where to get me a cargo bike

Effects · 05-10-2021 7:42pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117962695#Comment_117962695

The cross bar on the Bullitt is low enough, while not quite step through. I often use it as a seat when not riding the bike.

The bars are quite upright, but are quick release adjustable, which I find handy when I'm in a rush or it's windy.

You should drop in to one of the distributers and give it a try anyway.

dingbat · 06-10-2021 5:21pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117980870#Comment_117980870

Yeah they're a really nice bike. A mate has one! It could be something that worked for me, but definitely not for Mrs. dingbat.

buffalo · 06-10-2021 7:34pm

Mr and Mrs buffalo are debating a cargo bike in the near future, mostly for ferrying small child(potential for -ren) around and doing the shopping. It'll probably have to be electric to tackle a couple of hills out of the village. We gave a Riese & Müller and a Bakfiets a test ride a couple of weeks ago, decent but expensive.

Question for those who might know more - has anyone found big difference between 2 and 3 wheels? The handling on the Bakfiets was a bit twitchy (I think it needed some greasing), but in general the fear of tipping was always at the back of my mind. Hence, maybe 3 wheels good, 2 wheels bad?

Obviously I'm an awesome cyclist and everything, but everything becomes a bit more ...high stakes when there's a nipper involved.

dingbat · 06-10-2021 7:44pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117985384#Comment_117985384

I've tried a few of both and, along with Mrs dingbat, we found the only time a three wheeler was more stable was when it was stopped.

tomasrojo · 06-10-2021 9:33pm

Turned over the (two-wheeled) bakfiets once when there was no one in it. There's a limiter that stops the front wheel turning too far, but this time I'm talking about I locked it at its limit when I was in a hurry taking a corner, and the bike stopped suddenly and turned over.

It only scraped the box along the ground a bit on one side. I'm sure if anyone had been in it they'd have been fine, if a bit surprised. I wouldn't have been pushing the corner that way if anyone had been in it anyway.

I touched the wood up with a bit of varnish and it was absolutely fine. Never happened again, in tens of thousands of km.

My basic rule now is don't exceed about 25km/h, and take corners slightly wider than a normal bike.

tomasrojo · 06-10-2021 9:39pm

Worth keeping in mind what sort of brakes you have when doing hills. Keep them in good condition. The bakfiets has roller brakes, which are not the best for steep hills, though I've managed. I'd say disk brakes would be better in that sense.

Effects · 07-10-2021 10:02am

I've no issues with stability when moving on two wheels. Starting off it can be trickier, but it's also something you just get used to.

The heavier the load, the trickier it can be, but I've never had an issue with the kid. I had a 70kg load to take in to work yesterday, and it was fine after a minute of getting used to the different loading.

dingbat · 08-10-2021 2:21pm

Wow. R&M issue a full recall for the Packster 70 including "all Packster 70 must not be used any further with immediate effect".

Linky: https://www.r-m.de/en-gb/

dingbat · 12-10-2021 11:25am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117968247#Comment_117968247

Ground anchors... any fundamental advantage to spending 4x on a Kryptonite flip-up ground anchor vs a simple metal loop?

tomasrojo · 12-10-2021 5:44pm

Just that you're less likely to trip over the former than the latter.

Though for an expensive bike, you'd be better with a ground anchor that takes four expander bolts rather than two. Though the image you've posted says "Diamond", so it must be very good. I have ground anchors with two expander bolts, but the bikes are also in a locked concrete shed in a locked garden.

Cabaal · 15-10-2021 5:22pm

Got one of these recently, easy enough install. Could be broken but would take lots of smacking with a sledge hammer I figure

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0815BDDZ7

Cabaal · 15-10-2021 5:41pm

So I'm looking at a cargo bike, young lad was born last year and my initial idea for childcare lifts was a trailer so got myself a Burley Encore X (https://www.burley.com/product/encore-x/). This is great on the likes of a greenway with my road bike but it sucks locally due to hills and I'm cycling a much heavier Gazelle bike.

Between there and back its about 5miles of cycling and I often detour to visit family or nip to the shops and the Burley will take shopping but again it only adds to the weight. Though it does convert to a buggy which I can take in store which is very handy.

