Just the other day I was waxing philosophic about big, old skool, Dutch bakfietsen after a short rant about the theft of the rear wheel of my friend Doede’s bakfiets. Then today this blue beauty came back from Clarijs the “zeilmaker” with her new Bisonyl box cover. They did a great job getting a snug fit over the strange box shape. We’ve saved the pattern and will now offer it as a standard option for the XL Classic Bakfiets.

Why blue? Hey, it was the customer’s choice. We were really skeptical but now that it’s done we see it was a great call. It stands out from the sea of similar bakfietsen on the roads here but is still timeless. Perhaps it’ll help deter scumbag thieves as well.

While I’m writing about bakfietsen again here’s some more info about what makes them tick…

Here’s a peek at the high-tech, formula one style undercarriage. Actually I’ve never looked at the undercarriage of a formula one car but I assume they’re quite similar: carbon steel multi-leaf springs with floating eyes, H profile axle and steering axis with giant sealed bearings. Unlike modern trikes of the Christiania, ‘t Mannetje, Fietsfabriek, Nihola, Bakfiets.nl persuasion these classic trikes just float along like a magic carpet too heavy to get off the ground.

The hubs feature tapered steel axles and sealed bearing the size of a man’s wrist. There is not one gram of aluminium on the entire trike. Of course there is plenty of carbon though: In fact most of the 185 x 85cm mahogany box is carbon.

At the rear is a similarly sophisticated drivetrain. Inside this steel chain cover a motorcycle chain connects the 1:1 fixed gear ratio. Yes, that’s correct folks: These 130kg bikes with 400kg load capacity are fixies. For 100 years hip couriers, contractors and hippies have been riding them in both skinny and baggy trousers, sometimes displaying manly butt crack as befitting the baker, the plumber and the carpenter. Being a fixie and a tricycle it’s even easy to do some “freestyling” on this baby. backwards riding? No problem. My favorite trick is the “parallel park”.

Note also the 26 x 2.5″ transporter tires, fender stay that doubles as a lifting handle and cottered cranks. We’re not quite ready to trust those new fangled square taper crank axles, and besides, nobody makes one that’d fit anyway.

Moving over to the other side we see that motorcycle chain opposite the giant drum brake. In case you’re thinking it doesn’t look so big just consider it relative to the parts around it: 4mm thick spokes, (twice as thick as “HD” 14 gauge spokes), 14mm hub axle, fat tire, moto chain etc. It’s a big drum and it does a fine job of stopping this bike… unless you load the box up with several hundred kg of stuff and point the rig downhill. Then the drum will only stop the wheel, while your puny, girlie man weight will do little to stop the rear tire from merrily skidding along the pavement while momentum inexorably carries you to your… Actually I don’t really want to worry about that so let’s move on to the brake lever between your legs.

You might be surprised to learn that the current crop of fixed gear hipsters are only the latest fixie riders to have brake levers in strange places. There’s no irony to this foot long steel bar between your legs; It’s your one brake lever and please remember that when bearing down on a group of Italian tourists obliviously arguing over an unfolded map about which way the Anne Frank house is. Above the brake arm is a ratcheting parking lock. Just flip it up while riding and down to park. Pressing the brake handle down pulls the brake rod which in turn pulls the brake actuation arm on the drum itself. There isn’t much to go wrong here, aside from forgetting where it is. This probably explains the frequency of damage on the front of our rental bakfietsen, though we’ve fortunately never had to clean blood off.

We even ride these bakfietsen ourselves. Being “truck-free” we move stuff back and forth between the two WorkCycles locations by bakfiets. Here’s a shot of Renzo moving some random junk over to our Lijnbaansgracht location shortly after we opened. Like Doede, mechanic Tom even has his own old bakfiets. He picked it up in the spring second (or maybe fifth) hand, cleaned it up mechanically and lovingly applied at least 20 coats of boat varnish to the wooden box.

