Bike Shop Girl

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Cargo Biking

What is a Cargo Bike? The Cargo Bike Basics

Articles, Cargo Biking

Oh hey, thanks for clicking on this article and sharing your cargo bike journey with me! 

The goal of this article is to kick off your cargo bike journey and answering the question,

What is a Cargo Bike?

Before we jump into answering that question, a quick introduction –  I’m Arleigh with Bike Shop Girl, where I’m focused on connecting families and communities by bike to help you leave your car at home. I’m a lifelong cyclist, and after having our first child in 2018 I hated being stuck in my car driving my kids around.

Enter the cargo bike.

This thing literally saved my mom sanity and helps me stay on a bike, while burning less fossil fuels and sharing a healthy habit with my family doing normal daily life mom errands..

Back to our question, what exactly is a cargo bike?

Now, technically any bike can carry cargo, you on your road bike could be considered cargo. You can also add a rear rack or a front basket to most bikes to carry groceries or a child in a seat. It doesn’t mean the bike will handle well, or is designed for that purpose. 

A Bike Designed to Carry Cargo – 120 lbs of cargo!

Personally, I think a cargo bike should be able to carry the primary rider and at LEAST 120 additional pounds of cargo. Of course, other people’s opinions may vary.

Typically cargo bikes have dedicated ways to carry children, cargo, and many are more upright for city riding in whatever clothes you are wearing for the day. Oh, and they must have a great stable kickstand to keep the bike upright and steady while you load your kids or cargo.

More Cargo Biking Resources

Tern HSD – The Crossover of Electric Bikes

Articles, Cargo Biking

Tern HSD Crossover Electric Bike

Updated December 13, 2019 – Read my Tern HSD review here!

A couple of years ago Tern launched the GSD, a surprisingly compact and capable cargo bike (read my review here). This week they have launched the Tern HSD “Haul Stuff Daily” which I am naming a crossover electric bicycle. If you are looking for the review of the HSD

This isn’t a gigantic 3-kid-hauling cargo bike but it is more capable than a single-occupancy bike like we see all over. Maybe you only have one kid to bring so you don’t need a full cargo bike or you want to be able to pick up groceries on the way home without feeling like your bike is going to tip over. The HSD may be for you.

Meet the Tern HSD Crossover Electric Bike

3 different models with several different color options and a lot of accessories to make your bike even better for daily life by bike. Depending on your country you may not have the full-color line-up available, for example in the US I don’t believe our importer ordered all available colors. 

HSD P9 starting at $3,099, HSD S8i starting at $3,699, HSD S+ starting at $4,999 more on these below.

  • Gross Vehicle Weight (rider and all cargo) 374 lb
  • Rear Rack Carrying Capacity 132 lb
  • Height range of 4’11 to 6’6
  • All models use a Bosch system ranging from Active Line Plus to Performance
  • One battery mount
  • Suspension front fork
  • A lower step thru than the GSD – waiting for measurements
  • 8cm taller Physis Handlepost for a more upright available position which can be adjusted very easily
  • Utilizing a rear rack (think like the Tern Vektron) that can carry up to 132lbs
  • Atlas H Dropouts – sliding, ability to take a belt, and new trailer mount (?!)
  • All models come with an Abus frame lock mounted for the rear wheel 
  • Many new accessories – will post a separate article about these
  • New passenger kit coming soon
  • HSD S+ comes with a Cane Creek Thudbuster ST
  • Belt drive options thanks to the new dropouts
  • Flat fold design from the GSD for easy transportation
Tern HSD Flat Fold

Model Line Up of the Tern HSD

The idea that there are multiple models at launch is exciting to see as this must be a bike that Tern believes in. If you remember the Tern GSD they launched with one model, the S10, and a year or so later the S00. 

Tern HSD Blurred

If you look at Tern’s site some of the areas of models are pixelated and I haven’t been able to find full spec so they must be coming with new not to be released yet product. This is good and bad – bad as it may mean delays if spec’d parts are delayed from other brands. Good as it is wonderful to have the latest and greatest.

I do like the price range though and $3100 with carrying capacity is a very affordable electric midtail cargo bike. Not sure what I mean by midtail cargo bike? Read more here.

The Missing Pieces

The timing of this release is for Eurobike – a huge bike tradeshow in Europe. There are still a couple of big unknowns which in my opinion is big and could define this bike in many different ways…

What’s the passenger kit? Can it carry 2 small kids as long as they are under the 132 lb weight limit of the rear rack? Will it be an evolved Clubhouse or something else completely different.

Tell Us About the Trailer Hookup The screenshot below from Tern’s HSD video is the closest I could find to the trailer attachment they mention on their website. I’m looking forward to learning more about this!

