo freaks, note that there is a 12 pack of Mirror Pond hidden under the seat. This load really smooths out the ride! And you get very strange looks from the people at the supermarket check-out when they see you, the child, the squash, the large quantities of beer and then look up and see that you both are wearing bicycle helmets. Viva la Bakfiets!

Alarmed

Here's 3 year old Luc taking 10 month old Ben on his first cargobike adventure. Well, actually, they're just playing in the driveway thanks to the uber-stable kickstand.

Street Films: Bogota Planning Successes

I've watched this brilliant interview from StreetFilms countless times in recent weeks and can't get many of the points made by ex-mayor Enrique Peñalosa out of my mind. It will change the way you look at your own city - its streets, public spaces, and the domination of the automobile over the people who live there... Think of it as a template for cityscapes in which cargobikes will achieve their full promise - the bakfiets is just a tool, it needs a proper habitat.

Cargobike history at LongJohn.org

[from LongJohn.org]

It's good to know your history and the Bakfiets owes a lot to its precursors, particularly to the Long John - a Danish bike manufactured by various firms from at least the early 1940s. Check out some lovely restored Long John cargobikes, some quite old, at LongJohn.org.

A Bakfiets "Pick Up" for your Oma

[finished installation]

[top view - heavy Dutch steel]

[mounting bracket stays on the bike]

[rack easily detaches when you don't need it]

[the box is a little narrower than the handlebars]

[gotta love the folks at Bakfiets.nl...]

I recently purchased a Dutch made front cargo rack for our Jorg&Olif Omafiets at Clever Cycles to give my wife more capacity for hauling groceries and larger parcels on her neighborhood rounds. It's produced by the same company that built our Bakfiets and in quaint Dutch fashion it's called the "Pick Up". The rack fastens onto the downtube using a sturdy steel bracket that receives the tubular steel rack. Dean at Clever Cycles had the idea that a wine box would be the perfect size for fastening to the rack, so after initially trying out a smaller wicker basket that didn't take full advantage of its load carrying capabilities for a few weeks I thought I'd give it a try. You can usually talk your local wine merchant out of a nice box for $5-10, or if you're feeling really flush, you can buy a case of the primo quality wine that still comes in wooden boxes and have the enjoyment of drinking up or cellaring the contents of the box (we have kids' school to pay for so I scrounged a box).

The wine box is fastened to the rack with 8 hefty zip ties which are passed through holes drilled in the box. I reinforced the box with a couple of long square-drive stainless deck screws on each corner as wine boxes are nailed and will probably work loose otherwise. To protect the box from the weather I coated it inside and out with marine grade teak oil left over from another project. An oil finsh can be easily recoated as needed, will allow the wood to weather gracefully to a warm hue over time and won't chip off when banged around. In true Bakfiets style, I also drilled a couple of drain holes at the back, lower end of the box to keep standing water to a minimum when it's left out in the rain. Overall, it's a very sturdy (and heavy) steel rack and the whole installation is solid and is pleasantly silent on the road unless you have a U-lock or loose cargo rattling about.

I'm not sure what the "official" load rating is, but you can certainly carry 20-25 lbs. without a problem. Two grocery bags fit side-by-side making it a good grocery getting setup. What I really like about the design of this rack is that it does not effect the steering since it is fixed to the frame rather than the fork or handlebars. Fork mounted D-racks and handlebar mounted baskets get unwieldy and really degrade the handling of the bike as you add weight. These types of racks also have the annoying quality of flopping sideways and tipping over the bike when loaded while frame mounted racks on bikes with center stands will happily stand up on their own on level surfaces.

NYT Gear Test Features Bakfiets

Check it out - the New York Times comes to Portland to get the scoop on child carrying options, including a nice shot of a Clever Cycles bike.

Next Generation Spin Cycle - Portland Tribune

There's a very nice story in today's Portland Tribune on Clever Cycles. It's so great to see local mainstream press picking up on the topic of the simplicity and elegance of Dutch bikes, the practicality of cargobikes and joys of running daily errands while biking with kids.

the Practical Pedal - Dutch Cargobikes in American Cities

Here's another recent Bakfiets article and interview with Todd and Dean mentioned on a Clever Cycles blog post from the Practical Pedal - a magazine worth keeping an eye on and another wonderful indicator of a rapidly growing interest in utility cycling in the US.

AP - Bakfiets goes Mainstream

Cargobikes got a nice mention in an AP article today on Dutch cycling trends:

"...Another noteworthy trend is the growing popularity of the "bakfiets," a bicycle with a sturdy wooden box attached to the front capable of carrying loads of up 175 pounds, with plenty of room for groceries - or small children.

