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 heâs learned. Are they practical? What are the benefits? And what are the downsides? Itâs time to find out!
0:00 â Intro
0:35 â Bike vs walking and driving
1:40 â Price
2:56 â Parking
4:06 â Weather
5:01 â Traffic
5:32 â Types of cargo bikes
6:57 â Safety
8:52 â Downsides
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Is a cargo bike on your wishlist? đ
I've put 2000 km on my heavy one–speed NON-ELECTRIC Gazelle Dutch bike in two years. Step it up, mate! đ
I live in Finland and love to grab my cheapo mtb for daily commutes. One thing that I don't get from the sustainability stand point is ffs do something about the theft rates. Bike thefts, personal storage burglaries etc are seen here as a "norm", something that "just happens". Truth is insurance companies do not give a f about your cheap bike, it is always a lose lose situation no matter how you weld your bike into a lightpost.
Great Video. The storage issue could put some people off. I know that you can buy "E-Friendly" cycle sheds now. which might be an option for those with a front garden.
Currently, i commute by bike and train. I use the pannier bags for the shopping and don't own a car at all.
One thing, where i really would like a car, is photography and ski touring. This is why i considered this kind of cargo bike.
But i already struggle to get my normal bike with full pannier bags or my mountainbike (enduros for a 2m tall guy get pretty long) into our bike cellar.
This is what kept me from it so far. Maybe a trailer would be a solution…
Not cargo but I have an ebike I got on the cycle to work scheme and its great, best thing is the added acceleration means at traffic lights yoy feel much more assertive than a regular bike
While all my sports and e-bikes got stollen in France, my old hood holland bike serves me well. I added a big front rack and various seats for kids and Iâm using it everyday instead of a car. Kids love cycling and were the very first to ride to school in the morning throughout the year. Iâm a proud dad.
Love it Si. As the 22nd best old guy in the world I laughed when your daughter made that comment! Iâve considered a tern GSD and using it for the school run. Problem is our school run is 5 miles each way in the countryside around Malmesbury. my 2 boys are 5ft and growing rapidly! Do you reckon it would be quick enough on open roads?
We got an electric cargo bike in 2020. Definitely an oddity in small town Australia, and I'm sure lots of people assume us to be a bit eccentric (I prefer to think of myself as open minded personally đ) I tend to emphasise how much better it is than parking when doing the school pickup (though I tend to walk it down the hillv on the footpath away from school as something terrifies me about school pick-up traffic) and how much the kids love it vs sitting in the car. Plus the fact we don't need to have a second car (very much the norm here) saves us a ton of money. The only problem is that hubby commutes to work on it and I'm doing the school runs… So we're getting a second electric bike đ
Just to add to the finance bits too there is another way to possibly save money.. If you get it through cycle to work you can save 40 percent as a higher rate tax payer and then in a year or so sell it for probably more than you paid.. the used value of the tern GSD is super good. You just need your employer to allow you to spend ÂŁ4k on a bike through the scheme.
We've just passed our 1 year and 1000 mile anniversary on our Term GSD S10, just like the one in the video. We live in a city and don't drive so for us it tends to replace bus trips that would otherwise take longer. The kids usually love to ride on the back and I'm usually grinning when pedalling. I wouldn't say there are zero maintenance costs, the brake pads on a bike with that much mass do wear faster than a regular bike and unless you're confident, getting wheels off for pad changes and tube repairs is much harder. One of these won't fit in a standard workshop stand, so you may have to factor in extra bike shop costs, at a cargo bike specialist too.
Had our Tern since September and I've put 575 miles on it. Weather has never been an issue really, other than caking it in mud. It helps with the hills down here in Cornwall. I've found the whole eccentric-image to be true. People seem to view it as a rebellious act and someone they should be suspicious of! Not sure it will ever pay for itself financial versus buying a banger and running it into the ground, but it's better for my body, better for my sanity and arguably better for the environment, but that's a distant benefit really.
Made a cargo bike out of two frames before this guy was born đ it served the purpose well, no one would have stolen it and it cost nothing to build bar a few welding rods – try building your own.
We have a Tern GSD. Over 1200km in 7 months. Really does make all the regular trips into mini adventures.
Simon! WTF!. Mate, youâve properly sold out!..đ˘ I had you down as a âcyclistâ.. not an emasculated wife trodden Bristol-liberal -lovey..
Hank aside, I had you down as one of the top boys in the GCN squad.. Iâve seen you
out on the road riding from Bristol to Bath when Iâve been cycling and thought yeah top bloke, but now Iâm going to throw wet lettuce at you.. đ˘
Unless you actually replace a car with the bike, then the only real saving is petrol and parking. If you keep the car you still have to tax, insure and MOT it even if you aren't using it.
I use a trailer on my self converted E-Bike for extra space. Bike and trailer were basically free, conversion kit about 500$. It isn't stylish, but I went shopping, camping and transported furniture on that thing. You can even take it on a train no problem, because it's two parts. Fuel economy drops bottom, that extra wheels create drag and you can not take fast turns or the trailer might flip. Right now building my second trailer from scratch, larger with extra power packs and self braking.
I have Modded full Upgraded Cargo Ebike ……..Dont you dare say it aint stylish ….looks like CAFE Motorbike … …and YES ….It MAD MAX CARGO BIKE …ive even got madmax style biker style with helmet
I'm over in the states with a GSD so the head turning aspect is probably 2-3x what it is over in Europe. I absolutely love it for basically all the reasons listed in this video, I got orange pilled off of Not Just Bikes and since then I just can't stand the idea of being in a car any more than is absolutely necessary.
