

The Christiania cargo bike - leonardRenter
http://www.humansinvent.com/#!/12886/thinking-inside-the-box-the-christiania-cargo-bike/

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jvdh
Note that cargo bikes are not a very new concept. These things have existed in
the Netherlands for years.

It is true they are becoming more popular lately though. And there are many
different brands in the Netherlands selling them, even with electrical drive
support. [http://babboe.nl](http://babboe.nl) ,
[http://bakfiets.nl](http://bakfiets.nl) ,
[http://fietsfabriek.nl](http://fietsfabriek.nl) , even the old brand Gazelle
is jumping into the fray:
[http://www.gazelle.nl/collectie/stadsfietsen/specials/2013/c...](http://www.gazelle.nl/collectie/stadsfietsen/specials/2013/cabby)

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dirktheman
Indeed, nothing new. These things have existed here for over 100 years. I do
find it slightly ironic that the people-carrying cargo bikes are driven by
predominantly uptown, wealthy ('grachtengordel') socialite mommies. The exact
opposite of the hippie vibe of Christiana.

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Samuel_Michon
Quite right. For example, here’s a picture of the King of the Netherlands,
William Alexander, transporting his young daughters in a Dutch cargo bike:
[http://i.imgur.com/TYDqlSt.jpg](http://i.imgur.com/TYDqlSt.jpg)

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harrytuttle
I live in London in the UK.

These things are terribly hazardous. You can't ride them in the road as they
are too wide and most of the drivers are assholes and will try and kill you at
the first available opportunity.

That leads to the owners riding them on the pavement which is even more
hazardous as they have zero stopping power, huge momentum and take up the
entire width meaning people have to dive into the road when one appears (see
asshole drivers above).

I really want these sort of things to succeed. In fact I think the best form
of transport is a recumbent tricycle. But I don't think they work in most
poorly designed cities or even most poorly designed towns.

I wouldn't even ride one in Cambridge to be honest.

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bosie
sorry to hear london doesn't accept bicyclists and doesn't provide
infrastructure for them. can't imagine riding them on pavement.

that being said, zero stopping power? i used the trike to transport various
heavy things (not children though) and the two front disc brakes had no
problem stopping me immediately. maybe you just had bad luck with yours?

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harrytuttle
Some infrastructure is available but you are a second class citizen as a
cyclist. The cycle routes are always heavily parked on or really rough. I can
just about stand them with a touring bike.

I do not own one but have ridden one. Compared to my Dawes Galaxy it really
just doesn't stop at all. I've been run over by one as a pedestrian as well.
It came skidding to a halt. That did have children in it though.

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bosie
I couldn't feel much difference to my touring bike, which has SLX disc brakes.
though i have seen plenty of non-disc brake equipped cargo bikes in copenhagen
and yes, i find that quite dangerous too.

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Matti
Leaner and lighter variants -- such as the Bullitt -- exist:
[http://www.larryvsharry.com/english/index.html](http://www.larryvsharry.com/english/index.html)
(~24 kg, decent maneuverability, not much wider than a regular bike)

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fennecfoxen
I thought I saw this model at McMaster-Carr.
[http://www.mcmaster.com/#bicycles/=nn8f6r](http://www.mcmaster.com/#bicycles/=nn8f6r)

... Guess that's more a front platform than a front box. Ah well. The
bakfiets-bike is still cooler. :P [http://goo.gl/lfGq1](http://goo.gl/lfGq1)

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gokhan
For anyone interested, Tom's Cargo Bikes provides DIY bakfiets design here:

[http://www.tomscargobikes.com/tomscargobikes.com/BUILD_YOUR_...](http://www.tomscargobikes.com/tomscargobikes.com/BUILD_YOUR_OWN/BUILD_YOUR_OWN.html)

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dcuthbertson
I can't resist it. I was afraid the article would be about bike shedding.
Instead, one could imagine it gives a nice, fresh meaning to the phrase "cargo
culture". :-)

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toomuchtodo
Wish I had one for burning man next month!

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xradionut
The most common users I've seen in my area are drug users. Many have had the
drivers licenses suspended or have sold their car for drugs.

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fennecfoxen
You need a new area. :(

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xradionut
I need to stop watching my security cameras...

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jchrisa
We traded our cars for Bakfiets. Portland Oregon is full of people who, like
the Dutch royalty pictured in another comment, use bikes to move kids around.

There are a lot of cycling groups for parents and small kids. Here's one:
[http://kidicalmasspdx.org/](http://kidicalmasspdx.org/)

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soapdog
Here in Rio de Janeiro bikes like these are pretty common but they are not
used by people on comune, they are used by markets and convenience stores for
home delivery. Since traffic pretty much sucks in Rio, these bikes are the
only way to deliver goods (also cheaper than a car)

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brianbreslin
From an engineering standpoint would you get better maneuverability if the
cargo container was behind the driver? So you tow the load instead of push?
Would that make it easier to steer as well?

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mxfh
Most importantly, it's important that the center of gravity is a low as
possible.

So if you want to put the cargo's weight between two wheels and sit somewhere
in the center; it's better to have a customized standard frame with saddle in
the back to make construction as easy as possible.

A side effect of the cargo weight in front and the drivers in the back is that
the load weight per wheel is more evenly distributed.

Also, as mentioned before, it's easier to monitor cargo, kids and your
vehicles maximum width in relation to any obstacles in front of you.