So… do you now want one of these babies? They begin at €3000 including the 19% Dutch VAT and you can check them out on the “Professional 3-wheelers” page on the WorkCycles website. You can even rent a big bakfiets for a big job, a picnic, your wedding or just to ride the family around Amsterdam in.

[Show as slideshow]

Hello,
I was browsing your blog, and found it most interesting indeed. I thought based on what I have read there that I should share my recent experiences with you.

I purchased a brand new bakfiets 1 1/2 years ago and have been through so much hell with it and the company who sold it to me that the Rijdende Rechter even wanted to cover it on the show, but the vendors wouldn’t participate so that came to nothing. I am not looking for help or advice; I just thought this story might interest you.

I am a 39-year-old ex-American student with a 4-year-old. 1 1/2 years ago I realized that a bakfiets would be the solution to many of my transport problems, not having a car. I was able to use some of the money my family set aside after my great-aunt’s death for my education. That meant, however, that I needed to get an inexpensive bakfiets. Naively I thought that I should get a cheaper new one so that it would come with a guarantee. I bought a Faya4you.

The Faya4you bakfiets is ostensibly delivered “rijklaar”. When it arrived, the delivery folks left without waiting for me to test ride it. I took it for a spin, and one of the first things I discovered was that the brakes did not work– at all. Luckily this came to light outside the home of my then neighbor, who is a bicycle repairman and sells used cycles. He put the brakes in order for me, saying they had not been installed correctly.

The next thing that happened was that the wood, particle board, swelled up after a couple of rains and fell off! So I installed new wood.

Thereafter, the left pedal and crank suddenly fell off. I took the trike to the Wolkenfietser, Haarlem’s excellent repair facility. They found that the axle had been twisted into a spiral, after only a couple of months of riding. I sent several e-mails to Faya4you (they normally do not answer the phone), and when I eventually mentioned legal action an axle suddenly arrived in the mail, with no other contact. I took it to the Wolkenfietser, where I was told that it was too short but that they would put it in and see how long that worked out. The answer was, about a week. So I bothered Faya4you again for a few weeks, this time with no response. By then I had come to depend on the bakfiets and was seriously inconvenienced by not being able to use it. So I gave up and bought a good axle, which was duly installed.

A couple of months after that the gears stopped working. If I left it in 2 all was well, but if I ever switched it to 1, which happened frequently accidentally because of the placement of the release lever, it would freewheel for a while until I moved the lever back to 2, then make a horrendous “thunk” noise, then be in something VERY heavy for several revolutions, “thunk” again, and go back to 2. This was never repaired.

Shortly after that the bakfiets started pulling to the right. It also started periodically making a sort of low-grade screaming noise from somewhere under the bak.

Shortly after that, I was riding through traffic with my son in the bakfiets and it started feeling very weird: the back end seemed to sort of slide right out from under me every few seconds. I got off and looked, and part of the frame had snapped right in two. I took it to the Wolkenfietser and they said it was dead. I really, really needed the bakfiets and had less than no money so I took it to a smith, who welded a metal plate into that part of the frame.

Over the next couple of months the bakfiets seemed to get heavier gradually. After a couple of months there started to be a swish, swish noise coming from the back. I could not get this noise to reproduce itself when I was in a position to be looking at the back end. Eventually though it started suddenly feeling like it was going through deep sand (it was still screaming, by the way, although that went away temporarily right after the weld). I was able finally to see that the back wheel was tilted sometimes. By the time I made it back to the Wolkenfietser the wheel was VERY tilted all the time. The fellow there started to check the spoke tension, and the spokes just started falling out. The upshot was that I needed a new wheel, due, they said, to the poor quality of the original wheel. This I got. They advised me that the whole machine is of such poor quality and was so traumatized by the frame break and weld that they felt I should not try to get it repaired again if something else went wrong.

