Long tail electric cargo bike recommendations?

Hi did you purchase a bike yet?

I asked my school to put in a bike rack before the summer and they did. Two bikes in it today. Hilly rural village so there are barriers to cycling.

I bought a tag along trailer thing for my boy with special needs that works up to the age of nine but it’s coming in handy for dropping the typical boy off to school too on the days his childminder is collecting him. The other boy goes to a different school by bus

My two kids are getting to big/heavy for the trailer. I'm getting very interested in these long tail bikes as they'll fi

Let us know how you get on with it. My kids are getting too big for the trailer and i still want to avoid using the car dropping them to the creche/school.

I'd be very interested in getting the Yuba too. Think it's a far better option and means i could still leave the kids off and travel on to work.

That is an excellent option to try before you buy. I'd definitely consider that, even just to see how the kids like it. They don't mind the trailer. I suppose we'll have the option to get them cycling in a little while, but from all the bad driving i see on the road, i'm not sure i want that. Which is absolutely awful.

I've seen a good few of those Decathlon bikes around the place. They're good value if they come with the front basket, rear foot rest and retention bar on the back included.

I've a 2.5km commute to the creche with the kids and would then be going another ten solo into the city centre. A long tail would be ideal for that i think, plus i'd be able to get it up the side of the house and into the garden shed.

Is it possible to use 2 vouchers for the same bike? We were thinking of this option last year but didn't think it would work. Didn't buy last year, but come September our school run will only be possible by bike or 1 hour round trip twice a day by foot or car so anything to help with the cost would help!!

Only 2.5km from home to school and then 6km from school to work and crèche. Dublin traffic and restrictions on parking close to the school leads to a 1 hour minimum car trip, walking is about 25 minutes to the school and then getting to work or creche from there means i need a car or bike anyway. The walk is also down and uphill, which leads to high risk of heel dragging. In contrast, Google maps is saying 11 minutes by bike to the school, which sounds ideal! I've convinced myself it's the only option! . We're looking at the options with the front bucket as I don't think I can trust my 5 year old with the 1 year old on the tail together!

Another option to manage the cost is loosing the second car, currently used for that 6km work/crèche trip and trips to the bottle bank. It's worth less than the bike at this stage...I'm sure it'll be easy to get my head around no second car once we have the bike! Looking forward to a school run where we're noticeably moving towards the school as opposed to sitting in the various queues at the various traffic lights.

Thanks for sharing your experience, helps us make the move!!

It's not as bad as stated above. I had my kids until the age of 6-7 in a cargo, after which older had own bike so I had to carry just one. I would definitely go for the front loader style, make for a way better experience for the kids and you'll be able to have great chats during the ride.

Going electric might be worth considering, easier to start at junctions. Other than that if you're going for single front wheel version it just eats up any type of road, so I wouldn't necessary worry about doing reconnaissance of wherever it is you will be going. Even in traffic you can get through the choke points fairly easy. I think bikes with 2 front wheels might be bit wider and bit more cumbersome to turn but way more stable, worth considering if you're not feeling too confident.

I'd worry more about traffic joining from the side roads as it happened to me on few occasions that drivers would check the opposite lane and ignore the one they were immediately joining/crossing. So I would always slow down and make sure the driver sees me. Getting onto sidewalk is something you'll have to plan as you won't be able to go over the curb. I always used the parts for pedestrians/wheelchair where it was same level as the road.

In general it will take you some time to get used to the cargo bike. They're over 2 meters long and weighing around 25kg or more. You will have to adjust your riding style and expectations, other than that they're great. We had great time commuting to creche, school, parks and playgrounds, rain or shine kids were always happy.

Doubt you'll be going that fast to tip it off.

I kept it in my hall in a council built house from 1960s so whatever the width of the door frame is, it was a tight fit to park it but it fit. I would bring it backwards, so I was was literally able to cycle out of the house.

Never really had an issue parking maybe apart from one time when there were too many bikes chained, but I always locked it to the post with rear wheel/frame so I could always position it in a way it wouldn’t obstruct pedestrian traffic too much. Never hand any complaints.

For the rear wheel removal, I would park the stand legs on bit of wood and put something heavy at front of the bike - 20kg bag of rice worked well to tip the front down and I could do the work on the rear of the bike.

Basically its a big heavy bike so you just have to find some workarounds and understand that it wont behave like a regular bike, thats light and small etc. Once you get used to it and know it strong and weak points, it will feel like any other bike. I mean it paid for itself just on daily commutes i the amount of time and petrol it saved me. Not to mention taking kids out to playgrounds you just dump all the crap into the canopy and off you go. So as you said its well worth the investment.

I picked up one two weeks ago and am delighted with it . I got the range extender battery (additional e300 or so ) to bring the battery life up. For 3300 including the range extender ,mudguards , stepping boards,monkey bars and front rack , it’s very keenly priced . I had been looking for a budget friendly bike capable of school run , the weekly shop and general errands : I couldn’t get the decathlon bike as my bike to work scheme didn’t deal with them. The alpa checks all the boxes , the lightweight 27kg means the 45nm torque is plenty for us for carting 6&8 year old around and getting up all the hills in locality with ease . The frame is more step through than the decathlon bike , which again helps stability when mounting / dismounting / stopping at lights with cargo on board ..overall it’s super stable as the 20inch rear wheel keeps the centre of gravity down , and geometry and front rack are well placed to optimize stability …. Depending where you are based , bear cycles in Rathgar and Hollingsworth in Templeogue have demo models and well worth taking for a spin . The stand is also well designed and will hold both kids steady when parking up . Have found battery life excellent . When riding without any cargo it’s very nimble , torque sensor works very well . The litttle Lcd on downtube is a bit finnicky and I’d question its longevity . The BAFANG wheel spokes needed to be tensioned up a bit ,but it’s common enough on these hub drives . Apart from the decathlon bike ,we also tried more “premium “alternatives including the the yuba kombi , spicy curry , trek fetch 2 an ebullit and the cannondale long tail , and couldn’t justify the extra € as the Alpa checked all the boxes and quality seems on par . (Obv no mid drive on the alpa, but hub with torque sensor does the job perfectly)

The Trek Fetch 2 is fine for a 6 and 9 year old, they fit easily in the cage. Loads of power in the Bosch motor. It states the load in the cage can be 75kg but I'd imagine that's conservative. My bigger issue is that the 9 year old doesn't want to sit in it anymore - he prefers to walk or cycle than be seen in a cargo bike with his brother going to school.

There is no useful storage whatsoever when carrying 2 children, a biggish downside. I carry one of their school bags and other bag is in front of the front child.

When carrying no children the cage can hold a 60x40cm box BUT the back cushion impedes the box sitting easily so in reality you need a 58x40cm box - which my butcher kindly gave me when he saw I'd cut a hole out of the 60x40cm box.

The Fetch is brilliant for commuting home uphill and slower than commuting downhill than an ordinary bike. I'd imagine all the eBikes are though. When you are used to cycling up a slight hill into a headwind for years after work it's an absolute pleasure to motor on at 25kph. As the assist stops at about 25kph you quickly realise there's no point pushing 32kg of pig heavy bike any faster.

We are getting good use of the longtail cargo eBike and it has definitely replaced quite a few car journeys.

We always had 1 car but this gives us greater flexibility - especially on the likes of bringing 2 children 2 different places on a Saturday morning