By having a very large population. But by cargo-bikes-per-capita Denmark and NL are much further along. In Amsterdam I even saw a cargo-bike-hits-cargo-bike accident once, which must hopefully be very rare still. Those things have a lot of momentum.
With the numbers in the article, Germany is ahead of the Netherlands even percentage-wise; although it is cargo bikes sold; the market in the Netherlands may already be closer to saturation.
Those numbers don’t seem to adjust for population size, wonder what the numbers are per capita. Here in NL cargo bikes are extremely common for transporting kids.
Netherlands and Denmark have many more per capita and also much better infrastructure for cycling. I was in Germany this weekend and in some cities is quite a risk to ride a bike since there are definitely not enough bike lanes
Going by the numbers presented in this article, it's actually Denmark. And our bike culture is mostly a feature of Copenhagen, so really Copenhagen is the global hub.
Cargo bikes were always quite popular in Copenhagen. The dominant brand for several decades was produced in Christiania (a hippie/anarchist commune), so just a few years ago they were all still known as "Christiania bikes" in Denmark. I think the more recent addition of electric assists made them explode in popularity and other brands became more popular.
The dutch don't seem to be very into cargo bikes. They certainly do exist (bakfiets are pretty famous, and the reference), but the vast, vast majority of the parc seems to be more of the granny bike variety, possibly with panniers and child seats, rather than dedicated cargo.
E.g. in BicycleDutch's station area video, while it was not 4 uninterrupted minutes of bike traffic around utrecht's station I only noticed 3 cargo bikes.
I don't understand this about the Dutch people. So many old, granny bikes, that are so heavy, with steel fenders, steel stands etc. So heavy, inefficient.
So many cyclists with their chains screeching loudly, as if they haven't seen oil in years. So many broken chains around the streets and bike paths. So many with terrible lighting, cheap flickering LEDs that are barely visible. Or many young people with no lighting at all.
In comparison, the Germans seem to invest a lot more in their bikes. A lot more expensive bikes, and generally a lot better maintained.
The bike theft arms race is a race to the bottom: if you want your bike to loyally wait for you where you left it you need to make sure that it looks worse than its peers. A nearly broken bike that is there when you need it has far more utility than a neatly maintained one that isn't.
> I don't understand this about the Dutch people. So many old, granny bikes, that are so heavy, with steel fenders, steel stands etc. So heavy, inefficient.
Cheap, reliable, low-maintenance, unattractive to thiefs. When you drop your bike at the train station you don't want it to stand out in a sea of other cheap bikes.
And with bikes generally getting priority, the weight is likely less of a concern.
I (also German) didn't do the math and gave it the benefit of the doubt: "well, maybe in Copenhagen and Amsterdam the market is already so saturated that a momentary fashion wave of Germans catching up might nib sales slightly ahead for a short while". Apparently not!
Seems correct, so they became a hub by having 80 million citizens. Denmark have a population 14 times small, but the sales number for cargo bikes are only 4 times smaller and no subsidising.
The point of a subsidy is to encourage behavior that wouldn't otherwise happen. If the subsidy is used up within 30 minutes, then no behavior was changed. Demand was pulled forward by a few weeks or a few months, which is not a good use of public money.
> If the subsidy is used up within 30 minutes, then no behavior was changed. Demand was pulled forward by a few weeks or a few months, which is not a good use of public money.
That is not true.
Even if it only pulled demand forward by weeks, it would create a strong signal of desirability, which enables surrounding projects (e.g. infrastructure) by unambiguously demonstrating interest.
Furthermore subsidy can be the difference between ability and inability, it won't do anything if there's no interest, but it can very much jumpstart or create a market where there previously was not one because the investment was too steep.
I think it is clear that desirability was already there.
What they did was create a reward for jumping to the front of a line that you were already in. As everyone knows, the people most able to do this kind of thing are the people with the least concern over time and money.
I can go into work and put an appointment on my calendar that says I am busy. Nobody cares. I could even walk out of the office and say "I've got to go take care of something; be back in an hour". WFH makes all that even easier. If you work at a restaurant, drive a truck, etc? Not a chance. You have no flexibility at all.
Well yeah, but why focus on Germany and not Denmark or the Netherlands. Both have more cargo bikes than Germany per person? It’s more interesting how this happened with the goverment throwing money at it. Perhaps there’s something Germany could have done to get even better result, without a subsidy.