It made it another few weeks. My son had started public school and in order to get him there without a bakfiets I need to walk 20 minutes and then get a bus, which runs at inconvenient times. I also have a serious back issue that made it difficult to do that. Anyway, during the last several weeks (about 12 weeks, I think) of its life, three things happened. First, the screaming increased and became accompanied by a numer of groans and squeaks and murmers. The front end developed a downright weird oscillation: when I started riding it would very slightly bounce up and down in front. This gradually increased until it was bouncing along joyously, then would stop when I stopped, and gradually build up again as I went forward. The third thing that happened was the pedals started rocking. If I was pedaling on the right the whole pedal assembly would rock over to the right, same thing on the left.

Then last Monday the bakfiets just ground to a halt. I got off and looked, and part of the brake had come free and jammed itself between the wheel and the tire, shredding the inner tube. I managed to push it for half an hour, then my back gave out.

And that is the end of it. I was in a panic but my father decided to buy me a second hand bakfiets, and it should arrive tomorrow. It is a Christiania Light, 5 years old, so I hope it will last for me.
After the frame break I started sending e-mails and faxes to Faya4you without response. I sent two registered letters which were not picked up from the post office. I phoned continually from a variety of phones without answer. I sent the story to the Rijdende Rechter. After calling them twice the publicity lady for the show finally got a call back, and was told that Faya4you had done everything possible to help me and wanted nothing further to do with me. That same day a man called me and told me that he had received a lot of faxes that were not for him. I asked him what his number was and he did not want to tell me. I read him the Faya4you fax number and asked if it was his and he said that he did not know, then hesitated and then said no, it wasn’t. He would not provide an alternate number.

And that is the end of that. I will have to sue them but right now I have 6 weeks left at school to get my degree and I have no money, so it will have to wait at least a little while. It seems to me I may have left an event or two out of this narrative, but you get the idea. The key events are here.
Anyway, as I said I just thought you might be interested to hear about this incident and this company.
Sincerely,
(name removed for privacy)
Haarlem

The question of inexpensive family bikes comes up frequently and I often have venomous words about some of them, specifically because we hate hearing stories like the one above. Its an awful feeling to have to so sorely disappoint a customer by informing them that their nearly new bike is essentially irreparable. Five hundred euro might seem like a great deal in comparison to €1500 for a quality model and one might even accept shortcomings such as poor finish, lame lights, too few gears and somewhat higher maintenance as a reasonable tradeoff for the affordable purchase price. But the story below paints a very different picture: that of €500 initial cost plus probably much more in repair costs and time wasted on a bike that was nevertheless pronounced “dead” and worthless after 1.5 years. That doesn’t represent good value in my book nor was it an efficient use of world resources. Whether it’s responsible to sell such products from a safety perspective (specifically to carry children!) is an area I won’t even touch here.

Just to note I’m just publishing this report for her and have no commercial interest in the matter whatsoever. I just find it a story worth telling because it effectively illustrates my conviction that quality products from a trusted source are worth paying for from every perspective: economics, safety, sustainability, enjoyment of life… Conversely, nasty, fly-by-night junk like this bike is of nothing but negative value for the world. If the people at Faya4You wish to respond (perhaps with a different version of the story) they are welcome to do so.

The choice of a second-hand Christiania as replacement is excellent. If the bike looks OK after having been ridden five years it seems a safe bet that it’ll go another five or ten without any great problem. If fact, whenever possible with many purchases, second hand is the best bet for the budget, and for sustainability. The big challenge can be finding the right bike secondhand. The demand for bakfietsen is growing so quickly in the Netherlands that it can be very difficult to find a decent one with appropriate specifications for a price that justifies buying second-hand. Bakfiets.nl Cargobikes, especially Long models, often sell for well over €1000 used. Same for bikes from Christiania, Fietsfabriek, ‘t Mannetje and Nihola. Its understandable then that most people will stretch for a new one with the latest upgrades, no hidden problems, in the color they want for a few hundred more.

It was not a long-term test though, and it would be expected that some conclusions would change with further use of the bicycles. Our experience has been that the two wheelers gradually become more favored as parents get comfortable with them, while riding a trike tends to get “old” after the novelty wears off. This is apparently a particularly Dutch sentiment as our colleagues in Denmark, England and Germany swear by the trikes. Different strokes for different folks.

