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Future Bicyclist & Cargo Bikes 33

24 Jun 2011   | Cargo Bikes · Family · James D. Schwartz · Utility Cycling

Baby Sofia

Photo of baby Sofia (Day 1) by James D. Schwartz / The Urban Country

You may have noticed that The Urban Country has been quiet this week. Between supporting my wife through labour and then subsequently learning how to care for our newborn child, I have had my hands quite full.

Our future bicyclist Sofia was born on June 20th at 11:24AM, weighing 7 pounds an 11.8 ounces.

But lest I leave everyone without any new content on this website this week. Given my time constraints, I thought I would keep this post brief and share a few photos of baby Sofia in her car seat along with some photos of different styles of cargo bikes that were uploaded to ratemyvelo.com (you know, since I will be in the market for a cargo bike in the coming months and all).

Just imagine little Sofia in one of these cargo bikes and you’ll be able to see into the future. It shouldn’t be too hard to find a cargo bike that will support Sofia’s car seat.

The Urban Country will return to regular broadcasting next week.

Baby Sofia

Photo by James D. Schwartz / The Urban Country

Dutch Bakfiets in the UK

Photo by David Wilson (UK) / RateMyVelo.com

Baby Sofia

Photo by James D. Schwartz / The Urban Country

Cargo bike in Chicago

Photo by R. Lafosse (Chicago) / RateMyVelo.com

Baby Sofia

Photo by James D. Schwartz / The Urban Country

Bakfiets cargo bike in California

Photo by Richard Masoner (California) / RateMyVelo.com

Box cargo bike in Calgary

Photo by Sean (Calgary) / RateMyVelo.com

Baby Sofia

Photo by James D. Schwartz / The Urban Country

Christiania Boxcycle in Brooklyn

Photo by Sharon McGauley (Brooklyn) / RateMyVelo.com

Dutch Bakfiets cargo bike in California

Photo by Richard Masoner (California) / RateMyVelo.com

James D. Schwartz is the editor of The Urban Country. You can contact James at james.schwartz@theurbancountry.com.

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  • Elaine

    Congratulations on the arrival of your daughter! For the cargo bike, according to my husband, the 2-wheelers are quite maneuverable. As for the brand, he purchased a half-the-price-of-a-Dutch-bike Norco version and ended up paying for the rest of it in effort and labour as my husband was felt that the drive train was not satisfactory and the rear wheel was misaligned because of bad engineering design of the frame. It’s worth the extra money for a better built bike and for reliability and ease of service. Good luck!

  • Elaine

    Congratulations on the arrival of your daughter! For the cargo bike, according to my husband, the 2-wheelers are quite maneuverable. As for the brand, he purchased a half-the-price-of-a-Dutch-bike Norco version and ended up paying for the rest of it in effort and labour as my husband was felt that the drive train was not satisfactory and the rear wheel was misaligned because of bad engineering design of the frame. It’s worth the extra money for a better built bike and for reliability and ease of service. Good luck!

  • kfg

    Congratulations indeed; your excuse is accepted.

    “Just imagine little Sofia in one of these cargo bikes and you’ll be able to see . . .”

    Something that’s illegal in NY and might well draw the attention of Child Protective Services. Toronto may have a long way to go, but rest assured things could be worse, for whatever cold comfort that may afford.

  • kfg

    Congratulations indeed; your excuse is accepted.

    “Just imagine little Sofia in one of these cargo bikes and you’ll be able to see . . .”

    Something that’s illegal in NY and might well draw the attention of Child Protective Services. Toronto may have a long way to go, but rest assured things could be worse, for whatever cold comfort that may afford.

  • el.jefe

    Congratulations! What a lucky baby to arrive into a bike family. We got a bakfiets when our daughter was 6 mos. old and mounted her car seat rear facing in it. When she was one year, she graduated to sitting on the bench. Best decision I ever made. Here in Portland, you can get a bakfiets for about $2200 secondhand. Cheap compared with driving, riding transit, or renting an apartment that’s walking distance from everything. Of course fuel costs add up (food, that is!) Just get a long-john of whatever brand. Hauling a baby around is exhausting and little hassles add up to big frustration, so you need smooth, thoughtful design. If you can afford it, nothing compares to bakfiets.

    • Nancy

      We bought a bakfiets for my daughter when her baby was about 2 months old, and he also rode in his car seat in the base (the seat belts move). He is now 2, so has been riding on the bench (with his helmet) for a while. He absolutely loves it. My husband uses the bike as his cargo bike when they are not in town.

  • el.jefe

    Congratulations! What a lucky baby to arrive into a bike family. We got a bakfiets when our daughter was 6 mos. old and mounted her car seat rear facing in it. When she was one year, she graduated to sitting on the bench. Best decision I ever made. Here in Portland, you can get a bakfiets for about $2200 secondhand. Cheap compared with driving, riding transit, or renting an apartment that’s walking distance from everything. Of course fuel costs add up (food, that is!) Just get a long-john of whatever brand. Hauling a baby around is exhausting and little hassles add up to big frustration, so you need smooth, thoughtful design. If you can afford it, nothing compares to bakfiets.

  • Cycling For Beginners

    Congratulations James! Cycling with my kids has been a great way to spend time together, so you have lots of good times to look forward to.

    Best,
    Rob

  • Cycling For Beginners

    Congratulations James! Cycling with my kids has been a great way to spend time together, so you have lots of good times to look forward to.