The bakfiets had been around for decades for use as a transport vehicle but until recently were mostly popular with left-wing Amsterdam residents and squatters. Since the turn of the century however, it has crossed over into the mainstream.

In the wealthier neighborhoods of Amsterdam, having a high-quality model has become something of a status symbol among young urban professionals, who deck them out with chrome finishes and various accessories.

For both 'Yuppie' and working class parents, rain covers for the often miserable Dutch weather are a must."

It's interesting that, according to this article, the Dutch don't really think of themselves as cyclists or non-cyclists like Americans do. Bikes are just a sensible way to get around town... I wonder whether we will ever be able to get over seeing biking as sport (lycra clad) or identity (tattoed fixie) over here?

Top Secret Satellite Photos

Thanks to some old connections at CentCom and an educated guess at the GPS coordinates for the facility in NE, I was able to briefly repurpose a couple of satellites and get these spy photos of the much rumored Portland-built bakfiets... Special thanks to the boys at the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO), National Security Agency (NSA) and Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) for their continuing support.

someday these ugly ducklings will be a beautiful swan!

Reuters Cargobike Video

Hadn't run across this video before, but just stumbled upon it on YouTube - a nice Reuters piece on Dutch cargobikes including an interview with Henry Cutler.

Portland Built Bakfiets

Jonathan Maus recently posted more details over at BikePortland.org on the much rumored Portland built cargobike project. These guys spent some time riding and crawling on the ground around/under/on top of my bike with measuring tape and camera over the winter and I'm anxiously awaiting spy photos of the early prototypes as they take shape (ahem, Phillip).

More Rain City Bikes opening photos

The new Vancouver BC bakfiets and cargobike shop.

Clever Cycles to open June 1

P1010662.JPG
Originally uploaded by cleverchimp

Wow, look at all those beautiful green cargobikes just waiting for a new home... Only one more week!

Rain City Bikes Opening Night

Thanks to Victor of Rain City Bikes of Vancouver, British Columbia who just sent some photos from his recent grand opening party. The shop looks great and I'm sorry to have missed the festivities. Looking forward to more pictures from up north!

A true Utility Vehicle!

Outside raincitybikes

A few flowers for the shop?

Classic Dutch fare...

Amsterdam Zoo

Here's a short video by Mary of Velomobiling (aka Livewombat) from Amsterdam that shows a number cargobikes parked outside the zoo. You can see why bike parking becomes a major issue when a significant portion of the population begins to ride, particularly if they ride cargobikes!

Gardening the Bakfiets Way

DSCN1313.JPG
Originally uploaded by cleverchimp.

Thanks to the Bryants for capturing this happy shot of spring cargobiking at its best.

New WorkCycles Blog: www.bakfiets-en-meer.nl

Here are some fresh pics from Amsterdam courtesy of Henry Cutler of Henry WorkCycles. Thanks Henry! Check out Henry's new Bakfiets and cargobike blog at www.bakfiets-en-meer.nl for some great writing from a guy who has done far more for bringing cargobikes to the masses than anyone I can think of. It's off to a great start and Henry has a lot of cool photos to share. I particularly like the bridalfiets below:

(Text captions are from Henry's email...)

"A newlywed couple, perhaps about to make twins. Actually this is the popular Dutch author Raymond Klundert (known as Kluun) and his wife. I blatantly stole the image from his website, figuring its somehow OK since I own the bike they're on/in."

"Cargobike twins in MaxiCosis - we sure see a LOT of twins here."

"More twins.. a little older."

"The 70cm transport GT for those 6'6" and above. Big guys need good bikes too."

Oregonian: Kids and cargo: This bike can haul it all

Nice article today in the Oregonian. There seem to be enough Bakfietsen around the Portland area that sighting them is becoming a regular thing - hooray!

Bankfiets

Good clean fun...

4 year old on a bakfiets

Check this cute video of young Emiko riding her bakfiets.

Guest Post - Bird Dogfiets

[Pete and Porter]

[Solas retroreflective Ducks!]

[Cece takes a turn with a friend]

Guest post from Peter E.S. Cole, Portland, Oregon:

"We are proud to join Rick and family in The Bakfiets Revolution. We have been testing it for several weeks as a kid mover, a dog hauler and a commuter/errand bike for Gamblin Artists Colors Co. If you are reading this, know that The Bakfiets Revolution will hit your neighborhood - it's not a question of if anymore, it's just a matter of when. Thank to the folks at Clever Cycles and Rick Wilson's prescience, it's probably going to be sooner rather than later.

