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Nihola's new six-seater
The Danish cargo-trike makers have come up with a high-capacity child carrier...
The 'Nihola-BIG' uses two bench seats to fit in a maximum load of six children, each with seatbelts, without increasing the overall width of the vehicle when compared to the previous cargo-carrying variants. The two rows of three children sit back-to-back, and there's also additional cargo space between the wheels for school bags or, they say, a crate of beer or mineral water. Target market is, they say, "larger families without a car, day-care centres and childminders".
Load capacity is 100kg, and the vehicle itself weighs around 35kg.
The trike is expected to be launched formally at the SPEZI in Germersheim, Germany, in just over a month.
A few large pictures can be found at the site of Nihola's German importers:
http://www.nihola.de/drillis/
and there's also some more info on loadbikes site workbike.org, which is run by Nihola's UK importer:
http://www.workbike.org/makers/pressreleases.php?id=33
The main Nihola website doesn't have any details of the new machine as yet.
Posted on 19 March 2004
Your comments ...| From: andy scaife ([email protected]) on 27 March 2004 |
and the rider keeps their eyes on the road in front by what means exactly. Having ridden Christiania and Gustav trikes with loaded front boxes, I can assure you this is not just a facetious comment. Also, there would seem to be a potential for riders not to adhere to basic loading sense and keep the load rear of the axle line. The first time you put a kid or two in front of the axle line, without sufficient weight behind, and try to brake, the results could be very unpleasant indeed! Again, personal experience with parcels in a (much longer and heavier) Gustav has taught me that the load centre MUST be kept at or behind the axle. I know the other trikes have a centre pivot, not ackermann, but that would make little difference in a straight-line braking scenario. Believe me, it IS easy to lift the rider right off the ground!
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| From: Craig Wrigglesworth ([email protected]) on 27 March 2004 |
| Wonder if that's why they look to have a sneeky little caster wheel at the front - might stop a complete endo but would still increase the blood pressure of anyone remotely near it! |
| From: Antony (at pedalcars dot info) on 29 March 2004 |
Maybe that's also why they've gone for tiny drum brakes rather than anything capable of a sensible stopping distance.
trike = 35kg
load = 100kg
pilot = 75kg
Total mass = 210kg (or more if you're tempted to load 6 kids who weigh more than 16kg each including their luggage, or the pilot is as muscle-bound as they'd probably need to be). Which is a lot. Especially if you're going down a hill and it all gets a little bit away from you with six screaming kids in the front who've distracted you for a moment... |
| From: Clive ([email protected]) on 30 March 2004 |
| I have crammed 5 young children into the front of our original Nihola and ridden around the local park I have also carried paving slabs on the front and never had a problem with the front tipping. The coaster brake does most of the stopping, I rarely need the front hub brakes even with a well loaded trailer. |
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