4 ms·

> Most Dutch don't even bother with a bakfiets for children (bakfietsen are actually kind of top of the market and mostly used by more affluent parents). Just a

> Most Dutch don't even bother with a bakfiets for children (bakfietsen are actually kind of top of the market and mostly used by more affluent parents). Just a (safe!) seat on the Dutch style rear carrier. Yes, this seems ideal to me. A bakfiets seems like it wouldn't handle that well, especially around the tight 180 degree corners that many paths near me have. Also they are probably too wide to ride in our narrow bike lanes, especially the two-way cycletracks where it would be a nuisance for cyclists going the opposite direction. > (The perks of living in the Netherlands I guess.) Undoubtedly. My city in the US is constantly hailed as one of the most bikeable in the country, which is probably true by many metrics, but I think you'd have to be mad to let a child under, say, 14 years old, ride further than a friend's house a couple blocks away here, and certainly not across any major roads. The actual bike infrastructure, such as it is, is pretty scary for most adults who aren't hardcore cyclists. Well, as a hardcore cyclist, it is often still pretty scary for me, but I'm also a hardcore ideologue so I have to do it. In contrast, in my suburban childhood, it was possible to bike to places miles away safely, though that was only because they had accidentally built sidewalks that nobody ever used, so we just used those as our bike lanes. Here in the city, actual pedestrians are trying to use the too-narrow sidewalks, so they can't be relied on for burgeoning cyclists who aren't yet strong and savvy enough to brave the roads.

Symbiote 4y ago
I've occasionally ridden Danish cargo tricycles, and like any tricycle they're very different to steer compared to a bicycle. Be careful not to tip it on the first corner. You have to actively steer it, rather than just leaning. I assume people get used to it, but I didn't really like riding one. With three wheels these obviously aren't bicycles.
- raisin_churn 4y ago
  > With three wheels these obviously aren't bicycles. Perhaps someone Dutch can correct me if I'm wrong, but from my understanding, bakfiets is Dutch for a bin-in-the-front style cargo bicycle (Google translates it as "bin bicycle"), and there is also a company that takes its name from this style of bike and makes cargo bikes and trikes in this bin-in-the-front style. I'm referring to the two-wheeled type, ie a bicycle, and I assume everyone else is, since that's what the video is about.
  - ZeroGravitas 4y ago
    I watched this video previously, but if it's the one I'm thinking of he specifically demonstrates that a tricycle is worse than this type of bike for exactly this reason. Yeah, 3:10 - 3:20.
  - Symbiote 4y ago
    Sorry, I didn't watch the video properly. Yes, bakfiets just means "cargo cycle", of any type. The company Bakfiets makes cargo bicycles and cargo tricycles. I've never ridden a cargo bicycle, so I can't comment on handling or stability. The tricycles are much more common in Copenhagen.
    - Symbiote 4y ago
      I walked 500m through the city centre and sat at a café for a couple of hours: I counted 11 cargo tricycles and 2 cargo bicycles.
    - touisteur 4y ago
      Oh we've tried both and the bicycle cargo is much nicer for most activities, especially the bakfiets ones. We've tried lots of tricycles and I feel they're deathtraps, if you usually drive a bicycle. You need to really steer and when at >20kph, steering without banking, keeping 3 wheels on the ground is very hard, I find. Maybe lack of practice. But in a month of driving a tricycle, getting back to a bicycle cargo was really a contrast. The only thing I'm missing really from tricycles is the canopy, the roof, some of those have. I haven't seen a bakfiets cover high enough for tall-but-young kids, and it's really annoying to resort to ponchos or other garments to keep water away... I'm almost in the mind of building one, if only I was a better woodworker... Buying my second bakfiets short in 2 days, couldn't be happier to fork the cash over...

Symbiote 4y ago

I've occasionally ridden Danish cargo tricycles, and like any tricycle they're very different to steer compared to a bicycle. Be careful not to tip it on the first corner. You have to actively steer it, rather than just leaning. I assume people get used to it, but I didn't really like riding one. With three wheels these obviously aren't bicycles.

raisin_churn 4y ago
> With three wheels these obviously aren't bicycles. Perhaps someone Dutch can correct me if I'm wrong, but from my understanding, bakfiets is Dutch for a bin-in-the-front style cargo bicycle (Google translates it as "bin bicycle"), and there is also a company that takes its name from this style of bike and makes cargo bikes and trikes in this bin-in-the-front style. I'm referring to the two-wheeled type, ie a bicycle, and I assume everyone else is, since that's what the video is about.
- ZeroGravitas 4y ago
  I watched this video previously, but if it's the one I'm thinking of he specifically demonstrates that a tricycle is worse than this type of bike for exactly this reason. Yeah, 3:10 - 3:20.
- Symbiote 4y ago
  Sorry, I didn't watch the video properly. Yes, bakfiets just means "cargo cycle", of any type. The company Bakfiets makes cargo bicycles and cargo tricycles. I've never ridden a cargo bicycle, so I can't comment on handling or stability. The tricycles are much more common in Copenhagen.
  - Symbiote 4y ago
    I walked 500m through the city centre and sat at a café for a couple of hours: I counted 11 cargo tricycles and 2 cargo bicycles.
  - touisteur 4y ago
    Oh we've tried both and the bicycle cargo is much nicer for most activities, especially the bakfiets ones. We've tried lots of tricycles and I feel they're deathtraps, if you usually drive a bicycle. You need to really steer and when at >20kph, steering without banking, keeping 3 wheels on the ground is very hard, I find. Maybe lack of practice. But in a month of driving a tricycle, getting back to a bicycle cargo was really a contrast. The only thing I'm missing really from tricycles is the canopy, the roof, some of those have. I haven't seen a bakfiets cover high enough for tall-but-young kids, and it's really annoying to resort to ponchos or other garments to keep water away... I'm almost in the mind of building one, if only I was a better woodworker... Buying my second bakfiets short in 2 days, couldn't be happier to fork the cash over...