Best Cargo Bikes for Too Many Kids (3) with Off Road Ability

just to add, suspension is useful on a cargo for further emptying your wallet

Sure there’s some special cases where it’s handy but I doubt 99% of the time it’s doing more than adding complexity, expense and an unnecessary ~100hr-if-u-r-lucky service interval.

I mean, I’m sure our kids would complain about the bumpy unsuspended ride - if they weren’t so busy sleeping.

I would also contest this 'kids prefer a smooth ride' hypothesis. Obviously I'm basing this purely on my own two weirdos, but when given the choice between the smooth way home and the bumpy way home, the only time they opt for the smooth way is when they are poorly and / or emotionally distressed. The rest of the time they want me to smash as many roots, rocks, potholes and speedbumps as I possibly can.

I can’t imagine the cost offset due to the complexity of smaller damper design either to be honest.
Massive tyres would work near enough as well.

this is a bike forum not a debating forum tho. There’s a huge range of riders and use cases, so the idea that suspension adds nothing 99% of the time and is just expensive complexity is just hyperbole. It depends entirely on the road surface, number of kerbs you have to mount/drop, all sorts of things. i appreciate that places with half decent infrastructure may not require sus but 10km of basically pavé every day might make it useful. It also matters a lot how old the kids are.

I think we can all agree suspension is expensive complexity (regular service intervals, expensive to repair), the question is whether it’s worth it for the rider. My experience riding up to three kids around the cobbled hills of Edinburgh is no, the kids just want a cushion.

this is a bike forum not a debating forum tho.

Its like you have never been on a bike forum... What is it for if not for debate, arguing and petty squabbles...?

Suspension on cargo bikes is 99% marketing, the rest I would guess is to cut tooling and engineering costs.

Riese and Muller Load 75. Your bank account won't thank you but your kids will.

What I mean is that we’re not searching for an absolute existential truth, so one person’s decision might be different from another’s and that’s ok. The cost / benefit / risk trade-off is personal and we can put our own choices across without having to convince others that they’re wrong. This isn’t Facebook last time I checked :)

For myself I’d never put my child in a tag-along trailer for example as I don’t trust motor vehicles - almost all collisions I’ve been involved in have been me being rear ended by a car that wasn’t paying attention, and anyway I want to interact with my child whilst riding, so a front loading bike is my preference. Yet both tag-alongs and long tails have been suggested to OP.

Same for suspension or ABS, the benefits may or may not outweigh the costs. It’s useful to hear that other rider’s kids aren’t that bothered about rough surfaces and maybe suspension isn’t always necessary. But remember that OP is asking about riding with infants / toddlers and specifically off-road.

Your bank account won't thank you but your kids will

You’re right. That said it’s a lot cheaper than an electric car or moving house

I think that its more of a point of it being pointless versus costly. And im not sure I understand the longtails being bad for interacting with the kids? (not my experience at all)

Great that that’s not your experience. I want to keep my adventurous and confident toddler in my line of sight all the time, plus I want to share the same view as him at the same time. On a long tail the child is peering around you to see forward and rider often sees things before passenger.

Yeh, after 2 years with the WeeRide (top tube mounted, front facing seat), I really enjoy that shared experience. Rented a bike on holiday with a rear-rack mounted child seat and didn't like it at all.

Used prices for R&M's Load 75 (note, not the Load4 75) have tumbled last month.

Basically the Load4 is the same bike but with the Bosch Smart System (ABS, auto-locking, alarm and GPS tracking built in) rather than the older Bosch Gen4 system. The problem has been that for 2023, Bosch Smart System was not dual battery and not compatible with Rohloff hubs. August 1st R&M announced their 2024 models which include both, so there's not really any reason to buy a new Load 75 (non smart-system) any more.

There are used Load 75 bikes out there being sold for £4k which were fetching closer to £6k a couple of months ago. you won't get the alarm system, GPS or auto-locking, or ABS but if you can live without those (or add them aftermarket) then there are some good deals to be had right now.

Regardless there's a good UK cargo-bike buy and sell group on FB which is probably worth joining.

What I mean is that we’re not searching for an absolute existential truth,

This is true - but we are looking to offer sound advice.

My advice is worth what the OP paid for it but it does have some sound points of reference, e.g. mechanic workshop chops, plenty of off road experience (racing and recreational), owner of cargo bike and kids that we’ve been pretty adventurous with. At not one point would sus have improved our experience but it would have meant a significant reduction in durability, more shitty noises as things wore out, additional expense and bench time for the bike and the risk of the bike becoming bricked due to part availability etc etc. which given that it was our primary way of getting the kids around would have been a bit crap.

Sus on cargo bikes is for cargo fleet outfits moving sensitive loads who can tolerate permanently rotating a bike on the bench or have in house mechanics working every evening to keep things running.

On the other hand, I have used a load 75 almost daily for the last two years, it has had one service, and I have had no issues with sus. It is also great fun to ride.

@Howard
yeah that's totally fair man, I hear you and you could be quite correct. And it's a minefield out there, the market is going mainstream and that brings lots more marketing hype.

There are stories out there about the Rohloff E-14 reliability (in some cases it just dumps its oil over the brake rotor) and servicability is problematic as seals aren't available to consumers anymore. I still spec'd one, we'll see. Personally I'm happy to make the tradeoff on sus because I wanted ABS (where I live is hilly AF) and I get (almost) free servicing for life from my LBS. I'm just wary of the '99% of the time' positions on here (not just you) because invariably they're hyperbolic statements.

Hope you and the kids are well, it's been like 10+ years since i last saw you IRL (Dunwich Dynamo maybe?)

For what it's worth I don't think you're wrong with your choice, or suspension is useless per se. It's just that IMO presenting some features or accessories -invariably found on expensive bikes - as essential is basically suggesting that if you cannot afford them you can't carry your child. And that I think should be challenged, because not everyone can spend that sort of money, but all parents should be encouraged to ride with their kids, if they can safely do so.

Here's some more unsolicited and unhelpful anecdata on cargo bike suspension. 3 out of the 4 Urban Arrows in our fleet at work have had the suspension forks replaced after not a huge amount of time or miles, no doubt the 4th will follow. Paradise Cycles are replacing the most recent with something that's at least serviceable, rather than being completely disposable once shagged after not very many miles. Having ridden UAs and Bullitts, I never missed suspension on the Bullitts or particularly noticed a difference on the UAs. Obviously the use case is different because this is all on road (apart from the occasional detour through a nice looking park) but I don't see suspension as a selling point particularly. If you do go for it, at least make sure it's something that's serviceable with easily accessible parts!

Cheers Lolo, I think! Sorry if my original opinion came off as elitist. Hope you’re well too brother

This is a huge problem in parenting in general.

Any good places in/near SW london recommended to go and take a look at some of these beasts?

Was in kingston yesterday and popped into Balfe's and the Sigma electric shop, neither have any stock of bikes with big boxes on the front on the shop floor, presume coz they're massive and a bit of a waste of shop space. Would be handy to throw a child into one to get some perspective on space.

I think Fully Charged has a big range in store in Bermondsey

my kids have bounce around in what is arguably a rudimentary wooden box and have done so since 3 months old. here they are in -10 degree weather enjoying it. Get on with what you get on with. the marketing is hard to avoid, but kids are tough and adapt to what they are given and what example is set for them.

that said, to each their own.

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Tooo true! Kids love it