Debating between a cargo ebike or a commuter one for hauling my ass 15km to work and my kid to various activities. Two bikes isn’t in the budget, and groceries are a short walk I wouldn’t bother getting the bike out for.
I’d buy this exact bike or monitor their feed for the LR/longrack version. Of all the budget brands, Aventon is your best compromise between price/quality/support network. I have an Aventon Abound LR and it’s great even at full price. It fits 6 bags of groceries on the back (60kg max load), feels really stable and agile, and it has a good suite of antitheft features like an electronic lock and GPS tracking/geofencing. I haven’t had an issue with it in almost 2000km of riding and have only upgraded the tyres to something with more traction. Aventon also has the best ecosystem of accessories unless you spend twice as much for a Tern (which I’m currently planning), so you can get a great child seat and orbiter that fits a cargo tub.
I also own a commuter bike but never feel the need to take that out over the cargo bike, even if it has better features like a mid-drive motor and belt drive. They’re both limited to the same speed and 32kmh is the perfect balance between safe/fast, so you don’t gain some performance advantage from a lighter bike. The lower centre of gravity on the cargo bike makes it much easier to control at that speed, especially with a full load shifting around, and the step-through design makes it super easy to get on/off of. Wider/smaller tyres make it feel safer over sketchy terrain too. It’s a perfect utilitarian electric donkey.
No kidding. I’ve felt that mid drive would be the best for an ebike just off of where the force is coming from and that bigger tires would be more efficient
A mid-drive is better on paper but in practice it just feels slightly more responsive than a rear-hub does. On cargo ebikes that’s a $1000 difference and the real upgrade you get from that is a Bosch motor that will last 80k km. That’s one of the things making me look at Tern GSD models ($3500-4000 used), but it isn’t necessary at all and doesn’t add to the experience.
Larger tyres might also be more efficient on paper, but you’re trading off accessibility and safety. The motor means you’re already going as fast as you can pedal on a normal bike. There’s nothing to gain there from any tyre size. With a kid or cargo you want maximum stability and control over the bike. A small tyre makes it easy to stand at a stoplight, walk it over ice, and load/unload without tipping. Wide ones absorb a lot of shock, handle uneven sidewalks better, and keep you from slipping. I’d only buy a cargo bike with 20" tyres and don’t notice any kind of performance gain from my commuter bike’s 28" ones.
edit: Also with a kid you’ll be going slower than the 32kmh class 2 limit of a cargo ebike or 45kmh class 3 limit that I don’t consider bike components safe beyond. 24kmh is what I’d consider a safe speed for trail riding with a child or full cargo load because the most important factor there is your ability to stop safely. The level of exertion there is equivalent to casually pedaling at 8kmh on a normal bike.
You can attach so much to carry shit on a commuter bike, plus you get the benefit of being able to take most of it off when you don’t need it.
I’ve been riding what would probably be classified as a gravel bike these days, but it’s literally the bike my parents bought for me in middle school (and they bought it used), and here I am some 10-20 years later (I really can’t remember) riding it daily and hauling my own kids to and from their school on it. I think the bike was originally manufactured around the turn of the century, but it’s been a heck of a workhorse for the entire time I’ve been riding it, and it survived several years of being completely neglected and not ridden too!
I have a trailer I found at a garage sale for $20 to haul the kids in and I clip a fake milk crate onto the cargo rack using some rope and carabineers when I need to carry stuff. In the longer term I want to get proper paniers (they sell ones big enough to carry a full weeks worth of groceries in) for easier stuff hauling and an actual ebike would be nice. My oldest is getting a bit too big for the trailer so I’m also eying up a trailercycle for her for the next season and considering options there.
