Canadian Bike Shop Looking for Recommendations on Some Cargo eBikes to Carry

UnitedSport&Cycle · May 29, 2020

We've had a few customers inquire about getting cargo eBikes from our bike shop.

The cargo eBike is one of the few eBike categories that we don't carry right now, but we're definitely open to bringing a few in.

Are there any other shop employees on here with some recommendations of a few good cargo eBikes that might be a fit for a Canadian consumer?

Is there something that will handle our winters, is good quality and has good parts support, and won't cost a million dollars to freight over?

The price point with freight on some of cargo eBikes that customers have asked about is pretty high, so there is some hesitancy on bringing some in for a limited market, so we want to make sure we're looking at brands very deliberately. We do some special orders with Belize Bikes already, and it looks like they have some options, but we would be curious about other brands to look at in this area.

Ravi Kempaiah · May 29, 2020

UnitedSport&Cycle said:
Is there something that will handle our winters, is good quality and has good parts support, and won't cost a million dollars to freight over?

Simple yet sturdy:

Spicy Curry V3 | Yuba Cargo Bikes

With a lower center of gravity at the back that offers exceptional stability. The Spicy Curry is the ultimate longtail.

yubabikes.com

e-boy · May 29, 2020

I see you stock mostly ebikes from the Big Three . Sadly they don't offer e-Cargo's .

jaizon · May 29, 2020

I would look into Tern!!!

indianajo · May 29, 2020

I'll say my yuba has no trouble with loose or broken spokes, or stretching control cables requiring contstant shifter adjustment. I have ~5000 miles on my yuba bodaboda. They are not cheap. Nor are they built of imitation steel. They do seriously cater to women with small children. Like the spoke cover that keeps fingers out of the pinch point. Special mount points for some popular brand of child seat. Padded benches and aux handlebars for the 4-7 year old category. There are mount points in the frame for a front basket for groceries/diapers in addition to the kids on the back. The front basket doesn't swing with the wheel. I don't have kids, carry groceries. Had gross weight up to 400 lb 3 weeks ago on 2.1" tires, I'm 170 of it. My original yuba seat was hard and wrong, but selle royale fits.
Cheaper are magnum & m2s. smaller is blix with 24" wheels. Look at known problems thread, m2s just hit for some broken spokes. The competition radwagon just hit again May 4 with a wheel with 4 bent spokes. Radwagon seems to have the market saturated with cheap trash that looks just like a bicycle, but isn't meant to be actualy ridden.
More expensive is reiss & mueller. Not to many complaints about those.

e-boy · May 29, 2020

Benno Boost E
https://www.bennobikes.com/e-bikes/boost/

They offer a studded winter tire option .

UnitedSport&Cycle · May 29, 2020

Ravi Kempaiah said:
Simple yet sturdy:

Spicy Curry V3 | Yuba Cargo Bikes

With a lower center of gravity at the back that offers exceptional stability. The Spicy Curry is the ultimate longtail.

yubabikes.com

Thanks! Yuba as a brand might be a front runner. Has come up a couple times as a suggestion. With that particular model, are there stability issues with having the load behind the rider and so high up though?

UnitedSport&Cycle · May 29, 2020

e-boy said:
I see you stock mostly ebikes from the Big Three . Sadly they don't offer e-Cargo's .

Nope. I suspect it is too niche for them to ever do.

The Big 3 don't do folding eBikes or throttle eBikes either but we found some other brand options for our customers asking for those: Del Sol & Evo. The additional bonus being that Del Sol and Evo come at a slightly lower price point than the Big 3 too.

UnitedSport&Cycle · May 29, 2020

indianajo said:
I'll say my yuba has no trouble with loose or broken spokes, or stretching control cables requiring contstant shifter adjustment. I have ~5000 miles on my yuba bodaboda. They are not cheap. Nor are they built of imitation steel. They do seriously cater to women with small children. Like the spoke cover that keeps fingers out of the pinch point. Special mount points for some popular brand of child seat. Padded benches and aux handlebars for the 4-7 year old category. There are mount points in the frame for a front basket for groceries/diapers in addition to the kids on the back. The front basket doesn't swing with the wheel. I don't have kids, carry groceries. Had gross weight up to 400 lb 3 weeks ago on 2.1" tires, I'm 170 of it. My original yuba seat was hard and wrong, but selle royale fits.
Cheaper are magnum & m2s. smaller is blix with 24" wheels. Look at known problems thread, m2s just hit for some broken spokes. The competition radwagon just hit again May 4 with a wheel with 4 bent spokes. Radwagon seems to have the market saturated with cheap trash that looks just like a bicycle, but isn't meant to be actualy ridden.
More expensive is reiss & mueller. Not to many complaints about those.

Thanks for the comprehensive response! That helps a ton!

That "Mom with kids" is definitely the demo that's been asking us for cargo bikes, so that's good to know. Well, and also lots of people with pet dogs!

How do you find the stability / centre of gravity on the Boda Boda when it's all loaded up? I see Yuba has a "front cargo" option as well, which seems to me it would be more stable? Anybody here have experience with that one?

Haha, besides Electra Townies, I don't think I've ever heard anyone ever comment that the stock seat on a bicycle is comfortable., but point taken.

Yuba has been suggested a few times, so this could be the winner, but I will look through this great forum for more info on the Blix, Reiss, and Mueller options you mentioned as well.