The world’s first extendable cargo bike was exhibited at the Eurobike show yesterday.
Designed by Dutch cargo bike brand CYCLR and developed by mobility R&D agency VROEGH Design, the CYCLR-FLEX is a compact bike that can be extended for rider needs like carrying groceries or transporting children.
It took designer Nikolaï Carels six years to finalise the concept before VROEGH Design spent another 18 months transforming it into the exhibited pre-production prototype.
“We’ve seen the success of e-cargo bikes in the market but there’s one drawback – they’re very big,” CYCLR Designer Nikolaï told Zag Daily.
“From the market we saw that people were looking for smaller bikes and also looking for bikes that carry cargo, so we thought why not combine it?
“That’s where the idea came from to blend a larger cargo bike for certain functions and a smaller one for other functions.”
The CYCLR-FLEX extends by a customised bearing and sliding solution which is fine-tuned onto the steering cables. CYCLR and VROEGH developed this new patented supporting system with third-party mobility engineering company CSI to give the cargobike stiff support while still making it easy to extend by the rider.
One future pathway for CYCLR is to sell this extension system separately to other cargo bike brands via a licence after firstly releasing its own cargo bike.
Riders of the CYCLR-FLEX can carry a total weight of 175 kilograms including themselves, and the cargo bike comes with three safety belts to typically accommodate an adult and two kids as permitted in the Netherlands. The cargo bike has a top speed of 25kph.
“I’ve seen people looking at the CYCLR-FLEX with a lot of interest at Eurobike,” VROEGH Design Project Manager Kenzie van der Klooster said. “It’s a very interesting proposition which combines Nikolaï’s design with a range of functions to fill a niche gap.”
CYCLR is now looking for partners and production facilities to take the CYCLR-FLEX into the production phase where its road-readiness will be tested. The company anticipates the bike will be available for consumers to order in the Netherlands and across Europe by Q3 2025 at a retail price of approximately €7,500.
