Utility bike makes cycling easier

JONATHAN CAMERON/Manawatu Standard

ALTERNATIVE TRANSPORT: Owner of Cargo Bike NZ Stuart Edwards shows how the utility bike, due to hit the New Zealand online market by Christmas, can hold up to 200kg.

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Wheel tracks might soon replace carbon footprints - a cargo bicycle that can hold up to 200kg plus the rider, will be available to New Zealanders online by Christmas.

Cargo Bike NZ owner Stuart Edwards said the 2.4-metre-long Yuba Mundo bike would be the first of its kind in the country.

The bikes, manufactured in Germany, were an environmentally friendly way of dealing with the continuing rise in petrol prices, he said.

He predicted that postal workers, vineyard and orchard workers, shoppers and parents dropping kids off at school would appreciate the removal of the need for tricky trailers.

It solved the hassle of driving for short trips down to the shops or to drop the kids off at school, he said.

The bike, expected to retail for $1000 in New Zealand, is at the Eco Show in Taupo that ends on Sunday.

* City environmentalist Chris Teo- Sherrell supports the bike and said with the estimated $5000 annual running cost of cars, and the fact that 2.5kg of carbon dioxide was released with every litre of petrol used, it made sense.

- © Fairfax NZ News