bike - Freight bicycle
Photograph by Velo Steveon Flickr.
Freight bicycles, carrier cycles, freight tricycles, cargo bikes, or bakfietsen, are human powered vehicles designed and constructed specifically for transporting large loads. This avoids the complications of a steering linkage found on cargo bikes with front loading cargo area, but does not provide a single large storage area.
Varieties used elsewhere include a platform, basket etc. See www.larryvsharry.com Pushing a loaded freight bike in Jakarta, Indonesia Cyclists in Portland, Oregon, move by bike Heavy-duty city bicycle with frame-mounted front carrier known as a semi-transportfiets (Dutch for semi-transport bicycle) Classic Monark Danish baker s bike, this one with locking aluminium case on the frame-mounted front carrier Cargo trike specially equipped for street cleaning crews; The side and rear compartments carry pick-up sticks, bag holders and other gear. Child transport is now the most popular use of freight bicycle and numerous special models are offered. Traditional Delibike Brazilian cargo bikes are very strong and commonly carry large propane containers, 5x20 gallon water jugs, etc. Designers and manufacturers: .
instead of the box, the loading area between two rear wheels (delta-fashion), small-wheel two wheelers loading both back and front. As of 2009 Kona (the Ute) and Yuba (the Mundo) manufacture complete bicycles; Surly Bicycles a frameset called the Big Dummy; and Xtracycle offers a kit to convert a regular frame into a longtail, in addition to a single-piece frame complete bicycle (the Radish). An obvious limitation of a human-powered utility vehicle is the relative weakness of its motor , leaving a very narrow scope for balancing tare weight, payload, geographical and topographical range against each other.
Many, but not all, cycles used for the purpose of vending goods are cargo bicycles. The first freight bicycles were used by tradesman for delivering mail, bread and milk amongst others. An early example of freight bicycles was heavy-duty standard bicycles, with heavy carriers at front or rear, sometimes with a smaller front wheel to accommodate a large front carrier. In Amsterdam many residents simply fit large front carriers to sturdy city bicycles.
Power assist can increase the payload and range of cargo bikes, but also increases the cost of the bicycle and requires a fuel or electrical source. Because of the unavoidable physical demands on a driver who also has to propel the vehicle, and the lack of protection against either the elements or other traffic, there is also a potential for working conditions becoming a serious problem. Some cargo bike makers and users attempt to minimize this limitation by using power assist motors (often with electric motors) to complement the power of the cyclist.
Other specific design considerations include operator visibility and load suspension. Dangdang, China’s biggest online bookseller, uses 30 bicycle courier companies in 12 cities to deliver goods and collect payments.
In the 1980s in Europe, and the 1990s in the US, ecologically-minded designers and small-scale manufacturers initiated a revival of the freight bike manufacturing sector. A more recent development is the longtail bike. In the rest of the world, they continued to be manufactured and heavily used.
Modern freight cycles vary much more widely, often being tailored to particular applications. With the domination of the combustion engine in the industrialized countries after World War II, freight bikes were relegated to factory floor duties and public park novelties such as ice cream bikes. Technical efforts to improve conditions are hampered by the need for low weight and sturdy simplicity to achieve low costs in small-scale operations. In some countries an additional hindrance to adoption of cargo bikes is that the use of cycle lanes is restricted to two wheelers and small width trailers only. Yet, cargo bikes have much to commend them.
During the early part of the 20th Century these were commonly used by tradespeople for local deliveries (in the UK this style is still sometimes known as a butcher s bike or delibike, although the Post Office have by far the largest fleet). Danish firm larry vs harry produces the iconic Bullitt fast freight bike in a number of variants with high specification features and associated culture.
Non-motorized vehicles are particularly attractive where motorized vehicles would: Non-motorized vehicles are a lot less likely to generate sparks (having no electric components or combustion engines), therefore, they are used in refineries, chemical, petrochemical, and many other industries where due to fire hazard and presence of combustible chemicals, only non-motorized bicycles or tricycles can be used for transportation. In Amsterdam it common to rent a worktrike to move one s belongings, have a party in a park or promote a new product. In the USA Worksman has built strong delivery bicycles since 1898 and they are still popular in factories and NYC street delivery work.
There is also a broad variety of specially made freight bikes including low-loading two-wheelers with extended wheelbases, bicycles with small front wheels to fit huge front carriers, tadpole-type three wheelers with a box between the two front wheels. This can be very real in the Third World, which also has by far the greatest proportion of human-powered transport.
The frame and drivetrain must be constructed to handle loads several times that of an ordinary bicycle. Karaba, a free-trade coffee co-op in Rwanda, uses 400 modified bicycles to carry hundreds of pounds of coffee beans to be processed. In Amsterdam, Netherlands and Copenhagen, Denmark freight bikes are extremely popular.
Vehicle designs include a cargo area consisting of a steel tube carrier, an open or enclosed box, a flat platform, or a wire basket. It is also more stable due to its long wheelbase.
It has a very long wheel base, with the additional space behind the rider, for more space on the rear luggage rack, and strong frame and wheels to carry more weight on and around the rear wheel. An occasional four wheeler can also be seen, especially within a plant, warehouse or the like, where demands on stability and loading capacity are higher than on range.
