>Chinese Trikes

>I’ve been fascinated with hauling stuff by bike my entire life, and I’m always amazed (and inspired) to see what can be–and is–hauled by bike (or trike).

My cousin, Joe, sent me a link to the Tinguely Museum, in Basil, Switzerland. They currently have an exhibit on the (vanishing) Chinese trike. Here’s a couple photos from their website.

(Click on any of the following photos for a much larger image).

Tricycle, Beijing 2008 © Foto: Nils Fisch, Basel

Tricycle mit Tischen, Tricycle avec tables / Tricycle with tables, Beijing 2008

They truly are works of art; it’s a shame they’re a vanishing mode of transport and work…seems to me that our world would be a much better place if more people used their own human power to propel themselves…but here I go again, hopping up on my little soapbox again.

At any rate, last spring I saw this trike on craigslist. It was about 20 miles away, I called the guy, he still had it, so I drove out and purchased it straight away. It’s a much smaller version than the one’s pictured, too small for me, in fact. But it’s still fun to ride, it can carry a great deal of weight…and the comments I get from people are worth it alone. If you’d like to read my original post, and see more photos of it click here.

I often scan the Internet for all types of human-powered vehicles, trikes being one of them, of course. Anyhow, here’s some photos of them in use.

How’s this one for a heavy load:

Being a professional cook, this is one of my favorites. Is that actually a deep fryer? If I had this trike I could pedal around selling Buffalo Chicken Wings at closing time.

I’m not sure the loads on these next two photos would fit in my late-model pickup truck.

This one may not fit under some viaducts; it most definitely would not fit in a parking garage.

This one reminds me of the short period of time I spent in New Orleans during the mid 1980’s. At that time there was still a knife sharpener who carried all his gear on his bike, and would stop by the restaurants in the French Quarter to sharpen the cook’s knives (for a fee, of course). But what I found interesting was that his grinder was human-powered, too. I wish I had a photo of it. Anyhow, here’s what looks like a mobile work station.