Tern Trailer Attachment

Tern HSD vs Tern GSD

The most common question flying around the internet right now. Some folks are having buyers remorse (don’t!) and saying this is the bike they really wanted. Well let’s begin with, this isn’t available yet and won’t be until at least Spring of 2020 maybe even later if there are delays like they had with the Tern GSD. The GSD is a wildly popular bike so I’m sure you’ll be able to sell it next year! 

How do the HSD and GSD differ?

The following bullet points are directly from Tern:
        • HSD is shorter in length
        • HSD is lighter
        • HSD is easier to vertically park
        • HSD doesn’t carry quite as much cargo
        • HSD can carry 1 kid, not 2
        • HSD is rated to 170 kg, instead of 200 kg
        • HSD has a suspension fork
        • HSD has a lower step frame, by 4 cm
        • HSD’s riding position is different and much better for taller riders – the cockpit is longer and the handlebars are 8 cm higher
        • The riding position is also better for shorter riders, with a shorter cockpit and a lower stepover
        • HSD only comes with a single battery
        • HSD comes with Bosch Gen 3 motors vs. Gen 2 for GSD
        • Gates Belt!! Two of the HSD models come with belt drives
        • HSD has an optimized trailer mounting location on the dropout
        • HSD has a custom Tern Atlas dropout that slides and has a break for a belt
        • Every HSD comes standard with keyed-alike frame lock
        • HSD is cheaper, with the HSD P9 cheaper than the GSD S10 by $800

For me, personally, the will most likely become our yang to the Urban Arrow Family and depending on how the Passenger Kit works out it may replace my wife’s GSD as we have 2 children but she uses the GSD as her daily commuter without the kids but then carries them to the pool, zoo, etc. If it doesn’t carry 2 kids, then it will be the single occupancy bike that can pick up groceries and carry our 18-month-old. The HSD is a bike that makes sense, much like driving a Subaru Outback. It’s not too big but very capable. It has some extra room to carry things but not so much that you feel like you are driving a massive bike around all the time. 

A New Market of Crossover Electric Bikes

I look forward to getting in a Tern HSD to review and then I can really tell you what I think about using the product in daily life. Mark my words, this is the beginning of a new market of electric bikes – the crossover electric bikes. Electric bikes with accessories designed specifically to make biking even more useful and to replace car trips.

Updated December 13, 2019 – Read our Tern HSD Review

My Tern HSD review is here

Tern GSD S00 Electric Cargo Bike Review

Articles, Cargo Bike Reviews, Cargo Biking, Reviews

Are you looking at midtail electric cargo bikes and comparing the Tern GSD S00 to others? In this video, I’m going to be breaking down what I think the key features are of the Tern GSD S00 electric cargo bike, and how they compare to the GSD S10 or other midtail electric cargo bikes on the market. 

Additional Tern GSD Resources

Love the GSD but want something a bit smaller? Meet the Tern HSD

Tern HSD

Our Tern HSD review is here

Read the Cargo Bike Guide

If you are just learning about cargo bikes, I do recommend reading through my cargo bike guide to help you with your cargo bike journey!

Disclaimer: First off, since writing this article I have gone to work for Tern Bicycles. This article was written before this, and in no way biased. If anything – I went to work for them because they make such wonderful bikes!!

Meet the Tern HSD P9 Performance Electric Bike

Articles, Cargo Bike Reviews, Cargo Biking, Electric Bike Reviews, Reviews

Tern Bicycles took my favorite general electric bike and amplified it with a bigger motor and battery with the new Tern HSD P9 Performance model. Read my review of the Tern HSD P9 electric bike here

Tern HSD P9 Performance Electric Bike Details

MSRP: $3,599

Exact same as HSD P9 except for the following 3 items:
Bosch Motor: Performance Line (gen 3) drive unit (instead of Active Plus),
Battery: 500Wh Powerpack (instead of 400Wh)
Bosch Charger: 4amp charger called the Bosch Standard Charger (instead of 2amp Compact Charger)

ETA: They should arrive later this week.

Colors: Blue and Limón

Urban Arrow Family Cargo Bike Tips and Tricks

Articles, Biking Tips, Cargo Bike Reviews, Cargo Biking, Reviews

Are you looking to buy an Urban Arrow Family cargo bike or did you recently buy one? In this video and article, I’m covering my top 10 tips that I review with all my customers to get them started when they are taking home their new Urban Arrow Family cargo bike.  

Urban Arrow Cargo Bike Tips

Today we are doing an overview of my top 10 tips for getting started with the Urban Arrow Family cargo bike. We will dig deeper into many of these tips in future videos, but this video is perfect to get you started. Click here to read my general review.

Video of these Tips

1. Program Your Key and Phone Number

Before you leave the shop make sure your Urban Arrow dealer has programmed your battery and frame lock key code AND your phone number to the bosch motor. This is something only a Bosch Dealer can do and should be done before you leave the store. You can ensure this has been done by checking the print out of your diagnostics report, which your dealer should also provide you with your new bike.

