-
Agreed. Though, I made the bags for the side of my XC, and use them infrequently. They work fine but usually I just bungee a crate and stuff whatever I need to carry into there. It’s rare I load enough to need two large dump bags and a crate.
I was lucky my XC frame was both cheap and came with the sidecar worth almost as much as what I paid all in.
Suppose you’re right about the cost of accessories, but that isn’t something I factor into the initial outlay because all that guff for carrying kids is equally or more expensive for the fancy long johns. Look upthread at what some companies want for a kiddy box! At least the longtails have no height restriction.
I would totally own a long john as well, but there has been nothing that needed carrying that the XC didn’t cope with so far.
You are reading a single comment by @benp1 and its replies.
Click here to read the full conversation.
pdlouche
@benp1
The longtails start cheap but always end up quite a bit more. Ute is somewhere between £600 and £1000 depending on spec. Mundo is similar price range. Big Dummy is usually £1k up
BUT, look carefully at the spec, it's worth getting one for more cash with more accessories as buying them individually adds up quick. You want things like rack top, panniers, u tubes or footboards, mudguards, lights etc. Something like panniers might cost £100-£200 (you need the big wide long tail ones, not two sets of normal rack sized panniers as they don't hold anywhere near as much)
I reckon I could attached three boxes to my longtail, one on top and one on each side, but I'd struggle to store it in my garage and my kids then couldn't sit on it
I don't think there's a clear perfect cargo bike, they all vary in style and therefore suit different uses. It's one of the reasons why I like them so much (and another reason why I could easily justify having more than 1 type!)