Workbike

A workbike is a bicycle built for some purpose other than strictly human transportation.

:"More on the subject, along with some overlap, can be read in the article "Freight bicycle".

History

The evolution of workbikes parallels that of normal bicycles. The bicycle developed in the heart of the industry that made carts for working purposes. The first workbikes were used for delivering mail, bread, milk etc.

With the domination of the combustion engine after World War II, in wealthy countries workbikes were relegated to factory floor duties and public park novelties such as ice cream bikes. In the rest of the world, they continued to be manufactured and heavily used. In the 1980s in Europe, and the 1990s in the US, ecologically-minded designers and small-scale manufacturers initiated a revival of the workbike manufacturing sector.

Types

The Amsterdam, Netherlands and Copenhagen, Denmark workbikes are extremely popular. In Amsterdam many residents simply fit large front carriers to sturdy city bicycles. There is also a broad variety of specially made workbikes 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. Varieties used elsewhere 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. In the USA Worksman has built strong delivery bicycles since 1898 and they are still popular in factories and NYC street delivery work.

Uses

The most common use of modern workbikes is child transport, and its estimated that 90% of the workbikes sold in Amsterdam are used primarily to carry children.

Workbikes are also used for many commercial applications: postal delivery, internal transport in factories and oil refineries, street and park cleanup and many others. In Amsterdam it is also common to rent a worktrike to move one's belongings, have a party in a park or promote a new product.

Prospects

As cities become busier and less accessible to autos, and fuel increases in cost, workbikes will likely continue to become more popular.

See also

* Bicycle
* Bicycle trailer
* Boda-boda
* Cycle rickshaw
* Freight bicycle
* Quadricycle
* Tricycle
* Utility cycling

External links

* [http://www.bakfiets-en-meer.nl Blog about workbikes]
* [http://www.bakfiets.nl Producer of popular workbikes for child transport]
* [http://www.longjohn.org longjohn.org: website about the Danish Long John bike]
* [http://www.workcycles.com WorkCycles, workbike producer and dealer]
* [http://flickr.com/photos/tags/bikemove Photos on Flickr tagged with "bike move"]
* [http://www.worksman.com Worksman delivery bikes]
* [http://velocoque.free.fr/spip.php?article27 Velocoque] - Rain/sun screen for cyclist
* [http://velorbis.dk Velorbis] - Danish manufacturer of workbikes, distributor of workbikes built by Monark, Sweden