Urban Bicycles to Hit Streets in September

Aaron Powell is Founder and Owner of Urban Tribe Cargo Bikes, a new business venture based out of Denton that was inspired by a trip to Copenhagen, Sweden.

Powell was previously a middle school band teach in Denton, and decided teaching was no longer for him. On summer break, him and his family went to Sweden for two months and the bicycle culture inspired him. “I’ve been a big biker for a long time, I would bike 10 miles to the school in Shady Shores to commute,” explained Powell. “In Copenhagen, everybody bikes everywhere, you can bike 5 miles into the city and never share the road with a car.”

In America, the only way to bike and take the kiddos along is to pull them behind the bicycle, but in Copenhagen and across most of Europe, bikes are equipped with cargo trunk attachments on the front.

“I saw these everywhere in Sweden. Every playground was crawling with kids, and these cargo bikes were all parked around.” When he returned from his trip, he knew he wanted one of his own, but could not find a retailer through his searches on the web. The only options were over-priced, heavily customized, and didn’t match the simple and affordable solution that he saw on his trip.

An experienced entrepreneur, he decided to make the bikes himself.

“I would love to Denton or our country to be more similar to that kind of lifestyle. I don’t have the power to change that kind of infrastructure, but I can make a product that will inspire more people to bike.”

The bike features a Cargo box with two benches, is made of Marine plywood, a DAPU Hub Motor, Shimano 6-speed shifters, a removable, rechargeable battery pack, control panel, Avid BB5 Disc Brakes, step-through steel frame.

Production began two weeks ago, and assembly will be done in Denton, with shipping or local pick up to begin the end of September.

The mission is to get people outside. The bikes ship across the country, but especially in a walkable town like Denton, it’s a safer way to get around town with your kids. “Kids are behind you with the trailer option, but with the cargo box the kids are in front of you and you can interact with them. It’s the SUV version of the bike, there really isn’t  a way to bike with more than two kids,” and the cargo box holds up to 220 pounds, you can easily take a ride to the grocery store, or run any other errands. The marketing may be targeted at families, but the Urban Tribe Cargo Bikes are a resourceful solutions across multiple markets.

Even better? The motorized option, takes hills with ease. Even if you aren’t a fan of the physical efforts of bike riding, I mean the upslopes are the worst, the motor makes it feel like you are commuting by golf cart than by bike.

They made financing a breeze, so even though the price tag is affordable for the product, you don’t have to break the bank to secure one of your own. Check out all the information on their sleek website.

Photos Courtesy of Urban Tribe Cargo Bikes