The Bakfiets just flat out hauls. It hauls kids - to their endless delight. It hauls dogs and lulls them to calm with its heft and the hum of its tires. And it hauls ass down any hill. The good news is that the drum brakes provide reliable stopping power and first gear is low enough that you can get up most anything if need be, albeit slowly. Think of off-roading uphill in 4LO...slow and steady, nothing fancy.

After several shakedown cruises with multiple kids and the dog, we are ready to try some longer distances. Next stop: an unnamed railroad bed up an unnamed, for now, river for a bike/camp/fish durnig the salmon fly hatch. What do you say Rick?"

Clever Cycles in Holland - December 2006

[© Clever Cycles]

Here's a link to a fantastic set of photos from Clever Cycle's winter research and shopping trip to Holland. As always, Todd has a great eye and this set is an education in utility cycling.

Submit your Bakfiets photos

[Happy winners of the Alice Awards Bakfiets - © Scott Mizée]

Scott M. has recently created a new group on Flickr to create a centralized location for sharing Bakfiets photos called "Bakfiets -- The Dutch Cargo Bike". If you've got any photos of Bakfietsen you are invited to join the group and share - we'd all love to see your pictures!

Dutch Bakfietsen on Photobucket

Just found this nice Dutch photo gallery of various cargobikes in their native habitat. The sheer variety of shots does a good job of showing how ubiquitous cargobikes are becoming over there.

A Bakfiets Stamp

A writer from Amsterdam that my wife is working with on the latest addition to her series of City Walks decks published by Chronicle Books sent us this great Bakfiets postage stamp designed by ...,staats the other day. Another reason to love the Dutch - they've got their priorities straight! Read more about how the stamp came into being here.

Velo Vision Bakfiets Review

Here's a link to the digital version of a recent Bakfiets review from the fine folks at Velo Vision, an absolutely superb publication for information on specialized cycles, bicycles as transport and human powered vehicles.

Be sure to check out and/or subscribe to their new digital edition - a real boon for those of us in the United States.

(thanks to Scott for helping my find this!)

Old School Dutch Cargobike

Bikes Hauling Bikes...

Here are some snapshots from Scott Mizée of npGREENWAY. Scott is one of Portland's latest Bakfiets converts and has been test riding Todd's long cargobike for the last couple weeks for work and play - including doing the infamous Worst Day of the Year Ride with his kids.

[A happy family down on the river]

[No onboard DVD player here]

[Worst Day of the Year ride]

[Bikes carrying bikes]

[Barges and Bakfiets...]

More PDX sightings: Old Town Pizza Bakfiets

Thanks to Jonathan at BikePortland for the heads up on this post:

CleverCycles Bakfiets shipment arrives in PDX

The guys at CleverCycles are busy assembling their first shipment of Bakfiets. Check out the excitement and comments on the following blogs:
- CleverChimp
- BikePortland

Human Powered Machines "Long Haul"

[photo by HPM]

Check out how these Oregon made cargobikes from HPM can be adapted to haul kids. A great chance to buy local and build-in any desired customization. One interesting option to consider would be to build one of these with a Bakfiets style & sized cargo box and take advantage of existing covers and accessories from NL.

Clarijs Kid Cover

The much awaited Clarijs kid cover for our Cargobike finally arrived. It's a critical accessory for hauling little kids in the winter for a couple of reasons: to keep them dry in the rain (duh) and less obviously, keep the cold wind off them when it gets below 50 - my son's eyes often water from the wind and on longer trips he gets chilled even when wearing a thicker down jacket and insulated pants. The parent pedaling the hefty Bakfiets will not get chilled easily. They will, however, lose weight and have very strong legs before long! Why pay good money for a health club membership when you can burn far more calories exploring your town with the family? ;-)

Luc and I went out for a rainy riverside ride over the weekend to trainspot and the cover worked well. The rear window rolls up and makes it easy to talk and little passengers still stay dry with rear flap up even when it rains fairly hard. It's really nice not to be held back by the rain anymore!

To open and close the cover you attach/detach a rubber bungie and lift up either rear corner, which has a flexible plastic batten with a rubber tip that rests in the rear corners of the cargo box, and then your kid crawls into the cargo box as normal. It's very elegantly designed, not much to break and no extra parts to keep track of when stored.

Visibility is excellent for kids, which is key when you're out looking for birds, squirrels and trains and such. Airplane spotting is also possible, another important consideration.

