The Real Know How

Nick Johnson in Princeton, New Jersey details his build of a boxbike cargo bike. These go for thousands of dollars, so building one himself would have saved a lot of money.

He was looking for a bike that would allow him to transport groceries as well as let him get around.

He writes, “Sure, I could simply buy a trailer, but I don’t really like trailers. I had built a trailer back in my Virginia days, but I didn’t like how it affected the feel of the ride. The joint between the frame and the weight added an unsettling resonance to the ride, especially around corners. I wanted a design that offeres a more rigid ride.

The dutch have long ago perfected a design known as the Bakfiets (“box bike”) for transporting cargo. These literally are the SUVs of Holland; Dutch moms even use these to carry their children to school. I thought about it, and the design seemed perfect for my needs. In short, the design is a two-wheel bicycle, with a large cargo platform between a 20″ front wheel and the steering column.”

For materials for his boxbike Nick used steel piping he bought at Lowes, a scavenged child’s Huffy bike and scrap plywood he found in a dumpster.

Check out what Nick did here.