What a family of 5 in Utrecht does with (and without) a cargobike
✉️ and an upgrade for my postman.
Hello everyone,
Welcome to Issue #2 of Cargobike Culture!
This week’s newsletter has the first ‘Meet a Cargobiker’ feature. I’m really interested in why people choose cargobikes, and how they use them, so these interviews should provide some answers. This time we’ll be hearing from a family in my adopted home city of Utrecht. But we’ll soon be branching out to speak to cargobikers from across the world.
Follow up
Readers from last week will remember learning about Utrecht’s shared cargobikes being taken away for the new years festivities. I’m happy to say they’ve all been returned to their normal spots. Although I’m less happy to report that this week Cargoroo also announced a price increase from 8 cents per km to 10 cents per km.
Meet a Cargobiker - A family of 5 in Utrecht, NL
Matthia (Mum) and Rik (Dad), with Josefien (5), Gijs (3) and Cecilia (9 months).
This family didn’t take long to find. Our daughters are classmates at school and they’re good friends of ours. So on a very rainy Saturday I dodged the puddles on the 5 minutes walk to their quintessential Utrecht terraced house.
I joined the family just as a leisurely weekend breakfast was being finished. Matthia and Rik had graciously found time before Josefien’s dance lesson later in the morning. So with the youngest, 9 month old Ceceillia sat on my knee, we got down to cargobikes.
Matthia and Rik moved to Utrecht 4 years ago from Amsterdam. It was while pregnant with her second child that they decided to get their first cargobike, a Babboe City electric. Matthia explained that the cargobike was one of the answers they'd found to fears about being stuck at home with two very young children. Like almost all dutch adults, both parents had their own bikes. But with babies not being able to ride in a normal bike seat until 9 months, it wasn't much help.
The Babboe changed that. With fixings for a MaxiCosi baby seat in the front, Matthia and Rik were able to get out of the house with the 2 babies when they needed to. When the third baby arrived a couple of years later, the cargobike really became the centre of the families transport.
With a permanently attached rain cover, the family would head out in all weathers on trips to the pancake house (a Dutch staple), explore new parks around the city or sometimes go on 2+ hours rides out of the city. The family have a car too, but Matthia chose the cargobike over the car whenever she could.
All was well until the family became victims of an organised cargobike theft group in 2020. Overnight their beloved Babboe bike was stolen from outside their home, the locks cut with a portable angle grinder. It was carried into a waiting van, and was found in a warehouse in Poland with hundreds of other bikes months later.
Their insurance company replaced it with another cargobike, which was good news because Matthia was pregnent with their third child Cecilia. So now with 3 kids in tow, the cargobike really proved itself as a great family transport tool. If Cecilia was sad, the older two could easily play with her since they were facing each other. Something they couldn’t do in the car.
But in 2021 the new bike was also stolen. This time they decided to try something different and the family began to rely on the neighbourhood Cargoroos.
Since becoming Cargoroo customers, they use the loan bike around once or twice a week in the summer. Like most families, they’re busy. The 2 older kids have their own dance classes, art classes and swiming lessons to get too. Plus regular trips across the city to the theatre where Matthia’s theatrical company puts on shows.
One thing the shared cargobikes lack verus your own is a rain cover. And with 3 kids under 6, that basically makes the Cargoroo only a good weather proposition.
Using the Cargoroo brought some other difficulties. You can only reserve them for up to 20 minutes ahead of when you need it. Whilst this means you can confidently leave the house and know they’ll be a bike waiting, it doesn’t help you plan ahead.
Matthia’s family have a Cargoroo at the end of their road. If that’s not available, then there are 3 more in the neighbourhood which they can try. But sometimes, especially on a sunny Saturday or Wednesday afternoon, there might be none. But even if the second choice bike is available, it’s still 300 meters (1000 feet) away, so even getting the three kids to the bike can be a logistical headache.
But despite those annoyances, the kids still love them. When I turned to Josefien and Gijs and asked them what they like about cargobikes, the first answer was trips to the pancake house. Josefien, the oldest, added that she got sick in the car, but not in the bakfiets “I like looking outside too”.
Theres something inherently sociable for the kids to be in a cargobike versus the car. Josefien said “I like being with Gijs and Cecelia so I can play with them. I can’t play with them in the car as the baby is in the front”. Plus, in the car the 2 oldest are in their own car seats, which separates them further.
So what stops Matthia and Rik choosing the Cargoroo now? Availability it a big concern, Matthia explained that it doesn’t happen often that a bike isn’t available, but when it does it’s a headache.
And what’s stopping the family from getting another cargobike of their own? Worries about security. Like most people in Utrecht, the family store their bikes outside their houses on the pavement. Whilst new builds are legally required to have some sort of secure bike parking, it is a luxury in these old parts of the city. And with even the cheapest electric cargobike starting at around €3500, and a good quality one starting at €4500, it's a big asset to leave outside.
So for now, the family will stick with the Cargoroos. The issue of theft and security is one I’ve heard over and and over again from both people selling cargobikes, and people thinking about buying one. It’s something I’ll write more about another week.
Thanks to Matthia and family for their time! And if you’re in Utrecht with kiddos, you should defiantly check out Matthias theatre company Podium Sprits.
Cargobike of the week
I was so happy to see that my local postie had been given an upgrade this week. He’s now got an electric bike, and a very cool new trailer which has more than doubled the amount of post he is delivering (how he feels about this, I’m not sure).
The bike is a customised model from Cargo Cycling, a Dutch supplier of a whole range of electric cargobike solutions. It’s been equipped with their cargo trailers My personal favourite is the ‘Cargo Challenger’, what a beast! PostNL have a whole fleet of different cargobikes which might have to be it’s own issue.
Other links of interest
Cake’s first e-bike can go over 200 miles before needing a charge
Swedish makers of expensive electric motorcycles Cake have announced a new cargobike. It’s from Sweden, so obviously the design is beautiful. But what the real selling point is the range. The Åik ships with a 750 watt battery for 75 miles of riding (a typical ebike battery is 300 watts). But users can daisychain 3 batteries together for a huge 200 miles. The batteries can also supply power to cooling or heating food crates, or work equipment. Pricing starts at €6470, and rises to over €9000 if you want all the batteries.
‘Entrenched car culture’ leaves millions of Britons in transport poverty
This week’s article from the Guardian on British car culture stirred up cycling Twitter. Reporting on a study from UK based campiagn group Bike is Best, it confirms what many of you already knew. The whole article is worth reading, but this part stuck out to me:
'Those who own a car spend on average 13% of their gross income on it, above the 10% generally seen as the indicator of transport poverty. For those paying for their car with a finance or loan deal this proportion rises to 19%.’
So the next time someone asks how you could possible spend £5000 on a cargobike, you know where to send them.
Twitter corner
Cargobike twitter provided these two gems. The first being a perfect way to transport a fence panel home.
And the second about a Dutch pharmacy using a huge cargobike for their deliverys.