Multiple EUROBIKE (2019 & 2024) award-wining BIKEBOX success
I spend a lot of time on the internet looking for the best bicycle courier travel solutions out there. One thing led to another, and I found and became a retail partner for the BIKEBOW company. It’s the perfect boxed bicycle travel partner and this is their BIKEBOX success story, which continues to unfold:
A lot of people call me the “box lady.”
Not the most glamorous nickname, but hey, it’s got a story behind it. It all started with many trips to far-off places with the bike in the luggage – each trip a new adventure with its own set of challenges. From sky-high check-in fees for excess luggage to damaged boxes—or worse, damaged bikes—the struggle was real. Trying to fit a bike crate into a regular car or convincing a hotel to store the box for a week or two was no picnic either. If you went with a cardboard box, at least you could ditch it at the airport, but good luck finding a new one for the trip home!
There had to be a better way!
So, I got to work. I designed, developed, and patented a foldable BikeBox, perfect for air travel. And guess what? The world loved it! The EuroBike Jury even gave it the StartUp Award in 2019. The vision was clear: thousands of bike travellers using my BikeBoxes to take their bikes around the globe! … But then, the pandemic hit, and suddenly, no one was travelling. Talk about a rough start for a new business.
But the story didn’t end there.
Bikebox success tory continues. In 2021, I got invited to the Eurobike Show to present the BikeBox in the StartUp Area. It was an amazing experience, with hundreds of industry folks—from manufacturers to dealers—checking out the latest and greatest. We quickly realized there was a huge demand for a reusable bike transport box. Eight hours into the show, my cousin Matthias Höfer, who was helping me out at that stage, said, “You can take those pretty photos off your webpage—your clients aren’t the travellers.”
Long story short, my cousin and I spent months diving deep into the world of bicycle transport. We researched the pains and gains, the waste, and the CO2 emissions from shipping bikes in single-use cardboard boxes. The opportunity to reinvent bike transport was just too good to pass up. So, back to the drawing board we went, and circular logistics GmbH was born.
We spent months developing a new BikeBox model,
Big and sturdy enough for fully assembled e-bikes, yet foldable to 20% of its original size for easy return shipping. Not just once, but over and over again. We were lucky to partner with Riese & Müller, a sustainability-focused German E-bike manufacturer, who also became our first client, shipping their bikes in our reusable boxes. The European market is ready for change, and eager to adopt new, sustainable supply chain processes.
Circular logistics GmbH is still a startup, but we’re making waves. The industry has recognized our box and bike logistics service as a game-changer, replacing single-use cardboard boxes with a circular solution.
More EUROBIKE awards in 2024!
We snagged the GOLD Eurobike Award 2024, and soon after, we were honoured with the GOLD German Design Award for Circular Design and a winner prize in the StartUp category. Am I proud? Absolutely! I’m incredibly proud of my team, including my hubby John, who’ve stuck with me through all the ups and downs. I’m proud of what we’ve achieved so far and excited for what’s next. And I’m proud to be working on something meaningful.
We might not change the world, but we’re making a positive impact.
Christine (the Box Lady)