Initial installation took about 30 minutes and involved positioning and screwing in 4 button catches on the box to receive the top's bungies and one small block of wood in the front of the cargo box to tension the batten. The cover detaches in seconds and doesn't leave any intrusive or rattling hardware behind on the bike. Build quality is excellent and top is made from a heavy, industrial quality vinyl material that looks like it will hold up well over time, though I'm not sure what extended exposure to sun and elements would hold if you left it on year-round and stored the bike outside. I imagine our cover will stay on the bike most of the time in the wetter winter months and then be used intermittently the rest of the year. The windows appear to be made out of the same material as a convertible top on a car, so it will probably take careful cleaning to keep them from hazing over time.

The folks at Clarijs are very personable and responsive via email and I plan to pick up some of their GMG kid seat compatible panniers and a cargo box cover as well. One feature they offer which I haven't seen on other panniers is a big grommet which you can run a security cable through to prevent opportunistic theft. Check out their site for many bright, stylish color combinations - these look like the perfect urban bags for other Dutch or city style bikes, though they may not be fully compatible with narrower style of rear rack typically found on US bikes.

[the view from inside]

Clever Cycles Trip Photos

How lucky are these guys that they get to do a trip like this and write it off?

The Bakfiets Badge & Maarten van Andel

When I first received my bike I was confused about the "van Andel - Amsterdam" badge on the head tube and key fob. Didn't I buy a WorkCycles Bakfiets? Why no Bakfiets or WorkCycles head badge? Apparently the badge alludes to the original designer of this particular bakfiets design - Maarten van Andel. I haven't been able to dig up much more information about his current involvement with the bikes or connection to Bakfiets.nl, etc. Can anybody out there tell us more about this brilliant fellow and what he's up to these days?

Not just for kids

A couple of my favorite Bakfiets photos that I've dug up on the web come from Photochiel on Flickr. He also has some fantastic shots of Dutch bikes reflected in puddles. Check out Photochiel's photos here.

["Riding the Dogs"]

["Boy, Ball, Bike and Dog"]

Fun with Cargobikes

Here are some photos from Henry Cutler of Henry WorkCycles in Amsterdam of kids enjoying cargobike activities. Here's what he says: "American kids sometimes go bowling for their birthday (OK, that's what we did 30 years ago!). Dutch kids sometimes go for rides in special bakfietsen, perhaps to picnic, the pannekoekenhuis (pancake house) etc! Enjoy. Groeten, Henry"

Thanks Henry! This should give the folks on Alberta some festive ideas. I already hear murmurs about who in Portland will be first to build a "tall" Bakfiets - that will be interesting to see! I have a feeling a small clawfoot bathtub may somehow be involved with this effort...

[Bakfiets birthday party: 9 or maybe its actually 10 "meisjes" on their way to a picnic in the park. Not clear who's the birthday girl.]

[Monark Long John with transverse seating. Fun but don't try this at home kids! With adults in the seats its very difficult to ride and not exactly narrow either.]

[The music pirates: bells, drums, horns, kazoos and various other implements of noise. Hundreds of kids terrorized a festival for days with this thing. Note the extreme emphasis on safety in all photos.]

Chatterfiets

Here's a cute video I ran across on YouTube today that does a great job of showing how easy it is to communicate with your kids when hauling them in a Bakfiets. My son and I chatter away at each other constantly when we're out on the bike and he really enjoys pointing out things as we cruise around.

Velomobiling Bakfietsen

Check out this recent Bakfiets post on Velomobiling.net - a really nice site with some great photo galleries and a tremendous amount of material on cool Human Powered Vehicles (HPV). Makes you want to nerd out in the garage and build a carbon-kevlar cargo bike!

Portland Gets Bakfiets Dealer

Judging from the huge banner ad and Bakfiets photo in the header of BikePortland.org this morning it looks like it's official - Clever Cycles will be Portland's first Bakfiets dealer! Am looking forward to finding out more about Dean Mullin's plans, the location of their brick and mortar shop, what lines they'll carry, etc., etc. This should be a fill a much needed void in the availability of Dutch and utility cycling gear and bikes in Portland. Now I can harrass someone close by, instead of bugging Dan at the Dutch Bicycle Company!

Hey Dean, can you share any more details about your plans?

BTA Bakfiets Sighting

Evan describes a morning Bakfiets sighting on the BTA blog.

Dutch Bicycle Company Site Updated

[Princess Marilène with with the royal children in her Bakfiets]

Looks like the folks at The Dutch Bicycle Company who imported my Bakfiets Cargobike have been busy. Have a look and enjoy the new photos and additional information on some great city and cargo bikes.

