Every cargo bike sold in Australia, by type.

A mid drive(Bosch, Shimano, Bafang M-series) sits at the pedals and works through the bike's gears. A hub drive lives in the wheel and pushes it directly, in one fixed gear. On a light commuter the difference is preference. On a loaded cargo bike it is the whole game, because Australia caps every legal e-bike at 250 watts of continuous power, and the only way to turn a capped motor into more hill-climbing force is to gear it down. A mid drive can; a hub drive cannot. With 60 kilograms of kids aboard on a real hill, that is the difference between torque you can use and a motor working at its limit.

That is why every Tribe bike runs a mid drive, and why the pattern in the tables reads the way it does: mid drives mostly cluster above $8,000, the bikes priced below ours are hub drives, and the cheapest mid drive in this entire guide is our Evamos Longtail at $3,990. Where the drive column says “Not stated”, the retailer's page does not name the system, and it is worth asking before you buy.

Start with format, not brand: our cargo trike guide walks the trade-offs. On price, every longtail cheaper than our Evamos runs a hub drive, and Urban Arrow and Riese & Muller own the European premium tier. The Tern GSD is the benchmark longtail and a genuinely excellent bike; it is also roughly double the price of our Evamos Longtail. Whether that difference is worth it to you is exactly the judgement these tables exist to help you make.

Every Tribe bike carries a 24 month warranty on the bike, electronics and non-consumables. The Original, Ricky Rickshaw and Triberoo are delivered ready to ride; the Evamos arrives in a carton with the tools and instructions to assemble it, or a mobile mechanic can do it for you.