Who thinks a Cargo Bike Club would be a good idea?

[HJ]

I have come up with a new idea (yes I am treating kindly as it is in a strange place), who thinks a Cargo Bike Club would be a good idea?

 

[Night Train]

Sounds like a great idea.

If some of the cargo bikes also had electric assist then that would open it up to many more people who are less then able to use one otherwise.
It could include trailers of extra large size for those who could pull them with their own bike but wouldn't have need of anything that big most of the time.

I say go for it.

 

[HJ]

I did think about electric assist but that adds the complication of having a charging point, but if I can find a way round that then it would part of the mix.

 

[cargo-cycles]

Hi HJ,

Can you give me a call at the workshop please 01603 622954 so we can discuss exactly what you want.

 

[Aperitif]

I think they are great HJ, and if I had space to keep one, I would jump at a Yuba Mondo for starters! Yesterday in Lon. I passed by a Bullit, with the front 'tray' - first time I have seen one - and it looked like a dainty version of a Yuba.
Plenty of Bakefeits around Hampstead, camden too - including one which is bedecked with flowers and contains happy children on their way to school - heartwarming, but could equally well contain all the pumpkins you could shake a stick at!
There's also a gardener who spins up Haverstock Hill (a bit of a dragging slope in Hampstead) with a complete 'batterie de jardin' (inc. lawnmower) tied to the back of his old bike, He's on my list to buy a cargo bike for when I win the lottery!
Now, a fleet of mobile kennels would be an idea - park up at boot sales, market gardens, shopping centres etc

Remember the pictures!

 

[ThePainInSpain]

Oh the innocence of the young..................

Have none of you watched 'pen all Hours', surely the bike Granville rode was a 'cargo bike'.

I used to ride one of those in the 60's when I did a Saturday job for the local fishmonger. Ahh, them were the days.
The customer would come in to the shop, order and pay for the fish, then I would deliver it to their door for them.
Along with other standing orders.

Don't you remember the 'Ice Cream Trikes'. 2 wheels aside the box at the front packed with ice and ice cream, and containers on the top for the cones and wafers.

 

[XmisterIS]

What is Cargo Bike? I am from Khazakstan, we not have Cargo Bike. Jagshemash! I like sexyporno.

 

[benb]

Have none of you watched 'pen all Hours', surely the bike Granville rode was a 'cargo bike'.

Pen all hours? Sounds like a sitcom about struggling writers.

 

[KEEF]

What is Cargo Bike? I am from Khazakstan, we not have Cargo Bike. Jagshemash! I like sexyporno.

What are you smoking?

 

[Piemaster]

Sounds like a fine idea. Supermarket pick-ups? Cycle to supermarket, load up cargo bike with the weekly shop, take it home then return cargo bike and pick up your own.

There's a BUT, think you might be in the wrong country, go try it out in europe (Copenhagen maybe?) first. But then i would think a lot that would make use of a cargo cycle there already have one.
No harm in planning but see how it goes with the Boris bikes and any of the other cycle hire schemes go here.


I'd love to have a yuba or Bullitt in my fleet, but couldn't justify it. Not as though thats ever stopped me before.

 

[HJ]

Sounds like a fine idea. Supermarket pick-ups? Cycle to supermarket, load up cargo bike with the weekly shop, take it home then return cargo bike and pick up your own.

There's a BUT, think you might be in the wrong country, go try it out in europe (Copenhagen maybe?) first. But then i would think a lot that would make use of a cargo cycle there already have one.
No harm in planning but see how it goes with the Boris bikes and any of the other cycle hire schemes go here.


I'd love to have a yuba or Bullitt in my fleet, but couldn't justify it. Not as though thats ever stopped me before.

But they already have lots of cargo bikes in Denmark and my Danish contacts tell me there is a NGO called miljøpunkt - Environment Point which has a number of locations where you can pick up a cargo bike. It's free to borrow one, you just pay a deposit of 500 kroner. It's a great success.

One of the reasons I want to do the Cargo Bike Club thing here is to help kick start the whole concept of using cargo bikes in the UK, I have heard a buzz that there is a big EU cargo bike project aimed at increase cargo bike usage in EU cities, maybe about to kick off next year, although this has yet to be confirmed. It would be fantastic if it did happen!

 

[Coco]

I think its a good idea and a good way of encouraging less car use. However I think it will be a struggle to make viable. Don't underestimate the costs of the infrastructure especially if you are going for the all singing all dancing electronic route. I think you will also struggle finding a market even in a city the size of Embra. It seems hard enough to get people to carry themselves on a bike let alone a large/heavy cargo.

Pumpkins aside, I do think that Piemaster's supermarket suggestion would be easier to start with. You might be able to encourage one of the big supermarkets to run with this. They have plenty of parking space, like to be seen to be green and are probably the prime use for such a bike. They would probably get on board even more if they could tap into EU funds.

 

[Arch]

Nice, idea, and I'd second the suggestion that it would also be good to be able to hire trailers - there are times I'd find a trailer useful, but apart from the expense of buying one, I simply don't have anywhere at home to store it, unless I spend way more than I have on something that folds and dismantles. I'm in the fortunate position of probably being able to borrow one from work (or indeed, a Maximus trike) if I need to. I think if you could include trailers, you would get the custom of people who felt nervous about riding a cargo bike (some of the box-in-front type can take a while to get used to), or didn't feel they needed so much cargo space.

Waitrose already have a bike-hod trailer hire scheme at some stores, so they might be open to some sort of scheme.

Of course, you need to make sure you have a rigorous checking and servicing routine, so you need competent staff for that.

 

[HJ]

There are one or two supermarkets which offer a free bike trailer loan scheme at a few of their stores. I tried to get one of them to extend their scheme to a store near me, but they just weren't interested. in really the supermarkets only interested in a bit of green wash if no one is going to use it and it can conveniently disappear as soon as the press photographers are gone...

 

[jimboalee]

Oh the innocence of the young..................

Have none of you watched 'pen all Hours', surely the bike Granville rode was a 'cargo bike'.

I used to ride one of those in the 60's when I did a Saturday job for the local fishmonger. Ahh, them were the days.
The customer would come in to the shop, order and pay for the fish, then I would deliver it to their door for them.
Along with other standing orders.

Don't you remember the 'Ice Cream Trikes'. 2 wheels aside the box at the front packed with ice and ice cream, and containers on the top for the cones and wafers.

http://www.pashley.c...work-bikes.html

Someone ought to do some research.

I've seen a few Pashley Couriers zipping around the Jaguar Assy Plant at Castle Bromwich.

Send the Materials, Parts & Logistics dept an e-mail and you might get some members sign up...