Hot bikes

Make way for the next innovation in cycling: people movers from Denmark and The Netherlands.

Still sour you missed out on the Bugaboo revolution a few years ago? Here’s another chance to profit by copying Danes and Dutchies obsessed with upscale, trendy, and well-designed personal transportation concepts. Like the Danish trioBike, an haute-design carrier bike with three functions. It can be used as a carrier bike, an ordinary bike, or, after dismantling, a lightweight pushchair holding two children. Ideal for modern families in urban environments with well functioning public transportation (no wonder these innovations tend to surface in well planned societies first!). The product, at a cost of approx EUR 2,000 (USD 2,507/GBP 1,360), is sold in the Danish market. Northern Europe, the US and The Netherlands are next in line. And talking about The Netherlands: this is where you will find De Fietsfabriek, yet another manufacturer of a new breed of (city) transport-bikes, family bikes, carrier bikes and all-round bikes. Adjusted to urban settings, tires are extra wide for more grip and stability, while extra heavy spokes and hubs ensure easy control when heavily loaded. Bikes are sold in The Netherlands, and there’s a dedicated site for the Japanese market at www.dutchbikefactory.com. The pictured carrier bike can hold up to four children in the box area. With prices starting at EUR 1,595 (USD 2,000/GBP 1,085), they’re now quite a common sight (if not status symbol) in major Dutch cities.

Opportunities

The world will run out of oil one day, and even a hybrid car can’t top the eco-friendliness of bikes. Surely there are more flat cities like Amsterdam and Copenhagen, or even specific neighborhoods around the world that would benefit from these biking innovations. Where to begin? How about scoring a distribution deal with trioBike or De Fietsfabriek? Hey, it worked for the Bugaboo!!