One year ago Simon bought himself an electric cargo bike with space at the front and back to store shopping AND his own two kids! 863km later, he shares what he’s learned. Are they practical? What are the benefits? And what are the downsides? It’s time to find out!
0:00 – Intro
0:35 – Bike vs walking and driving
1:40 – Price
2:56 – Parking
4:06 – Weather
5:01 – Traffic
5:32 – Types of cargo bikes
6:57 – Safety
8:52 – Downsides
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41 Comments
Is a cargo bike on your wishlist? 👀
1 thing I wish I knew before clicking on this video 😂😂😂
Does everyone have a cold in they nose in England?
Brilliant. Great video – it's been making the rounds in our community (not the cycling community, the normies one) and has been universally well-received. It really has the potential to open peoples' minds. The one comment that keeps coming up is that the ONLY path to significant growth in sales and adoption of e-cargo bikes will be through the expansion of safe biking infrastructure (protected bike lanes, etc.), and that this discussion is the one gap in race/sport/enthusiast cycling media's coverage of these game-changing bikes. It'd be great if GCN did a third follow-up video where Simon centred the safety of his kids in the discussion and focused on bike infrastructure. We need influencers to be talking more about this. Thanks for all you do, guys.
Yes, I am tempted and in the process of persuading myself to buy one, lol.
idk bout europa but In North America Wear a Hybrid Motocycle helmet… NOrta'merica Streets a death zone
I have enjoyed my Juiced U500 for a few years. At 72 , it helps to make me feel young again. I use my bike to do errands instead of starting the car. My bike is easy to work on and is very reliable and has awesome range when I decide to do long rides. Electric cargo bikes are the way to go.
The lack of getting stuck in traffic, and the lack of trouble finding parking are huuuuuge. I'm about two years into riding with an e-bike basically everywhere, and it still feels so fresh. Most of my trips are about 10-25minutes, and when I ride from A to B while a friend drives, I almost always beat them. 20 minutes or so is about the distance where any faf finding a park outweighs any direct speed savings from being in a car.
I've had my Xtracycle Free Radical since 2007. won't give up the bike.
I've heard of electric bicycles but what are these "Electric Cargo Bikes"? What are these used for?
You are adorable
How is an e-bike experience over pure chain and pedal experience?
In the intro segment did he mean to give the numbers per month instead of year? 750/year is crazy low.
Love my diy yuba mundo
I have bought a Douze cargo bike on the second-hand market, as a friend sold his. Best decision I made concerning buying a bike. I sold my car that I used for only 200 km the last year I had it, as I did not use it at all anymore (replaced by my trusty single speed). I only used it for grosseries, actually. But when the opportunity came, I talked about it with my wife. She didn't seem so enthusiastic about it at first, but once on the saddle, she decided it was a great idea. It had already the box and the hard-top cover, which is convenient for the main use we make of it, but I decided to buy the floor board as well, and I used it for larger items (washing machines for example), very convenient when moving a friend for example. My wife has kept her car just in case but uses it less and less thanks to this wonderful investment.
Simon, this is a lovely video. I like your spirit, the bike, Bristol, and, more than anything else, your cute children! I have had a non-electric Yuba Mundo for ten years and I love it. I used to take my daughter to school on it but, as soon as she hit middle school, she no longer enjoyed it because she felt 'too different'… oh well…
We have a cube touring electric bike, which is supremely comfortable and overly powerful with a huge range that we simply don’t get to use very often. However, as a family of three we can get around munich and have picnics in forests and along the river with no issues.
With panniers on the bike my wife can cycle on it carrying all load. Leaving me in the older two children on regular bicycles.
And our youngest is old enough to sit in his tule chariot, it’s much easier to pull him round the city and up and down in the hills, and we do take the rougher routes
Come on bicycle/cargo bike popularity increase!
My Hase brand, cargo-capable trikes, are everything to this handicapped senior!
E-assisted, recliner chair comfort on wheels!
Love Rohloff gearbox hubs that I have on my trikes!
Even expensive trikes, when compared to cars, are SO, SO, SO affordable!
