My wife is really passionate about bikepacking. She has done a lot of routes across Europe like the EuroVelo routes and some trips through the Alps and the Netherlands. When I first met her I honestly thought it was the coolest thing ever. She took me with her a few times, but I realized I’m not built for that kind of adventure riding, so most of the time she would go with her friends. Still, I know she always wished I enjoyed it more so we could do it together.
Three years ago we had our baby and things obviously changed. First she was pregnant and then busy being a mom, so she never really had time to get back into bikepacking. Eventually she even sold her bike. I know she still loves it though, and her friends still invite her on trips sometimes. She usually says no because she feels like it’s too much time away from our toddler. I always tell her I can take care of him and it’s not a big deal, but she just doesn’t like being away for that long.
So lately I’ve been thinking about getting a cargo bike. Not just for bikepacking, but also because we were planning to get a second car anyway and couldn’t really save up for it. A cargo bike would cost much less and could probably handle a lot of the same daily tasks. I’m wondering if a cargo bike could actually open up some adventures for her again, maybe even riding with our 3-year-old sometimes. I feel like not having a bike right now might also be one of the reasons she keeps saying no to her friends. The one I am currently interested in, is longtail L1 M from Tarran. It has smaller wheels and a lower center of gravity, would be helpful for backpacking.
But I’m honestly not sure how realistic cargo bikes are for bikepacking. I’ve seen a few people doing trips with cargo bikes, but are those the same kind of urban cargo bikes, or something different? Has anyone here tried bikepacking with one.
by Ok_Finger_9585
6 Comments
I wouldn’t call it bikepacking. You’re opening possibility for urbanpacking, or commuterpacking, or neighborhoodpacking. But not bikepacking.
Electric bikes are often poor when not powered, but if you are only touring within its range and charging at campings , it might work. That said, an electric cargo bike might help her life quite a bit in regular use.
In short: touring yes, bikepacking in the more conservative definition, I’d say no. The terrain you normally experience while bikepaking is not really one you’d want to bring a very heavy bike maybe even with a child on it.
If you wanna take the kid with you, I’ve seen some couples that are close enough so they can share a bike do the following:
one partner with the kid and most of the luggage on the cargo bike, and the other riding unburdened and happy next to them. Every other day they swapped bikes.
if you stick to paved/flat touring routes like the ones in the Netherlands or some of the mellower EuroVelo segments, it could totally work especially with a kid seat. I have definitely seen people use such set-up on routes. Also this is great that you are thinking about your wife’s passion. You should buy it, this will definitely help with both normal rides and some simple bikepacking trips.
If her routes are entirely on pavement or relatively groomed dirt and you have enough battery power, then this would work fine.
Why not ask her about the routes she went before? Were they mostly dirt or prevent?
Yes just make sure your battery is good to go for a long trip if your planning a bike backing day