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I think these bikes are absolutely beautiful! HOWEVER, where are the gears, man?! Amsterdam is lovely and flat. Much of the rest of the world is not. I will stick with my Electra w/Xtracycle attachment that has enough gears to haul myself and two kids up and over every hill.

I thought the same thing: where are the gears?

I am in love with the ABICI bicycles. great colors.

See them here: http://www.nest-living.com/pages/bicycles-and-equipment

You're kidding, right? For most people they replace the need for a car? ANd they'll save you money?

Look, if you want to write about the pretty, fancy bikes, go ahead. I wouldn't mind having one myself. But the political commentary -- which is what is is -- is unnecessary. What numbers are you using to support the idea that "in the end" these would save you money? Share your analysis, please.

Stop insulting us with this. And by the way, I don't have a car and use public transportation almost exclusively.

I live in Holland and have one of these bikes: the PackMax. I love love love it.

@suggimom and @SunniBlue: My bike does have 5 gears, which converts to an internal gear ratio of something like 240% (all the Fiets Fabriek bikes are available in gears). This is more than enough for my daily use; I never use the the 2 lowest gears. My husband has the Fiets Fabriek bakfiets (cargo bike) 996, and it is also great for hauling around our 2 boys to and from school every day. (I also sometimes take the boys on my bike -- you can see us in action here.

We save a tremendous amount of money on gas (keep in mind that gas here is approx. 5 euro/gallon.

That said, we are from Seattle and I don't know that our heavy steel bikes would be any fun in a place with so many hills. But I guess it would just take more planning to avoid the hills (with certain bike paths there, it is possible).

You can save money and be car-free by owning a bike that costs about a tenth of that price, with the appropriate racks, pannier bags, LED lights and fenders. A cheap bike will be just as enjoyable and will still save gas.
For city dwellers, I can't imagine trying to drag one of these monsters up stairs to bring it indoors, since that's what you will necessarily have to do with something that costs so much.
As for the gears, while there are internal gears in the hub, I can hardly imagine that the weight of the bike would be easy for most people to manage going up hills.

I agree with HillE that there is money to be saved. We live in a midwestern small-town-turned-suburb where there is no public transportation to speak of (only an express downtown and back twice per day). While we have not been able to totally eliminate our car, we have been able to drastically decrease our reliance on it. (And while it may be normal in cities to only have one car, we are by far the odd one's out in our neck of the woods!)
In the month of May, I rode 230 miles in errands alone. The nearest grocery store is 12 miles round-trip. The only real options of getting there with 2 kids in tow is by car or bicycle. I can use my Xtracycle to lug the groceries and the kids. It will take a while to pass the breakeven point for the cost of the Xtracycle, but we will make it there. We have reduced our car insurance and gas costs considerably.

Wow... that red bike is gorgeous. I'd feel like a superstar w/my two boys in tow! (I'd need a superstar salary to match, however)

I remember seeing some vietnamese bikes on ebay at some point... maybe I could put my welding skills to good use.

kushkush... you're on a blog dedicated to recycling, frugal living and leaving less of a footprint and you're complaining that this post has a definite slant towards those? And, seriously - anyone can see that using a bicycle more will save you money. The cost of car insurance for a year will buy you a serviceable bicycle!

I (crispywaffle's husband) live in flat, flat Holland. I ride my Fietsfabriek 996 (the long two-wheeled bakfiets) about 6 km one way to take my sons to school. According to viamichelin.com, driving to school one way costs me around 1 euro 50 in fuel but saves me about five minutes. So, on days when I ride, I theoretically save about 6 euros for the cost of 20 extra minutes and a second bowl of cereal. Even so, I would have to do this for more than 270 days for the bike to pay for itself. It hasn't replaced our car, even in the land of flat, long and smooth bike lanes. But it has drastically reduced how many liters of fuel we consume. And though I love this bike, I almost choked on its 1,600-euro base price. I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have paid $3,049. These bikes (or their competitors) have to become more affordable to have a real impact in the States. If you do buy one, buy it for the joy of riding a bakfiets (they're AWESOME). Expecting it to earn its keep will only make you resent it.

Beautiful Bikes!!! Thanks for sharing. I currently use a vintage Tot Tote as a part of our car free family lifestyle, but should it ever fail me, or should my old bike ever die, and should I ever have the change to spare... I would go for one of these :0)

If you live in LA, you can get similar styled Chinese Flying Pidgeon's, Dutch Toer-3spd's, Batavus City bikes and get help finding a much more affordable Cargo bike by visiting Flying Pidgeon LA (http://flyingpigeon-la.com/blog/).

Josef who owns the place is a really nice guy and is a strong advocate for vehicular cycling in LA. He delivers his bike using his bakfiets, and to regularly attend transportation agency meetings. They're located in Highland Park.

Might already have been answered, but to the above questions regarding gears - the bikes all have internal gear hubs, most with five gears I believe. While pricey, these bikes are extremely solid and well-built. They're made for everyday, urban use. They're great for taking the kids to school or running to the park or store. Our 995 has certainly allowed us to be a one-car family.

Also, as kraywood wrote, they're fun to ride.

I purchased the BF18 bike a little over a year ago (July 2008). Thought I was completely off my rocker when I purchased it, we are not weathly, but I do have to say that it has cut down the use of my car greatly. We live in Chicago and find it easier to get from point A to point B then in a car. Parking more easier then a car being a benefit I had not thought of. Even with a full load I find this trike to be less stressful on my body then my standard bike so I am more likely to use it then my car or bike.

There are gears on these bikes, 5 gears and coaster brakes. I would not suggest the BF18 for someone in a hilly area but we live in the flat lands. We fill it with 30lbs of cat litter, 40lb 5 year old and $150 worth of groceries regularly. It is a pleasure to ride and I expect when one of our 2 cars finally dies it will make the transition to a 1 car family a lot easier.

I believe that this product and others like it will help car addicted families more easily convert to greener lifestyles.