BOXCYCLES: Christiania's Legendary CARGO BIKES in the USA…

gotcha!

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recent feature in galtime…

We were recently featured in the nationwide, media outlet, GalTime...

Pedal-Power in LA

With the summer sun on the horizon and gas prices approaching all-time highs, it may be the perfect time to hop on a new travel trend. Three-wheeled cargo bikes, also know as the SUVs of the bike world, are catching on in Los Angeles.

For nearly 30 years, Christiania Bikes – the original family, cargo bikes – have roamed the streets of Copenhagen and along the way have helped the Danish capital earn its reputation as a leading green city and hotbed for happiness. Only recently have the bikes become available in the US.Their journey across the Atlantic is being spearheaded by Billy Kearins, an American ex-pat who fell in love with the idea after he moved to Copenhagen to start a family with his Danish wife.

Since then, his company, the aptly named, Boxcycles, has focused on promoting the idea in the U.S. and the results, so far, have been fantastic.

“More than anything, I wanted to try to translate the culture and benefits that surround these bikes to places in the U.S. that I knew wanted – and needed – them,” says Kearins. “Americans value the same things – things like sustainability, healthy lifestyle, quality time with the kids, and even saving money.”

The Flying Pigeon Bike Shop in L.A. is one of the first in the country to take a chance on cargo bikes and the bet is paying off. Owner Josef Bray-Ali says sales are on the rise and he often finds customers coming to his store, not just from L.A., but also driving long distances for test rides and ultimately purchases. He believes recent trends in “going green” and “getting back to basics” are making these bikes the new, hip and trendy way to get around town, especially for young, active families.

Sustainability, health, and family-fun are are easy to see just by looking at the bikes, but, according to Kearins, the money-savings benefit has been a little harder to translate – especially when someone sees the price tag for the first time. The bikes, when set up to accommodate a family (certain models can easily handle four children) start at around $2500 – a large investment in today’s economy.

But he insists, they start to save you money almost right out of the gate, especially if the bike ends up replacing that ‘extra car’ that sits out in front of your house.

“Most families don’t really need two cars, especially when both parents are living and working in the city. So, by getting rid of the extra car and the payments, parking, insurance, maintenance, and especially the gas, you can start saving money within the first six months. Factor in the health, sustainability, and family-fun factors and the choice gets easier,” says Kearins.

He and his family have been completely car-free for three years now. “The thing we actually enjoy most about the bike is how we become part of the city around us. Kristian, our three-year-old, loves riding up front, often with his mom. From that vantage point he can see everything. He sings songs, gets fresh air and learns that biking is fun and rewarding.”

The money they would have spent on a car now goes to vacations and other things they would rather do than drive.

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twitter contest update and submission instructions…

- Following the final tweet, we will post an entry form on this blog – direct links to the form will be provided at that time.
- Please answer every question and submit your completed form by Tuesday, March 15th at noon (EST).
- The winning answers will be posted on our facebook page later in the day on the 15th.
- The contestants with the most correct answers (assuming more than one) will be randomly assigned a number.
- From this pool, we will then draw a number to establish the winning contestant.
- The winner must meet all eligibility requirements.
- The winner will be directly notified by us via email during the days following the 15th (we are not sure how much work it will involve to arrive at a winner, hence the vague timeline)
- For eligibility requirements, please visit our original blog post.

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official 1% for the planet member!

“If you want to die the richest man, then just stay sharp. Keep investing. Don’t spend anything. Don’t eat any of the capital. Don’t have a good time. Don’t get to know yourself. Don’t give anything away. Keep it all. Die as rich as you can. But you know what? … There’s no pocket in that last shirt.” – Susie Tompkins Buell (from Let My People Go Surfing)

Choosing a bike over a car is a step in the right direction when it comes to considering the environment, but there is still so much more that can be done. So considering this, we thought it would be a great to do more than just offer an alternative to gas-powered urban mobility.

