A porteur bicycle is a kind of cargo bicycle

Freight bicycle

Freight bicycles, carrier cycles, freight tricycles, cargo bikes, or bakfietsen, are human powered vehicles designed and constructed specifically for transporting large loads. Vehicle designs include a cargo area consisting of a steel tube carrier, an open or enclosed box, a flat platform, or a...

 designed for carrying cargo loads on a platform rack

Luggage carrier

A luggage carrier, also commonly called a rack, is a device attached to a bicycle to which cargo or panniers can be attached. This is popular with utility bicycles and touring bicycles....

 attached to the fork

Bicycle fork

A bicycle fork is the portion of a bicycle that holds the front wheel and allows the rider to steer and balance the bicycle. A fork consists of two fork ends which hold the front wheel axle, two blades which join at a fork crown, and a steerer or steering tube to which the handlebars attach ...

. Porteur bicycles are similar to butcher's bikes, baker's bikes, low gravity bicycles and delibikes, but they include design differences which make them a distinct category. This is the simplest form of dedicated cargo bicycle and is or has been common over most of the world. The first porteurs were used by newspaper

Newspaper

A newspaper is a scheduled publication containing news of current events, informative articles, diverse features and advertising. It usually is printed on relatively inexpensive, low-grade paper such as newsprint. By 2007, there were 6580 daily newspapers in the world selling 395 million copies a...

 courier

Courier

A courier is a person or a company who delivers messages, packages, and mail. Couriers are distinguished from ordinary mail services by features such as speed, security, tracking, signature, specialization and individualization of express services, and swift delivery times, which are optional for...

s of Paris

Paris

Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...

, who would typically carry up to 50 kilograms of newspapers on the front rack. Other cargo, such as wine, was also distributed by such bicycles.

Geometric Trail Characteristics of Porteur Bicycles

Frame geometry of porteur bicycles is differentiated from that of other bicycles by dramatically decreased geometric trail. This decreased trail is achieved primarily by increased fork offset.

External links

• Bicycles of the Porteurs des Journaux
• 1950 René Herse porteur
• 1979 René Herse porteur
• Cyclofiend's archive of Working Bicycles & Practical Hardware, which contains a few porteurs.