2. Adjusting Your Seat Height

This seat height tip is for any cargo bike.

Starting off with a new cargo bike or testing riding, I recommend having your seat height slightly lower than normal so you can confidently touch the ground on both sides. The Urban Arrow Family is an electric assist bike so for your first test ride or few rides getting used to the bike it isn’t as critical that your seat height is perfect. As you get used to the bike, raise the seat but initially, I want you to feel confident to have both feet touching the ground to balance the bike when you stop and get started. 

In the future, I’ll be doing a video dedicated to riding and steering a bakfiets or box bike. 

3. Handlebar Fit

Adjust your handlebars to be comfortable AND confident. 

Using a simple one bolt design you can raise and lower your handlebar, and adjust the tilt. Doing this with a friend is the easiest so you can keep your hands on the handlebars. Once the stem bolt is loose, adjust the handlebar so your arms are comfortably reaching out. Not too high so your shoulders wear out, and not so low that your weight is on your hands.

4. Grips and Brake Lever Fit

Now that your handlebars are in a good place, adjust your grips using a 4 or 3mm Allen to rotate them so your wrist is comfortable and in line with your arm. Once your grips are in place you want to do the same thing with your brakes making sure everything is in the same plane.

Finally, you can also adjust the distance your brake lever is to your finger or the reach so you can just reach out and comfortably pull on the brakes without stretching for them.

5. The Kickstand

My next tip is using and adjusting the kickstand. The Urban Arrow kickstand is amazing and steady if used properly. To engage, simply reach down with your foot and push it down while pulling back with your bike. When parking your bike, make sure you are on level ground and the bike is never pointed down a hill. 

If the kickstand gets sticky to use over time,  there are 4 bolts on either side of the kickstand clamps. Carefully, loosen and test the kickstand snap over and over again. I also take the clamps off and clean them after a hard winter of riding. I will say, it can be dangerous if you loosen these clamps too much as it can allow the bike to roll back over the kickstand.

6. Shifting

Most of the Urban Arrow Family line uses the enviolo continuously variable transmission. This is also used in some cars but the basic idea is that your gears are in the rear hub and the gears don’t have steps in between and just adjust infinitely from one end to the other. This allows you to fine-tune your shifting without looking for that next click, and you can shift if you are at a stop. You turn away from you to make it easier, and then you rotate towards you like a throttle on a motorcycle to make it harder and go faster. Finally, my biggest recommendation for proper shifting is to try not to shift under load going up that huge hill.

7. Basic Ebike Functions

I’ll have an in-depth video for the Intuvia Bosch controller but here are the core features to get started riding this bike. 

First, turning on the bike. Make sure your head unit is clicked in all the way. Then you push the power button and now your bike is turned on but you don’t have assistance. To get the assistance you use the + and – to change between the different assistance levels. This starts at 50% assistance for eco, all the way up to 260% for the performance model or 300% assistance on the performance CX model. Remember, this is just amplifying your applied pressure to the pedals by that percentage.

The other key thing around the basic ebike functions I like to show customers on this bike is the head unit does come off. You can put a screw in the back but most people take this off when locking up somewhere but be warned that if the head unit isn’t engaged properly then your bike may not turn on or will turn on but not connect with the motor. 

Click here to learn how to remove/install your Bosch Battery.

8. Bosch Walk Function

Most newer urban arrow bikes have a walk function. This is where you can press a combination of buttons and your bike will slowly propel itself forward without you pedaling. This is good for when you are needing to walk your heavy bike up a ramp, or into your garage. To engage this you hit the walk button on top of your controller when it says walk plus you hold the plus button down. Keep pressing the plus button until you are done needing the assistance. Always have your hands on your brake and if it goes too quick or you want it to stop just take your thumb off the plus button.

9. Bike Locking System

Your Urban Arrow comes with a frame lock that holds the key when the lock is open. This makes it so you ALWAYS have a lock but this key is also the key to your expensive battery so always take your key with you. This key has numbers on it which would allow you to order a new key if you lose yours. I personally program this key number on to each bike’s motor along with the customers’ phone number. 

A freebie tip here, I add a little key tag with a label maker of the customers’ last name and phone number in case they lose their key someone can hopefully return it. I’m not going to get into the actual battery or battery hygiene, look for a complete video of Bosch ebike battery maintenance linked below.

10. PRACTICE!

If you plan on riding with a super-young child, please ride this bike or any cargo bike in various conditions so you are confident. My wife made me ride 100 miles with my first cargo bike before putting my 7-month-old baby in it. I personally can ride the urban arrow family with my 80-pound dog wiggling around in the front, with just my right hand and my left hand holding a coffee. It is a brilliantly steady bike once you know how to ride it but please practice!

Additional Cargo Bike Resources

The Cargo Bike Guide
All Cargo Bike Articles
Cargo Bike Chain Maintenance