More Twin Cities families using ‘cargo bikes’ to haul groceries and children
https://www.twincities.com/2026/07/11/cargo-bikes-st-paul-families/?share=hpsspaewbcotsscrn0ki
https://www.twincities.com/2026/07/11/cargo-bikes-st-paul-families/?share=hpsspaewbcotsscrn0ki
50 Comments
quick_snail@feddit.nl · 17 pts · 36d
mbp@slrpnk.net · 3 pts · 36d
Grandma sounds like such a cutie
quick_snail@feddit.nl · 15 pts · 36d
This is not extreme.
Extreme is when you choose to use a fossil fuel car during the climate catastrophe.
hex_m_hell@slrpnk.net · 6 pts · 36d
Wait, are you saying carrying multiple tons of steel every time you need milk is extreme?
whyNotSquirrel@sh.itjust.works · 6 pts · 36d
yeah but!!! the rain, it's wet!! and stuffs! Oh !! and red lights ! checkmate
Lemming6969@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 35d
Lots of places the nearest Costco is 10+miles away.
quick_snail@feddit.nl · 3 pts · 35d
What's your point?
melsaskca@lemmy.ca · 9 pts · 36d
I like the spin here. Headline should be "Most working middle-class citizens pushed out of the market for new vehicles".
hex_m_hell@slrpnk.net · 9 pts · 36d
You can buy two good cargo bikes a year for the average total cost of ownership of a car. When so many trips are within bike range, why would you not do this?
hash@slrpnk.net · 4 pts · 36d
We still need to fill edge cases. Hiking is really big where I live but you can't take public transit to more than one or two trailheads, and certainly not some of the more remote ones.
I desperately want a nonprofit carshare in my area to fill the gap for this as well as occasional things like moving lots of stuff. Without a cost effective way to get a car when you really need one, people will own a car for edge cases. And when you have a car sitting there... you'll drive it even when you don't need to.
cynar@lemmy.world · 4 pts · 35d
Sometimes it's a lot easier than you think to be the change you want to see. You might be amazed at how far you get before you run into significant roadblocks.
hex_m_hell@slrpnk.net · 2 pts · 36d
Sounds like you have a project. :P
Swedneck@discuss.tchncs.de · 1 pts · 32d
fwiw there might be platforms that let you just rent out the car when it's not in use, it's a thing here and my landlord company even puts their cars on it!
(It's GoMore, only available in a couple countries but you can look at it for an example of how it works)
melsaskca@lemmy.ca · 2 pts · 35d
I would choose the healthier option (the cargo bikes). I just don't want to be corralled down a cattle chute where there are no other options. I would also use my vehicle to haul the elderly around, if required (not a cargo bike).
quick_snail@feddit.nl · 9 pts · 36d
Kinda sad they didn't say the annual upkeep costs of a cargo e-bike
hex_m_hell@slrpnk.net · 7 pts · 36d
It's like maybe $200 if you ride a lot and less if you do any of your own work... Which you can because it's a bike.
quick_snail@feddit.nl · 0 pts · 36d
Huh, I would expect a yearly tune up to cost $100-200 in labor only.
If you don't do your own work, I'd estimate $1,000 per year in average maintenance for a good cargo e-bike that's used daily.
hex_m_hell@slrpnk.net · 5 pts · 36d
The first one is usually like 6 weeks to 3 months and it's free. The next one is usually half price. Here's my receipt for our 3 year after a lot of hard riding:
This is the most expensive bill we've had. This year we had to replace the drive train. It was €90.
That bike is only 6k. Why would it cost 1k/yr? It's not a car.
Edit: I lied. I found a bill for like €407. During that service we added a €200 bike alarm. The other year was €161.
And technically, the total cost of ownership is a bit higher. Total replacement insurance for us is like €60/mo or something. But again, you could do absolutely no work on your bike, throw it in the canal, and buy a new one every year, and you'd still be able to buy an extra bike on top of replacing your old one every year with the money you save not having a car.
