Study finds that once people use
cargobikes, they like their cars much less.In my experience, the joy of just riding a bike makes people like their cars much less. You simply can’t enjoy the outdoors, your city, or your commute while stuck in a car.
If ever I live in a city with adequate bike infrastructure and in an apartment with proper bike parking/storage, I’m immediately going to buy a cargo bike. They seem like so much fun to ride, and I’d love to push the limits of what one can carry by bike.
I really have no need for a cargo bike though, to be honest. My front + rear racks with a cheap set of rear panniers and some bungie cords have rarely failed to meet my needs.
I only started biking regularly a few years ago. I am shocked by how much a rear basket, panniers, and bungee cords can carry.
I feel the same way, although my city had some of the worst traffic in the world, so I doubt we will ever get decent bike infrastructure.
They painted some bike lanes, but what they did was just cut one of the car lanes in half, so the cars still drive in the bike lane.
Literally the only criticism I have about my longtail cargo ebike is that the bike shop culture is still dreadful about them. Many flat scoff and tell you they refuse to do ANY kind of work on any ebike that they didn’t themselves sell. It’s so ridiculous. I went to my local shop after accidentally popping a piston out and did a surprise full bleed during a brake pad change and asked if they could just top of me off or loan me a funnel, and they went on a whole rant about “insurance” because of the battery (which is removable you dumbasses) and how “specialty mechanics” tools were needed for that kind of thing. Nope, it was just a $20 kit from Amazon and some mineral oil.
Other than that it is a dream. Fits four fullly-loaded grocery bags in the panniers and could easily be expanded with a front/tail basket, cargo net, passenger/child seats, etc… Easily takes me around town, typically with shorter trips than driving thanks to it being uncongestable and my full comfort with the Idaho stop. I also don’t need to find and pay for parking, aside from the occasional place that makes it remarkably hard to lock up your bike through unintentional hostile design choices.
Anecdote aside, I can basically do all necessary service work on it myself, in the climate controlled living room. And the good eBike brands have very responsive customer support, in my experience.
For $2 grand all in, I have a vehicle that serves me better than the car rotting in my driveway. I often go months between cranking the ignition on it. I’d even be able to get lumber on the ebike if I got a cargo trailer if not for the fact that you have to take sidewalks for much of that route because it’s on an insane stroad.
sounds like there exists a niche for an ebike mechanic that’ll work on stuff judgement free
The problem is they don’t only get people with their cargo bikes trying to do the right thing, they will also be getting dickheads with unregulated imports that go >50km/h and have subpar electrical design. If there were import controls and regulation on electric bicycles to ensure that people don’t have access to dangerously fast house-fire machines there would be more shops willing to work on them.
Anecdote != Evidence but, I work with a guy who bought his kid an insanely fast electric motorcycle that is technically an electric bicycle because it has tiny cranks. He’s asked me several times if I would do work on the bike and I always say no, it’s a deathtrap for the rider and a hazard to motorists and cyclists.
These kind of products should never make it into Canada and the people who sell and ride them should be fined. They are full blown vehicles intended for use on roads (example): https://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/2023-New-EEC-Model-15000W-Powerful_1600988110312.html
I have been into bikes for nearly 30 years now and in all that time I have only ever found 1 bike shop that isn’t up its own arse. Even if I go in an speak in a knowledgeable way about exactly what I want I will nearly always get condescending answers in return. They all act like this clique that you are not a part of and so look down upon you as an inferior.
So your experience doesn’t surprise me in the slightest. On forums and the internet in general people bang on about your LBS and supporting your “local bike shop” and all that trash but why would I want to support a bunch of cunts who think they are better than me and actively go out of their way to try and prove that in every interaction.
Yeah, I got a racing bike from a local brand that was mainly known for cheap supermarket bikes. However, they did sell small series of high quality bikes directly out of the factory as well. My racing bike is one of those. It was a lucky, heavily discounted grab at their outlet shop sitting there for ages due to the horrendous colour combination of Telekom magenta and sperm white (great theft deterrent 😋).
