What can’t you carry on a bike?

Back when my bicycle was my only transportation, everything that needed to move quickly moved by bike. That included, at various times in college, a bean bag chair, an easy chair, and a four-foot saguaro cactus.

Each of these required carefully logistical preparation. And yet, none of them pushed the limit of what can be carried by bike…

Carrying animals.

First, let’s start with pets. It’s not uncommon to see mini-dogs in various carrying bags and bike baskets–remember Toto from the Wizard of Oz? But move to larger breeds, and there’s no really convenient place to put them.

You might even need specialized equipment, like the Fairdale Dograck, for attaching your large dog to your bike.

But there’s just no good way to carry this on your bike. Don’t even try!

Feats of two-wheeled transportation.

Most of us have carried a passenger sometime. If you balance it right, you can carry eight more!

In parts of China and much of Africa, where bicycles are the fastest means of wheeled transportation and the distances traveled are long, there are no limits to what a bike can handle, whether it’s getting produce to market…

Or something heavier. Weight doesn’t seem to be an issue.

And then, when you add a third wheel…

Adding a third wheel means you can balance at any speed, resulting in towers of transported materials that are literally as tall as houses.

Or, you can use your bike to move your car to a lower-crime area where people don’t steal your wheels…

What can you carry with a CHANGE bike?

If you’ve got the skills, you can carry everything you see on two wheels on this page. A CHANGE mountain bike is the only folding bike in the world certified to the rigorous EN 14766 mountain bike reliability standard.

To pass the EN 14766 mountain bike test, a frame has to handle a weight of 1,200 newtons (270 pounds) applied 50,000 times in quick succession.

While the CHANGE 702 commuter bike uses an industry-standard rear rack that you can get anywhere, the rack for CHANGE mountain bikes is a custom add-on. We will be evaluating this component soon and deciding whether to keep it in stock. What do you think?

Bob Forgrave is president of Flatbike, an
ecommerce company offering full-size folding bikes
and kits to make any bike take up half the space.

425-985-6219