Comments on: Bakfiets versus Xtracycle: What’s the best way to haul stuff on a bike?

By: Mauricio Babilonia

Mauricio Babilonia — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 16:51:38 +0000

I do have to agree that the Bakfiets is a better car replacement, owing to much easier loading. But having room for only one cargo bike myself, I still prefer my Dummy’s singletrack capabilities…

By: elliott

elliott — Fri, 28 May 2010 15:57:24 +0000

Mauricio, Now that I've logged many more miles on both long tail bikes and bakfiets, my preference is leaning more towards the bakfiets. Yes, they are more expensive, but they really are a more legitimate car replacement than long tails, especially if you have kids. (Compared to the cost of car ownership, bakfiets are still a steal.) does fold up it's box making storage easier, and bakfiets can carry other bikes too. Don't get me wrong. I think they're both great options. If you have an everyday other bike, the bakfiets definitely gives you more hauling capacity and options. If you are only going to have one bike or are on a tight budget and you want to carry cargo, long tail is the way to go.

By: Mauricio Babilonia

Mauricio Babilonia — Fri, 28 May 2010 15:03:37 +0000

You can also carry a bike right on the wideloader with Xtracycle's Tray Bien or a modified roof rack tray. Like this. Bakfietsen might be somewhat more capable cargo bikes, but Xtracycles win on cost-effectiveness and ease of storage.

By: Dominic

Dominic — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 19:48:20 +0000

Cetmacargo.com

By: elliott

elliott — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 23:20:13 +0000

Dave,
I agree the standard kickstand on the Xtracycle is insufficient for heavier loads, but they do make the double footed Kickback for much more stability.

Joebike is great, but his bikes are made in China, not the U.S.

By: Dave in KY

Dave in KY — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 22:18:26 +0000

I second the “easy to load/unload” point for Bakfietsen. No bungies, just dump and go!

Also standing-stability should be addressed. What good is a bike that holds 200lbs of stuff if its always tipping over for lack of a good kickstand? Bakfietsen have a Larry-Craig grade “wide stance”, that will never, ever tip over.

It would be humorous to graft an Extracycle Hindpart onto a Bakfiets.

Add Joebike to the list of American Bakfiets builders.

By: elliott

elliott — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 17:58:00 +0000

DrMekon,

We got a post on another story from DoubleDutchBikes. They are an American company, but import their bakfiets. They did not say from where.

We listed the American builders of Bakfiets here: http://austinontwowheels.org/2009/04/22/sources-for-bakfiets-growing/

By: DrMekon

DrMekon — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 17:40:05 +0000

They don’t look USA made to me. They look like the same chinese clones that bakfietsweb et al sell.

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

There are a load of photos of the bakfietsweb bikes rotting on flickr thanks to henry workcycles.

By: elliott

elliott — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 12:48:50 +0000

Thanks for letting us know about Double Dutch Bikes. It looks like they build their bikes in New Jersey which adds them to the list of US Bakfiets builders like Metrofiets and Center for Appropriate Transportation. The prices are great, but my only gripe would be the equipping of their bikes with 3 speed internal hubs. My experience is that this is woefully in sufficient for hauling cargo in all but the flattest cities. The link to Double Dutch Bikes is http://doubledutchbikes.com/index.php/en/home.html.

By: daniel

daniel — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 03:20:17 +0000

I would like promote doubledutchbikes as these guys have already imported the Bakfiets into the US so you dont have to deal with a $500 freight and import bill!.
As far as a winner my vote will go to the Bakfiets as they simple have a larger surface to haul stuff.