So I'm trying to plan longer term and I think a cargo bike might be the way to go. At the moment the other half is working from home due to covid but I suspect that will take certainly within 12-18 months and we only have one car so I see a decent cargo bike as some indepdence.

My thinking is I can ideally:

Use it for childcare collect/drops
Use it for school drops until he won't want to use it anymore (maybe 7 years of age?)
Use it now and then for journey of 10miles to nearest city (roads are hilly but very quiet, took me about 1hr on the Gazelle with trailer but sweating buckets and not doing more then 10mph avg). 10miles back home again of course.
Use it for shopping locally, can take about 60kg so that will cover a shop and stuff from local cop-op like dog food, water softrner salt etc that I'd normally use the car for.
Yes a second car could do all this but that comes with much higher costs longer term

While I'd love the likes of a urban arrow its just wayy out of my price range, I figure best I can manage is 4.5k and that would include extras like a rain cover.

I was looking at the Babboe City (2.9k) or perhaps the Babboe Mountain (4k) for the higher torque (80Nm) and was onto dutchbikeshop about sourcing these but they suggested bakfiets.nl cruiser long (3.9k without any extras) instead which has less torque at 60Nm but they say it has a better motor from their experience (Shimano Steps (DU6100) instead of a Yamaha on the Babboe.

Just what are everyone's experiences with cargo bikes and hills?, is there a need to go with the 80Nm or am I going overkill? From a price viewpoint the bakfiets cargobikes work out well as I can get more bang for my buck.

While it won't look as nice as perhaps the urban arrow, I figure with a black box rather then wood it won't look half bad

Tigerandahalf · 15-10-2021 6:19pm

Are those electrical?

I would think a Cargo bike would be heavy enough and awkward if you have to go over kerbs etc. Are they liable to overturn if only 2 wheels?

You would definitely need a proper hood on it too to keep out the rain.

Don't see why you would get rid of the burley. It also means you can use the bike for just yourself plus storage would be easier.

Cabaal · 15-10-2021 6:23pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118025235#Comment_118025235

All the models above are electric assist, kerbs don't concern me too much and they have walk assist so getting off and walking with one isn't a concern either.

I've factored extra's like a rain cover into the 4.5k max budget, though it doesn't rain nearly as much as people think of course :)

Currently I have the road bike and a Gazelle, the Gazelle is my nip to the shops bike which I'd be aiming to replace with the Cargo bike and I'd sell off the Gazelle perhaps. The Burley trailer I'm 50/50 on, I think I'd be inclined to keep it a few years and use it for spins on greenways with the road bike and the like. We go camping and it converts to a stroller so it has its benefits if we go away as we would only need to bring it to cover two things.

Tigerandahalf · 15-10-2021 6:33pm

I have a bike trailer. I don't use it as much now but got good use out of it when the kids were younger.

With the 2 in it, it was tough enough on hills but I had a hybrid bike with a triple chainring at the front and so it wasn't impossible to spin up the hills in the easiest gear.

The rain might not be a big issue with the Cargo if the interior isn't fabric but otherwise you have the issue of keeping it dry. The Burly, it looks like it can be folded down easily and taken in a decent boot area. This allows you to drive to various greenways and have spins. The Cargo bike limits you to spins to and from the house.

You would want to be getting use out of it, doing the daily drop offs in it and then you will have the frosty weather and the condition of roads.

Are some of the Cargo bikes not 3 wheelers? They might be safer.

tomasrojo · 15-10-2021 8:02pm

I reckon the electric bakfiets with a rain hood will work for you. Only thing is roller brakes aren't as powerful as disk brakes, and it looks from the image as if it might have a roller brake at the front.

I mean, as I've said already, I've been using a non-electric bakfiets with roller brakes for about five and a half years, and I've found it ok, and any recent trouble I had turned out to be because the front roller brake was totally worn out, and therefore didn't really have anything between zero and grab the wheel to a total stop; now I've replaced it, it's all braking acceptably again.

But it's worth considering.