"One example is the recently released Ca Go, featuring an electronic gearbox, a crash cushioned box, cable steering for tighter turning and folding seats with vibration absorption and adjustable headrests. With all optional extras it costs more than €10,000."
Is it me or are these vehicles gradually evolving into kei-cars, just from the other end of the spectrum comparing to the original?
I have a similarly priced model, but from a different brand. Some of the extras are definitely debatable, but convenient. A second battery, belt drive, Rohloff electronic gear box. A chain with a derailleur definitely does the job, but belt and Rohloff need much less maintenance and I’m bad at maintaining chains. Second battery is useful since we actually do trips that go past 50 miles.
So even if both are not strictly needed, this bike replaces my car. And it’s pretty bad at social signaling, most people don’t realize what the ride costs.
Almost no-one will make a 50 km trip with a cargo bike. But it's quite likely they don't own a costly and space-hogging car, but will rent one for the few times they need one.
(Note: 50 km is the equivalent of the 30 miles in parent's original comment.)
I do trips in that range for weekends and holidays. Kid loves sitting up front and 70-90km is definitely an achievable distance - about 5 hours of riding time.
It's true, cargo bikes are everywhere here now. But it's only practical if you have a garage or another ground level storing place which many people in cities don't have.
My city (Karlsruhe) actually gives subsidies to anyone buying a cargo bike. Mostly they are used to transport kids. I, however, have to go up and down a stair to get my bike out (typically Gründerzeit house) . Further than that they are totally impractical if the one bringing your kid to kindergarten isn't the one picking it up. They are also difficult to park anywhere. However, to me this is the green version of the SUV . Makes not much sense but keeps your middle class happy... I guess there are worse trends
Totally agree! I have to get my bike up and down stairs as well. But instead of a cargo bike I use just a normal bike with trailer. A lot more flexible.
I have a custom electric-assist bakfiets and it's got a lock on the back wheel, and a very heavy-duty steel ring for an equally heavy-duty chain. The battery and display are removable. You're subject to vandalism of course, but this is Germany. Vandalism happens, but rarely.
Happily I have a little garden with street access, but I have parked all over Frankfurt and surrounds with no issues. I do a minimum of 32km a day on the school run (8km from home, there and back for delivery and collection), come rain, snow or shine.
Never thought I'd see the day that the BMW gathers dust.
Same here, my car has hardly moved in the last two years. I keep it serviced and of course there is the APK (TUV in Germany). But this is the first time that I'm worried about stabilizing my fuel.
Ground level parking places for bicycles has been mandatory for new construction for a couple of years now. Obviously, that doesn't help the vast majority of people who live in places constructed before such ordinances were made. And while they usually need a place to attach a lock, they're hardly required to be theft-resistant. But it's a step in the right direction.
It’s not, at least not everywhere. In my neighborhood everyone locks their cargo bikes on the street and it’s fine. That’s in the center of a bigger German city.
Sounds like a good playground for self driving tech. Low speeds and risk, low regulations, dedicated infrastructure.
The Uno electric trike at the end of the article looks like a ultra lightweight automobile, it would be quite something if it could drive me around safely with no intervention to any point reachable via a bike lane.
bikes in china were used because most people could not afford a car. now they can and bikes are almost gone from the streets. in the meantime in europe people are discovering bikes as a meaningful alternative.
chinese cities are larger, and travel distances longer, so bikes are less convenient making a bike revival in china less likely
Are there any advantages of a cargo bike, compared to a ordinary bycicle and a trailer?
Because I see none. My e-bike is a normal bike all the time and if I make a tour with the kids or shop a bit more, I just attach the trailer and seem to have the best of both worlds.
Yes, the cargo bike is much better for transporting children, for the simple reason that the children are suspended on the same wheels as the rider. Kid trailers have two wheels, typically of smaller diameter than normal bicycle wheels. That's a double-whammy, because the trailer wheels don't follow the same track (they hit potholes the rider doesn't feel), and the impacts are harder due to reduced wheel diameter. Trailer suspension does not solve these problems. Aside from child hauling, trailers are harder to manage, assuming the load can instead be put directly on the bike.
I put over 7,000 miles on a Surly Big Dummy, much of it hauling my son from age <1 to 7. It was far safer and more comfortable for him than a trailer would have been. I've also ridden thousands of miles with a B.O.B. cargo trailer and a Tout Terrain trailer, and I would always choose the cargo bike if at all suitable to the conditions. The only thing I prefer the trailer for is hauling gear for trail maintenance.
