Are there such things as secure-ish bike trailers? Or power assist #bike trailers? Or are there #eBikes#eBike that can handle hauling some significant cargo?
I'm wondering if it would be practical to replace my ailing car with an eBike and trailer. Use cases are 1) commute around town, 2) shopping around town, 3) haul two peoples' worth of #scuba gear around town (and then store it safely while locked to a pretty hefty public bike rack), 4) occasional use as a mounain bike on 4x4 trails.
@douglasvb atomiczombie sells plans for such a thing, though it looks like his needs to be modernized (lead acid batteries). I've never seen an electric bike trailer, though the concept can work. Beware that trailers pushing can handle poorly, make sure you are im control and wear safety gear.
Regular ebikes and unpowered trailers is probably the best route. You can put spare batteries in the trailer, which can be handy.
In Denmark and the Netherlands, electric cargo bikes are quite popular for that exact purpose. In Copenhagen we still typically use the car to actually go to dive sites as they’re typically quite far from the dive club, but I know people who moved flats using nothing more than cargo bikes.
@douglasvb I also helped a friend electrify his cargo bike. Took a couple days, and we got some ridiculous parts directly from China, not necessarily in line with EU regulations. 250W is the limit in many places, however for a cargo bike 1000W is quite an upgrade. I think the bike would get 60km of range fully loaded (two people + gear) in fully electric (no human pedalling).
Won’t work for trails, but it’s an awesome solution for shopping/getting around town with the family.
Another alternative would be two eBikes and trailers -- one for each of the two of us. I was figuring that my partner could have a smaller eBike and I've have a bigger one with the trailer. But maybe two bigger eBikes with identical trailers to each haul our own gear? 🤔
Although at that point, I think we'd be approaching the same price as buying a used car.
@douglasvb@teotwaki a Madsen for you and most of the gear, something more compact for partner, that you could ride off road maybe. As long as you put miles on the bikes, they will pay for themselves and then dividends the following years, while a used car is just a money pit. Got rid of 2nd car 8 years ago, still haven't spent that whole $20-40k on e-bikes despite making the effort to 😂
Add comment