This is a question we get asked a lot... what's the difference between a long tail and a front-loading cargo bike? The difference might be best described by the regulatory environment of Europe versus North America. In Europe, cargo bikes go through rigorous safety testing like cars do - they are required by law to be able to sustain impacts of 40km/hr, which is why you'll see boxes made of ABS plastic, EPS foam, wood, or Lexan plastic. In North America, no such legislation exists. In this regard, the longtail is very much a North American invention and doesn't have the same safety testing as EU cargo bikes.

Why put the load in the back? After all, one of the great advantages of a front-loader is that space is carved out in the bicycle design to lower cargo as close to the ground as possible, so that if you do tip over, the fall is shorter with much less impact velocity. Some ask: is a longtail really a cargo bike by definition? And, if not, what is a longtail's place in the market?

If there is a "safety spectrum" of cargo safety (with a bike with a childseat on one end, and a front-loading cargo bike on the other), a longtail would sit right in between. With a longer wheelbase (the distance between the front and rear axle), the extra weight of children or cargo is displaced over more surface area, creating much higher stability than a regular bike where the load is carried higher up behind the rider. And, unlike a bike with a childseat, a longtail can bear significantly higher weight loads. A child seat usually has a weight capacity of 45 lbs. max, whereas a longtail can carry up to 350 lbs. (combined rider + cargo).

If you are dead-set on a longtail bike for carrying kids and want incomoprable performance, we recommend the Riese & Muller Multicharger, followed by Benno bikes. Riese & Muller's Multicharger is designed with as many top-notch European parts as possible, and with a full suspension system and e-assist, it's truly the best for hauling wicked loads up the steepest of climbs. A Benno's smaller 24" wheels and wider tires lowers its centre of gravity for better control and safety. The quality is much more to our standards than brands like Yuba, and they look nice too!

Another argument for longtails is that they fit two older kids a bit better than a front-loader, although the front-loading Babboe Slim offers a serious challenge to this (it does the same thing a longtail does, but puts the cargo back to the front of the b).

But the big reason longtails were designed (or so rumour has it) was for cities with minimal bicycle infrastructure - where bikes were sharing the road with cars and had tighter spaces to negotiate, and so needed to be narrower to squeeze past cars.

We tend to raise an eyebrow at this reasoning. If a city has less infrastructure, then this puts more burden of responsibility on the bike itself to increase cargo safety. Then there's also the very valid question of why a cargo bike shouldn't take up space on the road? After all, the less space you occupy, the more "like" a regular bike you are, and the greater chance drivers will take risks around you. A front loader is the biggest "baby on board" sticker you could ever have, and in our experience - as the largest cargo bike retailer in North America - most drivers are happy to give you the room you need.

Cargo bikes are about carrying stuff, but also keeping the cargo safe. Especially if your cargo involves human lives! (Or dogs, cargo bikes are great for dogs!) The big difference between a front-loading cargo bike and a long-tail is impact safety. Front loading cargo bikes (at least from the EU) are all independently impact tested. The box isn't just storage, but safe storage. Longtails don't have the same impact resistance but are closer to regular bikes in terms of feel, making them a popular choice. Ultimately, you decide what safety suits your needs. But we will always side with your Mama says: safety first!

The problem with cargo bikes is that they're big. Unless you have a garage, you can't exactly bring them inside. This is a problem in Holland and Denmark too, where people have no choice but to store their bikes outside year-round. Thankfully, Holland and Denmark are good testing grounds for cargo bikes. Close to the salt water of the North Sea and Baltic Sea, both countries also get a lot of rain and freezing temperatures - which they handle by pouring salt on every road surface. Hmmm, sounds familiar!

There are good cargo bikes and there are bad cargo bikes - and what separates the wheat from the chaff much is tied to all-weather outdoor storability. A bad cargo bike will have frames and parts that rust quickly, and cheap wooden boxes that rot in wet weather. A good cargo bike has a chip-resistant overcoat and a rust-resistant undercoat to protect when chips and scratches do occur. Chip-resistance is accomplished by powder-coating the frame, an expensive process that creates strong paint adhesion by charging the frame and paint with opposite electrical currents. All of the cargo bikes we sell are powder-coated. And, all of the cargo bikes we sell are also primed with some sort of rust-resistant undercoat, whether this is phosphate conversion coating, electrophoretic deposition, or galvanizing. In short, they're built for perpetual outdoor storage.

