The other day I was coming back home in a downpour from walking the dog, and noticed my neighbors struggling to stay dry while they put their kids in their carriage bike, which is very common here in the Netherlands (both the carriage bike and the rain). First, the father tipped the rainwater out of the carriage box part so that it was empty and the kids could get in, then the kids got in, and to keep them out of the rain, the parents stretched a poncho or something over their heads! Poor kids! Although I applaud their attempt to be as eco-friendly as possible in their transportation, it looked like they needed a lift!
Prior to witnessing this scenario, I have been pining for a "bakfiets" (as they are called in Dutch, or "carriage bike" in English) for ages. First, I justified it because I carry so many groceries on my bike it's a matter of time before it all dumps over the street, secondly I attempted to justify it when my daughter arrived as it would be the only way that I could peddle her around town in the 9 months of rainy weather we experience. Now I have good reason to invest in one, as I am constantly peddling orders to the post office nearly every day! Good news for business, bad news for when the rain arrives and I have to drive our car to the post office! That's not very eco-friendly!!!! So here are my contenders for a truly green solution to my problem:
Bakfiets - most popular and common carriage bike in Holland. I'm not keen on it for some reason, maybe because I've seen it everywhere?
Babboe Bike - one of our other neighbors have this one, and it has a compact square shape, great rain canopy and now comes in electric form. Can't tell if that scares me or thrills me!
Gazelle Cabby - supposedly the most comfortable to maneuver, but I am not a fan of how long it is.....
Taga Bike - not very practical for carrying 10kg boxes, but cool as ever! I blogged about it months ago, but then saw it in person at the Kleine Fabriek trade show, and it lives up to the hype. WEEEE!
If you've ever used one or know of a better one, let me know, otherwise I'm going to have to test drive them all and I'll post it when I do!
Have you ridden a Taga? I have a bakfiets.nl, used to own a Fietsfabriek, and have test ridden a Cabby and a Taga (and umpteen other family bikes). The Taga was so much worse to ride than the others, it's not true. If you get to test ride one, make sure you try it on the sort of paths and roads you'll use it on everyday. I rode it on some of the less-than-perfect paths around Cambridge, and the tiller controls (it doesn't have a normal handlebar, just a linked tiller control for each wheel) were just awful.
IMO, it's a pretty thing to look at, and it looks well built, it's just grim to ride. If the Cabby feels too long, have you tried the shorter Bakfiets.nl Cargobike? It's real nippy.
Posted by: DrMekon | July 20, 2009 at 10:17 PM
good to know! I haven't ridden a Taga yet, only saw it and was amazed. I can imagine it might ride a bit different. I think I'll have to be like Goldilocks trying out loads of carriage bikes now!!!
Posted by: Jos | July 20, 2009 at 10:36 PM