Why are cargo bikes so expensive?

[Ming the Merciless]

We have e cargo bikes doing deliveries round here

 

[Arrowfoot]

Common in NL to do the school run with toddlers (until they're big enough to ride their own bikes).
The cost of not running a car, or second car, quickly covers the cost.

Cargo bikes are rarely seen outside of supermarkets but are widely used. Family activities in the summer, taking doggies out of the city for a good walk, deliveries and I've even met folks touring on them. In fact, pretty much anything that a car would be used for in shortish distances.

It would be common for a family to purchase one when the first child comes along (if not before) and sell it on when the youngest gets their own bike. Those bikes typically pass through many hands. The new "list" price is not the average price paid.

A reason that they're not more popular in NL is the lack of storage space.

Agree on NL.

 

[Pedropete]

Cost is due to smaller potential market, higher unit cost for lower volume production, complexity and material/engineering costs. That, and niche lifestyle categories generally tolerate higher pricing than more mainstream ones. Starting to see bike-loan/library schemes though, where you can borrow a cargo bike for a few days or a specific task, and greater take-up is slowly yielding a bigger used market making more bikes available at (relatively) lower cost.


Trailers are useful to a point but can be awkward with poorly designed infrastructure and a bit of a pain to reverse and manoeuvre in close quarters. Having the kids low down and behind you isn't ideal either. Having them higher up and closer - or even better, in front where you can see and hear them - is better for their safety, your confidence and stress and they're just easier to get to in a hurry. And for sheer 'throw it/them in and go' usability/utility, it's very hard to beat a cargo bike, particularly a front-loader.


Some of the new compact designs also offer most of the utility but with an overall length not much greater than a regular town bike, so a lot easier to store. There’s the obvious (expensive) Tern GSD and HSD that will park upright on their tails with the handlebars folded over, but there’s also the Muli compact bakfiets which is an awesome bit of design: Muli

 

[ClichéGuevara]

It'll be the cost of delivery.

 

[Andy in Germany]

Is it their limited appeal in the market? Build costs? Need for extra-tough frames and components etc.?

Don't get me wrong, I'd love to own one, but I remember years ago seeing a CC thread about the Dutch cargo bikes used to take kids to school etc. and the cost ran into multiple thousands of pounds. I think it was these ones - https://www.bakfiets.com/

Have prices come down at all over the years or are cargo bikes always going to be that bit more expensive than traditional bikes do think?

I own one of those, although mine was a Workcycles upgraded version It cost me about 2100€ in 2009. I rode it along the Rhine from Amsterdam, rather slowly...

The difference is a bit like the difference between professional tools and consumer tools. "Normal" bikes are built for the leisure market, but Workbikes are utility vehicles; they have to be overbuilt to take the extra weight and stress of the load, and they have to withstand much heavier and more frequent use than a "normal" bike is designed for, in all weathers rather than just when it's sunny. They also have complex additional bits like the steering bar on my Bakfiets.

On top of this, there isn't the large production run that the big companies have, and they tend to be built in Europe, which increases costs more.

In fact, as I've owned the bike for over a decade, and spent about 200€ on maintenance, that works out at the most at about 100€ per year so far, or about 2€ a week...

 

[grldtnr]

I wouldn't mind having one, but I am single and retired,so don't have much use for one, my current bikes, fulfill any transport conumdrums.
Yes,the costs are in the building of them, they are very much a niche market, although used extensively in NL , the ordainary Omafiets tend to serve as general cargo/ transport over in NL, 'Long' bikes & cargo's for delivery & School runs.

 

[GarthW]

Whats wrong with a bike and trailer

That does seem like the better choice; in fact, you could own different trailers for different uses, like the difference between a box truck and a flat-bed truck. I've made myself a really nice one of the former, but am strongly considering making another, more like the flatbed idea, that can handle larger loads, strapped down.

 

[GarthW]

Low demand [...]

Yes, lacking the economy of scale.

Also those who need to lug shopping and essentials on a regular basis have the ready option of more practical cargo trailers and panniers.

precisely the route I have taken

Even if you owned a cargo bike, what are you going load and carry often?

I saw one on our local 37-mile-long class-1 bike trail that was very long behind the rider, with something like very long baskets on each side, and the man was carrying a roll of chain-link fence with it.

 

[Chris S]

I didn't have in mind mobility scooter bits but something like this with an ebike kit fitted. I guess it would have to be a front hub motor.

View attachment 637223

Stopping in the wet should be interesting with chrome wheels and rod brakes!

 

[Chris S]

There are plenty of cargo bikes doing the school run in the Moseley/Kings Heath area of Birmingham. The people who ride them are really snooty. They look at you as though a freshly squashed dog turd has been placed under their nose.

 

[Boopop]

There are plenty of cargo bikes doing the school run in the Moseley/Kings Heath area of Birmingham. The people who ride them are really snooty. They look at you as though a freshly squashed dog turd has been placed under their nose.

I'd rather snooty (doubt) cargo bike riders than dangerous SUVs.