(Photos courtesy Lane Kagay)
The latest news in the hot cargo bike market comes from Eugene. The photo above is of the new CETMAcargo bike designed by Lane Kagay of CETMA Racks.
(Photo: Lane Kagay)
CETMA, well-known for their front cargo racks, moved to Eugene from San Francisco back in 2007. Kagay says his cargo bike — which is manufactured just outside Eugene — is still in prototype phase but will be will be available soon. He’ll be in Portland at Clever Cycles on Thursday afternoon to give a special sneak preview and offer test rides of the bike.
Here’s what Kagay revealed about the bike in an email to BikePortland:
This bike is very innovative with a frame-integrated platform and bi-partable sections which makes front cargo area and rear cockpit interchangable for different rider’s preferences. Makes shipping easier, too.
Future features will include an internal hub (NuVinci?) and disc brakes.
Kagay also says on his blog that the bike weighs only 55 pounds. This bike looks like a very capable hauler and I can’t wait to see these on the market.
Eugene is also the home of the Center for Appropriate Transport (CAT). Their Long Haul cargo bike is also made in Eugene.
This bike is yet another sign that the cargo/utility bike category is a hot trend in the bike industry. In the past few months we’ve heard about new bakfiets from China and Portland, a rear-load approach by Salt Lake City-based Madsen, the heavy-duty Yuba Mundo, and more.
For more on the development of the CETMAcargo bike, check out Kagay’s blog at CETMAracks.com (click on “News!” in the sidebar).
[Note: Several of you have emailed about my upcoming review of the Madsen (which I’ve been riding daily for over a week). I’m working on it and hope to publish the story soon.]