Beautiful Bicycles: De Fietsfabriek Bakfiets

Look what I found! An amazing cargo bike from De Fietsfabriek, a Dutch bike shop that I ride by every day during my commute. I got to borrow the Bakfiets overnight for an ambitious Costco bulk food shopping trip, 9 miles total riding distance.

This beast means business. The De Fietsfabriek Bakfiets is the Dutch company’s biggest cargo bike (except the Stretch Limo?). I recommend the Bakfiets for those who regularly haul a lot of cargo or a troop of children, or who want to use the Bakfiets to promote their business in some way (that’s my way of saying that at times I felt like the Good Humor Ice Cream man).

The main attraction, of course, is the wooden box. Look at it – humongous! I can say with confidence that it’s even bigger than it appears. I filled up a huge Costco cart with bulk food products and everything fit with plenty of room. A gaggle of children could fit in there easily, and ride in comfort with optional custom padded benches. Sweet!

The steel frame is super high-quality and makes for a luxurious ride. Like any proper Dutch creature, it comes with all the bells and whistles: a chain guard to keep your clothes clean and protected, a rear wheel lock for added security, an integrated rear rack, full fenders, LED battery lights, non-slip pedals and SRAM 5-speed internal hub gearing. I don’t know how long an LED battery lasts, but I would prefer generator lights. In addition, there are a couple of clever features: steps on top of the front wheels to help little ones boost into the box and a cylindrical chain lock holder on the side.

The front drum brake acts as a secure parking brake. I engaged it while loading and unloading or while stopped at a light on an incline. Coaster brakes do the major work of stopping the bike. I thought coaster brakes would be a negative for me, but by the end of our time together, I was in love with them. The bike is heavy, but I had no problem stopping, especially at my slow and steady pace. Plus, no hands!

My one gripe is the placement of the gear shift under the saddle, a design weakness in my opinion. The reason for the placement is to use less cable. This is too clever for its own good. In theory it works, but in practice I could not easily switch gears as I started and gained speed. I had to get going, then coast and reach down between my legs to grasp for and awkwardly turn the shift. A more ladylike way of doing this probably exists, but I can’t worry about stuff like that in Chicago traffic. Maybe shifting would become second nature with practice? I’m not sure.

Generally, the handling of the bike is smooth and easy. If you’ve ridden a quality bakfiets before, you understand how it can feel magically light. If you haven’t, convincing you of this engineering feat may be hard. Somehow, the Bakfiets manages to roll along with startlingly little effort. Even fully loaded, the ride is easy if you use a forgiving gear. Likewise, turning was pretty simple. The front wheels are stationary, but the box turns separately from the rear, which sort of pitches to the side. The mechanism is hard for me to describe, but very cool. A good hint for turning is to put both hands together on the side of the bar you’re turning to distribute your weight. You can see I’m doing in one of the pictures below. Maneuvering the Bakfiets is easy if you dismount and lift/swing around the rear to turn the front.

Remember I said handling is “generally” smooth and easy? Starting the bike from a complete stop is a bear. I caught myself mumbling, “Don’t make me stop; don’t make me stop,” as I slowly rolled up to red lights. I finally got a hang of it at the end: lean forward on the bars and use your back foot to push off from the pavement while your front foot pushes the pedal down. This process proved simple and effective. Unless you’re stopped on the bottom of a steep hill – then you’re screwed.

In addition to analyzing this particular Bakfiets, I have to put it in context – trikes always feel weird to me and I am more comfortable on two wheels than three. The whole affair can feel topsy turvey over potholes, slopes and other wacky surfaces – any time the two front wheels are not even. On my short ride home from Costco in the dark, rolling down a surface-of-the-moon type of side street that is so characteristic of Chicago, I was feeling stressed and negative about the Bakfiets, at least in relation to its usefulness for my circumstances. However, on my ride today to return the Bakfiets – along my usual commute route – I loved the Bakfiets. Loved. I adjusted to the topsy turvy feel, realized that I was not in any danger of tipping and soaked in the awesomeness of my mode of transportation.

Some parting thoughts: Be prepared for some major positive attention. I took up the entire bike lane and sometimes the entire lane, period. No one honked or expressed any annoyance. I hear Bakfiets can be a source of annoyance in Amsterdam for taking up the whole cycle path, but it’s pure novelty in Chicago. Cars deferred to me like never before, moving all the way into the other lane to pass and slowing at the same time. This is a surprising reaction from Chicago drivers, who are generally crusty and hardened against cyclists.

Partly due to the visibility and corresponding reaction from drivers and partly due to the solid build, I would feel safe riding with a child in the box, even on the main routes I take to work. My preference for two-wheeled bakfiets remains – I’m impressed by their speed and maneuverability – but when the day comes for me to buy my own bakfiets, I’ll have to test this one out again to be sure. Very impressive.

In the U.S. the sole distributor is De Fietsfabriek in Chicago. For other countries, check out the main company website. De Fietsfabriek also makes many other cargo bikes and regular Dutch city bikes.

Here’s a quick video I made that shows a bit more of the bike, if you can suffer through the odd green tint and constant umming.

{As always, we at LGRAB receive nothing for our reviews except the joy of spreading beautiful bike love. And, in this case, indulging car-free bulk shopping sprees }