Comments on: I Hate Cargo Bikes

By: rossasaurus

rossasaurus — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 05:01:55 +0000

Some pretty silly comments above about “…the poor and working classes” being the only ones “…who could truly use one…”. They can be useful for everyone. One less car(or truck) after all.
And you can get a shiny new Mundo for well under US $1000 here in the states.
I offer layaway for my customers, so they can make small payments toward purchase, so anyone could afford one, if they cannot build it themselves through a community bike endeavour or with friends.
Are there really yuppies anymore? I think we're mostly dompies at this point.
cheers

By: Steven Vance

Steven Vance — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 11:45:13 +0000

When I come, I'll try!

By: facebook-1642958568

facebook-1642958568 — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 10:21:58 +0000

Cruisers may be OK in a place like Chicago that is pretty much flat as a pancake. Here in Charleston, though–I'd like to see you take a cruiser up Wirtz Avenue, or Greenbrier Street, or Edgewood.

By: Chris

Chris — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 05:11:38 +0000

Bakfiets in San Francisco is impressive. Riding the hills on a 'regular' bike is difficult enough with the hills. Let's see photos of someone climbing Jones St on Nob Hill.

By: Green_Idea_Factory

Green_Idea_Factory — Fri, 25 Dec 2009 22:37:13 +0000

When I was little, my brother and I had a competition: Whoever reached the car first could “tap front” and sit in the front seat. And off we went: To shop, to Grandma's, to go see Star Wars. One of my favourite things to do was sit in the front red vinyl seat of my mom's 1968 Volvo and watch the sun “bounce” through the San Fernando Valley smog.

By: Adrienne

Adrienne — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 02:32:33 +0000

We really wanted the Bid Dummy set up. It was too expensive for our budget at the time, Xtracycle is great because you can chose to buy just the cargo section and attach it to whatever you want. It allowed my Xtra to cost about $500 less than any comparable cargo set up. I ride it in San Francisco which is not known for its flatness. i have also taken it across the mountains of Marin. Would a 3 speed Bak. do this? No. It isn't designed for that which is why I do not now own one even though I am now in a position to buy one.

To say that cargo bikes as they currently present themselves are not good for the masses is too broad a statement. Each one has strengths and weaknesses that make it appropriate for different situations, which is one of the reasons an xtracycle is better for you than a Sorte trike. Lumping them all together is counter productive.

I already know that when my oldest son leaves for college is 2 years (!!!!) he will be given a choice of bikes to take with him, including a cargo bike if he wishes. Way less expensive than a car not to mention that a $1500 car is just waiting to break down and cost twice that to fix. The same amount of cash gets me one hell of a good cargo set up that he can carry the party beer in as well as his girlfriend : )

Also, to say that a bike is essentially "elitist" because those who are "infirm" can not ride it is a poor example. If you are too ill or weak to ride a cargo bike that is not the fault of the bike design. Not every person is going to fit on every bike or in every situation, be it topographical, fiscal or temperamental.

By: brucealanwilson

brucealanwilson — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 01:33:23 +0000

I own and use a Surly Big Dummy, and know how useful it is. However, when people see it and admire it, they ask how much it cost, and when I tell them they generally think I'm crazy. “You can buy a small used car for that!” And, if I recall correctly, you live in LA, which is pretty flat. I live in West Virginia, which is called “the Mountain State” for good reason; there are streets here in Charleston that cars labor going up, much less bicycles, and there are many places in the state that are even more difficult to access, particularly if you are elderly or infirm (WV is also the oldest state in the union), and PARTICULARLY if you are carrying heavy loads. I'd like to see you take a fully-laded Bak up some of our hills; if you can, then I take off my hat to you, but not everyone is as strong as you are.

By: Josef Bray-Ali

Josef Bray-Ali — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 17:43:22 +0000

You'd make a poor salesman of cargo bikes. The utility of a well-made cargo bike will become readily apparent to the working poor and the upper classes alike in the near future as our cities re-condense and the costs of owning and maintaining an automobile continue to rise. What exists now is not just a gap in the resources available to acquire a good cargo bike, but the knowledge of the value such a bicycle has to its user.

Aren't we better off if our richest folks are riding bikes anyway? In most western countries, aren't these wealthier folks the people that are producing the most waste and pollution through over-consumption of resources? If they make the switch to "toys" like this, we'd all be better off.

Your designation of these utility bikes as "toys" is indicative of an ignorance of their characteristics and the uses to which the majority of cargo bikes are put by the people who buy them.

By: Adrienne

Adrienne — Sun, 20 Dec 2009 04:08:44 +0000

I ride my Dutch bike like a French pony : P

By: Phil

Phil — Sun, 20 Dec 2009 01:22:01 +0000

Agreed! It is all about education. It compares to a car, not a bicycle. From this perspective and over time especially it is much more cost effective.

By: álvaro

álvaro — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 17:15:05 +0000

Hey Adrienne, now that you mention the food stamp statistics, you can also compare the statistics for car ownership against the statistics for health coverage in the USA. It's something like 90% of households have a car, but only 80% have some sort of medical insurance -I don't know them by heart, so allow for some margin error.

