28 Jul 2025

Carry Shit Olympics Vienna 2025

A street in a courtyard of Vienna's Hofburg, where a cargo bike with a trailer that is carrying two Tatami mats arranged like a triangle is passing by a horse carriage and a group of tourists

Earlier this year I moved to a new flat, using only rented cargo bikes and trailers, a hand truck, my skateboard, and public transport. This post presents some photos and insights and my answer to the question "Was it worth it?". Asides the general takeaways I'm also sharing info on specific local services in my hometown (Vienna) that are very much worth knowing about if you live here!

The Inspiration

A side shot of a white cargo bike and black cargo trailer parked on a sidewalk, crammed with a pile of furniture which is topped by a bent mattress and an upside-down lounge chair, whose legs are pointing up and outwards like the spikes of a hedgehog

In 2022, Philly-based Nelson Pavlosky and his partner moved house over an approximately 20km long route, using only e-cargo bikes and trailers. Nelson shared a number of photos (e.g. 1, 2) and gave two talks on the endeavour (3, 4), which I warmly invite you to check out - he's done a fantastic job at presenting his move and insights!

Anyhow, this inspired me to take the leap of faith and attempt my first car-free move. Thanks Nelson for being awesome and inspiring!

The Route

The bike, trailer and cargo from the last image, this time parked in front of the bent, scenic front of Vienna's Hofburg

My route for the move (from a bike perspective) was approximately 6km long, going 65 meters up and 116 meters down along the way, so, rather easy going. As a bonus, the route featured a passage right through the scenic center and old town of Vienna. Yay!

The Equipment

The cargo bike from earlier, carrying Tatami mats, this time parked next to a car in a regular side street, shown from the side

The following vehicles, tools, etc. were utilized:

Bikes

A Bakfiets Classic Long cargo bike (non-electric) operated by Reanimated Bikes in Wien Neubau (1070), rented for free via Grätzlrad (for one run)
An Urban Arrow Family cargo bike (electric) operated by Mobilitätsagentur in Wien Leopoldstadt (1020), rented for free via Grätzlrad (for one run)
A Bullitt Milk Plus cargo bike (non-electric) with an eCARLA trailer (electric), rented for free via Grätzlrad (for two runs) – this bike is unfortunately not available through Grätzlrad anymore!
A Bullitt Bluebird cargo bike (electric) with a Hinterher Transporter 5 trailer (non-electric), borrowed from friends (for two runs)
My own (non-cargo, non-electric) bike (for a few smaller runs before the actual move)

Other

A hand-truck rented for free via GB*Leihladen in Wien Leopoldstadt (1020)
Moving blankets rented for free via GB*Leihladen in Wien Leopoldstadt (1020)
Multiple lashing straps with ratchets (must-have!)
Some dumpstered sheets of cardboard for protecting the furniture during transport
My skateboard

The Cargo

A parked, blue cargo bike carrying a backpack, photographed from the front, in the back a couch, tipped-sideways, is standing on the attached bike trailer, fixed with bright yellow lashing straps straps

I do not own much stuff, but of course it's always more than one would think. The most notable bulky items transported included two heavy Tatami mats (2x1 meters each) and a 140cm wide Futon, a big round table of 140cm diameter, a 2-seater couch, and a lounge chair that is the ultimate achievement in the category "bulky goods".

The Amount of Trips

Another photo of the mattress-and-upside-down-chair cargo bike transport passing through the courtyard of Hofburg

I did six runs with rented or borrowed cargo bikes (four of them documented here), a handful of light cargo runs with my own bike and a dozen of runs with public transport (bus, tram, subway, city trains). Skateboard and hand truck were used in combination with public transport, to assist on the first/last leg.

The Other Pictures

As I'm running out of headlines and things to say, here is the rest of the pictures before I state my conclusion:

Myself, half-standing, half-sitting, in between my cargo bike, cargo trailer and cars on the middle lane of a three-lane street next to Vienna's Museumsquartier

A hand truck carrying a cupboard, fixed with lashing straps and covered in a moving blanket, parked next to soft chairs on the S-Bahn

The hand truck from earlier, carrying a cupboard, in front of a lush green meadow and Vienna's giant ferris wheel

A big round table fixed with lashing straps to a bright red cargo trailer parked next to a street lined with parked carss

The Conclusion

You can transport pretty much anything with cargo bikes, no excuses on that front. Bring creativity and plan in some lighter runs to begin with to get some practice and a feeling for the obstacles and possibilities.
I got lucky and always managed to do my runs without rain, or going just before or after rainfall. I was not prepared for rain at all, and honestly I don't think I would have wanted to do any of this in the rain either. That said, I think the right equipment exists, you just have to have a higher rain tolerance than me. :)
For moving, use the biggest cargo trailers and/or cargo bikes you can get your hand on, and those always with electric assist. With the right equipment it makes little difference what cargo you are carrying. In the future I will heavily optimize for the least amount of runs I have to do, which means transporting as much as possible on each run.
Vienna has amazing free rental options for cargo bikes. If you live here, use them! My only gripe with the offering (both from the city and from independent collectives) is that there are very few really big cargo bikes and especially few cargo trailers - most of them are more geared towards transporting children or light shopping loads. In other words, if you plan to invest in cargo bike community infrastructure in Vienna, I want you to invest in heavy load equipment ;) – there's a real gap on that end.
"Was it worth it?" ... Definitely yes in the sense that I think everybody should make this experience and see first-hand what is possible, and how little we actually depend on cars – it's definitely an eye opener and very fulfilling to do. That said: While I didn't pay a single cent for the rentals (thanks to the great service by the city, the people, and friends) it definitely ate up much more time than just throwing all my stuff in a rented van and being done with everything in (probably) a fraction of the time. However: If you go about this a little less individualistic (I did the majority of runs on my own or with just one person as support) the whole thing probably gets a LOT faster, more fun, and more socially rewarding. So gather your friends, be courageous, give it a try, and write a blog post to let us all know how it went! :)

A desktop computer in a bag on a skateboard