Busting myths at the London Cargo Bike Festival

Kids Bike Search

151 bikes match

The first ever London Cargo Bike festival took place on April 1^st 2023 at London Guildhall in the heart of the City of London.

Cycle Sprog’s Saskia and Karen were there to find out more about the latest cargo bike offerings that are getting more and more families out of their cars and onto two or three wheels.

The juxtaposition between the historic splendour of the 600 year old buildings with cutting edge solutions for urban mobility couldn’t have been starker.

The day offered a chance for families to test ride a huge selection of different cargo bikes from a wide range of brands.

We’d taken the decision to leave our own Cycle Sprogs at home so we could fully concentrate on test riding the bikes on offer and speaking to the range of experts on hand.

The cargo bikes we rode showed just how far the industry has come in such a short time.

Wide range of family bicycles at the 2023 London Cargo Bike Festival

There were so many cargo bikes to test ride that we didn't quite manage them all (but we had a good attempt!)

What struck us was that whenever the topic of cargo bikes is brought up there’s always someone saying “Ah, but what about….”

It was brilliant to see so many solutions to all these “Ah buts”.

Ah, but family cargo bikes are too expensive!

One of the criticisms of family cargo bikes has always been that they’re far too expensive for “ordinary people”.

Let’s ignore the fact that with a family cargo bike you avoid the costs of a car, trips to the fuel station, MOTs, Vehicle Excise Duty, parking, Clean Air Zone charges - or alternatively of public transport and taxis - and deal purely with the upfront costs of a cargo bike.

There’s now a growing number of cargo bikes that are much more affordable than some of the earlier models.

For example, Amcargobikes Deluxe E-cargo starts at £2199. The bike has a range of 45 miles and has a 150 kg load capacity.

Ah, I don’t want a box bike

For older kids you want to carry on board you’re looking at a longtail cargo bike with two seats behind.

We didn’t get to test the most popular long tail in the UK, the Tern GSD because the queue was too long. It didn’t feel right to take the opportunity away from others, as we’ve both ridden this bike before.

The Tern GSD R14 comes with 2 batteries, the most powerful Bosch mid-motor, suspension and a belt drive. It will set you back £8,600 without any accessories.

So we had to settle for riding the much smaller Tern HSD P9 instead, which is good if you’re riding solo or with “things” to transport (great for those with older kids who ride by themselves).

It also works if you have one child to transport (as it fits one of several rear child seats without the need for an adaptor) or want to pull a trailer.

Hopefully all this has made you realise times are changing.

Cargo bikes are fast becoming a serious option for getting a family around and about.

Having written all this I’m reminded that the main argument whenever people talk about cycling as a mode of transport is “Ah, but it’s impossible not to drive if you’re a mum with kids”

For example only last week a TV producer tweeted this:

It’s no coincidence that young men are some of the biggest advocates of killing off the car industry. They’re mostly fit and healthy; they can’t envisage otherwise. They can’t imagine being a mum carting around children nor the woman trying to get home without a taxi at night.

— Charlotte Gill (@CharlotteCGill) March 28, 2023

The cargo bike festival well and truly showed that it is possible to “cart your children (and so much more) around” without the use of a car.

What we need now is for the investment in safe routes to school, shops, parks, playgroups, nurseries and housing estates across the country so families everywhere can choose this more sustainable, healthy, cheap and fun mode of transport.