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We are still shaking from what happened, but Hagen Bikes can officially claim the first cargo bike backflip landed. When we brought our stripped down version of Hagen Mini to the skatepark to test how it handles, we were surprised by our founder flipping it at the end of the session in to the foam pit.
We knew this was possible, since our friends from GinkGo cargo bikes were the first ones to pull a flip into the water, which showed us that it is actually possible. We were always talking back and forth, dreaming of pulling it off, and a big shout-out to them for being the first ones going upside down.
Hagen Mini, that was stripped down as much as possible to cut some weight. We left only the back brake, and added a steering damper for the fast corners, everything else including the geometry is the same as the production one.
Filmer of this named session, retired BMX rider William Kass, saw the potential of actually landing it. He told us to come back to the skatepark with the bike, so he can have a go. After a long session and many successful flips into the foam, we had a hard time figuring out how to get the speed we need. As we were getting the speed about right, by two guys pushing him, one flip came a bit short, ending with landing on the nose of the bike. This made William fly into the handlebars, resulting with a bruised leg and a bent steerer tube.
William became even hungrier and after a week we were back on the roll in, with an improved bike. Lighter BMX front wheel, and a little cable to switch gears on the Alfine 8, so we can adjust it to being perfect for the little extra speed we were missing.
After few tries into the foam pit, William knew this bike is ready for the flip, but after a few roll ups, they closed the park. After a night of no sleep, William made us come back early the next day. Never seen somebody more confident before a long john cargo bike backflip, than he was.
If you want to see the full process, watch the full video on William's Youtube Channel