The testing appeared to have been conducted over a few days and many interesting moments and comments were captured on video. Amongst the most notable:

The bakfietsen tested were representative of those available and in common use in the Netherlands, with one notable exception: the Gazelle Cabby was not present. The report mentions that one bike wasn’t delivered in time for the test but doesn’t say which one. I’ll guess it was the Cabby, since it would be fairly obvious to include the one bakfiets produced by a major manufacturer. If that’s not the case I find it a very strange omission, either on the part of the test panel or Gazelle. The bikes tested include:

Two wheelers:

Three-wheelers:

And the winners are…
The results were broken into two-wheelers and three-wheelers with the experts showing a strong preference for the two wheelers. Thus winners of the two wheel bakfiets category and overall test winners: WorkCycles Cargobike and Bakfiets.nl Cargobike. It was noted that the two are close cousins and the experts were asked specifically whether the WorkCycles upgrades justified the couple hundred euro price difference. The answer was a clear “yes”; the upgraded brakes, lighting, rear wheel and other features improved the bike considerably. The experts were clearly extremely enthusiastic about these two bikes.

Amongst the three-wheelers the Bakfiets.nl Cargotrike and Winther Kangaroo were the standouts. Aside from noting the solid handling and construction, and roomy box they didn’t really say much about the Cargotrike. They did note that the cockpit is somewhat cramped for taller riders. About the Kangaroo they noted its light weight and permanent canopy. A minor downside was its width and the €3000 price is in a league above all the other models.

And the loser is…
The Boxbike from Halfords. This was the only bike in the test that was basically rated “unacceptable” for its sloppy construction, poor steering behavior and for only having three gears, inadequate for such a heavy trike. It was noted in the testing that it was very hard to keep all three wheels on the ground.

We’re obviously happy about the results, though they really just confirm what we already believe. We were aware that a WorkCycles bike would be included in the test but have become cynical after seeing so many bizarre “test results”, “awards” and reviews (see my post about the TrioBike reviews). After watching the program I was mostly just relieved that it went smoothly, that they’d really taken the time and effort to do a fair and meaningful test.

Here you can find my English translation of the original report text.
And here is the original report in Dutch.
Here are links to other tests and reviews of bakfietsen.

I’ve come across a number of thorough and well-written reviews (and some not so good) of various child-transport and family bikes & trikes:

Bakfiets.nl Cargobike
Let’s Go Ride a Bike
BIKE2WORK2LIVE2BIKE
Velo Vision
Bicycle Fixation
Bike Utah Valley
EcoMetro

Bakfietsgigant, Bakfietsweb, Couleurs, DoubleDutchBikes (USA), Redy Kangaroo, Hollandia, PImmies, Trendonline, Tricycleweb (all seem to sell the same bikes)
“Karin” (Dutch language)

Christiania (Trike)
“Marga & Huub” (Dutch language)

Faya4you
Guest post from Haarlem in this blog

Fietsfabriek 995
Caliban’s experience with the FF 995 and notes on other bikes too

Gazelle Cabby
Bakfiets.co.uk

Winther Kangaroo
Musings from a Stonehead

TV consumer program Kassa tests 13 bakfietsen from Dutch and Danish producers Included are: Bakfiets.nl, Christiania, Fietsfabriek, Nihola, Winther, ‘t Mannetje, Bakfietsgigant, Halfords, Johnny Loco, Babboe and WorkCycles
My english language translation of the bakfiets test
The original bakfiets test report in Dutch language
My post with comments about the program and results.

Bakfiets.nl vs. Fietsfabriek 995 vs. Gazelle Cabby
Bakfiets.co.uk (again)

Bakfiets.nl Cargobike vs. Smart Car
Part one: Measurements
Part two: Features

Bakfiets.nl Cargobike & Cargotrike, Bakfietsweb, Christiania, Gazelle Cabby, New Viper, Triobike!… In French language.
Vélo Brouette

Now that I’ve been “collecting” these links for some time the reviews have become more balanced, covering a broader range of bikes than I first found.