Carrying Children the Dutch Way

Here are some shots of the Dutch GMG child seats set up on our jorg&olif Omafiets. There is a very personable Dutch eBay seller named Piet who sells these and other Dutch bike items you are unlikely to find at your local bike shop.

I've set up this bike as a light rail/bus friendly way to carry kids. Say you want to take public transit out to the zoo, have a picnic in the park and then return home via bike - you can't really do it with a trailer, Bakfiets or Xtracycle... I haven't had a chance to field test with 2 kids yet, but I think the front seat is going to be a fantastic way to carry smaller passengers. There's something comforting about having smaller children in front of you so you can keep an eye on them - as cool as bike trailers are, I always felt uneasy with a 1 year old trailing way back there where I couldn't keep close tabs on how he was doing. Note the comfy little nap cushion the Dutch call a "slaap rol" for when kids fall asleep mid-ride. There is also a small clip-on windscreen available for colder days to keep the wind off. A rear child seat makes a really good case for using a bike with a step-through (women's) frame since it wouldn't be as easy to swing your leg over a men's frame.

I'll do a full review of these seats soon with some shots of how easy it is to take them on and off. Initial impression is that the overall build quality and ease of mounting is excellent, particularly for the handlebar mounted seat. Much nicer than anything I've seen at REI or local shops. Anybody else out there using these or Bobike seats for carrying children?

Bakfietswinkel.nl

Above are some Cargobike shots from another great Bakfiets shop called Bakfietswinkel.nl. Enjoy their picture gallery and fantastic selection of cargobikes. I'm hoping that someday soon we will have such nice shops as this in the US!

A Bakfiets for Lance?

While browsing the web this morning I ran into this more modern and ergonomically engineered cargobike from Denmark. With an aluminum frame, disc brakes and integral canopy with more comfy seats than the traditional wooden box Bakfiets, it's a very appealing machine. Anybody out there seen one of these in real life? Check out more about these bikes on Winther's site.

Stoked Bakfiets

Hats off to Todd at Cleverchimp on his latest work - a Bakfiets with electric assist! For people who live in hilly areas or who need to extend their range this opens up a whole new world of possibilities for Cargobikes. Add a locking lid to secure the cargo box and this machine may be the best candidate yet for those wishing go completely car free.

Nice work and a very elegant implementation of the stokemonkey, Todd! Me next!!

Slow Cycling

[from dotblend on flickr]

Wish we saw more of this sort of thing in Portland...

Legal in the US?

Here's an interesting item sold by one of my favorite Dutch eBay sellers Bikerstore - they have a fantastic selection of GMG and Bobike kid seats which I'll be writing more about soon. Anyway, is it even legal to haul an infant carseat on a bike in the US? Does anyone know? I'm assuming helmet laws make this sort of thing illegal, not that I'd ever want to do it on even quiet streets here...

Check out a cool collection of European transport and kid carrying bikes from Todd of Cleverchimp at his site here.

Commenting Is Back...

Here's a bird's eye view of the cargo box. The floor of the box is covered with a durable non-slip coating as often seen on concrete stairs or skateboard decks. The thoughtful folks at Bakfiets even provide nice drain holes in the box so it does not become a Pondfiets when left out in the rain... The kid steps on the outside of the box take advantage of the non-slip coating as well.

Jonathan Maus and I were taking the bike out for a test spin recently and discussing how easy it would be to add accessories, reflectors, etc. to the marine plywood box if you wanted to. I like his description of the box as an "open source platform" in its hardware store friendliness. If the stock box doesn't do it for you, you could easily build an entirely new one and bolt it on to the subframe in minutes. Mobile kegerator or diamond plate flatbed anyone?

Sorry to anyone who has visited recently and attempted to comment - I accidentally turned commenting off on recent posts while fussing with the Blogger settings. Comment away, I didn't mean to lock you out and look forward to hearing from you!

AXA Integrated Lock

The intergrated AXA locks are useful and ridiculously simple to use for quick trips into the store or coffee shop where you can keep an eye on the bike. Also great for keeping it from disappearing or being hijacked by curious 8 year olds while you're at the playground or park. The key stays in the AXA lock as you ride, so locking is as simple as turning the key and sliding the lever on the opposite side down until it clicks and then removing the key. Anyway, the AXA isn't the total security solution given the rampant bike theft we're seeing in Portland, but a thoughtful addition to a citybike that makes many small errands like dropping mail at the post office a lot quicker and less involved.

Cargobikes are heavy and unwieldy enough when the rear wheel is locked that it would be hard to drag off, though 2 or 3 people could certainly pack one off into a pickup or large van given the chance. I would definitely recommend a strong U lock like the Kryptonite New York series for when you'll be away longer.