Maybe some people could scrap the motorised vehicle, ride to work/stores, get a health insurance, and save money because they will be healthier, specially if you through in statistics for obesity…

By: David Hembrow

David Hembrow — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 13:30:29 +0000

Adrienne, my Xtracycle is much the same. The bike it's attached to came from the police auction of recovered stolen and unclaimed bikes, and the Freeradical itself was from a bike shop in the UK which had discontinued them so had a couple to sell for half price. It was very very cheap. However, it's also been very very useful. I've not driven a car in well over two years and I don't think we're yuppies :-)

By: Adrienne

Adrienne — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 09:40:03 +0000

So the fact that I own an Xtracycle makes me a yuppie and my bike a toy? Never mind that I built it myself, or that the frame it was built onto was 20 years old and cost me $50. I guess it does not matter that it replaces a car that I can not afford to buy. In your terminology, I am a yuppie with a toy. That's the way to sell utility cycling to the masses!
BTW, the number of people in the United States that receive food stamps and other public assistance and also own cars that cost more than a Mundo would surprise you.

By: Steven Vance

Steven Vance — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 05:57:36 +0000

I only posted because early on two posters mentioned bikes over $2500, and I was merely mentioning there are some half the cost.

In Chicago, there's a not for profit bike shop that mostly stocks the kind of bikes that are excellent for utility and urban riding: cruisers. The best part, they're in good condition and cost $50-$100.
http://workingbikes.org/

By: Bruce Alan Wilson

Bruce Alan Wilson — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 05:51:26 +0000

If you think that a person from the class that can most use such a bike can cough up $1200.00, you have a very tenuous grasp of practical economics. As I said, these cargo bikes--the Madsen, the Rans Hammertruck, the Yuba Mundo, the Kona Ute, the Surly Big Dummy, the Metrofiets, the CETMA Cargo bike, the products of Organic Engines, Human Powered Machines, and Bilenkey, and kindred--are all priced as yuppie toys, NOT for the working poor who could benefit most from these products.

Of course we have http://www.tomscargobikes.com/ and some of the devices on http://atomiczombie.com, but how many people have the skills to build such?

By: amsterdamize

amsterdamize — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 05:34:02 +0000

that is one nice shout out, John, I hope the good people of MyDutchBike can handle the conversion rate ;)

By: amsterdamize

amsterdamize — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 05:31:49 +0000

I wish I could do this daily, John :), but thank you! 'Wouter', huh? Big but swanky fella, dependable and silent type? ;)

By: Steven Vance

Steven Vance — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 00:23:45 +0000

The Yuba Mundo can carry as much as any Dutch bike (except maybe the huge three wheeled bakfiets that appears on Henry's blog). It's sold in North America and Europe. In the United States, it costs only $1200.
http://www.yubaride.com

By: John in SF

John in SF — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 00:32:41 +0000

http://www.sierraclub.org/sierra/200911/enjoy.aspx

scroll down for "shout out" for Bakfiets in Sept / Oct 2009 magazine of the Sierra Club. US readership of one million.

By: John in SF

John in SF — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 00:22:32 +0000

Love the daily photo and narrative dispatch from Amsterdam, Marc, and the links to all things cycle-riffic! I'm as smitten with my bike “Wouter”, as you are with “Mr. Freight.” Dankjewell for creating such a great site.

By: amsterdamize

amsterdamize — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 16:45:19 +0000

good stuff, John, after all my trips to SF I still have to bump into a Dutch bike ridden like a Dutch bike :). Next time I'll know where to look :p.

By: amsterdamize

amsterdamize — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 16:43:47 +0000

hi Kenneth, yes, those are most likely from China and you can learn more about the Dutch perspective on those on Henry's blog (Workcycles). In short: their cheapness has already bitten them in the proverbial ass. Economics 101: with any successful product comes the knockoff version, regardless of how we categorize the product. It will make a small dent, a big dent or it kills the original. I think I'm not off here when I say that we're talking about a small dent in the case of cargo bikes, as most potential buyers will look for durability with a purchase like this.

By: Kenneth

Kenneth — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 16:30:47 +0000

For a long time the cargo bikes and cargo trikes, which are the norm here in Copenhagen, have been very expensive as well – around 15-16000 DKr (3000 US$) – compared to the average ordinary bicycle which costs maybe 1500 DKr.
But as the demand for cargo bikes has grown the last few years, more cheap “copies” are showing up, and now there are options at less than half the price of the classic brands. The cheapest bakfiets type I can find just now is around 7000 DKr. My guess is that they are imported from China, whereas at least some of the old brands are produced in Europe.
I can't really say anything about the quality of the cheaper ones, but the designs are exact copies as far as I can tell.

I don't know if the product has to be “de-yuppie-ized” first, before someone starts to import the cheap versions, or if it's the importing of the cheap ones that does that to a product. (Cue someone with Economics 101…)

By: John in SF

John in SF — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 09:36:28 +0000

The 8 gear Shimano internal hub is geared low enough to get you up most San Francisco hills. I bike up to 17th and Douglass every day on a Secret Service from Workcycles, more often than not laden with groceries. The Bakfiets is small enough to navigate thru the breezeway that leads to most San Francisco backyards, but you'll need a Bakfiets buddy if parking involves stairs. Bakfiets are perfect for schlepping dogs.