Here’s one more review in Dutch though its already three years old and wasn’t very objective to begin with: Fietsersbond bakfiets test. Its in Dutch and no direct link is available.

Here on the “Groot Gezin” (big family) chat site there is a long thread with discussion about many of the child transport bikes and trikes. The focus is generally on the cheap bakfiets options and like any discussion the opinions are to be taken with a grain of salt. Dutch Language.

Does anybody have any suggestions, particularly about other well-known bikes such as Nihola and Christiania? Please keep the discussion to family transport bikes and not transport bikes in general.

Nihola trikes are nice vehicles and quite rare in Holland but popular in Copenhagen, Denmark. For reasons beyond my comprehension the Danish prefer three-wheeled family transport bikes while the Dutch go mostly for two wheelers. I could write for hours on the subject but to make a long story short WorkCycles customers have overwhelmingly been happiest on two-wheelers so that’s what we sell unless a customer really needs a tricycle. A two-wheeler such as a Bakfiets Cargobike leans and rides like a normal bike. Trikes are always somewhat strange and unpleasant to ride, and that’s probably why we learn to ride on two wheels as young as possible and then almost never go back to three wheels. There are certainly valid reasons to need a trike, though:

In any case I put this picture up because it demonstrates a problem with some trikes: They can tip onto their noses when the center of gravity moves too far forward of the front axle. Usually this happens while kids are climbing into the trikes from the front.

On the Nihola its funny to see but really not a problem: Unlike most trikes the Nihola’s front wheels steer independently, as on a car. The frame is thus a single unit so the tail simply sticks in the air and the kids laugh.

However the Nihola is not the only child carrier trike with the front wheels well behind the front of the box. The Winther Kangaroo, TrioBike and Zigo Leader are also constructed this way.

I’ve never seen a Zigo but it appears, like the Nihola, to have independent steering via tie-rods. Reports from my colleagues that the Zigo’s turning circle is very large would tend to confirm this. The Zigo’s child carrying unit sits almost entirely forward of the front axle and the bike is very light so it will almost definitely tip forward when kids climb in the (only) front entrance, unless mom is attendant and holding the rear end down. Fortunately, like the Nihola, the Zigo’s tail will merely stick way up into the air. Annoying but probably not dangerous.

When this happens to the Winther and TrioBike its not such a humorous occurrence: These trikes have central, axle pivot steering, meaning that the trike steers by turning the front carrier parts of the trike in relation to the rear bicycle part. Thus when the nose goes down and the tail goes up… the rear part of the bicycle will rapidly fall to one side, perhaps tipping the entire bicycle, falling into a parked car or other bicycles, or even falling into the roadway. Both of these bikes have light aluminium frames so it really doesn’t take so much weight to tip them.

One can argue that a parent should always be present to hold the bike steady but that’s just not how it works in the real world: kids absolutely love playing on and in these bikes, regardless of adult supervision.

The photo of the Nihola I found in the flickr album of “andjohan”.

For more reading material about the TrioBike have a look at this earlier post where I used it as an example to complain about how ridiculous and inaccurate online “reviews” can be. The comments that follow get rather bizarrely heated and emotional.

Regardless its called the TrioBike and I’d almost forgotten it until Todd’s mail. The TrioBike is a Danish designed product and its something of a joke amongst my colleagues here in Holland. Some laugh about it but how such a horrible product has won design awards, gotten mountains of (internet) press and glowing reviews from around the globe is both puzzling and troubling. One more lousy bike on the market doesn’t concern me, but the power of armchair internet reviewers does. Then again there are hardly any TrioBikes on the road so maybe its only a matter of perception and annoyance.

