There is a broad variety of specially made cargo bikes including low-loading two-wheelers with extended wheelbases, bicycles with small front wheels to fit huge front carriers, tadpole-type
three-wheelers with a box between the two front wheels. Other varieties include a platform, basket etc. instead of the box, the loading area between two rear wheels (delta-fashion), small-wheel two-wheelers loading both back and front. An occasional
four-wheeler can also be seen, especially within a plant,
warehouse or the like, where demands on stability and loading capacity are higher than on range. Many models are now available with an electric assist which can make them more useful for longer distances or for varied terrain, i.e. not flat cities, amongst other reasons, such as feeling more confident riding in car traffic due to faster acceleration from stopping.
Porteur bicycle A
porteur bicycle has the
rack on the front, typically attached to the fork, and can carry as much as that way.
Butcher's bike , England (2013) Also referred to as a Baker's bike, although this style of cargo bike was popular with a wide variety of trades during the first half of the 20th century, particularly in the
United Kingdom. Typically, they would have a basket or storage box mounted within a framework which was fixed to the main frame (not the forks) of the bike. Often, they would also feature a sign advertising the business concerned, which would be attached within the main triangle of the bicycle frame. The
Cycle Truck, such as
Schwinn Cycle Truck (produced in the USA between 1939 and 1967), also employed the same basket to frame arrangement, but with a smaller front wheel than rear, typically rear and front.
Boda-boda A boda-boda (or bodaboda) is a two-wheeled bicycle or motorcycle taxi, originally in
East Africa. Boda Boda is also the name of
Yuba Bicycles compact cargo bike introduced in 2012.
Electric cargo bike Electric assisted cargo bikes (also known as e-cargo bikes or cycletrucks) are cargo bikes powered by human muscle power and an electric motor (
e-bike). In addition to transporting goods and people in private settings, they are also intended to gradually take over future commercial delivery traffic in city centers. Cargo vehicles for commercial use have three or four wheels and are usually enclosed like a
velomobile.
Stroller bike A cargo bicycle that converts into a stroller. Three wheels are used when the bike is in a stroller configuration, and two wheels are used when it is in a bike configuration with the cargo in front of the cyclist. This cargo bike can carry up to 100 lbs (45.4 kg). The stroller bike won the Gold Award at the Eurobike exhibition in 2018 as a special-purpose bike.
Long john bicycle The long john bicycle is a cargo bike with the cargo area in front of the rider and some linkage connecting the steering to the front wheel, "linkage steering". Capacity is usually about . A traditional long john will have a smaller front wheel and a rear wheel, plus a long platform, basket, or box located low, in front of the handlebars. The term "bakfiets" (which literally means "box bike" in Dutch; plural is "bakfietsen") is the Dutch word for cargo bikes in general. Bakfiets has traditionally mainly been used to refer to
cargo tricycles with two front wheels, while the term
Deense bakfiets ("Danish cargo bike") is sometimes used to describe the Long John style of bicycle. Vintage long johns are becoming collectible. The last known manufacturer to still produce the original long john is
Monark. The history of long john bicycles is traced to Denmark . The Smith & Co. Company (SCO - founded by Ivar Smith and Robert Jacobsen in Odense, Denmark 17 October 1894) was the inventor and the first to build this type of cargo bicycle. The first Long-John was presented to the public at the Wembley World Fair & Exhibition in 1924. This style of bicycle is useful for carrying cargo, including children, and can function as a car replacement for many families. It is possible to install a carseat in the box to for babies, and when children get older, they are often seated on a small bench and clipped in with a 3- or 5-point harness. Canopies can be affixed to the cargo box for protection from the elements, making a warm and inviting space for children to enjoy the ride.
Longtail bicycle with handlebars and foot rests for a second rider Longtails have a longer frame
wheelbase at the rear compared to a standard bicycle. The extended rear facilitates use as a cargo bike or carrying multiple or adult passengers compared with shorter bicycles. They tend to handle more like regular bikes than cargo bikes with linkage steering. Free Radical as fitted to a
Trek 820 MTB donor bike.
Xtracycle developed their first longtail product, their Free Radical, which attaches to an existing 'donor' bicycle to make it a longtail bike in 1998. The growing popularity of Xtracycle inspired the
Kona Ute, launched for the 2008 season.
Surly were asked by Xtracycle to build a complete Xtracycle-compatible frameset; the result was the 'Big Dummy', first released for the 2008 season. The
chromoly frameset is designed for wheels. Buyers have the choice of frameset alone or complete bicycle. In 2008 Xtracycle documented the
LongTail as an open-source standard. This has helped individuals to build longtail bikes themselves such as the Xtravois. There is a sub-class of longtail bicycles referred to as midtails. As their name implies, they are not quite as long as a longtail, but can still often carry at least one if not two children. The distinction between both is not clear and there are longer tailed bikes sold as midtail, while shorter are categorized as longtail.
Wooden cargo bike transporting bananas to market in the North Kivu province of DR Congo. The
chukudu (or chikudu, cbokoudou) is a two-wheeled vehicle similar to a
scooter used in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo. It is made of wood, and used for transporting cargo.
Tricycle Cycle rickshaws and other
cargo tricycles are used for short range transport of both people and goods while tricycles with boxes or platforms are used to transport goods. A cargo tricycle with an open or flat platform might be used for low value goods or for trips where the rider is always with the goods. A fabric cover can be added to provide weather protection. Tricycles can also be fitted with a lockable weatherproof box, usually of aluminium construction, for valuable goods and where the rider has to leave the vehicle. Cargo tricycles can typically carry of cargo and have capacity of or more, which is about half the capacity of a small
panel van. The weight capacity of tricycles is limited by available human power and the
permitted power of electric assist by law. ==Gallery==