2 Wheels Maybe

The Sodium, the CSC, and the Sondors  Before we get to the bikes - two explanations. First, I've been drinking coffee with motorcycle guys lately, and I'm jonesing more than usual for an electric motorcycle, so I may over-do-it with this post. Second, for an around-town motorbike, I've established my acceptable speed/range/price and examine all new bikes through that filter. I've landed on 45mph/40mile/$3,500. As much as I love being on two wheels, I don't have a big desire or the time to travel hundreds of miles per day burning up the highway. I just want a bike I can hop on and scoot about town as part of daily life. Now, let's get those wheels rolling! Sodium Xubaka (50mph/37-50miles/over $7,000) Click pic for Xubaka link So, let's start with the weirdest of the three - the Sodium Xubaka (I hope that is the French spelling of "Chewbacca". If so, they should offer a furry brown seat and a bandolier as options.) The coolest thing about the Sodium ...

For those of you who were profoundly disappointed that this year's Holiday Sale post contained almost no cargo bikes (I'm still deeply disappointed too), I thought I'd offer up my new favorite inexpensive Yuba. But first, we have to say goodbye to my old favorite inexpensive Yuba - the Mundo Classic. The Real-Deal-Steel-Steal Longtail Cargo Bike (was $999) The Mundo has been the quintessential longtail cargo bike in my cargo bike dreams, and the $999 Mundo Classic has played a crucial role in my cargo bike scheming. But now it's gone. (You can still get a Mundo, but the lowest-price version is now the $1800 Mundo Lux (which, to be fair, is a much nicer bike.) When the Mundo Classic disappeared from the website I let out a great sigh. But then I clicked on the Compact Cargo page and found a new Yuba - the Kombi. And I felt better. The new (to me) $999  Yuba Kombi So, now the world feels right-ish again. I can still order a $999 Yuba that...

Love the Mongoose logo! This is not a drill, people - it's coming to the US! It's coming in hot! Unfortunately, it's not coming in cheap. (Is this another of those presidential tariff thingies?) Since our first Mongoose Envoy post , I keep swinging back by to check on the status of the first department-store longtail cargo bike. Today my perseverance was rewarded. The Canadian link referred me back to the USA. Man was I excited! So I clicked the link and was rewarded with a little less excitement. What had been $500-Canadian had become $750-US. (Which is still pretty inexpensive for a longtail cargo, but no longer vastly less expensive than the competition.) Check out the US Mongoose Envoy site here. Not much has changed since the our first posting about the Envoy. The bike looks the same. The site still links to the really great Chris Akrigg video . (Even if you're not a cargo-bike dork, it's a lot of fun to watch.)  In case you were wo...

It's no surprise to regular readers that I'm a bit obsessed with cargo bikes. In my regular forays into the internet cargo bike jungle, I kept running across images of the Portal Longtail Cargo bike. I think it was even the first cargo bike I ever saw with a PTO. But every time I started to add it to the list of desirable longtails, I remembered there was one big problem - you could not buy one in the states or have one shipped over. Fortunately, that has changed. The main Portal site Good news, US cargo bike fans! You can now buy one stateside for $875 and get free shipping! (That's $124 less than the awesome Yuba Mundo Classic!) And there's a philanthropic BOGO as a huge bonus for us save-the-world types. What's this philanthropic BOGO thing? Toms Shoes Philanthropy Like Toms (and Bobs) shoes, when you buy a Portal Cargo Bike, the company donates a second bike to a Nepalese entrepreneur to help them in business. So, when you throw a le...

[Happy first day of the National Bike Challenge ! May you pedal healthily and joyfully, and may your bike haul all you need!] When I think of cargo bikes, two brands automatically pop into my brain - Xtracycle and Yuba. These are the two companies that have been there designing and selling longtail cargo bikes for several years and they have stayed focused specifically on cargo bikes and cargo-bike kits. In my mind, these two are the cargo-bike kings of the hill. For the last few years I've had my eye on one model - the Yuba Mundo Classic. At $999, it has continually been the best bang for the buck if you want high quality and low price. While it's not as high-tech (or light) as the more expensive Mundos, it's a beast that's capable of hauling 440 pounds and has a reputation for lasting year after year. If you're cheap like me, you know this is a great way into cargo biking. The page for saving 20% on the Mundo Classic I had not been on the Yuba s...

Okay, not a lot of Black Friday deals have been announced yet, but...   RadPower Bikes (All models) ...the ever dependable holiday sale at Rad Power Bikes has been announced, and it's impressive. All their bikes have a $300 or $400 price reduction, free shipping, and you may even be able to score and additional $200 savings if you order two. The Sale Page That means you could have a pair of Radwagons shipped for $2600. That's two electric cargo bikes for less than most places will sell you one. For $2400, you could have a pair of RadCity bikes. In our new tariffed world, this is quite a deal.   GenZe 100 Series e-Bike (Nearly New)   This one is a last-minute addition to the list, and I'm impressed. You and your sweetie can have a pair delivered to your house for less than $1500. Not bad!   This one looks like a smoking bargain to me!   Check out this big boy with 0.1 miles on it!   Evelo e-Bikes (You...

[Dual-posted on Mesquite Hugger and 2Wheels Maybe ] Cargo bike obsession - normally, I figure it's just me being an eco-dork. But lately it seems so much bigger than that. A homebuilt longtail cargo bike Cargo bikes siren sing to me for a lot of practical and impractical reasons. The biggest three are I want to do my best to go car-free/petroleum free I want to spread the word (and a cargo bike would invite a lot of questions!) I want to live healthier - both physically and financially. and a cargo bike should help with all three. A snippet of  the most recent runaway post (by MH standards) post Number 3 with a bullet! (by MH standards) Recently, though, a lot of you have been stopping by to check out cargo bike posts. Back in October, I wrote a post about a pretty simple way to build your own cargo bike. Most posts around here have an initial response of twenty to thirty clicks and then quickly die down to a click or two per week ...