According to my notes, today marks the first anniversary of my cargo bike. 365 days ago, I was collecting this beauty from a local bike shop:

That was 12 months and 1351 kilometers ago, and I’ve learnt a few things in the process, so here are some random notes about the experience. Maybe they’ll help you if you’re considering getting a cargo bike.

For context: we’re four people at home (two adults, two kids aged 16 and 8). We live in a small city (60.000 inhabitants). We have a private garage, and we own a car which we use both for short trips and long distance traveling. I don’t have a driver’s license, so bikes are my preferred way of moving around.

TLDR: Best Decision Ever

There might be some negative notes in my list, but the summary of my experience is that I should’ve done this earlier. Electric bikes are truly the ultimate hack for urban mobility. Riding a bike to move around a small town feels like playing life in easy mode, and I keep finding good things about owning a cargo bike.

The Good

• Riding a bike turns any chore into a great experience. I’ve found myself running random errands just to get on my bike. Also, because biking is awesome for mental health, you’re not only getting bread, or groceries, or your kids from school… you’re also boosting your mood
• Riding with kids is so much fun (both for the kids and for you). Kids make the wildest comments about stuff you’re probably missing from the world around you
• Cargo bikes are amazing for socializing. People will stop you and ask about your bike. They’ll recognize you and your kids from seeing you around. Someone will tell you they hadn’t considered using a bike for transportation until they saw you… Don’t underestimate the power of silently inspiring people
• Cargo bikes are versatile. I’ve moved cargo, people, cargo and people, used the bike as a mobile bike repair stand, picnic station, tool hauling machine, banner for public events… The possibilities are endless, and you won’t stop finding new uses for it
• For short distances (less than 10km), biking is usually as fast as driving (or even faster, if you consider the time required to find a parking spot and walking to wherever you’re going)
• Riding hundreds of extra kilometers per year is great for your health (and for your performance: I can definitely feel a big improvement, and I was already a pretty avid cyclist)

The Not So Good

• You’ll end up buying more electric bikes 😅. I was perfectly happy with my nonelectric gravel and mountain bikes, but of course I ended up selling them to buy an electric mountain bike. No regrets, but this stuff is not cheap.
• The motor may not be up to the task if you live on a hilly area. I had to make some adjustments to my gear ratio (smaller chainring, bigger cassette) to deal with the local hills. I still struggle with some ramps when fully loaded. It’s not dramatic, but if I had to do this again, I probably would’ve gone with a more powerful model (with a Bosch CargoLine motor, probably)
• Speed limit: in Europe, all (legal) electric motors stop assisting at 25 km/h. Which is fine, until you realize that mixed-use lanes have a 30km/h speed limit. Drivers seem to think that’s a suggestion for minimum speed, so riding at 25km/h makes them a bit too nervous. I’d love to see the limit raised to 30–32km/h
• Parking: unless you have protected bike parking space (we don’t have that in Spain), leaving your (expensive, beautiful) bike unattended for long periods of time is a bit nerve-racking. I’m slowly getting used to it, and no longer hold my breath while I’m away from my bike. But I’m still relieved when I go back and see my bike’s still there.
• Speaking of which: cargo bikes are huge, and heavy. Unless you have a private parking space at home, I wouldn’t consider them an option

Two Months Without a Car

Recently, we found ourselves without a car due to some unexpected repairs.

I’m not going to say we did not miss it, because we did. But we managed, and things were mostly fine, which was a bit unexpected even for me.

I took my kids to school, went shopping, hauled some larger than usual stuff around, and worked as the taxi driver for the whole family (including my wife!). We did some unexpected things, like hospital visits with my wife, or late night picking of teenage daughters. They added some much needed variety to our lives, and we’ll remember that stuff way more than the car trips we did not make.

I even found out where my limits are (I can’t haul my wife and my 16yo, but I can haul both kids, or my wife and the 8yo 😅).

We have our car back, but in this time my wife realized how much she was relying on the car for short trips and is now walking to places she used to drive to. So even that is a win for urban mobility.

Get a Bike

By now I think you know my opinion on bikes is pretty clear. But just in case: get a bike. Your life will be better, easier, funnier and more rewarding. You’ll save money (both in the short and the long run), and you’ll be happier.

It doesn’t have to be an electric cargo bike. Choose a small electric urban bike, or a cheap secondhand bike, or whatever makes you smile when you look at it. Just ride it, enjoy it, and make the world better.

Trust me on this one.