Current milage on the bike is 1019 km as of 20250206, more details here.
I am enthusiastic about bikes
I love bikes and biking. Not as a sport but as a weekend and week day activity on my own and with my family. I live in Madrid, Spain - I mostly bike everywhere. It's not for environmental reasons, it's mostly because I find it enjoyable and because it's very practical. I don't understand people who will take a car to move 4 or 6km - or less!
I have 2 kids born in 2021 and 2022
For those who are not parents, it's important that one adult be able to
move all the children in a family. If that isn't possible, everything
becomes harder. You have to collaborate with the other parent for almost
anything which reduces what you do. Which reduces your will to live.
That is why it was important for us to have a bike that one parent could
use to take the kids to school. Madrid has a lot of hills, which meant
that it was going to have to be electric. After much research and
deliberation, we decided to buy a Bicicapace
JustLong.
Why the Bicicapace JustLong bike?
It's a longtail
People are long and thin. That means that if you want to pack them into
a small space you set them up like sardines. A cargo bike with the cargo
in front is less effective for moving people. So much so that with the
Bicicapace you can even carry an adult and child in the back, most cargo
bikes can't even carry two 5 year old children!
Also, the bike is more narrow. In Madrid, biking is still not the
preferred way to get around. That means that you find yourself going
between cars often. That is much easier to do with a longtail than a
cargo bike.
The bag in the front looks like a nice to have - it's a have to have
When you carry people on your bike, even kids. They have stuff with them: helmets, backpacks, toys etc. The JustLong has a 20 inch wheel in the front which gives space for a 80L bag in the front. Most other longtails have a 700mm wheel in the front - which means they have a small baggage rack only. The 20 inch wheel in the front has certain drawbacks when it comes to comfort, it's totally worth it.
The JustLong is super fun to ride
Whether it's to take the kids to school or to get groceries; this bike
is a lot of fun to ride. I think it has a lot to do with the small
wheels. They make the center of gravity of the bike super low, which
adds a lot of stability. It's not a sporty ride, but when you have to
stop for a light every 500m that's not the point.
Carrying groceries is super easy too. The back rack with the gard-rail
becomes a big bucket you can fill up. Not to mention the 80L on the
front.
The frame is made of steel
I'm not going to say that that makes it more comfortable because it's simply not true. I will say that I have seen cracked frames on cargo bikes before and when the frame is made of steel you can often fix it!
The rack on the back of the bike is integrated to the frame
It's surprising but on a lot of longtail bikes the rack is not integrated on the frame. The fact that it's integrated, makes the bike much more solid. Especially the rack since that is where you will be carrying load. Some bikes like the Rise Muller Multitinkerer don't have an integrated rack! The Rise Muller is also much more expensive.