(Photo: Joel Grover)
I don’t feature Portland’s amazing bikes often enough. To remedy that, I’ll start doing more “Bikes of the Week,” starting with this insane cargo bike owned by Splendid Cycles owner Joel Grover.
Joel posted the pic above to his shop’s Facebook page. The bike is a hot pink “Bullitt” model which is made in Copenhagen Taiwan by Copenhagen-based Larry vs Harry. Joel has it set up with an electric-assist kit from Bionx (a Canadian company that is pretty much the industry standard for aftermarket e-kits right now) and two, lockable aluminum cargo boxes.
A pretty sweet ride for sure.
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Too bad IKEA didn’t give these to their employees. Now that would be a statement.
sweet indeed. now i just wish any of us who really do deliveries on bicycles could actually AFFORD something like that.
holy smokes! very nice, gorgeous cargo bike. the components are over the top compared to most cargo bikes. It even has the new Light N Motion Vis180 $99 tail light. love the cargo boxes.
Hey Jonathan, thanks for sharing the bike…maybe a little over the top at first glance, but hey this bike is a lot of fun and beyond practical for how we use it. The two lockable/waterproof boxes more than handled the all day errand run, Christmas shopping and grocery run today. Nothing got wet, my stuff remained mine, and the motor/battery set-up made the hills go by just a bit easier…as for the price, well…certainly cheaper than owning a car…but with many more benefits to our community.
It looks pretty sturdy.
I saw in popular mechanics on the news stand a nice bike with belt drive and a nice cargo tray mounted up front
My mistake- it is popular science
http://www.popsci.com/gadgets/article/2010-09/new-chainless-bike-uses-pulley-system-eliminating-grease-and-increasing-cool-factor
Watch the video for the “string bike” it’s a pretty cool concept
My Bullitt has been an absolute blast to ride. As a top shelf priced bike for it’s type, it is half the cost of a top shelf road or mountain bike. Yet this bike can carry heavy loads and still do 5 hour road rides. Not so with a 15 lb carbon race bike.
Jim,
Why compare the Bullitt which is proven and reliable to something that does not yet exist?
Something that works efficiently and reliably day in and day out seems a lot more cool to me than a completely unproven and untested idea,
But maybe I am just old fashioned in being more interested in actually using the bike for daily transport.
I wasn’t comparing it to the bullit. Jonathan asked in the last line for interesting bikes and I was just sharing something I thought was interesting
I bet it needs that electric assist to make the pink that …. PINK…. certainly no visibility issues there.
It is PINK isn’t it? My fav Bullitt so far and not just for the color. It’s a great date bike since the boxes also make a great passenger perch and with the e-assist it can carry me and lots of cargo. I’m just waiting for Joel to figure out a nice passenger cushion for this one…with his cargo bike obsession that’s only a matter of time.
As a Bullitt owner, I second all the raves this bike gets. The sticker “one less truck” is dead-on.
LOVE the color.
Cargo bikes are the new tallbike.
So that’s how my order got to the post office! Awesome looking ride from a fantastic shop. Thanks for posting!
Indeed Jonathan, its the perfect to the Post Office bike as all of the packages stay dry and I get front row parking!
I tried one at Calhoun Cycle in Minneapolis & also visited Larry vs Harry in Copenhagen. The Bullitt surprisingly easy to ride, and those colors! I wish I had an excuse to buy one, but my trailer collection can handle just about anything I want to carry (kayaks, stranded long-wheelbase recumbents, 100 pounds of groceries). Luke from Calhoun Cycle did a century ride on a Bullitt; plenty of space to carry along some snacks. It’s MUCH lighter than typical cargo bikes. That pink is spectacular.
The square design of the cargo boxes are perfect for carting, but they’re not very aerodynamic, are they?
Indeed those boxes plow some wind when traveling at the max speed of the BionX (20mph), but it’s not to bad. It’s fairly easy to maintain 20mph with the assist setting of the BionX even on the lower assist settings on the flats. I suppose aerodynamics would not be that big of an issue until you get above 20mph….and considering most cargo bikes plod along at less than 15 mph, the BionX helps you get across town a wee bit faster.
I didn’t think about the wind. I guess on those days where we have big wind gusts it must be tough going?
Not tough with a 350 watt motor! If you don’t mind burnin some battery juice and givn’r a little yourself, 20mph into the wicked winds of the east on Sunday/Monday this week was quite easy.
I was thinking of the kite effect hitting you sideways, trying to maintain a straight line…
Joel,
In the UK power assist has to fade out by 15mph. Beyond that you are on your own.
I wonder if the batteries could be mounted under the load area so that they don’t take up space in the boxes. Also to add flexibility to remove boxes more easily.
I would think 1 box total width 2/3 the two boxes would actually carry nearly as much due to flexibility of a larger single space.
I would like to see a quick release mechanism to swap between load carrying options. So you could switch between 1 box, 2 boxes, no boxes, child seat, adult seat etc really quickly to suit the journey you are about to make.
I test rode an electric bullit. It’s really wonderful beyond words. You always feel like the wind is behind you and your’re going slightly downhill.
I hear that pink is the hot color for 2011