Local eCargo bike user's experience

1. What bike/s do you use?

I ride a Larry vs Harry eBullit cargo bike provided to Colchester Bike Kitchen under the Colchester City Council cargo bike project. I also ride a Yoonit mini eCargo bike which I purchased for my family as a direct result of my positive experience with the Bike Kitchen bike.

2. What do you use the eCargo bike for?

The Bike Kitchen bike is used for a range of tasks including transportation of tools and equipment to deliver external events such as community Dr Bikes and teaching, collecting stock for the workshop and disposing of waste. We have even used it for moving premises, carrying fixtures and fittings from one location to another. All these tasks would previously have been completed in a van. 

With our family bike we use it for general transport which includes local shopping trips, taking items to and from our allotment, taking our dog to the vet, recycling to the local waste centre and family days out to the beach. It has allowed us to give up a car, so we have gone from a 2 car to a 1 car household.

3. What benefits do you get from using the eCargo bike?

Having access to cargo bikes in Colchester has been invaluable. Colchester has an acknowledged traffic congestion problem, but this is simply not an issue with the cargo bikes.

Journeys that might take nearly an hour by car take minutes on the cargo bike and because the Colchester Bike Kitchen workshop is in an area that is closed to traffic during the day, we can still deliver and collect at any time. Travel and transport by eCargo bike is an all-round more pleasurable and convenient experience than driving.

4. Have you got any top tips for others who are interested in trying out an eCargo bike?

I’d recommend trying lots of different styles of bikes and keeping an open mind.

There are so many configurations of bike and what seems like a good idea in a brochure might not work in practice once you get ‘hands on’ with it. For example, when we purchased our own bike, secure storage at home was an issue so we had to find something that took up much less space than the shop bike.

5. How many miles have you clocked up using the eCargo bike?

Our shop bike has covered around 1000 miles since 2021 and my personal bike about 500 since 2022.

6. Contact Details:

Phineas Wenlock
Colchester Bike Kitchen
hello@colchesterbikekitchen.org.uk