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
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