European mail delivery company TNT Post is another company making use of cargo tricycles to get around congested urban traffic. Here’s a photo that someone sent me of their cargo tricycle in use.

Link: TNT Post Webpage

I’m selling one of our cargo tricycles. I bought two of these and had them shipped to us, but am selling one to make room in our garage.

• Color: black frame / bright white box
• Frame: Steel
• Components: Shimano Nexus 3 speed internally geared hub, hub brakes all three wheels
• Rear wheel: 24″ x 1.95
• Front wheels: 20″ x 1.95

If you’re in the Los Angeles or Orange County area, this is a great chance to get a Euro-style cargo tricycle without the hassles of shipping and customs. I’m asking $350 obo.

For more information contact: info@cargocycling.org

So, is this the major game changer that we’ve all been looking for? Or else, is it just another expensive industrial design study that only a few can afford?

Without having ridden one, I can only say that the new Taga Stroller/Tricycle looks amazing. Basically, it is a kid carrying cargo tricycle that converts on the fly into a walking stroller. WOW! Also, it has numerous optional features that allow it to be customized and outfitted in any number of ways.

The MAJOR drawback at this moment is the stunning price and lack of availability. Not yet sold in the US, it has a base price of $2500 without any options. Include shipping, handling, and customs duties, you’re pushing $3000 by the time you’re riding the base model in the States.

Early Verdict: Function and styling that any parent would love, price tag of a good used car.

Links:
Taga Website

Triobike is a Danish company that makes a family tricycle with a nifty “Multi-purpose Design” which can be converted from a tricycle to a bicycle to a stroller. On paper it has many of the design features that families are looking for such as 5 point harnesses for kids, front & rear lights, disk brakes, etc. It’s sleek minimalist European industrial design will send hearts aflutter anywhere. Who wouldn’t want a tricycle you could drive the kids to daycare with, convert into a bicycle, and then ride to work with.

However in the case of Triobike, it’s Achilles Heal may be that it does neither of it’s intended purposes very well. As a tricycle, reviewers are beginning to talk about it’s dangerously unstable ride. As a bicycle, it’s sporty design doesn’t lend itself well for city riding (no fenders, uncomfortable forward leaning style, men’s style swing over frame) Finally as a stroller it’s unwieldy bulk makes it impractical. Imagine a parent struggling to load it into a car or better yet trying to get it through the doorway of a local store with a sleeping toddler on board.

Hybrid designs in and of themselves are a neat idea. They take up less space but serve multiple purposes. However, history has been marked with endless hybrid designs that try to do too many things and fail to do any well. Airplanes that convert into a car, cars that convert into a boat, and so on.

In the case of Triobike, it’s a great idea with flawed execution. Like any groundbreaking innovative design there will be growing pains and hopefully an evolution to an ideal form. If the makers of Triobike continue to refine and iterate the design, then it has a great future. Otherwise, it’ll remain another industrial design study where style has won out over function, with the added bonus of a $3000 USD price tag.

Triobike Links:
www.triobike.com
Triobike photos by Carteco
Triobike Video

Other Luxury Cargo Tricycle Makers:
Winther Kangaroo
Nihola
MyZigo (US manufacturer)

La Petite Reine (little queen) is a French nickname for bicycle. It’s also the name of the small company that operates a fleet of over 60 cargocycles for various client companies such as express delivery service DHL.  Everyday these cargo bicycles and tricycles make their way through congested parts of Paris to deliver parcels with an efficiency that Fedex would be proud of.

Besides the suped up messenger services. La Petite Reine also sells and rents these cargo tricycles to the public.

Pashley Cycles has been building bicycles in the UK since 1926. They have a range of bicycles from city bikes to cargo tricycles. My favorite in their product line is the Pashley Freighmate Cargo Tricycle.

It has absolutely everything anyone could look for in a cargo tricycle. It has electric power assist, independent steering for each of the front wheels (Ackerman steering), disk brakes, turn signals, lights, and even a horn. This is definitely a great alternative for any business that needs to make local deliveries in crowded urban areas or as a run about for staff working in a large facility.

Their website is: http://www.pashley.co.uk

German manufacturer, Fine Mobile GmBH, builds a fantastic pedal powered human electric hybrid car. It has a top speed of 53 mph (85 kmph) and a range of 80 miles (130 km) per charge. With it’s fully enclosed body and luxury features, it might just be the all weather solution that you’re looking for. The only catch, with a starting price of $26,000 USD (20,000 €) this beauty will be in the hands of a lucky few.

Check out their website at: http://www.twike.com

The New Amsterdam Project is a company that was started in 2006 which offers delivery services by cargo bicycle in the Cambridge, MA area. They also design, build, and sell their own flavor of custom cargo bicycles.

One of the key points in their mission statement is that they would like to reduce our dependence on fossil fuels. In high density urban areas like Boston, cargo bicycles are a great alternative to monster delivery trucks.

