Bicycles

Bike kit lets you go Dutch in 60 seconds

View 2 Images
The Lift, attached to a mountain bike
The planned retail price of The Lift is $899
The Lift, attached to a mountain bike

Dutch-style cargo bikes, in which the payload is carried low and in front of the rider, are becoming increasingly popular outside of The Netherlands. That said, they can be pretty pricey (around US$2,000 or more), plus they're a lot of bike to be riding around when they're not carrying anything. Well, that's where The Lift comes in. It lets you temporarily convert your regular bike into a cargo bike as needed, in less than a minute.

You start the conversion process by removing your front wheel, mounting the fork into The Lift's steering mechanism, securing the bike at the bottom bracket, then attaching an extension cable to your front brake (cable-activated brakes are required). From there, you can turn The Lift's front wheel by turning your handlebars, and activate its 160-mm disc brake via your front brake lever.

Once you're done schlepping things around, you just take off The Lift and stick your regular front wheel back on.

The planned retail price of The Lift is $899

Its frame is made from TIG-welded and powder coated chromoly steel, while the cargo box is constructed from UV-protected outdoor grade plywood. Other features include an extra-wide kickstand, a 4-ply thorn-resistant tire, and sealed headset bearings.

If you're interested in snatching one up, The Lift is currently the subject of a Kickstarter campaign. A pledge of $725 will presently get you one, when and if they reach production. The planned retail price is $899, which is still a lot less than you'd pay for a full-on Dutch cargo bike.

You can see a bike being attached to The Lift, in the following video.

Source: Kickstarter

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Flipboard
  • LinkedIn
4 comments
Michael Crumpton
Or you could get a bike trailer that can carry just as much stuff for less than $200, and it takes 5 seconds to attach or detach.
Nik
In my youth, I had a greengrocery delivery round, and used a 'tradebike' which had near enough the same wheelbase as a normal bike, and would be far more convenient to use than this contraption, and could carry just as much, if not more.
A picture of one here; https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-pJpGzP3B_eU/TW7Ceq4_X9I/AAAAAAAAAEo/XLXH0ozzNrY/s1600/Butchers+bike.JPG This is a 'Rolls Royce' version, mine was more basic.
If one is going to 'reinvent the wheel,' one should at least look at 'wheels' that have already been invented, before launching into a pointless and futile exercise.
Paul Anthony
I'd pay that if it had a battery and hub motor in the deal.
unklmurray
Nik,If those wheel changings of yesteryear were as great as you think they were why are they being re-invented?It could be they had so many flaws they turned out 2 B just piles of junk and now these new wheel inventions at least work,I had an ''old school ''cargo bike and it was a Hunk-o-Junk.......this ''Dutch'' version looks 2 B a cool working invention!!...........LOL :-)