I admittedly do use the car for trips that I would otherwise do on a bike when the weather is particularly nasty, but that could change in the future, idk, I just really hate getting wet. That being said when conditions are dry the only thing that limits me is the severe lack of bike infrastructure, I would take the bike so many more places if roads were safer but alas people over here suck…
"you're the 7th best of old people" đ
Yess keep promoting bike commuting đ you guys will make the difference for a better future đđź
I'm sure you're aware there are solutions for your wet trousers on rainy days… from waterproof overpants to a poncho that you can fit in the back of your saddle.
I also wonder how come you only spend 143ÂŁ a year in petrol…
Anyway, great video!
I've got a Winther Cargoo which has served us very well for years now. In the mean time it got upgraded with elektric assist and a rohloff hub. The Winther has lots of room, so even at the age of 8 and 10 there is no problem in taking the kids somewhere with the bike (with room to spare for their bags). Because a short 2 wheeled one would fit my current needs perfectly and it is much easier to take with us on travels with the campervan I'm thinking of another one. The Tern gsd r14 seems a good option with some double wide decks and cargo hold 52 panniers đ
Only saving ÂŁ750 per year!? Thats it !!??
I bought a cargo bike two years ago and absolutely love it. Itâs my favorite purchase of all time. There is something about riding vs driving that is hard to describe; i just always enjoy riding and avoid driving at (almost) all costs. I actually look for silly chances to ride my cargo bike – like to get a single lemon for dinner. I also love stringing multiple errands together because they are fun instead of a stressful chore when driving. Pass all the cars and park right by the front door of your destination. I meet many more people riding because itâs so simple to circle back and chat with someone when on my cargo bike, or to make an instant detour to stop and look at something interesting like new construction or someoneâs chickens rooting about in their yard. I ride in street clothes with rain gear for drizzly days. Basically, if you like riding a bicycle, you can double how much youâll love riding a cargo e-bike.
The key to the success of the bike in the UK is the lobbying of MPs and Councils to invest in the infrastructure required to enable their safe a d convenient use!
There's no way I would park a bike like that anywhere in my local neighbourhood. It would most likely be stolen irrespective of what locks I used. If it weren't stolen, it would definitely be vandalised. And insurance never pays out the replacement value because they always knock off something for depreciation.
Got one in october here in france and it is freaking awesome !!!
At least 4 takes to get the first scene done đ
Oh! are you meant to give your e-bike a "bit of love"… missed that memo…
Your savings are nonsensical because they assume your bike replaces your car, not supplements it.
I do have the same bike as you and it has been great. It still feels fun to ride after one year. I have saved a lot of money with the bike, since I could sell our second car.
I bought a Riese und MĂźller Load75 about 1 year and a half ago. Now, almost 9.000km later… we do practically everything with it. Transporting kids, groceries, the Christmas tree, my photographer's equipment (cameras, lights, stands…)… we went on camping holidays and much more… now, we get a second front loading bike, so that my wife and I can do things simultaneously.
The full suspended Load makes it super easy to ride long distances (over 120km on a day), the bike has two batteries and for that a long reach. Up to 3 kids fit into the box and the raincover is spacious enough to even fit an adult under it.
Sometimes we even put a trailer behind the cargo bike to be able to take the kid's bikes with us.
As someone who's cycled around Bristol for the last 6 years I wholeheartedly agree with every single point made in this video. Excellent stuff! As I don't have to haul much I get around really well on my foldable electric – gotta have the electric for those vicious Bristol hills!
So long as you make sure you buy a decent size battery. 500wah plus or maybe a backup battery too. We used E bikes ( with backup battery 2 x 500wah each bike) across Europe and it was fun, easy to Charge and range was about 100km a
Day LOADED up too. This was with my mum who at 78 yrs old it made her ride easier.
You arent stuck in traffic because you are causing the jam.
On street bike parking causes large blockages for pedestrians and encourages cyclefags to ride along the pavement to them.
We also need councils and government to make walking and cycling hastle free and contiguous. Currently it often too much like a supermarket trolley push but stop start stop start every 2m in a supermarket ( if you get my idea ) councils have to make all town roads pedestrian priority and cycle too. So cars are limited to 20mph and must give way everywhere so pedestrians and cyclists donât have to stop any more. â the car has too insteadâ
Think of your travel through town and your stop starts where the car doesnât have too. Letâs swap that round.
Thank you for the video, but I'm quite disappointed with the content compared to the title. What are the gains of a "cargo" and "electric" bicycle not compared to a car, but to a normal bicycle? I who have been commuting by bike for many years now is what I would have liked to find in this feedback. Keep up the good work !
I have liked the one you have in this video since they introduced the model. But the price is that the car I drive I could buy maybe 5x for one of those đ. So I still have the idea to one day just copy the geometry from pictures and weld my one from square tubing. If I painted that with some paint that looks like rust I think I would get the Mad Max look you mentioned at the end đ.
I know many drivers would take a longer path just because you have less stop-and-go traffic. While cycling might take longer for some routes, but avoiding the stop-and-go is a good enough reason.
Good idea, just not comfortable with kids on the back and how easy it would be to have an accident, no matter whoâs fault
What make and model of ebike is Simon riding?
why don't they have fairings?
I have two front load cargo bikes and I just keep them on the street under motorcycle cover. If you go to Netherlands or Denmark, most people do the same. I once did a survey on my blog and around 50% of my readers keep their cargo bike outside. As you said, one just want to step out the door and hop on a bike.
is an e-cargo bike enough to replace your car?
Absolutely agree we've just invested in the decathlon cargo bike. Only had a few days and LOVING it . For all the reasons you stated. Just need t invest in some paniers so as to use it for shopping. It's the future of transport and hopefully bike lanes will increase