Freight bicycles or Freight tricycles or cargo bikes are human powered vehicles designed and constructed specifically for transporting large loads. Vehicle designs usually include a cargo handling area consisting of a steel tube carrier, an open or enclosed box (cabinet), a flat platform, or a wire bracket basket. These are usually mounted over one or both wheels, low behind the front wheel, or between parallel wheels at either the front or rear of the vehicle. The frame and drivetrain must be constructed to handle loads several times that of an ordinary bicycle. Other specific design considerations include operator visibility and load suspension.
- More on the subject, along with some duplication, can be read in the article "Workbike".
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History
Historically, freight bicycles were heavy-duty standard bicycles, typically with heavy carriers at front or rear. 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, although the Post Office have by far the largest fleet). Modern freight cycles vary much more widely, often being tailored to particular applications.
Pros and cons
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 (not to mention) topographical range against each other, and then against the commercially viable. 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. This can be very real in the Third World, which also has by far the greatest proportion of human-powered transport.
Efforts to counter this by technical means are hampered by the very requirement for low weight, conspiring with the need for sturdy simplicity due to the small-scale, low-cost character of most probable users or applications. In a lot of countries the use of cycle lanes is restricted to two wheelers and small width trailers only. The construction of cargo bikes for messengers and private should be aware of that fact.
Yet, they have much to commend them. Non-motorized vehicles are particularly attractive where motorized vehicles:
- would become stuck in congested traffic
- would create air pollution problems locally (e.g. enclosed warehouses and industrial plants)
- would create air-pollution problems at all, given the present environmental situation
- would create safety problems (e.g. crowded pedestrian areas)
- would be prohibitively expensive to operate at a profit
- would be limited by fuel availability
- would be limited by the availability of on-street parking
- are restricted for environmental reasons (e.g. protected lands)
- prove inefficient for short order production or distribution schedules or for the last mile phase of a delivery.
Non-motorized vehicles do not 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.
Common Usages
Common usages include:
- delivery services in dense urban environments
- food vending in high foot traffic areas (including specialist ice cream bikes)
- transporting trade tools, including around large installations such as power stations and CERN
- airport cargo handling
- recycling collections
- warehouse inventory transportation
- mail (The UK post office operates a fleet of 33,000 bicycles, mainly the Pashley MailStar)
Because of the strong economic advantageous realizable by widespread proliferation of freight bicycles, Oxfam has designed the OxTrike and established local production at community workshops in non-industrialized countries for use in non-industrialized countries worldwide. Dangdang, China’s biggest online bookseller, uses 30 bicycle courier companies in 12 cities to deliver goods and collect payments.
See also
- Behemoth (bicycle)
- Bicycle
- Bicycle trailer
- Freight bicycle (hydrogen)
- Human-powered transport
- Cycle rickshaw
- Quadricycle
- Tricycle
- Utility cycling
- Workbike
- Xtracycle
Designers and Manufacturers:
- Pashley Cycles
- Jan Van Der Tuin
- George Bliss
- Mike Burrows, designer of the 8 Freight
External links
- Producer with a broad variety of freight bicycles
- Blog about workbikes and freight bicycles (English/Dutch language)
- Workbike
- Assessing the Viability of Sustainable Freight Distribution in Urban Areas Using Work Bikes
- Transportation Alternatives
- Making Workbikes for the Neighborhood by Greg Bryant
- longjohn.org: website about Danish Long John bikes
- Freight bicycles for the Third world
- Velorbis - Danish manufacturer of the Long John and Short John
Media Coverage:
- Classic Cycles Built in Queens
- Full cycle: Group of (Indiana) homeowners snapping on helmets for Re-Cycles! program
- Couriers pedaling full speed ahead Pair's delivery service firms are finding their stride amid an uphill job market
- Building a Better Bike Lane An interesting article featuring freight bikes