Here's an interesting article from Cambridge on AXA locks. Too bad we live in world where we have to lock bikes at all...

Chainguards and Platform Pedals

What a relief to hop on a bike with chainguard and platform pedals again. No more greasy pants or click-clacking on cleats down grocery store aisles. The derailleur rage has made full coverage guards a thing of the past on most bikes, but god the chainguard is nice around town.

Go Dutch! jorg&olif US Launch

Good news - jorg&olif of Vancouver, BC are now making their elegant line of Dutch citybikes available to the US market! Check here for their new newsletter or find out more about how to order.
Be sure not to miss their customer highlights at the bottom of the newsletter.

ps: and just in time for Christmas...orders must be in by Nov 5th for Christmas delivery!

How Babies and Bakfiets Mix

So how baby friendly is the toddler-toting Cargobike? Friendly enough that Henry WorkCyles produces a Maxi-Cosi carrier for the Dutch market (Maxi-Cosi is just a Euro brand of car seats comparable to Graco or Evenflo in the US). While carrying newborns isn't really recommended, many Dutch moms are doing it anyway. Obviously this is much safer on the mostly car-free streets of Amsterdam, but I don't think a little very slow speed cruising on Portland's Eastbank Esplanade would be any more dangerous than taking a run with a jogger. In my view it would seem to be much less dangerous than cruising at 85mph on wet roads with the same car seat fastened into an Excursion or Suburban which I see all the time on Portland freeways. Opinions anyone?

There's plenty of room for 2 kids and a car seat or a car seat and Bugaboo style stroller strapped to the back of the cargo box in the long Cargobike, so it opens up some interesting possibilities for families with infants who often find it hard to get out for a bike ride in the early days. Henry says you just drop the front tire pressure way down for a smoother ride. Dutch moms report that infants, who are largely motion junkies by nature, sleep very happily. As a safety obsessed father expecting a new baby very soon, I doubt I would feel comfortable with any bike carrying until at least three months and then only very slow riding in very, very controlled circumstances like neighborhood sidewalks or the Esplanade that are off-limits to all cars.

Generator Lighting Rules

Driving home these dark fall nights I often see cyclists in my area with barely flickering LED taillights, the batteries nearly dead, or clip-on blinky lights strapped to backpacks or messenger bags pointing up into the air where only the airplanes and birds can see them. Are the dim lights just another case of the "frugal" nature of cyclists or are riders simply unaware how hard it is to see them?

Generator lighting is something I'd nearly forgotten about before starting to use the Cargobike recently. For me generators were a thing of the past, and always brought to mind an old Huffy yardsale rattletrap with dim or burnt out lights, wires torn loose and an ill adjusted generator barely turning on cracked rubber tires. You rarely, if ever, see a high end bike equipped with a generator in shops anymore (though REI has started to build a couple city bikes with them). Good lighting systems, as currently presented in US bike shops, are typically powered by heavy battery packs and temporarily mounted on helmets or handlebars with removable clamps. Meanwhile, Europeans have been developing intergrated generator lighting to parallel the best American made battery units. The new generator-based systems are bright, sturdy and (duh) never need batteries. The generator can be the familiar type that runs off friction contact with your tires or can built into the front hub where it turns silently and with little or no perceived extra effort on your part. Taillights and headlights often even have a "standlight" feature that keeps them on so you are visible even while stopped.

Check out Peter White's site for a wealth of information and wisdom on generator lighting systems. Then give one a try on your own city or commute bike. Having lights built into the bike turns the machine into more of a road-ready vehicle somehow, you just grab it and go without having to charge batteries or dig through your bag looking for lights, clips, etc... Supplement a generator system with a battery powered LED or two in case of generator failure or for increased visibility on rainy, dark nights when it's particularly hard for others on the road to see you.

Worried that a tire driven dynamo will wear out your tires? Not so - Schwalbe and many other city, commuter and touring tires already have a special generator strip on the sidewall to increase friction and reduce wear!

Cargobike Mecca

Here's a photo from Henry WorkCycles of their shop in Amsterdam. This is Cargobike heaven, and it's not uncommon for them to have 15 Bakfiets in at least half a dozen color combinations available on any given day... Henry estimates that there are probably 10,000 Cargobikes plying the streets of Amsterdam and that the number continues to grow quickly.

Portland Cargo Bikes in Action

Todd of cleverchimp and Dean of Clever Cycles and families riding the streets of Irvington on Xtracycles and a Bakfiets Cargobike. View the video here.

