Groceries, babies, livestock, small appliances -- it seems there's nothing Europeans won't carry on a bike. High gas prices and environmental concerns are making European cargo bikes popular in America, and two guys have started making them in Portland, Oregon.
Cargo bikes are just that -- bicycles that haul people and their stuff. Most are long and low to ensure easy handling and safe riding. They've got to be beefy enough to handle big loads -- if not big riders -- and European builders like Bakfiets (that's Dutch for "box bike") and Dutch Bike Factory have perfected the design.
Now two guys in Portland, Oregon, are cribbing from those designs, modifying them to suit American riders and building them right here in the U.S. of A.
Cargo bikes put the load close to the ground in a box, basket or platform mounted over one or both wheels or, in the case of a tricycle design like the Bakfiets CargoTrike, between the front or back wheels. The size of the payload is limited only by the strength of your legs -- Dutch Bike Company builds cargo bikes that can carry as many as four kids.
Portland Bikebuilders Jamie Nichols and Philip Ross are developing a version of the classic Dutch box bike they call the Metrofiet. Although based on the tried-and-true European design that's been around forever, they've modified it to meet American riders. "They've been doing this basic design for 100 years, so it's pretty well figured out already," Nichols told Jonathan Maus of BikePortland.org, "so we've taken that and added a bit of flair."
They use a larger front wheel, (24 inches versus 20 inches) for better handling and the steel frame uses lighter tubes to cut weight. They've also made the wood cargo box detachable. And not only is the Metrotfiet made in The States, its components are almost entirely American-made. On the downside, the Metrofiet's cargo box does not have fold-down seats like some bakfiet designs and it doesn't have a carrier to keep cargo dry. And at $2,700 to $3,200, they aren't cheap -- though the prices are comparable to European models.
A Metrofiet bike made an appearance at last week's Oregon Manifest bike show in Portland, and the early response has been promising. "It seems like a very capable, top quality machine," Maus wrote after seeing the bike.
But success is far from guaranteed. Some question whether Nichols and Ross will really be able to deliver on their promise of US-only manufacturing, and there have been grumblings on biker blogs that the Metrofit design is not only unoriginal, but that it may violate intellectual property laws.
Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, but some seem to think the Metrofiet may take that concept too far.
Post updated 1:20 p.m. PST and 5:50 p.m. PST.
Photo by Ethan Jewett for Metrofiets.