However, only a steel frame can rust, and that's why companies like Riese & Muller, Bullitt and Urban Arrow prefer to use aluminum. Aluminum is lighter than steel, and also less flexy - and you can feel that stiffness especially on the longer two-wheeled bikes. The aluminum frames these brands employ have larger frame tubes to increase strength and weld-surface. They cost more money, but it's nice to have a lighter bike if you have longer rides - and the natural rust-resistance is a definite bonus.

The box also has to be weather-resistant, and all of the cargo bikes we sell are as good as they get. Urban Arrow bikes use lightweight EPS foam, Carqon uses ABS plastic, Riese & Muller uses EPS foam, engineered plastic, or metal exoskeletons, Nihola uses Lexan plastic (the same stuff in hockey rink boards), and Bullitt uses a ridiculously lightweight honeycomb aluminum lattice. All of these boxes offer superior impact resistance and are made for all-weather outdoor storage. If wood is used, it must be marine-grade. Brands like Babboe use fully immersible plywood that can weather decades of outdoor storage. We've seen cheaper brands use cheaper wood, and the rot creates splintering sharp edges that can catch small fingers - it's just not safe or nice to look at.

Finally, while it's great to have a frame and box that are made for the Great White North, what about the parts? Most bikes in North America come with external  derailleurs. A derailleur offers a million gears and is great for lightweight mountain bikes, but a cargo bike demands a different set of principles. A cargo bike must be low maintenance (it's your car, after all) and weatherproof. That's why most of the cargo bikes we sell come with internal gears. The gears are inside the rear hub - sealed from all the grit and grime of the outside world - and they require a bare minimum of maintenance. The more gears you get, the wider the range is. Hubs like the Shimano Nexus 7 are great for flatter areas, hubs like the Shimano Nexus 8 increase climbing range by about 20%, while hubs from Rohloff or Enviolo offer drivetrains that compete with derailleurs for gear-range, but without the high maintenance. You can find internal gears on all the cargo bikes we sell, except for a few high performance Bullitt and Riese and Muller models.

Brakes should also be weatherproof and low maintenance. Drum brakes are internal - like internal gears - and offer the same low maintenance. However, they do not have enough power to stop e-assist cargo bikes. That's why all e-assist cargo bikes are equipped with low maintenance hydraulic disc brakes. The best thing about hydraulic disc brakes is that they use fluid inside the housing, not cables, which means they continue to work all winter - avoiding the problem of 'cable freeze.'

Want even lower maintenance? A lot of our bikes come equipped with belt drives. These are a total game changer! Most bicycle chains only run for about 4,000km before needing replacement. A belt drive will run for 30,000km! And, whereas a chain requires weekly cleaning and lubrication, a belt drive never requires oil - ever!  You can find belt drives on Bullitt, and Riese & Muller bikes.

A cargo bike is designed to be safe, and safety in the city has to do with two (often polarized) dynamics: stability and handling. On most bikes, you generally get one or the other. On a cargo bike, you really need a balance of both.

A three-wheeled cargo bike will always be more stable than a two-wheeled cargo bike. A three-wheeled cargo bike plants a wider footprint across three points, "gluing" the bike and rider to the ground. Three wheeled bikes are the most approachable due to their low learning-curve.

In terms of approachability, the Nihola cargo bike offers one of the finest out-of-the-box stability and handling on the market. Secure three-wheeled footing means a Nihola requires zero learning curve, and due to its light weight, it's remarkably efficient for longer rides. The brilliance behind the Nihola's design is how it seamlessly combines the stability of a tricycle and the handling of a regular bicycle. Let us explain.

Most three-wheeled cargo bikes like the Babboe Big and Babboe Curve are stable, but they do lack something in the way of handling. This is because it's not the wheels that steer, but the entire box. We call this "box-steering." With box steering, the rider has to literally swing the box left or right to steer. It's fine for short rides, but on longer rides it can feel a bit burdensome, especially considering that these boxes are made of heavy wood. In this respect, Nihola is a game-changer. A Nihola uses independent steering, so it's not the box that moves, but only the front wheels. Just like your car.

That said, the one setback with a Nihola is that the wheels take up some space, since they have to move left to right. Thus, the box on a Nihola is a little narrower than competing brands.