We recently joined 1% for the Planet, whose mission is to ‘use market forces to drive positive environmental change by inspiring companies to give’. Basically, through 1% for the Planet, we donate 1% of our total sales (not profits) to an approved environmental cause of our choice.

The organization is the brainchild of Yvon Chouinard, the founder of Patagonia, who likens the contributions – from the nearly 1250 members worldwide – as something of an Earth tax. In his book, Let My People Go Surfing – which is something between a business textbook, memoir, and manifesto – Chouinard explains the organization’s beginnings and mission a bit more in depth. The book is an absolute must-read for anyone starting a business – I read it at least once a year just to kick myself in the ass.

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mainstream media blitz…

Over the past two days, the mainstream media has been giving some serious plugs and praises to cargo bikes, and, in particular, our very own Christiania Bikes.

Yesterday, The Guardian – the second largest online news publication in the world (behind the NY Times) – wrote a great article about the recent rise of cargo bikes stating that ‘using pedal power to move loads seems to be coming into fashion’. The headlining photo was a nice, juicy Christiania Bike!

Then, today, Treehugger – the world’s most prominent sustainability blog – posed the question, ‘are cargo bikes going mainstream?’ They also cited the ‘world famous Christiania Bikes’ and posted a nice photo of one of our bikes.

Hopefully, amongst the cold, snow, and blizzards, we can keep the momentum moving forward and look forward to a cargo bike-tacular spring!

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nice video from the danish design center…

Back in October, we made a few posts about Christiania Bikes winning the prestigious ‘Classics Prize’ awarded by the Danish Design Center. The award is given to a company that has developed a product that, over the years, has changed very little thus, making it a ‘classic’ design icon. LEGO and B&O are other past recipients – so the award is quite a big deal.

On the DDC website there was a great film describing the Christiania Bikes and there place on the streets of Copenhagen and in the hearts of the Danes. I was finally able to get access to the film and figured I would share it. Enjoy!

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surfing, cargo bikes, blue skies, and better blog posts…

Just a few things that I want more of in 2011…

Since we started this journey in June of last year, the ride has been ridiculously chaotic (in a nice, exciting kind of way), wildly sporadic, and pleasantly surprising, to say the least. But for the year ahead we hope to change gears, slow down and enjoy the scenery a bit more.

And to represent our new Zen-like focus, we plan to offer you more well thought out and consistent blog postings and features that give you more than just bits of news and camera phone photos (we can save that for facebook and twitter). As well, we are working on the visual end of the blog by altering our current theme and layout to make it a bit more appealing and user friendly. So, please bear with us if things start to look awkward – especially any of the posts from 2010.

All this said, I am planning a multi-part expose on what our life is like without a car, how this company got rolling, and where we are planning on heading in the years to come – something I have been meaning to do since day 1. So, stay tuned and ride on…

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twitter contest details…

with the new year upon us, we’ve decided to take another, big step in spreading the word about our bikes… twitter! so to get the ‘wheels rolling’ we will start with a contest – ‘10 tweets, 10 weeks’. it will be a slow and steady contest – just like we like our bikes!

and the idea is pretty simple – we will tweet one question each week for 10 weeks starting on new year’s day. all of the answers to the questions can be found within our website and after 10 weeks, participants will have the chance to email us their answers for the chance to win a brand new bike – just in time for spring.

the boring details…

- one entry per person.

- all entrants must be able to receive the bike in the usa.

- bikes will be shipped to a local bike shop for final assembly (this may result in a store-imposed assembly fee). delivery will likely occur in march/april.

- all 10 final answers will be submitted via our homepage (contact page) shortly after the final tweet (mid march).

- hints and clarification to any questions may be distributed via our facebook page, homepage, or this blog.

- all answers can be found on our website (www.boxcycles.com) or through one of its links.

- contest details may change during the course of play.

Permalink | Tags: boxcycles, cargo bikes, christiania bikes, contest, twitter | Posted in boxcycles, christiania bikes | 1 Comment