Vereiste Fiets Porn

Peter's De Fietsfabriek Cargo Trike

"We live in Tigard (Oregon) and brought a bakfiets over from The Netherlands when we moved over here two years ago. Although it is a five speed I still struggle my way up many slopes with my three kids in the bike. They love it though and we have already had many icecream trips over the summer."

Bedankt, Peter! Send more photos and info on your cargobike experience in America when you can.

If I'm not mistaken Peter's bike is a Carrier bike from De Fietsfabriek with room for 4 kids.

How does it steer?

A steering linkage runs under the cargo box connecting the fork and handlebars - each of which has its own headset. Steering is tight and smooth, a little twitchy at slow speeds as you start rolling forward from a stop, but once you get going it settles down and doesn't require any special attention to track in straight line. The long wheelbase takes most of the width of a typical residential street for a U turn, a little less with your foot down. The bike makes nice sweeping turns on 90 degree corners and is quick steering enough to get out of the way of cars if you need to. I imagine the shorter cargo bike would have a little tighter turning radius.

Generally, the bike steers better with a kid or some cargo in the box and continues to steer well all the way up to the recommended max cargo weight with as much as 175 lbs up front. I hauled a guy from the office who weighs more than 200 lbs. around a parking lot and there was a little more flex, but no other signs that the bike was beyond its recommended load. As anyone who has done much bike touring will know, 175 lbs. of cargo is a lot to ask of a bike - even the best chrome-moly touring racks will start failing at significantly less than half this weight. I'm impressed with how well the Bakfiets handles really heavy loads - it doesn't feel much different to carry 25 or 150 lbs. on flat ground. Whether or not you can pedal up more than a slight incline with such a load is another matter, but in moderately flat neighborhoods like NE Portland you could easily haul over 100 lbs. around without much effort. I figure a large grocery run for my family with 4 full bags is never much more than 50 lbs. including milk and beverages. A couple of small kids plus groceries is still well under 175 lb.

Kids hauling kids...

Bakfiets is not just for parents...

"Bakfiets" for Dutch toddler transport

Read Mike Corder's recent AP article about the surge in popularity of transport bikes like the Bakfiets among Dutch families.

Tour de Bronx

See the Gorton family doing the 2006 Tour de Bronx on a Bakfiets Cargobike. Learn more about the Tour de Bronx here - thanks Clarence!

SOLAS

"Safety of Life at Sea"

The original and best retroreflective tape from 3M. This is the stuff the Coast Guard uses for life vests and the DOT for signs and cones. I know this doesn't have much to do with Cargobikes (well, actually it does if you're hauling kids around in the dark!), but this stuff is great. Essentially zero weight, no rattle-factor and incredible durability and visibility. Use on mud flaps, fenders, forks, etc. for extra visibility. If you crash on a dark, rainy night this may be the only thing an approaching motorist might see... Much better than the crap that most bike shops and hardware stores sell. Get some for your loved ones and stuff it in their Christmas stocking this year.

Sheenfiets?

Dan of the Dutch Bicycle Company sent me this photo while we were corresponding about Cargobikes a couple months ago and I thought it was simply some stock art that the Bakfiets folks had put together for marketing purposes. "Hey, it's a Dutch model that looks like Charlie Sheen on a Cargobike!!" and "Very nice suit... Why aren't they using this photo on their site?" I thought.

Well, Henry of Henry WorkCycles says that this is no less than Prince Maurits van Oranje of the Dutch royal family riding his prized Cargobike from Bakfiets.nl around Amsterdam. Apparentlly the Dutch press have, as Henry says, "kidded him about being more proud of his bike than the kids that ride in it." I stand corrected with humblest apologies to Prince Maurits for the comparison to Mr. Sheen.

Schapenfiets

There's always room to bring some friends along for a ride.

Copenhagen Cranks My Chain

A friend from the office recently pointed me to this great blog by fellow PDX resident Dan Kaufman - Crank My Chain - Bicycle TV. Johnny Stardust's piece from Copenhagen makes me realize how far we have to go in America. We have a fair number of cyclists on the streets in Portland's NE and SE urban core most any hour of the day, but nothing that comes close to the steady stream of several cyclists abreast as shown in this video... You can see pretty clearly from the video how once the volume of cyclists reaches a high level that urban planners have no choice but to make it a priority. Wow. Thanks Dan & Johnny, inspiring stuff and nice music, too. Check out all those groovy cargo trikes!

Bakfiets Blood Line

A classic Dutch merchant's bakfiets (which you can, belive it or not, still buy new). I love the care taken in the design of the lacquered wood cargo area. I think Nathanael Herreshoff would have built a brilliant cargo bike. How cool would it be to see a couple of these laden with produce at next year's Portland Farmers Market?