There are two brands that tackle this issue with two totally different approaches. The first is Winther, another Danish company. Winther uses box-steering but moves away from the heavy wood boxes that Babboe uses. The average weight of a Babboe box is about 60lb, so that's quite a bit of weight to steer! The Winther box comes in at about 15lb; and that gives back the rider a lot more handling. In fact, most of the customers who test a Nihola and Winther comment that while the handling feels different on both, both nonetheless feel just as responsive.

The other company to solve the box-size versus handling ratio is Black Iron Horse; also from Denmark. These bikes use rear wheel steering, which may seem controversial until you consider that many high-performance cars use it, alongside forklifts. Why? Because rear wheel steering provides the most responsive steering possible. Rear-wheel steering is incredibly sensitive (and intuitive), and does its best work in tight corners - which a city has plenty of. Does it take a moment to get used to? It does, but it's less a matter of learning curve than re-wiring your mind to remember that the steering is in the back. That re-wiring is really just one ride around the block, where your mind says, "oh, this is amazing!" And truly, it is!

Two-wheeled models achieve stability by increasing the length of the footprint (the technical term for this is "wheelbase"). Bikes like the Babboe City, or the Urban Arrow Family all have long wheelbases, and all feel nearly as stable as a three-wheeled bike once the bike is at cruising speed (say, 6km/hr and over). Below cruising speed, however, the bikes do require a bit of 'oversteer' or extra handling to keep stability. This is because the bikes are all a bit 'top-heavy', meaning that both the cargo and the rider sit a bit higher than the bike's centre of gravity. And, while gaining confidence in the bike's stability entails a slight learning curve, the learning curve is easy for most to master.

Then there are bikes like the Bullitt. These bikes were built completely around highly responsive handling and the bike feels like it's wired to your brain. Bullitts are light, stiff, zippy and fast - they are as close to a performance bike as you can get. But, they require a bit of a learning curve; the same way riding a racing bike requires a learning curve. Why? Because, like a racing bike, a Bullitt takes responsiveness seriously.

Then again, bike like the Riese & Muller Load 60 or Load 75 blend an intoxicating two-wheeled responsiveness with absolutely zero learning curve.  Why? These bikes all use next-generation geometry that rides without the "top heavy" feeling of traditional Dutch cargo bikes (like Urban Arrow and Babboe). However, the riding position on a Riese & Muller isn't quite as upright as a Babboe or Urban Arrow- and many love that bolt-upright Dutch feel.

Then again, if you're after something light, the Riese & Mullers are still in the same class as Urban Arrow and other competitors when it comes to overall weight. That's where Bullitt stands alone. A Bullitt still comes in at nearly half the weight of most other cargo bikes (50 - 60lb versus 100+ plus), and that lightweight design is a huge reason for a Bullitt's spectacular handling. The crazy thing about Bullitt? The frames, despite being way lighter, are also known to be the toughest cargo bikes on the market; which is why global companies like FedEx and DHL use them almost exclusively.

Back to three-wheeled trikes: What if you want the independent steering of a Nihola for dense city traffic but two-wheeled handling for trips on higher-speed off-street bike tracks? The answer lies with Babboe and their new and amazing Carve model. The Carve takes the same independent steering found on the Nihola but combines it with tilt-steering. Tilt steering glues all three wheels to the ground, while the bike itself leans into the corner. Best of all, with the Babboe Carve, you can turn the tilt-steering on and off. Turn the tilt off and you have the same super-safe handling of a Nihola. Turn the tilt on and you have the same exhilarating handling of a two wheeled cargo bike. As a super-bonus, the Carve also comes with a Yamaha e-assist morotThe Carve is our all-time favourite bike for daily errands and weekend adventures.

Finally, we arrive at the Butchers & Bicycles MK1E, the original tilt-steering bike (and another brand hailing from Denmark!). The MK1E does not have the on/off switch that the Babboe Carve has, so that means the tilt steering is on at all times. Like any two wheeler, this takes a bit of learning curve, but again, not much.

This tilt-steering means the MK1E has a very similar ride quality to a regular two wheeler. Like a regular two-wheeled cargo bike, you must also plant your feet on the ground when stopped at a stoplight, otherwise the bike will tilt over. But, the MK1E offers two advantages over a two-wheeled cargo bike. First, the shorter wheelbase means that there is less bike going into tight corners. And, because cities are made of tight corners, the MK1E can cut into corners much better than most cargo bikes (Bullitt being the one exception). And, if you live in wet climates or places where it snows, the MK1E glues it’s two front wheels to the ground, and because these wheels both steer at the same time, there is little to no chance that the bike will slip out if corners are taken at speed in wet weather.

