Danish Luxury

Bicycles Cargo bikes Christiania Bikes

Christiania bike

A cargo tricycle with a plywood box between two front wheels, first built in Christiania in Copenhagen in 1984.

Designed by
Lars Engstrøm
First made
1984

Visit christianiabikes.com

A Christiania bike in black with a rain hood
A Christiania bike in black with a rain hood
The first Christiania bike, 1984, with two children in the box
The first Christiania bike, 1984, with two children in the box

Pictures © Christiania Bikes, from christianiabikes.com.

Why it is renowned

In Danish the bike has given its name to a type: a christianiacykel is a cargo bike, usually with a gently sloping box in front.1 It has grown popular since the first one was built in 1984 and now comes in several versions.1 In 2023 the British magazine Cycling Plus placed it among the box bikes on the school run across Northern Europe, half tricycle, half wheelbarrow.2

The story

In car-free Christiania, the smithy of Lars Engstrøm and his friends built bike trailers, and children rode in them.3 Engstrøm moved the box to the front of a tricycle so that a rider could see the children being carried, and on 16 May 1984 he gave the first one to his partner Annie as a birthday present; the first orders came the same day.3 The box is water-resistant plywood on a frame of galvanised square steel tubes, and the bike is now made on Bornholm and in Copenhagen, with or without an electric motor.13 The Classic is the plain version, sold with a short box.4

  • MK1-E, an electric cargo trike that leans
  • Nihola Family, a cargo trike with a closed cabin
  • Bullitt, the two-wheeled Copenhagen cargo bike
Sources
  1. Christianiacykel, Danish Wikipedia. da.wikipedia.org, read 1 October 2026.
  2. Christiania Bikes, Rob Ainsley, Cycling Plus (UK), March 2023, on Magzter. magzter.com, read 1 October 2026.
  3. Vores historie, Christiania Bikes. christianiabikes.com, read 1 October 2026.
  4. Classic, Christiania Bikes. christianiabikes.com, read 1 October 2026.

Last checked 5 October 2026, against the maker's own pages.