Anyways back on topic, a cargo bike has the benefit of everything having a spot from the get-go, but the downside is you are always riding a cargo bike whether you’re hauling people and stuff or not, meanwhile a commuter bike you can toss a trailer hitch on and hook up any bike trailer or you can clip all sorts of stuff to a rear rack then remove whatever you don’t need for the given trip
Debating between a cargo ebike or a commuter one for hauling my ass 15km to work and my kid to various activities. Two bikes isn’t in the budget, and groceries are a short walk I wouldn’t bother getting the bike out for.
https://upway.co/products/aventon-abound-sr-ufp78
I’d buy this exact bike or monitor their feed for the LR/longrack version. Of all the budget brands, Aventon is your best compromise between price/quality/support network. I have an Aventon Abound LR and it’s great even at full price. It fits 6 bags of groceries on the back (60kg max load), feels really stable and agile, and it has a good suite of antitheft features like an electronic lock and GPS tracking/geofencing. I haven’t had an issue with it in almost 2000km of riding and have only upgraded the tyres to something with more traction. Aventon also has the best ecosystem of accessories unless you spend twice as much for a Tern (which I’m currently planning), so you can get a great child seat and orbiter that fits a cargo tub.
I also own a commuter bike but never feel the need to take that out over the cargo bike, even if it has better features like a mid-drive motor and belt drive. They’re both limited to the same speed and 32kmh is the perfect balance between safe/fast, so you don’t gain some performance advantage from a lighter bike. The lower centre of gravity on the cargo bike makes it much easier to control at that speed, especially with a full load shifting around, and the step-through design makes it super easy to get on/off of. Wider/smaller tyres make it feel safer over sketchy terrain too. It’s a perfect utilitarian electric donkey.
No kidding. I’ve felt that mid drive would be the best for an ebike just off of where the force is coming from and that bigger tires would be more efficient
A mid-drive is better on paper but in practice it just feels slightly more responsive than a rear-hub does. On cargo ebikes that’s a $1000 difference and the real upgrade you get from that is a Bosch motor that will last 80k km. That’s one of the things making me look at Tern GSD models ($3500-4000 used), but it isn’t necessary at all and doesn’t add to the experience.
Larger tyres might also be more efficient on paper, but you’re trading off accessibility and safety. The motor means you’re already going as fast as you can pedal on a normal bike. There’s nothing to gain there from any tyre size. With a kid or cargo you want maximum stability and control over the bike. A small tyre makes it easy to stand at a stoplight, walk it over ice, and load/unload without tipping. Wide ones absorb a lot of shock, handle uneven sidewalks better, and keep you from slipping. I’d only buy a cargo bike with 20" tyres and don’t notice any kind of performance gain from my commuter bike’s 28" ones.
edit: Also with a kid you’ll be going slower than the 32kmh class 2 limit of a cargo ebike or 45kmh class 3 limit that I don’t consider bike components safe beyond. 24kmh is what I’d consider a safe speed for trail riding with a child or full cargo load because the most important factor there is your ability to stop safely. The level of exertion there is equivalent to casually pedaling at 8kmh on a normal bike.
You can attach so much to carry shit on a commuter bike, plus you get the benefit of being able to take most of it off when you don’t need it.
I’ve been riding what would probably be classified as a gravel bike these days, but it’s literally the bike my parents bought for me in middle school (and they bought it used), and here I am some 10-20 years later (I really can’t remember) riding it daily and hauling my own kids to and from their school on it. I think the bike was originally manufactured around the turn of the century, but it’s been a heck of a workhorse for the entire time I’ve been riding it, and it survived several years of being completely neglected and not ridden too!
I have a trailer I found at a garage sale for $20 to haul the kids in and I clip a fake milk crate onto the cargo rack using some rope and carabineers when I need to carry stuff. In the longer term I want to get proper paniers (they sell ones big enough to carry a full weeks worth of groceries in) for easier stuff hauling and an actual ebike would be nice. My oldest is getting a bit too big for the trailer so I’m also eying up a trailercycle for her for the next season and considering options there.
Anyways back on topic, a cargo bike has the benefit of everything having a spot from the get-go, but the downside is you are always riding a cargo bike whether you’re hauling people and stuff or not, meanwhile a commuter bike you can toss a trailer hitch on and hook up any bike trailer or you can clip all sorts of stuff to a rear rack then remove whatever you don’t need for the given trip