Keep up the good work!

www.newamsterdamproject.com

My friend at the product design firm IDEO sent me a link to their winning entry in the "Innovate or Die" competition hosted by Specialized Bikes and Google.  The contest challenged designers/innovators to develop a pedal powered device which has a positive impact on the environment.  IDEO’s entry was the Aquaduct, a cargo tricycle that transports, filters, and stores water for use by people in the developing world.

Inventor Wayne Soohoo has been working years on a system that allows a tricycle to lean into turns. The leaning allows tricycles to go into turns at higher speeds with stability. Although it looks like there haven’t been many updates to his site for years, there is a treasure full of great information for anyone thinking of building their own leaning tricycle. Hopefully, someday we’ll see a mainstream leaning tricycle based on his designs.  Keep up the great work Wayne!

Link: http://www.maxmatic.com/soohoo.htm

Dutch company, SmartTrike, makes a fantastic cargo tricycle that comes in a variety of configurations. In the photo from their website, you can see two versions, the kid carrier and the basic cargo box. The tricycle is also available in a other models such as a solar powered icebox version for vending ice cream and soda. Also, the cargo box is available alone as a push cart for vending and moving cargo.

Similar to other European luxury cargo tricycles, the SmartTrike comes with a hefty starting price of € 2199 Euros ($3000 USD). The tricycle looks great and has many useful options like power assist & onboard lights. However, it comes at a price only a few can afford.

Hopefully enough early adopters will buy these great tricycles and bring the price down to a family budget.

Check out their website at: http://www.smarttrike.com

The Christiania Tricycle is one of the original “tree hugger” bicycles from the 70s. It was built as a way for residents to get around the town of Chrisitiania, which does not allow cars. The town has about 850 residents and was established as a social experiment on the site of an old military barracks. Although the town has had some recent troubles with the Danish gov’t, the trikes themselves have gained in popularity throughout the years.

We are real fans of these great tricycles. They are sturdy front load cargo trikes that can be used for all sorts of tasks such as carrying kids, the handicapped, transporting goods, etc. The unique charm of the tricycle is it’s simple wooden box design which is inexpensive, easy to maintain, and highly customizable.

If you’d like to find out more, check out these links.

• Christiania Bikes: http://www.christianiabikes.com/
• Christiani Freetown: http://www.christiania.org/
• History of Christiania Freetown: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freetown_Christiania

A front load (tadpole) cargo trike has two wheels in front and one wheel in the rear. There are three main types of steering for front load cargo trikes:

• Axle-pivot
• Articulating frame
• Ackerman linkage

Axle-pivot steering is the most common kind of steering on a front-load trike as well as the simplest to manufacture & maintain. Axle pivot steering is great at low speeds, because it has a much tighter turning radius than Ackerman steering. Also, for the same size tricycle frame, Axle pivot steering trikes can fit a much larger cargo box.

Triobike is a Danish company that makes a family tricycle that can be converted into a bicycle or stroller. It has pivot style steering and also boasts features such as a 5 point safety harness for the kids, front and rear lights, firehood, disk brakes, etc. Although we haven’t seen any owner reviews yet, Triobike’s unique design has been garnering a lot of praise within the design community.

The Triobike could be the perfect thing for families that are trying to do away with a family car. Drive the kids to daycare, convert triobike into a bicycle, and then ride the bike to work.

It retails for 2375 Euros (around $3200 US Dollars), which puts it in a similar price range as the Winther Kangaroo and Nihola. Hopefully for all three tricycles, as sales grow the prices will come down.

They’ve got a great website, where you can configure and order a Triobike. They’ve also got videos of a person converting the bike in a few easy steps.

• Triobike website: www.triobike.com
• Triobike website: great triobike photos by Carteco
• Video clip: Triobike being converted into bike and stroller

A. Winther A/S is a company in Denmark that makes the Benz of family tricycles. Winther did not hold back when designing this trike. It has hydraulic brakes, independent suspension, 7 speed internally geared hub, etc. Plus, the aluminum frame wrapped with tension fabric will keep your kids and cargo safe & sound.

Although this trike is close to being the perfect family trike, the big deal killer is the PRICE!! It retails at a starting price of 17,000 Denmark Kroners, which is a little bit over $3000 US Dollars. With shipping and taxes, the Kangaroo will be close to $4000 US Dollars by the time you get it into the country. OUCH!!! If Winther could only find a way to bring the price down to around $500 US Dollars, we might see a renaissance in neighborhood transportation and planning.

• Winther Kangaroo Website
• Winther A/S Corporate Web Page

A volunteer aid worker in Namibia named Aaron Wieler has developed a bicycle towed ambulance trailer for use in developing countries. The design looks very robust and easily serviced in places with limited equipment. You can find out more at the: Bicycle Ambulance Project Homepage

We wish him good luck and keep up the great work!

HC and I were skateboarding at the beach the other day and we met a guy who was riding a mobility tricycle. The rider was mobility impaired, but someone had designed this great bicycle for him. It was completely adapted for his needs. The gear ratio was low for easy pedaling and he had foot straps to keep his feet on the pedals.

We weren’t able to talk for long, but it was great to see that he was enjoying the beach and weather as much as we were.

It really reminded me that for the vast majority of people, bicycling is more about enjoying the ride than about trying to win a race.

