Ikea’s Dorky Cargo Bikes Could Save Polluted U.S. Cities
Wearing your helmet isn’t the dorkiest way to ride a bike – that title is reserved for pulling a cargo trailer while also wearing your helmet.
Ikea just announced that the Sladda cargo bike, and all its related accessories, is now going to be available in the United States. Although ridiculous looking, grocery shopping using one of these bad boys could reduce a significant amount of pollution.
If the average trip to the grocery store is about 5 to 10 miles round trip, the typical car releases between 0.3-0.6 pounds of carbon dioxide every time you use it to schlepp your groceries. And that’s assuming you’re not spending a ton of time idling your engine in traffic. Over a few year, the pounds add up.
The Ikea Sladda is one of very few cargo bike options you can purchase in the United States, most of which are pretty pricey. The Sladda puts you back $400-500, and the trailer is another $170. Other options are running closer to $1,000 and up – although if people start using cargo bikes, we’d probably get cheaper (hopefully cooler) options on the market. Here’s Ikea’s setup in all its dorky glory:
Honestly it might even be worth buying one of these to help carry your purchases out of Ikea.
Americans don’t tend to use cargo bikes, although they are quite popular in Scandinavian countries. The fact that we haven’t really figured out how to make bike lanes that are safe for road bikes maybe explains why pulling a trailer on your bike hasn’t really taken off. Although hipster culture has managed to make fixed gear bikes a thing, so maybe it’s just a matter of time before your average Brooklynite has a bike trailer.
