There is more than one way to skin a cat just like there is more than one way to transport such unfortunate cats or other things on your bicycle. To be exact, there are three widely used, reliable ways to carry stuff on you bicycle. We’ve looked at carrying stuff by bike in Bicycling Bags and Racks and in Bike Cargo Trailers. Now we’re going to round it out with a look at the category of Cargo Bicycles.There have been many interesting debates in various corners of the bicycle interwebs, breaking down the pros and cons of bike bags/racks vs. bike trailers, bike trailers vs. cargo bikes and bike bags/racks vs. cargo bikes. Here at Utility Cycling we like to embrace all things that give bicycles more use, so naturally, we are fans of all 3 approaches. While a specific approach can be distinctly better than the others in a particular situation, generally any method for carrying stuff on your bicycle dramatically increases the utility potential of cycling.In many instances some combination of cargo bike, bike trailer and bike bags/racks will prove to be a very effective approach. Many utility cyclists utilize a combination of products mixing and matching depending on the requirements of their load. A good example is owning both a mid-size cargo bike and a bike trailer and hooking up the bike trailer to the cargo bike when the load gets larger.
Standard Length Cargo Bikes
The standard length cargo bike is at its core just a heavy-duty bicycle. The vast majority of bicycles really can be converted into cargo bikes, though there are plenty of specific sport and recreation bicycles that should not be outfitted for cargo in any way other than possibly adding a bike trailer. That said, many an old mountain bike or town bike has been successfully outfitted for cargo hauling.Most standard length cargo bikes have heavy duty bike racks on both the front and rear of the bicycle. Some standard length bikes focus the cargo area on just the front or rear rack. The use of a very heavy-duty front rack configuration can almost be considered a style of cargo bike in itself. The entire design of the Pashley cargo bike pictured above, is focused around an efficient placement of the cargo. The small 20″ front wheel and long head tube combine to offer up a nice area to place the cargo basket. This design offers a balanced ride where the cyclist has excellent visibility and accessibility to their cargo.The distinction between a standard length cargo bike and bikes with front and/or rear racks setup specifically for bike touring or bike commuting is a slim distinction. Basically the intended use is in large part what defines it. Overall, it could be said that standard length cargo bikes have the sturdiest bike frame and components, offer up the most rugged racks designed for heavy and awkward load carrying and focus on reliability and balance over factors that are more emphasized in commuter and touring bicycles such as efficient riding positions and lighter weight design.
Rear Loading Bicycles: The Longtail
![xtracycle-y-frame-near-element-550x317](https://www.campfirecycling.com/wp-content/uploads/xtracycle-y-frame-near-element-550x317.jpg)
Longtail bicycles have been very popular over the last decade, popularized by the introduction and wide adoption of the Xtracycle longtail extension system which easily converts almost any standard bicycle into a longtail bicycle. The popularity of the Xtracycle was followed by a variety of companies building longtail bikes. The list of companies focusing on longtail bicycles now includes Yuba, Madsen, Surly with their Big Dummy, Kona with their Ute and Trek with their Tranport.
Longtail bicycles offer up a great deal of versatility in a design that is very similar to traditional bicycle design. Components and accessories designed for standard length bicycles work just as well on longtails. The essential difference is that the rear wheel of the bicycle is extended rearward generally from 5″ to 20″ extra by extending the chainstays and seatstays of the frame or effectively doing the same thing through the installation of an Xtracycle kit. Generally the only required changes to the bicycle components are a longer chain and longer rear brake and derailleur cables.Longtails are popular as both cargo carriers and child transporters. The configuration of most long tails generally offers up side and top loading. Long loads suc
h as ladders and surfboards are carried on the side of the longtail by having the load angled out past the cyclist. Most longtails offer a variety of racks, bags and other strapping systems to handle a wide variety of loads. For transporting children, most longtails can be setup for carrying up to two children on the deck. The Xtracycle PeaPod work on Xtracycles, the Surly Big Dummy and the Kona Ute. Two of these bike child seats can be installed or an older child can sit on the deck while the younger child rides in the PeaPod.The Madsen longtail offers a unique approach in that the rear wheel is a small 20″ wheel that is extended close to 3 feet behind the cranks. A large multi-use plastic tub sits over the rear wheel and can be used for both kids or cargo or can be quickly removed for installing other cargo carrying devises.The versatility on longtail bicycles extend beyond their ability to carry cargo and children. Most longtails offer a perfect spot to bring along an adult passenger. The Xtracycle Footsies and Stoker Bar Kit make the Xtracycle Deck a safe and fun spot for an adult rider to jump on and join the ride.
Front Loading Bicycles: Bakfiets
Front Loading Tricycles
Rear Loading Tricycles
Others: Side Loaders, Loaded Frames, Monster Bikes
Cargo Bikes In Use Far and Wide
In our article about bike cargo trailers, I focused on the use of bike cargo trailers more than on their design. While there are some interesting design differentiations with bike cargo trailers, their designs are generally similar enough that their usage had more interesting aspects to discuss from the Utility Cycling perspective. Cargo bikes on the other hand are quite interesting in their design differentiations and I hope that in explaining the different aspects of their design the different applications for Utility Cycling would be apparent.Referring to my bike cargo trailers article and their utility cycling modes, is useful in this discussion of cargo bikes. For a moment, consider a cargo bike to be a bicycle with the bicycle cargo trailer built into it. A bike with a bike cargo trailer offers the ability to remove the cargo carrying portion, reducing down to just the standard bike. Conversely the cargo bike always has the ability to carry cargo but no ability to reduce down. So while a bike cargo trailer offers added utility to a bicycle, a cargo bicycle makes that function inherent to the design. While a bike trailer can be unhitched for storage and travel, the cargo bike is quite large. On the flip side, dealing with a bike and bike trailer means dealing with two separate things to maneuver, while maneuvering a cargo bike gets the whole kit-and-kaboodle sorted out at one fell swoop. In general, it seems that cargo bikes are an ideal choice when their use is more constant and less varying where as a bike with bike cargo trailer offers more flexibility in use as well as the ability for multiple users to share them among many bicycles.Despite their major difference, the use of cargo bike and bike cargo trailers is quite similar. Both can be utilized in a wide variety of personal, service and business application. The larger versions of both offer up larger carrying capacities but are also heavier and generally designed for specific uses. Meanwhile the smaller versions are more versatile and maneuverable. Seeing how utility cycling has evolved in Europe and the US, it seems that in areas that offer up a larger cycling community and infrastructure, cargo bicycles are more widely used. The hesitation with cargo bikes is likely that with their larger relative costs, if there is not ample opportunity to use them, the return on investment may be to low. But with opportunity for plenty of use, cargo bikes are a great investment for efficiently accomplish utility cycling tasks.