Cargo Bikes

[AngelaChasesBestLife]

We are in the early stages of researching buying a cargo bike to use for nursery runs when my child starts nursery at 13 months early next year and alternative to using our car. There's so much info out there but a bit bewildered as to where to start - for those who have one - what are your top tips / experience of having one?

No advice but I'm in the same boat! A cheap one my research found was a Burley bee trailer that hooks on to à bike. A fancy one is the tern which my husband is very keen on getting for the forthcoming school run!

No answers but wondering the same so hope someone comes along with advice! Does anyone have experience of leaving one locked up on the street rather than a garage (flat dwellers here with no bike storage). I imagine insurance for that would be £££.

So supposedly the more expensive ones like the tern lock up securely enough to leave out etc, obviously the smaller ones not so much

Ah thanks for the insight, good to know.

We have recently bought a Tern GSD. It was super pricey but it is absolutely excellent. If you only have one child, the HSD looks great and is a bit cheaper. The cost we managed by buying it on interest free finance for about £100 a month on the logic that at least part of it will be offset by reduced petrol bills. Our idea is that the car is only used for motorway journeys and everything local is bike. For me one of the benefits of the Tern is that because the children are behind it rides like a normal bike whereas trailers or any of the front carrying bikes are either more cumbersome or need a knack to ride.
to be honest though, at 13 months I would just carry them on a normal bike with a seat. We’ve done this with our first but he’s just got too heavy for it and we’ve now got a second so needed a different solution. Carrying them on a normal bike is a low cost way of just checking that cycling works for your family before a bigger commitment. Happy to answer any other questions.
oh and we also looked at Rad Power bikes as similar but much cheaper but decided against due to awkwardness of EU shipping. Worth also looking at new British company Mycle who do a v similar bike much cheaper too.

We have one - child is 6 nearby 7 and hardly use it now as they cycle themselves except in extreme weather, but have used it since they were 3. Only regret is not getting it sooner! It’s so much fun - you get lots of nice smiles and waves! I felt much safer on it than with a bike seat which I always found threw me off balance a bit. Definitely try a selection out - mine is a trike style (a winther kangaroo) and it handles very differently to a normal bike so you need to try a few to see what suits you. They are expensive but ours was basically a replacement car for two years. Having said that, only really useful for short journeys (our nursery run was 2 miles each way) as they are heavy and therefore quite slow. So much room to put everything though!