Scott Kvick said five years ago he was getting a bit down after thinking of the effects of pollution and poverty on society.
Two years ago, in his shed, he set out trying to change transport.
"I thought like, stuff it, just pick something, just pick something and do it," he said.
Mr Kvick said he has tried to take a complicated, high-skilled process which used exotic materials and simplify it.
"I'm trying to simplify it as much as possible so that it can be brought down to like a backyard-garage-type level where in future hopefully anybody can do it."
With experience in building batteries and working with composites, Mr Kvick first designed the frames and built the moulds with a 3-D printer.
He then developed a way to build carbon fibre bike frames by compression moulding the frame in two halves and then using aluminium to finish the structure.
The first working version of the bike was called the Long John and was made using the compression moulding method.
"As far as I'm aware, this method is unlike anything that's being done anywhere in the world," he said.
The frame of the bike, the battery and the saddle were all made by Mr Kvick. The parts he did not make such as the seat, handlebars and suspension were as non-proprietary as possible.
Mr Kvick hoped to reverse a trend where things were made cheaply but not to last.
"I want quality, I want reduced waste during the manufacturing process and I want it to last rather than being something that breaks and then gets thrown away," he said
Part of the Long John’s design allows for the user to replace or upgrade parts as they wish, adding to the longevity of the bike, but allowing for the user to make their bike their own, he said.
Mr Kvick chose to design a cargo bike to help encourage the shift from cars to cycles and remove hurdles such as the transportation of groceries, he said.
He hoped more people would use bikes more often to reduce congestion and pollution, but also to help people reduce costs.
The Long John was Mr Kvick’s first bike for sale and he hoped to sell more of them as well as further revise the design.
In order to keep costs down and stay flexible, he hoped to keep his bike-building venture relatively small.
By making the manufacturing process simple and efficient, he can keep his costs down, and reduce the effects of the bikes on the environment, he said.
"I want to show that like we can build things here and we can be competitive by being smart about it," Mr Kvick said.