Cargo bikes work better for heavier loads, most trailers seem to be ~30 kg whereas cargo bikes do 100-200 kg. And I wouldn't want to have that much on a trailer because of what happens when braking when towing a brakeless load on a wobbly arm that's heavier than the tractor.
Trailers also bounce around a lot when empty at any speed and can fall over if you're eg crossing a curb while cornering.
I switched from bike/trailer to cargobike. First, I prefer to have the kids in front of me. I can see them and, more important, I can make sure that there is nothing sticking out onto the street, beeing mowed down by a car.
Second, I feel the cargobike is more compact. Yes, it is long, but not as long as a bike plus trailer.
Third, cars react differently to you, at least that's how i feel. Especially the bigger cars and SUVs don't try to cut you off as often as with a bike - probably because they think a crash could do way more damage.
But it depends. We don't own a car (because the traffic situation is really shitty and i start cursing whenever i have to drive) and the cargobike has turned into our daily driver (ha!), not only for the kids but also for shopping or just for getting from point a to b.
But if the trailer works for you, no need to switch. Different preferences, i'd say.
I'm not an evangelist, but it's easier to load kids, and when kids are over three years old even the roomiest of trailers get cramped. In warm weather, riding on the back is really fun for the kids.
The trailer is better for foul weather, ice, and frigid cold, and really little kids. Cheaper, as you say. More of a hassle.
Neither option is bad. But I don't regret the cargo bike when I remember how excited the kids are to ride it.
A friend of mine said the Nihola that they used had better balance and was more maneuverable than a bike with a trailer, but also better than other cargo bikes so not sure how much better in each case.
The center of mass of a loaded cargo bike is lower than a normal bike with load. This makes them more rideable with large loads, especially if the load shifts a bit during transport, like a child that can unexpectedly move off balance.
Cargo bikes are more effective as a yuppie status symbol. It shows, "I could have spent this much on a car, but I chose to spend it on a bike instead."
Honestly, I don't really get it. I have a €50 used bike, a €100 used bike trailer, and for that matter, a €3000 used car, and don't see where a €1500 cargo bike, or €4000 e-Cargo Bike would bring into that mix. I regularly haul stuff in my bike trailer too. (And in the winter months, where it's dark, cold and wet, I just fall back on my damn car. I use it so little that I only have to fill up the 20L tank about once every 3 months.)
It's basically the same mechanism that made Tesla succeed with early BEVs where others failed: if the 4000€ e-cargo was a Model S the trailer would be a VW Citystromer.
Another factor is that plenty of people permit themselves to go electric with a cargo bike who wouldn't dare getting seen on a regular bike with assist. "I'm not that old!". I believe that plenty of people have eventually caught themselves making up excuses why this particular ride could maybe require the load capacity (and chances are they were amused by it that's how deep the positive associations go).
And lastly, while things like https://schokofahrt.de/ would certainly be possible with trailers (I'd actually be surprised if trailers have never been part of it), it's just not part of the brand.
The price of a good electric cargo bike is still way cheaper than a fairly decent used car.
That said, a cargo bike seems like there’s less fussiness if you’re routinely hauling cargo (kids, groceries, etc). With a regular bike you’re going to be reconfiguring panniers, back seats, etc.
As a "yuppie" status symbol it has to be the least offensive I can think of. Better a fancy electric bike than some obnoxiously big SUV, or sporty-off-road thing that has never even seen grass.
I think where that analogy breaks down some is that this is mostly about what's happening in urban Europe, where SUVs and off-road vehicles are exceedingly rare. They're so rare that you notice them on the odd occasion of passing one (for me maybe every few weeks?) and I don't know anyone who has one.
The quoted thought could equally well fit unto a environmentally conscious person's thought bubble. But better to do it for status reasons than not at all as long as it displaces car use.
(Also you can spend much less than that on a e-cargo bike, especially if you go used and/or fit your own ebike kit, eg put a simple bafang front drive on a used christiania or bakfiets bike)
You’re not factoring in the petrol, maintenance and parking cost of that €3k car so I don’t feel it’s really a status symbol, it is pretty practical. Costs aside I literally don’t have anywhere to park a car. A cargo bike I can manage. I agree if you’ve already got a bike trailer it probably doesn’t bring much to the table though.
