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The bakfiets is the SUV of the bicycle path. People 30 years ago could get their kids to school in a normal car but now require some kind of offroad vehicle and

The bakfiets is the SUV of the bicycle path. People 30 years ago could get their kids to school in a normal car but now require some kind of offroad vehicle and people could get their kids to school on a normal bike but now require some kind of oversized monstrosity.

jacquesm 4y ago
This isn't true at all as far as the bikes are concerned. Cargo bikes to ferry kids to school are much easier for people to use than 'mommy bikes', the kids can get in and out far easier than on a regular bike where putting kids (especially more than one on) is always a very fine balancing act (and more than once I've had to catch a bike that was about to fall with one or more kids on it, my own and others). The low enter of gravity of a cargo bike helps as well. Lastly, cargo bikes are used for much more than just transporting kids, it isn't rare at all to see them used to haul groceries in quantities that would never fit in pannier bags. My s.o. vastly prefers the cargo bike over her regular bike with heavy loads, both for stability and for hauling capacity, even if it is a bit slower than the regular one. Five to six year olds are the hard case: technically too large for a regular bike seat, but too young to be in traffic. Having two of these quickly maxes out the carrying capacity of a normal bike, and when parents 'bikepool' taking neighbours kids along to school you regularly see a parent with up to four kids in a cargo bike, a feat you'd never manage on a regular bike. As for the SUV: those things shouldn't be in city traffic to begin with.
- ragebol 4y ago
  All true, but I do regularly feel like I'm inconveniencing people when I park our cargo bike, since it sticks out beyond the other bikes. With some consideration it's fine, but when there's dozens, I kinda get the point. Still better than cars though, maybe I should just take a car spot...
  - jacquesm 4y ago
    > maybe I should just take a car spot That's exactly what I do when I use the cargo bike. Usually when I come back there is another one using the same spot :) I'm hoping for this to be institutionalized where car parking slowly gets transferred into permitted bike parking.
petard 4y ago
Could not agree more. Most city infra is not built for bakfiets-style bikes so they clog bike lanes. Paired with an electric motor they are dangerous given the speed they can go and their intrinsic weigh. Most of the time I see people carry a single child or a bag of goods at best. Quite similar to how often people use SUVs for actual offroad riding, like never. Don't get me wrong, if you are transporting stuff on a daily basis these are great. But it seems for the majority of time a normal bike plus backpack or child seat would have been sufficient.

jacquesm 4y ago

This isn't true at all as far as the bikes are concerned. Cargo bikes to ferry kids to school are much easier for people to use than 'mommy bikes', the kids can get in and out far easier than on a regular bike where putting kids (especially more than one on) is always a very fine balancing act (and more than once I've had to catch a bike that was about to fall with one or more kids on it, my own and others). The low enter of gravity of a cargo bike helps as well. Lastly, cargo bikes are used for much more than just transporting kids, it isn't rare at all to see them used to haul groceries in quantities that would never fit in pannier bags. My s.o. vastly prefers the cargo bike over her regular bike with heavy loads, both for stability and for hauling capacity, even if it is a bit slower than the regular one. Five to six year olds are the hard case: technically too large for a regular bike seat, but too young to be in traffic. Having two of these quickly maxes out the carrying capacity of a normal bike, and when parents 'bikepool' taking neighbours kids along to school you regularly see a parent with up to four kids in a cargo bike, a feat you'd never manage on a regular bike. As for the SUV: those things shouldn't be in city traffic to begin with.

ragebol 4y ago
All true, but I do regularly feel like I'm inconveniencing people when I park our cargo bike, since it sticks out beyond the other bikes. With some consideration it's fine, but when there's dozens, I kinda get the point. Still better than cars though, maybe I should just take a car spot...
- jacquesm 4y ago
  > maybe I should just take a car spot That's exactly what I do when I use the cargo bike. Usually when I come back there is another one using the same spot :) I'm hoping for this to be institutionalized where car parking slowly gets transferred into permitted bike parking.

petard 4y ago

Could not agree more. Most city infra is not built for bakfiets-style bikes so they clog bike lanes. Paired with an electric motor they are dangerous given the speed they can go and their intrinsic weigh. Most of the time I see people carry a single child or a bag of goods at best. Quite similar to how often people use SUVs for actual offroad riding, like never. Don't get me wrong, if you are transporting stuff on a daily basis these are great. But it seems for the majority of time a normal bike plus backpack or child seat would have been sufficient.