Podbike’s FRIKAR is more than just a stylish, weatherproof e-bike that turns heads. It’s also family-friendly, because the FRIKAR can be an electric bike with child seat.
The toddler goes in a fully secured and removeable child seat that clips in behind the rider. It has a weight limit of 22 kilos, which will accommodate most children up to the age of 6. It’s also possible to attach a trailer to the FRIKAR, in which two more small children can ride.
And when you want to ride solo, just detach the trailer and remove the child seat. This empty car seat space can now be used to carry cargo. You find more detail in this video: Carrying young children in the FRIKAR
Stella is waiting to finally climb back onto the child seat of the Podbike FRIKAR.
REPLACING A CAR BY AN ELECTRIC BIKE WITH CHILD SEAT
Joe Chesak used the FRIKAR as an alternative to the family car for a year and a half during Podbike’s design phase. He took his daughter Stella to and from school in it.
While the other parents had to park their cars quite a distance away and walk their kids to the school gates, Joe and Stella could ride right up to the front door. Stella earned lots of style points from her friends, and Joe was pretty happy too.
“Stella was really proud whenever I picked her up from school. And I have VIP parking wherever I go,” Joe said.
Stella and her dad didn’t limit themselves to commuting to school in the FRIKAR. They often went on joy rides too.
With her bike helmet on and neatly tucked in behind dad in her special child seat, Stella was protected from the elements on these pleasure rides. But she could still view the world through the skylit window as they maxed out on FRIKAR fun.
Stella’s siblings were too big to ride in the FRIKAR’s child seat, so they were always jealous of Stella. The best they could do was to sit up front when Joe was hosing down the FRIKAR in the family’s back garden.
Stella is older and a bit taller now. She has outgrown the FRIKAR’s kiddy seat. But Joe still has a lot of fond memories of that freewheeling time:
Driving a vehicle that can access both bike paths and roads gave Joe greater freedom to navigate his home town of Stavanger, Norway, which is also Podbike’s headquarters.
QUICKLY AT WORK AND QUICKLY AT HOME AGAIN
“It’s just easier to get around using the city’s bike paths because they’re so much more direct when you’re trying to go places. Driving in a car, I would often have to use detours and side routes to get where I wanted to go,” Joe said.
“After work, when I know my family is waiting at home for me, it eliminates a lot of stress when I don’t have to fight my way through traffic to see them.”
One of the biggest attributes of the FRIKAR is its ability to use bike paths. As an EU-certified ebike, it can go anywhere a bicycle is allowed to go. It looks like a car, but enjoys all the privileges of a bicycle. No registration or insurance is required. There is no traffic jam that the FRIKAR can’t leave behind in its wake.
Stella was always able to get in and out on her own. She often sat in the FRIKAR ready to drive and waiting for her father. Important note: a bike helmet is obligatory kids.
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