Nestled on a small stretch of highstreets adjacent to Regents Park sits London Green Cycles, a specialist cargo bike shop, serving the growing new market of those looking to ditch the car for a greener, more active alternative. In recent years Camden’s dense urban streets have seen a distinct increase in cargo bikes, in the past, such a sight would have been confined to Denmark or Holland, but today both businesses and families are embracing the bike, for deliveries and the daily school run.
“Roman’s gamble paid off and today the shop is a hub for cargo bikes in North London.”
Roman Magula saw the growing niche in the market back in 2013, opening London Green Cycles to get in on the ground floor. “At the time this was something really unique that you could only find in a few places in the world. I always saw it as a market with huge potential and when we started people would look at us and wonder whether we’re crazy”. However, through perseverance and a growing public appetite for cycling, Roman’s gamble paid off and today the shop is a hub for cargo bikes in North London.
Unlike regular bicycles, cargo bikes are significantly bigger and bulkier, making it all the more essential to build bike-friendly infrastructure in Camden and throughout London. “For a cargo bike there are a few obstacles, and one of them is safety on the roads. If you’re able to increase road safety people will see bikes as not just ‘me getting somewhere, but me getting my kids somewhere” Roman tells us. In many ways it’s a chicken and the egg scenario, build more bicycle-friendly infrastructure and people will cycle more, while if more people cycle there’s more of a demand for bicycle-friendly infrastructure. “What matters is that today, the infrastructure is growing and that it will improve because when you provide that safety, you will increase the number of cyclists.”
