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Cargobike of the Year 2021: Vowag, Chike, and Carla Cargo pedal ahead

The competition organized for the second time by HUSS-VERLAG regards the cargo bikes from Vowag, Chike e-Cargo, and the trailer Carla Cargo as particularly successful. Intensive tests by a professional jury.

Winner among winners: The cargo bike industry is experiencing an incredible boom - numerous manufacturers are taking this into account. Some of the most convincing products for the CABOTY jury were now awarded in Frankfurt. | Photo: RLVD/Andreas Lörcher
Winner among winners: The cargo bike industry is experiencing an incredible boom - numerous manufacturers are taking this into account. Some of the most convincing products for the CABOTY jury were now awarded in Frankfurt. | Photo: RLVD/Andreas Lörcher
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von Johannes Reichel

After an intensive testing process by an internationally composed jury of cargo bike experts, the awards for "International Cargobike of the Year 2021" were presented as part of the 2nd National Bicycle Logistics Conference in Frankfurt am Main. The awards, categorized into three classes, recognize the trend towards cargo bike logistics and usage in the commercial sector and are sponsored by the specialist magazine LOGISTRA from HUSS-VERLAG. This year's award in Frankfurt was presented in the presence and with the support of Frankfurt Economic Development and proxy holder as well as head of urban development, Ansgar Roese. He pointed to the great potentials of cargo bike use in municipalities and the already existing numerous cargo bike projects in the Main metropolis.

"Compared to two years ago, we see a massive innovation boost and trend towards professionalization in the industry, and we had a veritable flood of registrations for the award," explained jury chairman Johannes Reichel during the award ceremony.

The on-site test was all the more exciting and intense at the Frankfurt University of Applied Sciences, which made its campus area available for extensive test rides, providing an example of "applied sciences." Reichel further emphasized that cargo bikes are on a good path in terms of robustness, practicality, and cost-effectiveness to become profitable for logisticians – although acquisition costs are still quite high. There are fewer and fewer providers trying to be present in both B2B and B2C fields; the trend is clearly towards focus and specialization. Particularly in the "Heavy" category, more concepts are pushing into the market, which are more likely to be called "tools" than "bicycles."

"A cargo bike for everything, like the universal transport vehicle automobile we are familiar with, simply doesn't exist. However, there are certainly concepts that are significantly superior to motorized vehicles in terms of speed, punctuality, space requirements, and environmental friendliness, especially in inner cities," added the head of the Test + Technology department.

The corresponding integration into decentralized micro-depot concepts and decentralized city logistics must also be combined, without which cargo bikes make little sense. Participants of the conference organized by the Bicycle Logistics Association of Germany in Frankfurt examined examples of this on site, such as CityLog, Cleanffm, UPS Microdepot, Sachen auf Rädern, Swobbee, and DHL Express.

Trailer: Underrated Potential - Easy Entry

The winning vehicles stood out by making a significant step forward and covering a wide range of applications, said the jury chairman further. In the Cargo Bike Trailer category, the Carla Cargo of the further improved 2021 model year, optionally with a clever Max Messenger Light-KEP design, narrowly outperformed the hinterher Transporter of the Munich manufacturer of the same name. This competitor offered, in addition to the simple and practical platform version, a Zarges box solution, which is ideal for KEP deliveries. The jury emphasized that both trailers each offered enormous cargo potential with little effort and at relatively low cost, just in different payload classes. Basically, the combination of single-track, slim bikes and equally narrow trailers presents a wide range of possibilities.

Light Cargo Bikes: Fit Anywhere

In the light cargo bikes category, designed for slim passing width, the German manufacturer Hartje with its Chike e-Cargo model took the lead, impressing with a universal tilting technology concept that combines agile handling with good payload, compact design, and easy maintenance. Following it, the RYTLE TriLiner with robust construction and professional package, including a powerful Heinzmann front motor at a fair price, crossed the finish line, followed by the slim, super-agile, and even foldable tern HSD, which is particularly ideal for food delivery services.

Heavy Metal from Vogtland in the Premier League

In the "Premier League" of heavy cargo bikes, the Vowag Cargo M prevailed, designed according to industrial and automotive standards. It opens up countless options and cargo possibilities on a four-wheeled steel profile platform concept with robust components and suspension. It also offers good value for money and, last but not least, an extremely powerful electric drive that dispenses with a chain and operates with a generator and electric motor.

Close behind, the tricargo Lademeister, a classic three-wheeled bike, crossed the finish line. It eliminates many of the first generation cargo bike flaws and relies on robust motorcycle components, a finely tuned Pinion cargo gearbox, as well as a solid and pallet-capable structure—all at a reasonable price. In a pre-series version, the similarly industrially designed A-N.T. Cargo:4 pushed into third place, which also combines an extremely robust construction with very safe road handling, durable components, strong brakes, and above all, high payload and volume in the specially designed cargo box.

Gleam: Between Worlds - and Brilliantly Dynamic

As an "honorary award," the jury highlighted the innovation of the Austrian brand Gleam. Their model Escape navigates between the light and heavy realms, setting benchmarks in agility and handling with a tilt-tech suspension, all while maintaining a decent payload, interchangeable structure, and fair price.

Jury of Bike Logistics Experts and Designers

The expert jury includes, in addition to the deputy editor-in-chief of VISION-Mobility, Johannes Reichel, recognized experts and practitioners of the cargo bike industry: Thomas H.L. Schmitz, managing director and founder of the bike logistics specialist Radlader GmbH in Mainz; Satish Kumar Beella, lecturer in engineering & product development at The Hague University of Applied Sciences; and Berlin-based bike logistics expert Martin Schmidt from Cyclelogistics GmbH and the cargo bike service Blue Cargo GmbH. In addition to theoretical evaluation, the jury conducted intensive test drives with loads on site to form a well-grounded opinion on the vehicle's characteristics. A list of candidates can be found here.

Translated automatically from German.
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