We recently visited the Danish bike company in their workshop, office and storage facility on the outskirts of Copenhagen to get the low down on the Omnium story.
Omnium just turned 10 and began in 2012 with the now infamous Cargo bike. It was the brainchild of Jimmi “Jumbo” Bargisen, who was a bike messenger, and loved his job and the lifestyle. A trade that’s been in existence ever since the first bike was invented in 1817, and messengers would carry around important documents. With the internet’s rise, documents were digitized, and objects to be delivered changed character and became heavier and bulkier. The messenger lifestyle was slowly disappearing due to vans dominating the market and the existing companies. Jimmi set out to establish a new courier company based on the idea of a bike that could carry heavier loads. In 2012, By-Expressen came to life, and the first Omnium prototype hit the streets.
The first bike, the first Cargo, was based on Jimmi’s sketches – the original sample frame being strikingly similar to the current designs, and The Cargo is now the cornerstone of Ominum’s range. It can handle heavy loads but rides like a normal bike when unloaded. It’s seen huge support by the messenger community since its very beginning but is now being adopted by regular bike riders around the world. What started as a local Copenhagen bike for people in the know is steadily becoming a worldwide success. Based on Jimmi’s deep knowledge of the messenger’s needs combined with a vision for their bikes to spread joy, to contribute to a brighter future and to be accessible regardless of location, Omnium plays an important part in growing the cargo bike’s role in urban transportation.
At VSN, we’ve used By-Expressen since our very beginning, so it only felt natural to partner up with Omnium to make our own version of the bike that’s been carrying our wine around the city of Copenhagen for so many years now.
Every bike is assembled in their workshop, so obviously, being based in Copenhagen too, we had to check it out. It is fair to say that there were bikes all over the place.
#onelesstruck