Hacksaw@lemmy.ca · 1 pts · 36d
That insurance cost is CRAZY. That's 1% of the cost of your bike every month. I.e. you'll have paid your bike in insurance premium in 8 years. This policy is only valuable if you expect your bike to need "total replacement" which I assume means it's stolen, more than every 8 years?!
Just put that money in an account and you can buy a new bike every 8 years for "free" as your insurance policy.
hex_m_hell@slrpnk.net · 4 pts · 35d
Yeah, we live in a high theft area of Amsterdam. They also pay total replacement with no deductible. We've actually already come out ahead when my other bike was stolen.
The rate is actually variable based on theft data in the area. It's gone up a lot recently, it might go back down. It was ranging between 68 and 71 for an the bakfiets and a regular omafiets.
Their service is also great. It was like less than a week turn around when my other bike was stolen. It's worth it.
We haven't owned a car in years, so bikes are our primary transport. We can't really afford to be without them, so it's kind of worth it given the situation.
Edit: it also covers bike rental, and it covers damage as well as theft.
Hacksaw@lemmy.ca · 1 pts · 35d
Okay. I mean that's valid if you expect to have a bike stolen every 8 years the math checks out.
hex_m_hell@slrpnk.net · 1 pts · 34d
AAA estimated that it was over 12k in 2024. I doubt that price has gone down.
artyom@piefed.social · 8 pts · 36d
How much groceries can you fit on a bike? I usually leave with 4 or 5 large bags, and I'm single.
HerbGrower@slrpnk.net · 9 pts · 36d
Bag size varies a lot so an absolute number doesn't really help much. 4/5 bags sounds like an insane amount of food for 1 person, so I suspect the bags we get are bigger.
My regular bike has 70L of storage in pannier bags. Cargo bikes will be holding hundreds.
RamenJunkie@midwest.social · 3 pts · 36d
How many times do you go get groceries each week though?
HerbGrower@slrpnk.net · 1 pts · 36d
Once. Hence my thinking they must be small
quick_snail@feddit.nl · 6 pts · 36d
About 2 weeks worth for 1 person, about 1 weeks worth for 2 people. On just a normal bicycle with 4 panniers. A cargo bike can double that.
Once you hit large families, you can have multiple people biking to the grocery store together.
hex_m_hell@slrpnk.net · 5 pts · 36d
Our Urban Arrow fits 3, maybe 4 kids (ours are 7 and 4, and their friends). We literally moved our entire apartment with that bike.
We also have a cube hybrid longtail. I've put maybe 6 bags of groceries in the side saddle, with my front still open and two kids on the back.
moira@mastodon.murkworks.net · 4 pts · 36d
@artyom @silence7 i went to the next town over for groceries because that grocery has stuff the closer ones don't
(this is on a cargo trailer I built but a proper cargo bike would have... better capability, actually)
https://mastodon.murkworks.net/@moira/116354216424031794
CounselingTechie@slrpnk.net · 3 pts · 36d
One of the hardest parts of these articles is that I love hearing about them, hearing how much people are making progress and change, until I see the locations. I love seeing that a metropolitan area has this, and it warms my heart to see people able to make progress.
My bike is not a cargo bike, just a normal city bike with bags on it, which is satisfactory for the 3 miles of highway I have to bike to the nearest store, and then 3 miles back, ever since the one that was closer had closed down. I do this at night, or first in the morning, as where I live during the daytime it reaches over 100 degrees Fahrenheit, over 39 degrees Celsius.
turdburglar@piefed.social · 3 pts · 35d
there are DOZENS of us!
silence7@slrpnk.net · 2 pts · 35d
Quite a lot more I think. Not everybody needs a cargo bike, but they're really amazing for moving a couple young kids a couple miles
Swedneck@discuss.tchncs.de · 1 pts · 32d
in my fairly generic swedish town there's a whole bunch of people with box bikes, to the point that my dad gets annoyed at them (i think because they tend to be car replacements, so people keep that driver mindset of assuming people will just give way to you and never fucking slowing down).
