Hello everyone,
Welcome to Issue #9 of Cargobike Culture!
We’re back with a bang this week. We’re covering cargobikes from the 1940s, Parisian cargobikes, tiny scooter cargobikes. We’ve got it all!
You might remember that in issue 3, to celebrate launching paid subscriptions we had a competition to win a build-your-own-bakfiets toy. Larry from Ohio won and I’m happy to say it arrived at his house this week! Happy building Larry.
What’s old is new again
Cargobikes can feel like a very modern transport tool for businesses. Take a look at this sleek, electric DHL cargobike and tell me it’s not futuristic. It’s like a bicycle spaceship!
But, it’s easy to forget that businesses relied on cargobikes for a long time before the vans came along, took over our roads and polluted our air. There was a time when almost every shop would have some form of bicycle. Sometimes they were used for deliveries, and sometimes they were used as mobile shops where you could pitch up and sell your bread or flowers from.
I took to the Utrecht Archives to search for some historic cargobikes:
So what happened to the business cargobike? Well as far as I know, no one has written a definitive book of the history of cargobikes (yet). The nearest historical account I’m aware of is this post on cargobike history by my friends at The International Cargobike Festival. I recommend reading it fully, as it’s a fascinating story. But to summarise, the small business cargobike was killed off by:
Motorised transport - We all know what happened in the 50s. Everyone was sold the idea of a future filled with cars. Trades people followed suit and got vans. They could reach customers further away in the new growing suburbs.
Changing shopping habits - People got reliable refrigeration at home, so didn’t need daily deliveries of milk. Bread baking processes changed, so it would stay fresher for longer. Supermarkets pushed smaller independent shops out of business.
Social trends - As car ownership grew, cycling decreased and was increasingly seen as an activity of poorer groups in society.
Luckily now, things are changing again.
Businesses big and small are readopting cargobikes. UK businesses purchased over 2000 e-cargobikes last year. That’s huge! But it raises the question of why now? What’s changed?
Lets look at an example of a company who adopted cargobikes for some clues.
In this interview by London bike shop and Youtube channel Fully Charged, a fleet manager of Absolutely, a London courier company explains why they adopted electric cargobikes.
The most startling part of the interview for me was hearing about all the things which he doesn’t have to worry about when he replaces a diesel van with an electric cargobike:
Fuel - charging an ebike battery costs about £3-£5, vs over £140 for a tank of diesel
Traffic camera fines - speeding tickets, traffic light camera fines, all gone
Ultra low emission zone fines - Currently £180 if you enter the ULEZ in an non-compliant vehicle
Parking fines - no more having to find a spot to park your van, and getting parking tickets
Traffic - cargobikes don’t get stuck in city traffic, especially with segregated cycle lanes
Recruiting van drivers - becoming increasingly hard to do
It’s a compelling story for a business. And that doesn’t even include the better working conditions for the staff and the increased efficiency. In the video, the fleet manager says that a courier on an electric cargobike is doing twice the number of daily deliveries than when in a van.
Across the UK, businesses of all sizes are seeing these benefits and adopting cargobikes themselves. There’s even an online directory for cargobike using businesses that you can search. I did, and here are some of my favourites:
For sole traders like plumbers, electricians and gardeners, they have the added benefit of the cargobike being a unique selling point to help them stand out from their competitors. Plenty of customers love that their tradesperson arrives on a cargobike (and isn’t charging them for a parking ticket either). You can see more examples of tradespeople on bikes via the excellent Twitter account @tradesonbikes.
And its not just sole traders either. There are some big companies going all-in on cargobikes:
It’s interesting to see that we’re coming back to where we started. The technology is newer and the bikes certainly look different to ones at the top of this story, but the concept is the same; small businesses are serving the needs of their customers via cargobikes, and doing great at it.
I’m honestly looking for the stories of companies who switched to cargobikes but went back again because it didn’t work. But I can’t find any. If you know of any, please let me know because I’d love to write about them. But at the moment, for most companies, it seems like an obviously great move.
Cargobike of the week
This issue’s cargobike of the week is a shared Cargoroo bakfiets, a bike very familiar to avid Cargobike Culture readers.
I saw it this week parked on a street near our house. It’s in the middle of being used, since it’s not in a designated parking spot. I had to admire the ‘yes, I’ll park it in a car parking spot and so what?’ness of it.
Other links of interest
Paris s'anime de vélos cargos
In this video, urban designer Mikael Colville-Andersen talks about the resurgence of cargobikes being used by businesses in Paris.
If you’ve not been paying attention to what’s been happening in Paris, it’s pretty staggering. You should go and watch the Not Just Bikes video about it, but I’ll summarise:
The transformations happening in Paris are extraordinary
The city government want the whole city to be 100% cyclable by 2026
They closed the riverside highway and turned it into a public park
They’ve closed car tunnels in the city and given them to bicycles
Whats interesting about Paris is the speed of the change. All of this has happened in a matter of years, not decades.
A cargo scooter?
This is a vehicle I didn’t know I needed.
If you mash up an electric scooter and a cargobike, you get this. A tiny electric cargo scooter. Even me, the biggest cargobike evangelist around is struggling to see the use case. But I’m happy it’s here.
I reached out to Jack Skopinski from EV4.pl to find out about pricing. You can buy one direct from them in Poland, but I’m afraid to say they’re not cheap.
They cost €1700, plus €200 for a plywood shipping crate, plus €200 for shipping, plus 23% tax. I imagine they’re being made to order at the moment which explains the cost. Please let me know if you get one!
The London Cargobike Festival
On Saturday the 1st of April, the Guildhall in the City of London will be hosting a festival for family cargobikes. They’ll have a test track, be running cargobike tours of the city and have lots for kids to do too. It looks really fun, so if you’re in London take a look: cargobikefestival.uk
A grumpy old man moans about cargobikes
And finally, I’d be amiss if I didn’t mention this opinion piece British broadcaster Adrian Chiles published in the Guardian this week. It’s upset the cycling community and no wonder. Cycle sprog wrote a good response so I’m going to save my energy. Apart from to say…..
…..I don’t think he actually thinks what he writes is true. I think he’s savvy enough to know that writing that headline alone will get enough people on cycling Twitter annoyed. And that it’ll rocket the story up to the top of the Guardian’s most read stories. He’ll be happy, his agent will be happy, we’ll all be annoyed. Nothing will change. Old man shouts at cloud. Etc etc
I don’t want to end this issue on a grumpy note. So here’s a picture of our puppy in a bakfiets to cheer things up a bit:
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