Metrofiets
Saturday, October 18th, 2008
My talented friend Jamie has started building Bakfiets (dutch style cargo bikes). The cycles feature a large box for hauling groceries, kids, concrete, whatever and are popular in Europe and South America, but hard to come by in the US.
The bike you see here is one of his working prototypes and was recently featured at the Oregon Manifest bike show. It has also received a fair amount of press online:
- Bike Portland article (This is the 3rd time Jamie’s been featured here)
- Tree Hugger feature
- Even a Wired Blog Article
- EcoVelo blog mention
- Metrofiets website
He brought the bike by on Friday and I got a chance to take it for a spin. Even with a full load, the bike is smooth and easy to pedal in city traffic – thanks to internal gears, disk brakes and other modern features. The beautiful lines and whimsical color are also a real head-turner.