In the almost 30 years I own this bike now, every bike shop I went to scoffed at the brand and refused to work on it. The only exception was a bike shop at my university town specialising in buying scrap bikes and building new Frankenbikes out of them for the students.
He took one look at my bike when I brought it in, smiled, immediately identified it as a factory bike. He complimented the quality and ease of maintenance, congratulated my purchase (on a 15 year old bike lol) and said he’s looking forward to working on it. Save to say he had a loyal customer for the whole time I was living there.
This is the way.
Unfortunately, I live on the second floor and winters over here have a lot of snow and such. I need my car.
Fortunately, I chose to live somewhere where I’m comfortable doing groceries by foot. So I can avoid using my car as often as possible.
Once I have my own garage, or my city comes up with some king of cargo bike share thing, and I get rid of my car, then I’ll definitely use this super often.
Have you considered a folding bike, like a Brompton? They tend to be easier to carry up stairs or in an elevator. And they’re space efficient to store.
Perhaps I should have clarified that I do have a bike, and I got the cheapest aluminum bike I could afford. It’s not that bad to carry down the stairs in the back
But I’ll never be able to manage with a cargo bike
Ah, that’s totally fair. I thought you had a tight storage situation. Roll on. :)
This has been my experience. I was surprised by how much I prefer biking, especially for the feeling of freedom.
Also, it’s surprising what you can carry on a cargo bike. I carried our Christmas tree on a cargo bike this year. Also do all my shopping, including big costco trips. People are too quick to imagine limits that don’t exist in practice.
biking really is fun. I think it’s feeling the air go by + the “slow car fast” feeling. I need to get a cargo rack for my bike already.
I need about 100,000 people in my city to get these and saturate the streets before I get one because thats about how many it’ll take before the bike thieves get their fill and they become less stolen. I’d give that about 5 minutes, locked up at a bike rack, before someone came by with tools and took it.
They are cool, though!
get two burly U locks and they’ll say fuck that and go after the bike next to yours
The featured electric bike is over $6k. At that price I’d have insurance and possibly LoJack on it. Possibly an apple airtag might do it for tracking thieves.
This isn’t a $200-300 bike. It’s grand theft and you could get the police involved.
The big issue here is someone with bolt cutters can cut any lock you put and pick it up and into a van or truck.
I would recommend investing in thicker locks…
Not to be captain obvious, but a huge advantage of an ebike is that it is not really impacted by weight.
I can understand not wanting a $100-$300 molybdenum U-lock for a walmart bike. I can understand not wanting to carry around a huge lock and chain on a fancy street bike where every gram you have to make move yourself. But for a cargo ebike it is a no-brainer investment, as is the similar-priced theft insurance.
I’d be peeved if someone stole mine, but frankly between the lock and insurance it’s not really something I worry about that much.
Of course, my city has very little cycling, so maybe there just isn’t enough supply for the serious thieves to humble me yet.
Bike oriented Germany my ass.
Yeah, I’ve never heard anyone describe Germany as particularly bike friendly. The article is America-centric: I’m guessing the worst German city is still “bike oriented” compared to almost any American city.
This is the best summary I could come up with:
The study, from Transportation Research Part F: Traffic Psychology and Behaviour, surveyed people using a cargo bike share (CBS) system from 58 different programs and initiatives in Germany, controlling a collective 751 cargo bikes.
In perhaps more unsurprising news, people who actively signed up to use cargo bikes think they’re pretty great.
Those surveyed rated cargo bikes higher when considering motivations for different forms of transport, on a 1–5 scale.
Cars significantly won out among those who considered themselves car-dependent in travel speed, comfort, and weather independence.
Interestingly, respondents gave cars a roughly 3.4–3.5 out of 5 in traffic safety, and those who considered themselves “car-reduced” rated cargo bike use just below that, around 3.3.
Folks in notably bike-oriented Germany have suggested they can use even fewer cars with the advent of electric-assist cargo bikes and often feel good about doing so.
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