    Best,
    Rob

  • http://twitter.com/DriversofChange Drivers of Change

    Congratulations! And let the bike training begin!

  • http://twitter.com/DriversofChange Drivers of Change

    Congratulations! And let the bike training begin!

  • http://www.cyclelicio.us/ Cyclelicious

    What a wonderful gift for Father’s Day! Congratulations to you and to your wife. Sofia is adorable.

  • http://www.cyclelicio.us/ Cyclelicious

    What a wonderful gift for Father’s Day! Congratulations to you and to your wife. Sofia is adorable.

  • http://hanlonsrzr.blogspot.com/ Mr.S.

    Congratulations. Made mine about a year ago. Looks like yours has a similar DNA mix to mine: miscegenation makes cute kids!

    But more seriously: keep her safe. I’ll take mine on a bike in Tokyo without much pause, but I am not sure if/when I would in Toronto. (Or if I’ll go back ‘home’, because with the homophobic and driver-only agenda in city hall, and Ottawa, and soon Queen’s Park, it sure doesn’t look like ‘home’.) It is the best way to get around a city, and it ought to be safe, and I am happy to take the risk as a life-insured adult, but when it comes to my kid… I discourage even my wife to ride in Toronto. I don’t want to be alarmist, and I am sure you know the risks, but Toronto has one of the worst fatality rates in N.America; I once worked it out to be four times as bad as in Tokyo, which ought to be the reverse: more crowded, fewer facilities, and also high-speed roads. In short, in law and in deed, we care more about moving cars than protecting people; Japan is the reverse.

    That’s done. Which bike, is a hard one. None of them look ideal to me. The ideal would:
    - have a bucket
    - keep the weight, and kid, low to the ground
    - not cost a fortune
    - negotiate narrow spaces
    - hop curbs
    - have a short but stable wheelbase
    - have wheels the same size (fewer spares)
    - have small wheels to keep it lower

    Madsen have a lot of that list right, but like the rest, not all. This one is pretty ugly, and it’s not a production model, but it is just about there for a city cargo/kid bike.
    http://www.designboom.com/weblog/cat/8/view/11890/christophe-machet-camioncyclette-transportation-bike.html

    • http://hanlonsrzr.blogspot.com/ Mr.S.

      If this had a longer wheelbase, beefed-up frame and better brakes…
      http://cinco5.weebly.com/

  • http://hanlonsrzr.blogspot.com/ Mr.S.

    Congratulations. Made mine about a year ago. Looks like yours has a similar DNA mix to mine: miscegenation makes cute kids!

    But more seriously: keep her safe. I’ll take mine on a bike in Tokyo without much pause, but I am not sure if/when I would in Toronto. (Or if I’ll go back ‘home’, because with the homophobic and driver-only agenda in city hall, and Ottawa, and soon Queen’s Park, it sure doesn’t look like ‘home’.) It is the best way to get around a city, and it ought to be safe, and I am happy to take the risk as a life-insured adult, but when it comes to my kid… I discourage even my wife to ride in Toronto. I don’t want to be alarmist, and I am sure you know the risks, but Toronto has one of the worst fatality rates in N.America; I once worked it out to be four times as bad as in Tokyo, which ought to be the reverse: more crowded, fewer facilities, and also high-speed roads. In short, in law and in deed, we care more about moving cars than protecting people; Japan is the reverse.

    That’s done. Which bike, is a hard one. None of them look ideal to me. The ideal would:
    - have a bucket
    - keep the weight, and kid, low to the ground
    - not cost a fortune
    - negotiate narrow spaces
    - hop curbs
    - have a short but stable wheelbase
    - have wheels the same size (fewer spares)
    - have small wheels to keep it lower

    Madsen have a lot of that list right, but like the rest, not all. This one is pretty ugly, and it’s not a production model, but it is just about there for a city cargo/kid bike.
    http://www.designboom.com/weblog/cat/8/view/11890/christophe-machet-camioncyclette-transportation-bike.html

  • http://hanlonsrzr.blogspot.com/ Mr.S.

    If this had a longer wheelbase, beefed-up frame and better brakes…
    http://cinco5.weebly.com/

  • http://www.theurbancountry.com James Schwartz

    Thanks everyone for the congratulations and advice on cargo bikes :)

  • http://www.theurbancountry.com/ James Schwartz

    Thanks everyone for the congratulations and advice on cargo bikes :)

  • http://amsterdamize.com/ amsterdamize

    I think I missed a bit of news stream! Congratulations to you and your wife & little Sofie is a looker! She’s destined to flirt-while-cycling :)

  • http://amsterdamize.com/ amsterdamize

    I think I missed a bit of news stream! Congratulations to you and your wife & little Sofie is a looker! She’s destined to flirt-while-cycling :)

  • Nancy

    We bought a bakfiets for my daughter when her baby was about 2 months old, and he also rode in his car seat in the base (the seat belts move). He is now 2, so has been riding on the bench (with his helmet) for a while. He absolutely loves it. My husband uses the bike as his cargo bike when they are not in town.

  • SueWithoutHelmet

    CONGRATULATIONS TO YOU BOTH!!! FANTASTIC NEWS!!! – aaaahhhh! such a lovely time in life – WELL DONE! SUPER STUFF!!

  • SueWithoutHelmet

    CONGRATULATIONS TO YOU BOTH!!! FANTASTIC NEWS!!! – aaaahhhh! such a lovely time in life – WELL DONE! SUPER STUFF!!

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