Any short, nervous women riding electric cargo trikes full of kids?

[shelivesthedream]

We're going to move house at the end of summer to somewhere with no public transport and fewer walkable amenities than I am used to. My husband will require a car for work, but I am looking at electric cargo trikes for my day-to-day transportation. Weirdly, there is a major cycle route running through the village connecting us to two towns, each five miles away. There is a city 15 miles away with everything we could ever want - unclear on the cycle infrastructure between us and the city.

For context, I am 5'2" with short arms. I briefly commuted 6 miles by bike into central London nine years ago, was a sporadic cyclist in a bike friendly city for a few years, then haven't been on a bike since my first pregnancy nearly six years ago. I have a 5yo, 3yo and 1yo. No chance the 5yo will be riding his own bike any time soon, let alone any distance. We homeschool, so very flexible schedule, and I am a SAHP, so no commute.

I test drove a Christiania, a Babboe and a Nihola recently and... it was kinda scary. I'd really love to hear any experiences you have with this. It's all a bit new to me and I really want this to work but I'm also a bit of a wet blanket, so be gentle with me! Help me figure out how this can work for us.

For starters, the pedals were uncomfortably far down even with the seat in its lowest position. The bike shop said they could cut 1-2",  but how do I know that's actually going to be enough? I don't want to be stuck with a bike that I can't ride comfortably!

Then, the turning. Oh my. The turning. The way the Christiania box just swings wayyyyy away and I'm clinging on with one hand at full stretch and feeling like a circus unicyclist on a bumpy road. The Nihola turns differently but I still felt really perched up there and not very psychologically safe. I have the option to hire a bike for a week but where we live now is not very cycling friendly and quite different to where we're going to move to and I feel nervous just thinking about taking this death-defying contraption anywhere near cars or speed bumps!

The way the trike handles is just so different to a regular bike. I only spent about ten minutes on each one at the test drive so I know I haven't had a chance to get used to it really, but I don't know how to make a good choice about what I *can* get used to sufficiently quickly. I have the opportunity to test drive a few different ones at another bike shop and I don't know what questions to ask or how to hopefully make it a less pant-wettingly terrifying experience.

On the plus side, the kids loved it (I brought the biggest and littlest), it was really easy to cycle on the flat even without the e-assist, the e-assist was amazing and not at all scary, and it felt GREAT to get back in the saddle.

As this is conceptually instead of a second car, we have a lot of money to throw at this, but I'm just flummoxed as to how I can find a bike I feel reasonably safe riding from day one, as opposed to one I'm too scared to take anywhere so never practice on.

[314159]

I'm not short nor a woman, but - have you tried cargo bikes as well as trikes? I haven't ridden a trike but my impression of them is that, like you said, cornering and handling is harder than a bike. Or do trikes have some feature that bikes don't?

[Peachtea]

One of our neighbors has an urban arrow electric cargo bike that she loves for toting her kiddos and baby around. We chatted with her about and she said she at first considered trikes but the bike shop said they didn't stock them because they felt they were dangerous as they were not as stable on corners and turns. She said the urban arrow felt very stable and like riding a normal bike. It also has good reviews on wired and I think the person who wrote that review mentioned elsewhere that she was 5' 2". That said...the urban arrow is pricey. But it sounds like that info re trikes matches your test experiences. Hopefully you can test some two wheel electric cargo bikes instead.

[jac941]

I’m not short, but have friends who are. I am a woman, and I have ridden many cargo bikes with kids. I regularly ride with kids whose combined weight exceed my weight.

Bikes are stable at speed and trikes are stable at rest. Because of this, you will probably find that a bike is less tippy feeling when you are riding it than a trike - I know it’s counterintuitive. For the distances you will be riding I strongly recommend a bike over a trike.

I will second the recommendation for the Urban Arrow. It is a very stable bike great for hauling kids. The Yuba Supermarche, Riese and Mueller Load, and Larry vs Harry Bullitt are also good options.

If you’re not feeling confident, I would avoid long tail cargo bikes. They are fine at speed but are quite tippy especially if kids are fighting and moving around. I would also strongly recommend test riding without kids until you are confident and then adding kids if that is at all feasible. Totally understand it might not be possible.

Good luck!