It is the question everyone asks us before they buy and almost nobody asks afterwards. Let’s take a look at the pros and cons.
Four to eight thousand dollars is a lot of money for a bicycle. You can buy a used car for that (we can’t vouch for the quality of a $5,000 car!). The bike needs somewhere secure to live, and on the days it rains you will look at it and take the car anyway. If you ride with the kids once a month, you will not get your money back and we are not going to pretend otherwise.
Here is the honest test we give people on the phone. Count the trips, not the kilometres. If there are three or more car trips a week that a bike could genuinely do, school, daycare, the shops, sport, then the sums start working and keep working. Under that, buy a trailer or borrow one before you commit to anything.
What surprises people is which trips end up qualifying. Mina in Sydney does the school and daycare run daily with two kids, about 60kg between them, up what she describes as quite a steep hill. She had not been confident about carrying both at once. Three months in she is riding 25km every Sunday for fun, which was not the plan when she bought it.
3 months in. And I can confidently say that I love my cargo bike. I use it daily for school and daycare drop off and pick up. 2 kids at about 60kg. We live in a suburb with quite a steep hill. I wasn’t confident having the 2 kids at the same time. But what a powerful bike!
Mina, Sydney
That is the pattern we see more than any other. People buy a cargo bike to solve one specific trip, and then it quietly eats the rest of the week. Nell in Sydney bought hers as a car replacement for two kids under three, and it now carries the kids’ bikes, scooters, daycare bags and beach toys as well.
It’s cut down our car trips massively, and means we can go further each day with the kids and stay out longer because you can pack everything you need into it.
Nell, Sydney
Neither of them is talking about money.
The money, since you asked
A cargo bike costs you the purchase, a service or so a year, and electricity measured in cents per charge. No registration, no fuel, no insurance premium unless you add it to your contents policy. Set against a second car those are rounding errors, which is why we wrote a separate post about that comparison. But if you are hoping for a number that makes the decision for you, there isn’t one. There is a trip count, and only you know yours.
The bit nobody factors in
We opened by saying you could buy a used car for the same spend. That used car will be worth very little in five years. A cargo bike that has been looked after will not, and second-hand ones sell well.
The reason is mechanical rather than magical. There is no engine to wear out. A frame is a frame. The components that wear out can be replaced reasonably cost effectively.
Which changes what you are actually risking. You are not spending $5,000 and watching it disappear. You are spending $5,000 and getting a real share of it back at the other end, and the other end usually arrives because your life moved on rather than because the bike stopped working. Kids outgrow the bike. That is the normal exit, not a failure, and it is worth planning for instead of dreading: the bike does its job for the years you need it, and then a family at the start of that same stretch buys it from you.
“Looked after” is doing real work in that sentence. Keep it out of the weather, keep it clean, and get it serviced about once a year. Do those three things and it holds its value.
When we tell people not to buy one
If your school run is 15km each way on a road with no shoulder, no. If you have nowhere secure to keep it, no, and a shed you have to wheel it through the house to reach is also a no, because you will stop. If the budget only reaches a bike you do not fully trust with your kids on it, wait and save.
Common questions
How much does an electric cargo bike cost in Australia?
Between about $3,500 and $14,500, with most family longtails between $4,000 and $8,000. We keep a full price guide with the current market.
How long do they last?
The frame and drivetrain are built for years of daily use. The battery is the part with a finite life and it is replaceable, expect to not need to replace it for a few years though. Our bikes carry a 24 month warranty.
What is a used cargo bike worth after a few years?
More than most people expect, provided it has been stored properly and serviced. There is no engine to wear out, and demand for second-hand family cargo bikes is steady. Facebook Marketplace is a good place to check second hand prices.
Do I need a licence or registration?
No. A pedal-assist bike that meets the Australian standard is legally a bicycle, so there is no licence, no registration and no CTP.