Before I go further here, let me clarify my position:
I have ridden and looked very carefully at the TrioBike. In fact, considering the miniscule number that have been sold I am probably one of the few people who have actually seen, touched and ridden it. My fellow colleagues at Workcycles have also ridden the TrioBike and share my opinion.

At Workcycles we sell workbikes and load-carrying bikes of all kinds, the largest number of which are used for child transport. That means that we talk with and share the experiences of thousands of families who transport their kids and groceries by bicycle. We don’t build the bikes ourselves but we do assemble them, modify them for kids of various age combinations, repair them and rent them. Our most popular and family-pleasing child-transport bicycle is the Bakfiets.nl Cargobike. We’ve sold around 1000 Cargobikes already.

Workcycles does not make any bicycle that competes with the TrioBike, and we do business with Amazing Wheels, the Dutch TrioBike importer. We could sell TrioBikes if we chose to, though probably not after anybody associated with the company reads the following assessment. Realistically though, my one personal blog post will only be lost in the flood of positive reviews and awards.

More importantly, I’m writing this post not to denigrate the well-intentioned but poorly executed TrioBike, but to lambast all the lame-asses (lame-assessers?) who evaluate products they’ve never seen, never mind tried or owned. Most of these “internet reviewers” and design award panelists clearly have no involvement in and know nothing about the field they judge. I happen to know this and other egregious examples in the bicycle world, but I assume its also the case in other fields as well. It frustrates me so I’m writing about it.

The Trio Bike case is one of absurd optimism and lack of realistic criticism, but absurd and inaccurate internet reviewing often works in the negative sense as well. I’d be a rich man if I had 5 cents for every know-it-all who comments about the dangers of each and every format of child carrying bicycle on the market. “If the kids sit in front they’ll get run over”. “If the kids sit in back they’ll get run over”. If the kids sit in the middle they’ll get run over”. “If the kids don’t wear helmets the parents are reckless murderers”. “If the parents don’t wear helmets the kids will be left to starve as orphans”. Front child seats behind the handlebar have been referred to as “suicide seats”. “Wooden boxes will make deadly splinters”. “Kids will freeze their tongues on aluminium boxes”. “Two-wheelers are unstable”. “Three-wheelers are unstable”. Its all BS, folks. The fact is that these comments are almost entirely just opinions with no basis in facts or experience. The reality simply suggests that cycling is quite safe, especially when compared to the statistically evidenced mess of carnage known as automobile driving.

On to the TrioBike itself…
For those still reading yet not familiar with the TrioBike its a simple concept: A very attractive, modern-designer bakfiets made so that the front child carrier section can be decoupled from the bicycle frame behind. The bike can be ridden without the child carrier, and the child carrier can be pushed without the bicycle. Thus its referred to as “Trio” for the three modes. Its a worthy idea though multifunctional products always come with compromises. Unfortunately bicycles have little room for design error so that seemingly small compromises can have enormous influence on the function of the bicycle.

I do not know exactly who is behind the TrioBike but I can add much more information than is to be found in the many internet reviews:

- TrioBike is an actual firm in Copenhagen, Denmark

- The TrioBike was designed by ID firm designAgenda in Hellerup, Denmark. Just to note: All bicycles developed by ID firms seem to be miserable failures. I can name numerous other examples so please write if you know an example to the contrary.

- My industry sources tell me that the TrioBike is made (extremely cheaply) by a huge firm in China, shipped to Poland where they’re assembled and then forwarded to regional distributors.

The Trio Bike does look very stylish and was introduced with lots of fanfare and publicity. Since then its received many a glowing internet review by those who’ve never ridden it, and probably never even carried children on a bicycle for that matter. That’s partially because it is effectively “vapor-ware”: There are a few out there, but very few and most are still sitting in the shop of the poor sucker who listened to the distributor salesman without trying it for himself. Note how difficult it is to find a picture of a Trio-Bike actually in use, as opposed to in an advertising photo supplied by the manufacturer.

TrioBikes are mostly to be found in webshops that specialize in design furniture and the likes. The performance demands of a bicycle, especially one that will carry your precious little ones, are simply higher than most furniture.

