The cargo bike is increasingly finding a place as an everyday vehicle. What elements should be taken into account before swapping your city car for these bikes?
It is one of the few segments of the bicycle market to remain in the green. 35,000 electrically assisted cargo bikes were sold in 2023 to individuals, according to figures from the Union Sport&Cycles (USC), not counting craftsmen or delivery people who also acquire this type of vehicle for professional use. A stable figure compared to 2022 and which is maintained this year. Hence the appetite of brands in the face of this consumer interest. Here are our tips for choosing the right cargo bike.
• Address specialist brands or more general public?
From the two-wheeler or scooter with a skip at the front, to the longtail which accommodates passengers on its rear platform, the cargo bike can serve different purposes. If historic brands like Douze Cycles in France (which has formed a partnership with Toyota), Yuba in the United States, Tern in Taiwan, have been making cargo bikes for years, international brands like Canonball or Trek are also getting into it. .
The price of this type of bike, however, remains at the top of the basket for electrically assisted bicycles (VAE): 3,600 euros on average, or almost twice as much as the price of a classic VAE. Some models can reach 6,000 euros in specialized brands, while those from consumer brands like Decathlon remain around 3,000 euros. But be careful not to necessarily think only about the purchase price.
“A bike that we will use every day, and which will do 40, 50, 60 kilometers per day, it is worth spending 1,000 or 2,000 euros more for a durable bike that is not repaired every day, advises Jérôme Sorrel, founding partner of weelz.ouestfrance.fr “We need components that are designed for the cargo bike.”
Heavier, longer, you need adapted components to ensure, for example, efficient braking. And for a range of around a hundred kilometers on a 40 or 50 kg bike, you will need a large battery and therefore more expensive.
• Bi-porter, longtail, which format to choose?
Beyond the brand, which model to choose? “You have to think carefully about usage,” explains Philippe Gentil, Douze Cycles x La Mobilité Toyota business development manager. “If I want to transport my children, how I keep them safe, how I feel on my bike.”
There are in fact two main categories of cargo bike, most often electrically assisted:
- the two-wheeler with a dumpster at the front (a tricyle version also exists, this time with two wheels at the rear)
- the “longtail”, a bike with a rear deck.
The first will be more dedicated to goods transport use, but can also accommodate children, in seats with small safety belts. “When they are 3, 4 years old, we can put them in the front, but then when they are older we can move to a longtail model, where we can easily transport two children in the back,” explains Gwenola Periot, responsible for communications within the Trek brand.
Longtails, narrower and also lighter, are currently popular for their maneuverability in large cities like Paris. Particularly because they are easier to park than bikes with a skip.
“You also have to be aware of your constraints,” explains Jérôme Sorrel. “All cargo bikes can transport children, but a two-wheeler can be cumbersome if you live in the city, even if the children are well protected, and if, like They are in front, we can communicate with them.”
With accessories, a longtail can also be scalable, to adapt to the transport of increasingly larger passengers, via a “cage” when the passengers are smaller, a luggage rack with side bars to hold on to, a longer luggage rack to accommodate several children. The longtail can also accommodate an adult rear passenger, depending on the weight it can carry.
• And the weight?
Once the use is defined, another question quickly arises: that of the size of the bike. Having a large cargo bike in the city can quickly become cumbersome, like driving a van in the city, especially when maneuvering on foot. From 25kg for the most compact longtails to 70kg for a large steel cargo bike, everything here depends on the use.
Beyond the weight of the bike – parking it and rotating it is a little help to take – you especially have to look at how much weight it can carry. The Toyota Cargo Verso can, for example, carry 100kg in its front box, the Trek Fetch 4 with two seats at the front can support almost 175kg (passengers and luggage included).
Less expensive than the two previous models, at 2,999 euros, the Decathlon R500E can transport two children or an adult in addition to the driver, i.e. 170kg in total.
• What accessories to choose?
“You have to think about the bike, but also about all the accessories, it’s a real determining factor,” tells us Jérôme Sorrel, founding partner of the specialized site weelz.ouestfrance.fr. These accessories will allow the bike to evolve according to usage.
Rear toe clips on a longtail or a front step are very interesting elements. The rear floors can be changed for boarding, the same goes for rain protection (for example, count on nearly 200 euros to adapt it to Decathlon's R500E). Same in a two-wheeler: additional child seats can be added.
And here it is important to find out about the brand's strategy so as not to see the bill inflate.
“Some like [la marque française, NDLR] Mustache deliver the bike almost ready for use, others deliver a bare bike to which you have to add 100 euros here, 100 euros there, and pretty quickly we increase the bill by 500 euros,” Jérôme warns us. Sorrell.
Another essential element: the anti-theft device “to attach it to a fixed point” or better still, a secure bicycle parking space in town for around fifteen euros per month. Note that bicycles often have an integrated anti-theft device on one of the wheels.
• Is specific insurance required?
Officially, no additional insurance is compulsory, the cargo bike is covered like any bicycle by civil liability insurance.
Online insurer Leocare advises taking out special insurance “which covers theft and battery failure, but also expensive accessories such as waterproof tarpaulins, storage systems and child seats.”
This insurance can also cover breakdown assistance, which can be interesting for professionals in particular, or just to have assistance that can also come and pick up passengers. For example, online insurance Leocare offers breakage and theft insurance at 14.77 euros per month for a cargo bike worth 3,000 euros.
Toyota, for its part, has developed a broader range of services, because the cargo bike is “considered a classic vehicle”. “Toyota offers its insurance, its financing, with offers dedicated to cargo bikes but duplicated from the automotive world,” summarizes Philippe Gentil. The manufacturer also offers a hands-on session with the bike to learn the basics on this bike, which is heavier and longer than a classic model, included in the price of the bike.
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