If you’ve ever put a seven year old on the back of a longtail, you’ll know the move. They put a hand on your shoulder, swing a leg up and over, then duck their head and shoulders under the safety bar like they’re getting into a tent. Some kids give up halfway and wait for you to lift them on.
We’ve redesigned the Crew Cab so they don’t have to do that anymore.
What’s the Crew Cab?
The Crew Cab turns the Evamos rear rack into a safety cage. It gives kids who’ve outgrown a child seat something solid to hold onto, and something solid between them and the road. We recommend it on every Evamos carrying kids, which is why it’s in the accessory bundle. The backrest comes with it, and seat cushions are separate (they’re in the bundle too).
The bars always did their job well. The problem was getting a bigger kid past them.
The gate
We’re pretty proud of this one. One side of the Crew Cab now opens, so your child steps in, sits down and you close it behind them, the same way they’d get into a car. There’s no ducking underneath, and no lifting a bar out of the way with one hand while you hold the bike up with the other.
It shuts with a bolt: a big handled screw that you turn by hand, so there are no tools to find and nothing to lose in the bottom of a bag.
It might not sound like much, but it means your kid can get themselves onto the bike instead of needing you every time, which you’ll appreciate on a rainy school run with two kids and a set of lights to catch.
Two positions, for little kids and bigger ones
The bars mount in two places on each side, inner and outer. Use the inner position for smaller kids, so there’s less room to slide about and the bar’s within reach of short arms. Move to the outer position once they outgrow that, so a nine year old isn’t sitting with their knees pinned and their shoulders against the bars.
Moving them is a five minute job with a couple of bolts and an Allen key, so you can change it as they grow.
One thing to know before you order: if you’re running a Thule Yepp 2 Maxi child seat, use the outer position, because the seat needs the room. So a typical Evamos goes outer bars while there’s a child seat on board, inner bars for a few years once the seat comes off and they’re still small, then outer again as they grow.
Why we bothered
The whole idea of a longtail is that it grows with your family. A rear rack that suits a four year old but frustrates a nine year old doesn’t do that, so we fixed it at the design stage rather than have you work around it for the next six years.
The Evamos Crew Cab is $169 and fits the Tribe Evamos Longtail. All mounting hardware is included, and it also comes in the Evamos bundle.
If you’ve got questions, email hello@tribebikes.com.au.