Here’s my best attempt at an unbiased review of the TrioBike, approximately in reverse order of importance:

- The construction quality and finish work is excellent – chinese bent, machined and welded aluminium, smoothly formed plastic box in a sandwich construction and so forth. Its pretty, looks high quality and in this regard it is light years ahead of many of its competitors.

- The TrioBike is quite sporty and made with parts suitable for recreational single bikes… but this trike is big and would generally have to be stored outdoors. The aluminium frame and special plastic box will probably be fine but the rest is certainly not up to that task – all those chromed nuts and bolts, steel brake disks, exposed chain, and connection system will rust, making your lovely modern design bike very unattractive.

- The trike to stroller conversion mechanism is too technical for most people to use. At the extreme risk of sounding sexist, few women will be able or willing to deal with it. (family bikes are mostly ridden by women, as evidenced by the images in their site and literature) Add a little wear and tear and corrosion and it’ll be convertible only when absolutely necessary. In the real world the TrioBike will simply become a three-wheeled child carrier bicycle (bakfiets).

- It has a men’s style frame, available in a single frame size. This is simply inconvenient for a city vehicle and few women are willing to ride a bike with a men’s style frame. Perhaps its different in other countries. Regardless of the stand-over height, this bike has the bent-over sitting position of a racing bike – unsuitable for city riding. The stem is an “Ahead” type, thus not adjustable in height. The saddle so narrow and hard that it’d be suitable on a racing bike.

- There are no mudguards, no chain covering, jacket guards, lock, or lights. OK, I exaggerate: there are some little LED lights in the handlebar and recent examples seem to have short, aftermarket plastic fenders.

- There are no steps or other means for kids to climb into the box. Its just a slippery looking, round plastic form. Are mom and dad supposed to heft the kids into the bin or is this a sort of athletic challenge for the kids? How will the sleek plastic box look with the resulting foot streaks and prints?

- The front wheels of the TrioBike are set far back in the front child carrier section and the side walls are high, sloping toward the front. This means that kids will climb in from the front. However the bike behind is very light, meaning that the trike tips under the weight of the kids, lifting the rear wheel into the air and consequently letting it swing around the steering axis and then fall with considerable momentum to wherever gravity takes it. That could be… onto mom’s white trousers (remember: no chain cover), into traffic, off the edge of the canal, or into a parked Mercedes. Just to note the Nihola and Winther Kangaroo also have this tipping problem, though at least the Nihola remains straight with its tail in the air since it is linkage steered.

- Now here’s the best part: The TrioBike rides terribly. The steering is so stiff that it can barely be maneuvered while not moving. At even moderate speeds the steering is so awkward and twitchy that its a truly scary experience. There’s always the feeling that a bump or quick maneuver could toss the whole rig over. Even if one could master it it would never be even remotely pleasant. Riding a bicycle should be a wonderful, natural feeling experience, not one to “get used to”.

How one could design such a thing and bring it to market is absolutely baffling to me. The basic concept is excellent but then the product development process went completely wrong. Many basic design factors reduce the suitability of the Trio-Bike to hardly anybody. It was supposed to be a convenient mommy bike but who is it for now? Even if it were just a lovely and cool bike for just a niche market that’d be OK too. After all that’s the case with most of the highly specialized bikes the recreational bicycle industry offers. But the killer is that the TrioBike is just unpleasant riding and inconvenient to use in practically every way.

So why does it nonetheless garner so much praise? Do people simply WANT it to be true? Do some regard all new things as good things? Are people so gullible as to believe the far-fetched claims of manufacturers without a critical eye? Why not a healthy mix of optimism and criticism?

At the same time the TrioBike doesn’t sell, and great working child carrying bikes such as the Bakfiets Cargobike sell very well. Apparently and thankfully there’s a considerable gulf between the internet know-it-all reviewers and the actual buyer/user. It still annoys me though. Flame away…