Why Not Just Buy a $2,000 Cargo Bike Online?
A $2,000 longtail from an online brand can look a lot like a Tern in photos. The difference is what each one was built and tested to carry, and that matters most when your kids are on it.
We sell Tern and Urban Arrow, so keep that in mind as you read. There aren’t many cheap bikes built like an Urban Arrow, so this page is mostly about longtails. Along the way, I’ll tell you what to ask any brand before you buy.
Where the kids sit
The lower your kid’s weight sits, the steadier the bike feels. You notice it most when you’re stopped at a light holding the bike up, and when someone in the back starts wiggling.
Highest. Behind you, over the back wheel. You feel every wiggle, and it gets top-heavy when you stop.
Lower. On a rack over a small 20-inch wheel, inside a rail, right behind you. Much steadier.
Lowest. Between the wheels, in front of you. The steadiest of the three, and you can see them the whole ride.
A lot of online cargo bikes are longtails, so the shape can look just like a Tern’s. What a photo can’t show you is what the frame and rack were tested to carry.
What was it tested to carry?
The regular bike and e-bike safety standards were written for bikes carrying about 264 lb in all. Put a parent, two kids and a week of groceries on a longtail and you’re well past that.
Germany published the first standard written for cargo bikes, DIN 79010, in 2020. It allows up to 551 lb on a two-wheeled cargo bike and adds tests a regular bike never faces: brakes under load, the frame and fork under heavy loads, child passengers, and extreme overloads like hitting a deep pothole with the bike full.
Tern has its cargo bikes, including the Quick Haul, Quick Haul Long, GSD, HSD and Orox, certified by independent labs to meet or beat DIN 79010. The GSD and HSD were among the first e-bikes to pass it.
Urban Arrow helped write the rules. Their own engineer chaired the European committee behind the new EU cargo bike standard, EN 17860, which builds on DIN 79010. Urban Arrow builds with what it calls “automotive-grade components” from Bosch, Enviolo and Schwalbe.
Before you buy any cargo bike, ask the brand three things: which cargo standard the whole bike was tested to, which lab did the testing, and what the total weight and rack limits are. A good brand answers right away.
Hills with kids on board
Everything about hub motors on our $1,500 e-bike page goes double here. A hub motor turns the back wheel directly and can’t use the bike’s gears, so on a climb with a hundred pounds of kids it slows down, heats up and leaves the work to you.
A Bosch mid-drive drives the chain or belt, so it shifts down with you. Bosch built its Cargo Line motor for exactly this job: 85 Nm on most cargo bikes, and more on the newest ones.
When something needs fixing
A cargo bike works harder than any other bike, and brakes, tires and chains wear faster under the weight. On most online bikes, the motor, battery and electronics are the brand’s own parts, so replacements have to come from that brand.
We only service Bosch-powered bikes, so we can’t repair an online-brand cargo bike. We can build a new one out of the box for $199 to $349, depending on the bike, if it’s UL certified. If you’re set on one, find a shop that will service it before you buy.
We do handle warranty claims on Tern, Gazelle and Urban Arrow bikes, even ones bought somewhere else. Every bike we sell comes with a year of free tune-ups and labor, then 20 percent off labor for life.
These aren’t throwaway bikes. Tern promises you’ll be able to get parts for your bike for at least seven years after you buy it. That covers its Bosch-powered bikes from after model year 2017. The parts aren’t free, but they’ll be there. Bosch, for its part, aims to keep spare parts for at least six years after it last ships a system to the bike makers.
The rebate math
Rhode Island’s e-bike rebate covers cargo bikes too: $350 off, or up to $750 if you income-qualify. It only counts if you buy from a Rhode Island bike shop and pay RI sales tax, so a cargo bike shipped to your door doesn’t qualify.
On sale at $3,499, the Quick Haul Long comes to $3,149 after the standard rebate, or $2,749 if you income-qualify. A real cargo bike still costs more, and the rebate doesn’t close the gap. What the difference buys is everything above. Our Rhode Island rebate FAQ walks through how to apply.
So should you buy the $2,000 cargo bike?
If it’s for groceries and errands on flat ground, and you’ve found someone to service it, it can make sense.
If your kids are riding on it, I’d want a bike tested to a cargo standard, with brakes and a motor built for the weight. That’s why we sell what we sell.
Ride one with the kids on board
Bring the kids and try it loaded. Test rides are free, with no deposit.
Tern Quick Haul Long
Bosch Cargo Line, 85 Nm. Rated for two kids, 419 lb total and 198 lb on the rack, and certified to DIN 79010. The least expensive longtail we sell.
Tern Quick Haul P9
65 Nm, 331 lb total, 110 lb rack. Compact, with assist to 28 mph.
Tern HSD S11 (Gen 2)
75 Nm, 397 lb total, 176 lb rack. Folds and parks standing up.
Tern HSD P10e Sport (Gen 3)
Up to 90 Nm, 419 lb total, and it can shift for you.
Urban Arrow Family Cargo
85 Nm Cargo Line, with a bench and belts for two included. The front box.
Call ahead and we’ll have them charged and ready at 181 Brook St in Providence.
Book a test ride · (401) 423-4400 · See all cargo bikes
Already narrowing it down? Read Tern GSD vs HSD or Urban Arrow vs Tern GSD.