As for how long you'll get out of it, I have an unusual situation where I have to go a fair bit from home to school, so I'm carrying a 9yo and an 11yo. It is mostly downhill on the way in though. Won't be carrying the two of them past the end of this school year, which is just as well for all concerned. The 11yo will be able to cycle herself to the next school, so the balance of nature will be restored.

tomasrojo · 15-10-2021 8:04pm

As for kerbs, I've used goods- and child trailers (still use both, with the child trailer used for carrying long flat-pack stuff), and I found a cargo bike is easier overall. You do need to keep an eye out for drop kerbs when you want to get off the road, but getting back onto the road is easier than with a trailer. You just gently roll the two wheels sequentially down the kerb.

tomasrojo · 15-10-2021 8:07pm

I do like trailers and there are some loads that they take better.

E.g.

But this load (which only arose because I totally misunderstood the size of the two beanbags I was sent to collect) wouldn't be possible with a trailer:

Cabaal · 22-10-2021 10:07am

Onto dutchbikeshop yesterday about testing out a bakfiets, they have the model I want to try so happy days. (but not the colours/spec).

So looking forward to trying it out and seeing how it handles.

The downside is even if I ordered today it would be May 2022 before I'd likely get it.

dingbat · 26-10-2021 3:39pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118010242#Comment_118010242

Anchor arrived today. Interestingly the two visible holes are actually just to screw the shell cover on. Underneath it's got three expander bolts in a triangle.

Cabaal · 28-10-2021 11:32am

Had no luck getting to look at a bakfiets, called dutchbikeshop this week ahead of making the trip to Dublin only to be told they had no built electric assist bakfiets for me to look at. They only one they had is still boxed and won't be built ontill a customer is buying it.

Very annoying considering I made it clear what I wanted to look at last week (an electric bakfiets).

tomasrojo · 28-10-2021 12:18pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118084422#Comment_118084422

Yeah, that's unfortunate, as it's a big commitment to make to something you've never tried. Greenaer had a display bakfiets (non-electric) they let me try out before committing, at which point they ordered a new one from the Netherlands. But the Dutch Bike Shop are they only people carrying bakfiets now, as far as I know. I guess one of the other shops might be able to let you try out another brand and model in your price range.

what_traffic · 28-10-2021 2:25pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118084649#Comment_118084649

Could apply same logic to this small shop operator as well who don't have a physical shop for display. Economy's of scale here just do not make it easy for purchasers or sellers. I bought without testing a Workcycles bike from Dutch Bike Shop - just from reading reviews online and gleaming info from threads like this(am based in Galway).

Cabaal · 28-10-2021 3:29pm

I get the situ with a small shop, but I made it clear what I wanted to test out last week and was told no problem. So planned for the trip accordingly. Just very annoying.

I do like DBS, I got my last bike from them but communication could have been better from them. It's not like I can nip down the road. its basically a 4hr roundtrip.

Think I'll ask about see if I can find somebody who has one who would be nice enough to allow me a cycle on it to see how it is.

tomasrojo · 28-10-2021 3:42pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118085485#Comment_118085485

Oh yeah, I'm not having a go at the DBS. I like them.

what_traffic · 29-10-2021 12:28pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118085926#Comment_118085926

Ah ya thats fair enough if they said that, that's not great customer service from them + you purchased in the past from them as well.

dingbat · 01-11-2021 6:26pm

So we've got a new cargo bike. Two wheeler box bike.

One little problem. Mrs dingbat is finding it impossible to push it up onto its kickstand when the kids are in it. This is not ideal, and I can tell she's feeling super bad about it and worried that she won't be able to actually bring the kids anywhere in it by herself (let alone the school run).

Any tips and tricks to share?

Effects · 02-11-2021 12:29pm

Congrats on the bike. What type is it?

Maybe she needs to practice putting it on the stand a bit? If I have a heavy load, I'll have to push the bike backwards at a pace and kick the stand down. But it's just something I learned to get used to.

Rosahane · 02-11-2021 1:35pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118103169#Comment_118103169

If it's like a motorcycle centre stand there's a knack to it. Right foot holding the stand on the ground, left hand on the handlebar, right hand hiding the frame somewhere between knee and hip height, and in one smooth motion lift and push back to the right.

tomasrojo · 03-11-2021 4:34am

You can push on the handlebars and nudge the bike with your thigh on the steering column tube to get the bike off the stand, and to get it on to the stand, you can pull on the steering column with one hand and on the nose of the saddle or the seat post with the other hand. I find that handy. You have to make sure that two feet of the stand are on the ground before pulling in the latter case.

where to get me a cargo bike

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