So, why would someone accept a learning curve in order to balance stability and handling? Two wheeled bikes are often for those who have longer commutes or want to do longer rides with the family on weekends. They feel more like a "regular bike" and tend to have much higher efficiency due to lower drag with one less wheel on the ground. Of course, an e-assist on a three-wheeler gives you all the efficiency of a two-wheeler, but battery consumption will be higher due to increased drag.

In sum, you might say cargo bikes often have a learning curve, and how much learning curve you want is the key to choosing the best bike for you. A three-wheeled bike like a Nihola, Babboe Big or Babboe Curve, or Winther Cargoo are the most stable, and that makes them remarkably approachable. On the other hand, bikes like Bullitt, Babboe City, Urban Arrow and Butchers & Bicycles MK1e depend more on rider experience for stability, and to facilitate this, they give the rider as much responsiveness as possible. It takes a bit of a learning curve, but if you have the confidence, hey, it's half the fun.

Ultimately, a cargo bike is about carrying stuff, so how much stuff can you carry? Below, we cover the right bike for 3-4 kids, 1-2 kids, dogs and even bikes for business! Let's take a peek!

E-assist and cargo bikes go together like bread and butter. A cargo bike, after all, is always heavier than a regular bike, and while adding weight to the bike may add to the stability, the weight does make it more work to pedal - especially if longer distances or hills are involved. Electric assist isn't cheating - you still have to pedal - it's just that the e-assist helps you pedal. 

E-assist bikes have had their own genesis to arrive at where they are today, and there are multiple generations of systems on the market today, some more evolved than others. Because these e-assists are pedal-assists they use sensors to collect data inputs and computers to process and adjust power-feed. That's how a pedal-assist is different from a lot of (cheap) throttle-assist systems. With a throttle you're always using your thumb to modulate the level of power assist. On a computer assisted pedal-assist, the computer is doing all the work. On a big hill it cranks up the power. On flat terrain it hums in the background. It even knows when it's windy. It's sensational, like it's reading your mind.

But, you have to be careful. We only carry e-assists with motors by reputable companies. And, we only carry mid-drive e-assist cargo bikes, where the motor is between the pedals. Why?

E-assist bikes began with front motors and we advise to stay far away from these. If the computer senses that you need assist while you're slowing down on a wet corner the chances are high that you can slide out. It's just not safe. Rear wheel motors aren't any better. They force you to use derailleur systems, which can be high maintenance. But, the biggest problem with front and rear e-assist bikes are the companies who offer them. Most of these companies offer unproven products of mediocre quality and very poor after-sales support. The rule with any e-assist is that someday something will go wrong - so, product quality and after-sales service is absolutely essential. Your motor is only as good as the after-sales service provided.

Mid-drive systems are the evolution of e-assist systems. The pedal-assist motor is attached to the pedals, and you can use any drivetrain system you want, whether internal gear hub or derailleur. The bike companies that have signed on also show just how mainstream e-assist has become (it's nearly 40% of the market in Holland). Names like Yamaha, Bosch, and Shimano ensure that you'll always be well supported, and they ensure our staff are supported too with great training and certification.

With an e-assist motor, you can pedal your cargo bike up hills at speeds close to 32km/hr. The range is upwards of 100km on a single charge, and the battery takes a short 4-5 hours to fully recharge. If you prefer the stability and handling of a three-wheeled bike but are concerned about the reduced efficiency over distance and hills, an e-assist solves this problem immediately. If you prefer a two-wheeled model, the e-assist once again flattens hills and makes distance a joyful thing. Like we said, they go together like bread and butter!

At Curbside we pride ourselves on careful curation. And, we take this seriously. We travel yearly to Europe. We walk the streets, checking wear and tear, seeing which brands are used and which one's aren't. We visit tradeshows and we visit factories. We build relationships. We've been importing cargo bikes since 2006 and the brands we carry all have to follow three strict guidelines.

Cargo bikes are something we really believe in. We want to help build a world where cargo bikes are used everywhere, making our cities healthier and more beautiful too! We've been importing cargo bikes since 2006 and we're pretty confident that no one has the experience we do. And, we'd love to share that experience with you! We know that buying a cargo bike brings up a lot of questions, and we'd love to answer those one-on one. You can email info@curbsidecycle, call at 1-866-920-4933 or (even better!) book a remote or in-store sales appointment.