Oh please Santa please...

How to Dress a Bakfiets

kid cover

cargo cover

bare naked

Here's the Cargobike Long in various states of dress (photos from Bakfiets.nl). Will have more opinions on the kid cover as the Oregon winter progresses and once it shows up from Dan at the Dutch Bicycle Company.

Initial thoughts on the cargo cover are that it will be better to build an easily removable hard top that can be locked down when the bike is parked on the street full of stuff. That's one advantage of cars that's hard to deny - they provide secure, portable storage... The large capacity of the Bakfiets box means that multiple errands like grocery shopping, video rental, beer runs can take place on one trip and you don't want to leave anything too tempting, er, like beer or that $7 Cotes du Rhone, sitting unattended in the cargo box between errands. I picked up some detachable stainless hinges and a recessed lockset from our local hardware mecca Winks Hardware and am looking for some marine plywood or light weight alumninum diamond plate to fashion a lid. More details and photos on this project soon.

Not What the Folks at Thule Had in Mind...

Coming home with the new bike... Shippers wouldn't deliver to a residential address, so had it sent to my office in Beaverton 12 miles from home. A couple of planks from the shipping container wrapped with a blanket cushion the roof while the rear wheel is strapped down in a standard Thule tray. Took 3 guys to get it on top of the car, 2 to get it back off. Wouldn't want to do this regularly, but it is possible to move this thing longer distances without a truck. At about 60mph there were the beginnings of some disturbing oscillations up top. Lots of confused looks and rubbernecking from other drivers, pedestrians and cyclists coming through Portland. An anxious 2 year old Luc scales the car to get a closer look at his new bike.

The Bakfiets Cargobike

Tuesday, May 20, 2008

Mama Bakfiets Race

Thursday, May 08, 2008

Pure Joy

Monday, February 25, 2008

Cargobike Long Review

Monday, December 10, 2007

De Bakfiets Imam

Tuesday, November 27, 2007

Barcelona Bakfiets

Wednesday, November 21, 2007

A mellow Amsterdam ride

Napping Kids

Friday, October 26, 2007

Cargobike Restoration on Transportfiets.net

Thursday, October 25, 2007

What got me going on Bakfiets?

Pumpkinfiets

Monday, October 15, 2007

Alarmed

Friday, August 24, 2007

Street Films: Bogota Planning Successes

Monday, August 20, 2007

Cargobike history at LongJohn.org

A Bakfiets "Pick Up" for your Oma

Thursday, August 09, 2007

NYT Gear Test Features Bakfiets

Tuesday, July 10, 2007

Next Generation Spin Cycle - Portland Tribune

Monday, July 09, 2007

the Practical Pedal - Dutch Cargobikes in American Cities

AP - Bakfiets goes Mainstream

Wednesday, June 06, 2007

Top Secret Satellite Photos

Tuesday, June 05, 2007

Reuters Cargobike Video

Friday, May 25, 2007

Portland Built Bakfiets

More Rain City Bikes opening photos

Clever Cycles to open June 1

Tuesday, May 22, 2007

Rain City Bikes Opening Night

Monday, May 21, 2007

Amsterdam Zoo

Gardening the Bakfiets Way

Thursday, May 17, 2007

New WorkCycles Blog: www.bakfiets-en-meer.nl

Oregonian: Kids and cargo: This bike can haul it all

Tuesday, May 08, 2007

Bankfiets

Friday, April 06, 2007

4 year old on a bakfiets

Tuesday, April 03, 2007

Guest Post - Bird Dogfiets

Tuesday, March 27, 2007

Clever Cycles in Holland - December 2006

Submit your Bakfiets photos

Saturday, March 10, 2007

Dutch Bakfietsen on Photobucket

Tuesday, March 06, 2007

A Bakfiets Stamp

Wednesday, February 28, 2007

Velo Vision Bakfiets Review

Monday, February 26, 2007

Old School Dutch Cargobike

Bikes Hauling Bikes...

Tuesday, January 30, 2007

More PDX sightings: Old Town Pizza Bakfiets

CleverCycles Bakfiets shipment arrives in PDX

Friday, January 12, 2007

Human Powered Machines "Long Haul"

Thursday, January 11, 2007

Clarijs Kid Cover

Clever Cycles Trip Photos

The Bakfiets Badge & Maarten van Andel

Thursday, December 07, 2006

Not just for kids

Wednesday, December 06, 2006

Fun with Cargobikes