Editor’s note: Seattle writer Paul Andrews was kind enough to catch Metrofiets at the Seattle International Bicycle Expo for us and wrote this fantastic article.

by Paul Andrews

You’re thinking about taking the plunge and ditching the car. But you wonder: How will I shop for groceries? What about the toddlers? And what if I need a sack of fertilizer from the garden shop?

Jamie Nichols is Metrofiets' torch man

You’re frustrated, because the car you own spends most of its life span nearly empty. It’s just you in the thing. But every so often, you need it to haul something.
If that occasional function is all that’s holding you back from ditching the car — or just riding your bike more — then you and Metrofiets need to have a conversation.

It’s a family vehicle. It’s a cargo vehicle. It’s a package delivery service. It’s a small business on wheels.

“With switchable platforms, you can turn our bike into just about anything you need it to do,” says Phillip Ross, a former research librarian in Portland OR who started Metrofiets with sidekick and ace welder Jamie Nichols in 2007.
Based in Portland, Metrofiets builds cargo bikes. Not the kind you’re used to seeing, which tend to be standard bikes modified to haul stuff — like Xtracycle. Metrofiets falls into the category of “box bike,” a package meant to haul stuff, as with Madsen and Bakfiets (the Holland “box bike”).

The impetus behind cargo bikes is the surging popularity of city cycling and street biking. As city dwellers look for alternatives to expensive, hard-to-park and fuel-guzzling automobiles, cargo bikes are stepping, er, wheeling, into the gap.
Metrofiets (the name plays off “city” and a Dutch term for “bike”) are custom-built from the ground floor up. You tell the guys what you want, they work with you, and what comes out 4 to 6 months later is a thing of beauty as strong as an ox.
At the Seattle International Bike Expo this past weekend, Metrofiets was showing off two of its creations. One held a flat platform containing a chess board, a butane mini-stove, and a stack of tangerines. There was plenty of room left over for, say, a pizza and laptop computer.

You can make coffee, play chess, and there's room for a pizza and your laptop

The floor model had a big carton with a lockable bench containing storage underneath its seat. The bench held twin seat belts for the kiddies.
The cargo carriers are built to order out of solid wood. They’re completely modular and can be switched out by flipping wing-nut retainers beneath them. Metrofiets bikes are rated to handle 250 pounds, which means I could sit in one with three 20-lb. bags of my favorite backyard bird seed and have capacity for my bichon frise as well. (Dogs naturally love riding in box bikes.)

Components are top drawer. Chris King headsets for steer mechanisms. Shimano Alfine hydraulic disc brakes and internal 8-speed hub (shifting is roughly 38-20, fine for most in-city riding. You can get a 14-speed Rohloff, or a standard derailleur setup as well.). Brooks saddle. Wheels are 24-inch, tires 2.35 inches wide (models can be fitted with a 26-inch rear wheel too).

The seat bench stores plenty of gear beneath and has belts for the kids to buckle up

Custom doesn’t come cheap, of course. Framesets, which take 60 hours or more to build, start at $2,600. At the Seattle show, the display models were $4,800. Nor does a cargo bike come light: Weight varies from 68 to 74 pounds, which sounds lumbering but runs 20 to 30 pounds lighter than a comparable Dutch bike.
Now you’re wondering: Who is gonna buy something like this?
So far Metrofiets has sold half a dozen bikes, mostly for personal or family use. Four more are on order, and the company is talking to a variety of small businesses who need portability. Espresso-stand operators. Pizza delivery folk. Farmer’s market vendors.

“The switchable platforms make possible our business model,” said Ross, who spent two and a half years doing research and engineering on the bike. Ross was motivated in part by frustrations over existing box bikes. “The geometry was wrong, so we had to change it. We did some different things with steer linkage as well.”

Metrofiets falls into the category of “long john” because the rider sits behind an elongated front end, as opposed to putting the cargo behind the rider. Ross prefers the front positioning for stability and climbing. Another nice feature is the step-through capability, which helps the rider keep a heavy load balanced while mounting to start pedaling. Otherwise keeping the cargo steady would be a trick while swinging a leg over a top tube.

Ross, who hasn’t owned a car for 5 years and uses his ride to transport his 3-year-old daughter, is proudest of the bike for most part falling well below the 100-mile rule. “Everything is local,” he said. “Chris King headsets are made in Portland. The tubing is bent here. We have our own guy for welding, and Coat in Portland does the paint job.”

The detail work on Metrofiets is impressive. All frames are hand-finished after welding to resemble fillet-brazing; joints are smooth and seamless. There’s a U-lock ring for locking the front wheel to the frame (this is not a bike someone is going to pick up and walk off with). Jamie will even braze a rear rack to the frame. That thing is solid.

Integrated bike rack for stability and strength

How does it ride? “It’s like riding a tandem without having to fight another rider for control,” said Ross. The large-volume tires cushion the ride, and the long wheel base (8 to 9 feet, tire-to-tire) smoothes things out as well.

With the focus on “relocalization” due to peak oil, sustainability practices and concerns over climate disruption, people will find themselves able to live within close range of all their life needs, from their work to their friends’ places to the grocery store. That’s what grabs the imagination most about Metrofiets. It’s a vehicle whose time and place have come.

Long John: http://bikehugger.com/2008/12/cargo-bikes-and-stone-tablets-pt3.html

Transformative Trike: http://www.7gen.com/website/recumbent-bicycles/24248-innovate-or-die-transformation-trike

A lifelong cyclist, Paul Andrews is a Seattle-based online journalist who runs BikeIntelligencer.com.

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