Keep on riding dude! and see you around.

I ran across this website while doing research on leaning tricycles. The inventor of Jetrike has put all of his notes, working drawings, and research onto his webpage in hopes of fostering innovation in the field. His work is amazingly detailed and useful for anyone trying to develop a leaning trike with popular appeal.

We’d like to applaud his generosity and willingness to share. Keep up the great work!

Danish company Nihola makes an award winning family cargo tricycle available for sale in Northern Europe. It’s understated style appeals to anyone wanting easy convenient transporation, but with features that meet the needs of an urban family. It comes with a lightweight truss frame, Ackerman steering up front, all weather drum brakes, and a 5 speed internally geared rear hub.

Although the Nihola family tricycle is large enough to carry two small children and some groceries, it will be a cozy fit. Due to the Ackerman steering, the cargo box is smaller than for tricycles that use Axle pivot steering. However, for many people that is a small price to pay for having the added stability at speed.

After asking the kind folks at Nihola if we could purchase one of these tricycles in the US, we received a very kind email saying they are currently sold out and are having difficulty just meeting demand in Europe.

Designed to be lightweight, nimble, and stable at moderate speeds, this tricycle is a popular choice for many people. But with a starting price of €1995 Euros, it will likely be out of the price range of most young families.

We’ll keep our fingers crossed and hope Nihola tricycles will reach the US in the future. If you’re lucky enough to own one, we’re sure you’re riding with a smile.

For the UPS Group
Originally uploaded by Ozan™.

Here’s a Flickr photo of a UPS cargo tricycle in Köln (Cologne, Germany). They say that in city centers, making deliveries with these things is much faster than by cargo van.

Popular Mechanics has a great article submitted by a Caleb Brown who shows you how he built a leaning bicycle sidecar for carrying his son around. The great things about the design are that the full suspension smooths out bumps in the road, the suspension allows for leaning, it allows the driver & child to communicate face to face, and finally it’s pretty low cost. Also, the fact that it uses a commercially available child carrier means many families will be able to make use of carriers they already own.

It looks professional and we’re impressed. GREAT JOB!!!

When riding around with my son in the front of my cargo tricycle around town, onlookers often ask me “What’s that?” I think the main reason is that most people are used to seeing tricycles with two wheels in the back and one wheel up front, rather than the other way around. Well, for those of you who are new to cargocycling here’s a quick summary of the main types of tricycles.

Tricycles are generally defined by their wheel arrangement. The three most common are:

• Delta Tricycle: 1 wheel in front and 2 wheels in the rear
• Tadpole Tricycle: 2 wheels in front and 1 wheel in the rear
• Sidecar: 2 wheels in line with each other and 1 wheel parallel and offset

Delta Tricycle:
A delta trike has 1 wheel in front & 2 wheels in the back. It is sometimes refered to as a traditional tricycle or rear load tricycle (meaning the cargo is behind the driver). A lot of times you’ll see older people using these bicycles because it is stable at slow speeds and uses standard bicycle steering.

Tadpole Tricycle:
A tadpole trike has 2 wheels in front & 1 wheel in the back. It is sometimes refered to as a front load tricycle because the cargo is in front of the driver. These tricycles are useful for drivers that need to keep a close eye on their cargo or need quick access to it without having to get off of their trike. This makes them ideal for use by food vendors or pedi-cab drivers who have frequent interaction with customers.

Sidecar Tricycle:
In the side car arrangement, two wheels are in line with each other like a bicycle. The third wheel is parallel to the other two wheels but is offset from the center line of the two wheels.

In future posts, I’ll try to include information on other aspects of cargo tricycles for those of you who are interested in picking up a cargo tricycle.

A German company called Beyss Leichtfahrzeuge makes a totally cool human powered zero emission vehicle called Go-One³. Designed by a designer from Daimler Chrysler that helped bring us the Smart Car, the Go-One³ is a fully enclosed weatherproof pedal powered tricycle. With features like it’s carbon fiber shell, turn signals, and electric assist this is like no other bicycle you’ve ridden before.

Looks so hot, it’s been used as a prop for TV commercials and magazine ads for companies like Puma.

Now if they can only do something about the price tag… $7689 US Dollars with shipping.

OUCH!

A start-up company called Apax Vehicle Dynamics is developing an interesting leaning tricycle. They’ve got some great video footage of their tricycle in action going down stairs, offroad, etc. The design has a lot of potential for other applications.

Hopefully as they develop their design, they’ll be able to improve the aesthetics, reduce weight, and simplify the design.

Keep up the great work!

In many situations tricycles have advantages over traditional bicycles. Tricycles don’t fall over when sitting at a full stop, they are stable at low speed, they can carry tremedous loads, and you can take a rest any time.

However one of the most difficult things for riders to get used to is the fact that most trikes do not allow you to lean into a turn like on a bicycle. There are many people who are developing designs for leaning tricycles and we’ll start to post links to some of those.

One of the cooler designs we’ve seen so far is from Apax Vehicle Developments in Canada. Their website is barebones, but they’ve got some cool videos that shows their trike in action.