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Are Cargo Bikes Going Mainstream?

by Sami Grover, Carrboro, NC, USA on 02. 2.11
TreeHugger - Cars & Transportation (bikes)

Image credit: Larry vs Harry

As a student, I spent a year living in Copenhagen. And I was amazed by how many people used cargo bikes as their primary source of transportation. From carting kids to school, to hauling groceries, to giving drunk friends a ride from the bar—heavy-duty load-carrying bikes were just another form of transportation for the people of this beautiful city. Could it be that the rest of the world is finally catching on to the potential of cargo bikes too?

We already know from our own explorations on Treehugger that there's a huge diversity of extended-frame and load carrying bikes available around the world. And with the world-famous Christiania bikes now available in the US, it seems the time might just be right for a mainstream adoption of cargo bikes around the Globe.

Gareth Lennon over at The Guardian would seem to agree, telling us that cargo bike manufacturers are seeing increased sales far beyond traditional geographical strongholds like the Netherlands or Copenhagen. But, he says, for these vehicles to really bust out of their bike-messenger/delivery vehicle niche, one crucial issue needs to be tackled—weight.

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