Refshaleøen workshop · Est. 2016
A six-person Copenhagen workshop. We fillet-braze the frame, measure you on the jig, and hand over a bike that is specified — not picked from a catalogue. From €3.900, ready in 6–10 weeks.
01 — The workshop
Lumen started because the cargo bikes on sale in Copenhagen were either too tall, too vague, or impossible to repair without a special key. We build three models, slowly, for people who will ride them every day.
02 — The range
Child seats, a motor, and rain covers are options. Geometry, lights, guards, and a lock mount are not — they are part of a finished bike.
The family and market bike. Kids or crates sit behind you, low and between the wheels. Calm at 25 km/h on the harbour loop.
€3.900 from, incl. VAT
The front-loader. A 70-litre birch box you can see over, with a bench for two small children or a week of shopping.
€4.600 from, incl. VAT
Reinforced tail, lockable pannier rails, and a stand that does not wander on cobbles. For shops and riders who load it hard.
€4.200 from, incl. VAT
03 — A first specification
This is a working estimate, not a checkout. Powder coat, contact points, and exact tube lengths are set when we measure you. Nothing here is charged until you sign a build sheet.
04 — How an order moves
Forty minutes on the jig. We set bar height, crank length, and how you stand over the bike with a child or a crate already in mind. Remote riders send a short video and inseam; we still call.
You receive a one-page specification and a fixed price. The 30% deposit starts the metal. You can change colour until the frame goes to paint — usually week three.
Tubes are mitred, fillet-brazed, and aligned on the same table we fitted you on. Paint is done downstairs. Assembly is by the mechanic who will service it later.
We adjust it with you on it, photograph the build sheet into your file, and book the first service — included, at about six weeks or 400 km.
05 — What is actually on the bike
| Frame | Reynolds 853 cromoly, fillet-brazed, oversized head tube. Alignment checked on a surface plate before paint. |
|---|---|
| Finish | Zinc-rich primer, powder coat in a Lumen colour. Touch-up kit in the tool roll. |
| Gears | Enviolo trekking or Shimano Alfine 8. Gates belt on request if the load case suits it. |
| Brakes | Magura hydraulic, 180 mm rotors. We bed them in before you leave. |
| Tyres | Schwalbe Pick-Up, puncture-protected. Tubes you can buy anywhere, not a proprietary insert. |
| Light & lock | Dynamo lighting, standlight, and a mount for an ABUS frame lock. The lock itself is optional. |
| Motor | Optional mid-drive, EU legal 25 km/h. We do not derestrict, and we will not hide a faster tune. |
| Paper | CE documentation, a serial number on the frame, and a service card. Useful if you insure it. |
06 — Money, said plainly
Steel, brazing, alignment, and a proper coat. This is the part you cannot cheaply replace, so it is where the money sits.
Brakes, hub, wheels, and tyres from makers a Copenhagen shop can service. We will not substitute a no-name caliper to protect a margin.
A Haul is roughly 30 hours of hands. You are paying for that, and for the person who picks up when something creaks in February.
Balance due at handover. Bank transfer. If we cannot build what we promised, the deposit returns. If you cancel after tubes are cut, we keep the metal cost and return the rest.
07 — From the road
“The box sits lower than the Dutch bike we tested. I can see the cycle lane, and the steering does not wander when both children lean left.”
“We run three Trades for the bakery. One hub failed in year two. They had the wheel back the same week, and they already knew the serial.”
“I am 188 cm and every catalogue cargo bike put the bars in my knees. They lengthened the front and stopped talking about ‘standard’.”
08 — Visit
Test rides are by appointment so a bike in your size is built up, not buried under a tarp. Tuesdays and Thursdays are quietest.
Cycle the harbour loop and you are here. Bus 9A stops at Refshaleøen. There is a rail by the door; do not leave a bike against the paint booth.
09 — Questions we hear
Yes. That is the design case. Guards, a sealed headset, and a powder coat over primer. Rinse salt off in winter; we will say this again at handover, because it matters more than any coating claim.
In the city we can ride it to you. Elsewhere in Denmark and the EU we crate it. Collection from the workshop is free, and it is the option we prefer — the last adjustments are better with you standing there.
Contact points — stem, bars, saddle, position — are adjusted at no charge in the first two months. If we cut the frame wrong, that is on us, and we put it right. Taste is not a warranty claim; a knee in the bars is.
Many of those bikes are excellent. Buy one if the geometry already fits and a dealer nearby will service the electronics. Come here if you are between sizes, you want a frame someone local can braze a dent out of, or you are tired of a display that bricks the bike.
No. The October slot is real because the jig holds one frame at a time and paint is batched. If we slip by more than two weeks, you can cancel for a full refund of the deposit.
10 — Book a fitting
We reply within two working days. If this page cannot open your email app, write directly to atelier@lumencycles.dk or call +45 32 14 08 60.
A fitting is free. It is not a deposit, and it does not hold a build slot — the slot is held when the build sheet is signed.