Dream Bike

This is a video of a mom cycling with two kids and 4 bags of groceries. A similar cycle, featured in this month's MAKE magazine, was used on a camping trip to carry a 55-gallon drum, camping gear, and four potted plants, all while towing a trailer with a kid inside. The pilot of the bike, a tiny woman named Martina, who (from pictures) can't be more than 5'4". Martina is not an olympic athlete, nor a steroid user. She is able to move such loads because she has two very useful and clever accessories on her bike.

The first is a hitchless trailer. It essentially lengthens the wheelbase of the bike, and adds a great deal of cargo capacity. The hitchless trailer kit is made by Xtracycle, and is what allows all of the cargo to not only fit on the bike, but also enables the bike to bear the weight.

The second accessory is a Stokemonkey electric motor. There are tons of motor kits for cycles, and though most run out of power after ten blocks leaving you with a 100 lbs bike with a partially jammed drivetrain, there are a few that do a good job. In that regard Stokemonkey is nothing new. What Stokemonkey does a little differently is that it works with the rider instead of in addition to the rider. Stokemonkey connects directly to the crankset of your bike, and by pedaling you engage the clutch. There is a throttle on the handlebars to let you choose how much help Stokemonkey provides, but the clever clutch design means that the Stokemonkey is always working in tandem with your legs, and because it applies torque to the crankset rather than the wheels, the Stokemonkey make just as smart gearing decisions as you do!

I want a bike with this set up incredibly badly. I'd love to be able run weekend errands on my bike rather than in Leorah's car. Depending on how you use the motor a single 9Ah charge will get you in excess of 25 miles, which is far cheaper than gas (even at Leorah's 35+ mpg), and suddenly your bike becomes far more versatile. Right now I'm not even able to grab groceries on my way home from work without having to think far enough ahead to bring an extra bag or empty my panniers. Even with empty panniers I only have room for ~2 bags of groceries.

Unfortunately the Xtracycle kit and Stokemonkey run around $1700 total, so I don't think I'll be getting one soon. However as long as I'm in or near a city I think I'd choose this over buying a car, or even a motorbike or scooter. It's better suited to my needs, lighter on the wallet, and better for the city.