So yeah i'd say globally there's a whole lot of cargo bike owners these days.
DireTech@sh.itjust.works · 2 pts · 30d
Cargo bikes are awesome. Plus they hold value pretty well so you can resell them when your kids get to big. I’m the third owner of a cargo bike and it’s been great.
suff@piefed.social · 1 pts · 36d
🚗🚶🚲
"Car" "go" "bike"
lol
mrlockthorne@slrpnk.net · 1 pts · 33d
Man, I'd love to take my kids around town on my bike, but drivers here regularly go off the road and hit cyclists. I just don't know if I'd feel comfortable taking my kids out, unless I was in a protected bike lane. It takes about twenty minutes to get to the park and I have to cross several streets, one of which is six lanes across. And I live in the city. Our city is investing in more cycling infrastructure and greenways, but right now, I just can't. Not to mention when it's over 40°C and 80% humidity, by the time I get to the park, it's time to go home, unless I'm driving. It's just a super complicated situation, I'm in. I do welcome any and all advice!
hex_m_hell@slrpnk.net · 2 pts · 31d
Talk more about your problem. Complain as much as possible to your city government. Organize or join a transit union.
It also sounds like your city needs more green space. Yeah, my only advice is, "fight like hell for you kid's future."
mrlockthorne@slrpnk.net · 2 pts · 31d
Absolutely! I'm a part of a couple different cycling groups, one of which actively lobbies and is the reason our city is actually changing for the better. We're also super behind on our canopy coverage, and topographically I'm surrounded by rivers which increase the humidity. So, when it's hot, it's very hot.
It's one of those things that my grown children will be able to enjoy, but it's shameful it's taking this long. I just wish progress was quicker.
AlternatePersonMan@lemmy.world · -8 pts · 36d
Until October. Then comes the snow.
grue@lemmy.world · 17 pts · 36d
Obligatory NotJustBikes
Grass@sh.itjust.works · 14 pts · 36d
Never been to twin cities but I'll do groceries via bike in winter. Its a snow bike though.
chuckleslord@lemmy.world · 6 pts · 36d
Yes, fat tire bikes are very popular here in the twin cities.
chuckleslord@lemmy.world · 13 pts · 36d
Brother, we rarely get snow in October even before climate change started really messing with things. Used to be mid-to-late November for first snow pack, now it's mid December and it's a toss up if we'll even keep the snow pack all winter now.
Anyways, people still bike in the winter here.
HerbGrower@slrpnk.net · 9 pts · 36d
Don't you have a coat?
hex_m_hell@slrpnk.net · 8 pts · 36d
Fins and Swedes bike, you're just cowards. The Dutch bike all year. Freezing rain in the face sucks, but it's better than literally destroying my children's future.
Edit: I live in the Netherlands and bike year round because we do not own a car (family of 4, for the record). Wear a fucking jacket. You're not made of sugar.
Railcar8095@lemmy.world · 5 pts · 36d
I remember Dutch cycling under the rain, talking with the phone in one hand, umbrella in the other and wearing heels.
They are crazy, in the right way. I miss how bike centric Groningen was when I moved out.
IronBird@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 35d
have you seen the standard american diet, they kind of are
Swedneck@discuss.tchncs.de · 2 pts · 32d
Swedes bike in the winter, but only out of spite. Our governments aren't tremendously great at keeping bike paths clear in the winter...
uniquethrowagay@feddit.org · 5 pts · 36d
If the conditions are okay for a car to drive, any decently prepared cyclists won't have a problem.
CPMSP@midwest.social · 4 pts · 36d
Eh, usually the snow doesn't stick until late November. We'll get some freakish pop-up storms but it will generally melt away until around Thanksgiving.
And even in the winter, we have very good road crews to keep conditions pretty navigable all told.