Review: Bad Hand Coffee Roasters Cargo Bike Journey

We spoke to the original Bournemouth based cargo carrying company, the crew pioneering transporting coffee on two wheels, our friends and local legends Bad Hand Coffee.

Written by: Joel Lovett, Founder, Bad Hand Coffee Roasters

Sustainability has been one of our core ethics since we started and we are always working to reduce our environmental impact as much as possible - who isn’t these days? But it’s not always easy, you know. 

We’re conscious of the impact of coffee on the planet. There’s a lot of bumpy steps it has to take to get from a plant in the ground, to the tasty drink in your mug. We’ve put a lot of work in, but we pride ourselves on being able to deliver to all our wholesale customers using electric, or pedal-powered vehicles. It took us a while to get to this point, and the first step on this journey was buying a cargo bike, which we did through our friends over at Velo Domestique.

Find out more about the Larry vs Harry Bullitt cargo bikes we sell

We started out in 2016 with an Omnium cargo; we fitted a big box to the rack, giving us maximum cargo-carrying capabilities. The Omnium served us well and is still rolling today; but as we grew, taking on more wholesale customers who needed more coffee, we upgraded to an electric Bullitt cargo bike. Not only did this increase the amount of coffee we could deliver at once, but having a motor meant we could deliver further, and more of our team members were able to use it.

The big cargo deck and custom cage we built allows us to carry 80kg+ of coffee at a time. For smaller, more local deliveries, our Bullitt is quite an efficient alternative to our electric van too. We often have to nip to a cafe to help them with a machine issue. Finding a nearby parking space can be super frustrating, but with the Bullitt, we just pull up on the pavement outside with our tools and go get the job done.

Find out more about the Larry vs Harry Bullitt cargo bikes we sell

We opted for a bright yellow Bullitt, with a custom pink cargo cage, so beyond its technical capabilities, it's also a bit of a head turner. Our Bullitt cargo bike is well recognised and it's great to have such a visible reminder to our customers that we're doing all we can to reduce our carbon footprint.

If carbon-conscious businesses are looking at ways to reduce their emissions, or generally taking steps in a more positive direction, we would definitely recommend a cargo bike from Velo Domestique, particularly if they don't have the budget for an electric van.

Find out more about the Larry vs Harry Bullitt cargo bikes we sell

Want to know more? 

If you’re interested in finding out more about how cargo bikes can save your business time and money, please email us. We can send you more information, talk to you on the phone, or you can pop in, and we’ll answer your questions over a coffee.