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Ethical living

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Original poster

Cargo bike / bakfiets - complete imposibility?

50 replies

sushistar · 20/07/2010 20:25

Heya green folks
I am DESPERATE for a cargo bike - one with 3 wheels. Something like this

There's a few other makes as well - Christiania, or Nihola...

BUT - all of them are well over £1000

Has anyone seen one 2nd hand - or (wild hope) even got one they'd sell? Or even if you wouldn't sell, would you reccomend it?

In the process of moving from London to the south west, I am going to have to live at my mums for a while. I don't drive. She lives a mile from the nearest village (1 shop) and 6 miles from the nearest town. I have 2 kids under 3. This is the only way I can see that I won't be completly trapped in the house...

OP posts:

thisisyesterday · 20/07/2010 20:29

i've seen them come up very, very occasionally on ebay

tend to go for well over £600 still tho

i love them, my friend has a nihola and it's fab
i have an old pashley trike with 2 seats on the back which is quite cool, but i'd prefer a bakfiets!

Original poster

sushistar · 20/07/2010 20:37

Ooh, does the pashley work ok? I've seen them come up on ebay quite often.

Thing is, my youngest is only 6 months- a big chunky sitting-up six months, but I think he'd struggle on one of those pashley seats - from what I can tell on the ebay pics. I could put a baby car seat in a cargo bike.

£600 would be do-able - but I've been looking for a few weeks and havn't seen ANY on ebay.

OP posts:

thisisyesterday · 20/07/2010 20:42

yeah some of them you can have a baby seat fitted into it as well can't you? ds3 has been on the pashley since he was about 9 months and has been ok

the other option i considered, which is nmowhere near as nice, was either a regular bike with one of those trailers, or a regular bike with a seat on the back and one on the front
neither of them strike me as the safest option either tho

thisisyesterday · 20/07/2010 20:50

ooooooooh this??

thisisyesterday · 20/07/2010 20:50

god if i was anywhere near nottingham i would totally buy that.

thisisyesterday · 20/07/2010 20:51

ahh i have found what i've been searching for! i remembered seeing this linked to on ebay and just found it again

trikes from 699 euros

Original poster

sushistar · 20/07/2010 21:03

Ooh, now I read Really Bad Things about Tricycleweb - hang on I'll find the link

The Trio - I'd buy it too if I could get it home! Although I think they're less easy to use than the Nihola / bakfiets etc.

OP posts:

Original poster

sushistar · 20/07/2010 21:04

measured-response.com/bakfiets/?p=8

Apparently they pretty much fall apart within a year or two....

OP posts:

thisisyesterday · 20/07/2010 21:04

oooh have you? see i pondered over one for ages, and i did have the chat with dp about whether if something seems too good to be true...?

Original poster

sushistar · 20/07/2010 21:05

But it's all I can afford so maybe I should do it. Or get a pashly trike - there's a nice one with 2 kid seats on ebay at the mo.

OP posts:

thisisyesterday · 20/07/2010 21:07

ahhh glad i didn't get one now then!!

DLeeds · 20/07/2010 21:07

www.tricyclesales.co.uk/Items/Work_Tricycles/Work_Tricycles_List.aspx

I remember someone on here buying on of these. heavy but a bit cheaper than the others.

thisisyesterday · 20/07/2010 21:08

i like the trikidoo too, but that's getting up towards the £1k mark too

Original poster

sushistar · 20/07/2010 21:11

How do you find the pashley? Do the kids fight? Is it VERY heavy?

OP posts:

Flighttattendant · 20/07/2010 21:16

Ok well we have had a Pashley and a Bakfiets.

The Bakfiets was brilliant but not living somewhere flat, it was hard work. Also I hated the attention. So I sold it on.

The pashley lasted two days here because I could not ride it safely. Riding a trike is not like riding a bike - you won't believe it, but it's true.

So now we just have a decent buggy

Flighttattendant · 20/07/2010 21:17

They don't fall to bits, at all

Not unless you get one from that particularly bad website that sells Chinese copies. the Bakfiets ones and the De Fiets Fabriek ones are brilliant quality.

Flighttattendant · 20/07/2010 21:18

Ah see what you meant now! Sorry.

Original poster

sushistar · 20/07/2010 21:19

There's a pink Trikidoo on ebay...!

OP posts:

lalalonglegs · 20/07/2010 21:19

Without for a moment wishing to patronise you, have you ridden a Bakfiets cargo bike much? I hired one while I was in Amsterdam and it was brilliant, would totally buy one if I lived in lovely flat Holland with its wonderful wide cycle lanes but hillier England with its bastard motorists who have less tolerance of cyclists..? I'd think twice. It was very hard to manouvre (and I cycle a lot) and absolutely exhausting on even very short inclines such as hump-back bridges.

silverfrog · 20/07/2010 21:20

I have a Kangaroo and love it, but haven't ever seen one second hand, sorry.

You could try some of the rental places, like London recumbants, and see whether they are selling any on?

thisisyesterday · 20/07/2010 21:20

ueah the pashley certainly takes a bit of getting used to.
and um, don[t corner too fast on it :-S

i am quite unfit it must be said, but i have been gradually building up where I go on it. steep hills would be out of the question I reckon

thehairybabysmum · 20/07/2010 21:29

They do look fab but i reckon a normal bike and trailer is better and way cheaper. My double trailer was £99 from Halfords.

Longer term trailer option is lighter, i reckon my current trailer plus 2 kids (age nearly 3 and 4.5) are 5.5 stone ish. Trust me this ways a ton to pull thoug is do-able. If the bike itself is v. heavy as per the ones yuou link to tehn it would be even worse i reckon. Plus you will get better gears with a decent bike rather than teh trike option..this is a good thing if you have any hills.

Also on the (rare?) occaaisions when yuou dont have the kids you can just use the bike on its own or with a seat with one child.

If your baby can sit up a bit then you can use a trailer from now. i had a support thing, just trying to find a pic for you.

I love using the trailer, as you say it gives you so much freedom to whizz around with them both. The boys love it too, they get loads of attention in it as we cycle through a city centre on the way to nursery in it! Thoroughly recommend

Original poster

sushistar · 20/07/2010 21:30

lala, no, I've not ridden one. If I was to buy one I'd test drive first - but so far can't bear to test ride somethine I've no chance of affording!

Re the inclines etc, we're moving to (about the only) flat bit of the south west - although obviously there are still small inclines it's not rolling devon or anything. And we'll be in a town with a good cycle network once we move into the new house. So it's just anm interim measure that we're staying at my mums, which again is flat(ish) - that's what attracts me about a 2nd hand one as I think if I don't get on with it IO can probably recoup the cost via ebay.

Do like that trikidoo...

OP posts:

thisisyesterday · 20/07/2010 21:34

it's cool isn't it? when i first saw the trikidoo it was only £795 (that was maybe 2 years ago now) and now they'r eover £900! crazy

pink is my favourite colour too... lol

thehairybabysmum · 20/07/2010 21:34

a bit like this here though mine is an older version i think, did the job though. it stopped ds1 hogging all the room from ds2 too.

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