Had my Tern HSD S8i for 2yrs and have put almost 3500 miles on it. And apart from a set of brake pads. So far it has been faultless. That despite atrocious roads full of mud and cow dung. And having to ford flooded roads. I love the thing. It’s my 2 wheeled pickup. Would I change it. Yes because I think I want a Tern GSD with dual battery and more torquey motor.
Lectric sells a trike for $1500. but yeah, i'd rather get a car. the chances of a bike being stolen is a million times higher than a car. especially an electric car with GPS Tracking, Sentry Mode, and Pin to Drive. virtually completely secure.
Cargo bike security is the biggest thing holding me back. Particularly at home – where do you store it at home without a garage? And also parked up at the shop.
What brand & model is this cargo bike? It looks like a good one for me as well.
$750 a year saving for a $6500.00 dallor cargo bicycle. In 8.6 years you will break even LOLOLOLOLOLOL
cheeky little gremlins
I just recently bought a Yuba ecargo bike and I absolutely love this thing I mean I have given up my automobile I do not have a second automobile so my former transportation is either walking which I do love to do and my cargo bike to Yuba and you know what it is. It’s also a mundo, so yeah, I am really loving this thing. Still getting used to it what I mean by that is I do love the walk and I walk literally everywhere within 3 miles but you know I’m getting used to my cargo bike. I live in the north east we get plenty of snow freezing rain I got no place to keep it except outside chained to a bicycle rack so I don’t know how that’s gonna work out this coming winter of 2023 and 2024 but I guess I’m gonna have to find out Other than a bicycle cover but that really doesn’t solve any problems goes where I park my bicycle I don’t have a choice because where I live that’s the spot they’ve given me to Parkette and there’s nothing I can do about it in the winter time they will take away the bicycle rack anybody interested in solving that problem with me what are my options. Well I hope everybody has a nice weekend cause that’s what I’m gonna have.
I see in your video you use hand signals when turning. Have you considered a turn signal kit for more visibility?
I really hope this category of bike takes off. Eccentric cargo bikes are cool. I can’t wait to try out a Trek Fetch+2. Cheers!
Thanks for this amazing video! Can you share the brand and model of the bike you are riding? Thx
This is how a good review should be ❤
Who pays 300 pounds of insurance a year for a car? Mine has been 2400 yr USD. NO TICKETS.
I would love one for commuting to work but would never put my two kids on one in city traffic there are too many bad drivers out there. If you think about it . I bet you would never buy a car with no air bags or seat belts
i'm thinking of getting one. i recently bought just a standard comfort cruiser to get back and forth to work and it's been the most fun i've had commuting in years. it can't really go the distance, although i suppose it could i wouldn't make it(it has pretty low tier suspension), so i've been thinking of maybe trading up to something a bit better now that i've had about a month to get a feel for it.
that said, i'll probably hold off on the cargo ebike until the colder months as i'll need something better for American winters. one with a throttle assist so i don't even have to pedal is priority, just gotta find one i like that checks all the boxes
2 kids on the back, absolutely normal in the Netherlands. The bike is a bit out of the ordinairy though.
I have a step-through bike which isn't officially a cargo bike, but I load it up with panniers and all sorts of bags to get groceries and I love it. Don't have kids, but if I did, I'd absolutely be looking into one of those cargo-bikes – like a minivan but actually cool. Also, Sy's kids are adorable.
9:45 lol thanks
While not quite as good of a solution as one of these, if you need to go further than an E bike might take you, for nearly the same price as one of these you could do your CBT, get a 125, insurance, tax and mot for a year along with a full set of gear. No it isn't as nice in the city nor is it quite as safe for carrying kids to say the least. However, by god are they fun, and you still don't have to get stuck in traffic or worry about parking!
Tldr:
Cargo bike>motorbike>car
Especially for city
Overall though damn good vid
Only 860 km in one year? that's a bit low usage isn't it?
these bikes have some nice parts but they are the price of a car i do not understand this
Great to see you running articles like this. I've had my Surly Big Dummy since 2010, not electric, but it's carried my twin girls for many miles, taken us on tours through Belgium and the Netherlands as well as countless shopping trips, definitely the way to go!
I'm moving to Ajijic Mexico. I think I will buy one.