When my wife and I bought our first bike—a Radwagon 4 by a Seattle corporation Rad Power Bikes—four years ago, we did it to replace one of our two family cars. For city trips of 5 miles or less, we thought we could (and should!) use a bike. At the time, our children were very young, so we needed a bike that could carry them safely and also handle whatever we were hauling for a given day.
Radwagon answered those needs; the direct-to-consumer company allowed me to configure the bike to meet my exact needs during the ordering process. I chose a front basketa padded back seat to my son, and a Thule Yepp 2 Maxi seat to protect my daughter at that time. I also bought a few safety lights and bells from my local bike shop (more on those accessories below).
Once the bike arrived and was assembled, my wife and I used it to carry our kids around town. We drove to and from school and babysitting, play dates, and doctor appointments; he made quick runs of groceries; and go anywhere else we needed to go near home.
On any given day, the front basket continues to function as a cornucopia holding whatever we may need for the job or task at hand. On a recent trip to a local playground, my bike basket held the following: a small soccer ball, my wife’s small shoulder bag, my bike lock and cable, two water bottles (plus a third water bottle in the bike’s bottle cage), three baseball caps, two baseball gloves, one baseball, a small tin lunch box filled with two Pokémon cards, two business binders. The basket has also successfully transported two large bags of groceries or three smaller ones, and, at one point, a small guitar amp I found at our local store.
The bike is still useful and functional, but my family’s needs have changed since we bought it. My 4-year-old daughter is now too big to fit in her Yepp seat, and my 8-year-old son is too distracted to see on the back of his dad’s big bike. (Not to mention, he’s now strong enough to ride across town on his own bike.)
With my kids outgrowing the beloved family ebike, I’ve been thinking about its next iteration as a cargo schlepper—a grocery hauler, if you will—and how I can configure it to carry as much stuff as possible. Ebikes now form a large categoryto serve mountain bikers and travelers, folding and traveling to fit a variety of needs. There are strategic ways to increase your bike’s capacity for each of those purposes, but here I’ll stick to focusing on the two I know best: carrying the family (Family Carrier) and carrying lots of stuff (Product Builder).
Family Car
Photo: Michael Venutolo-Mantovani
If you use your ebike transport your childrenyou’ll want seats that are comfortable, safe and appropriate for their age.
