This is not a joke.
Not even an enlightened ecologist whim.
It is even on the way to becoming a solution seriously considered, even already adopted, by more and more inhabitants of Greater Paris.
Replacing a family car with a bicycle, "it is really possible", together assure dealers, engine manufacturers and manufacturers in the bicycle sector.
Last week the Vélo in Paris fair was held.
We went to meet these promoters of the cargo bike.
Here are some of their arguments in response to the criticisms most often heard, to try to convince you to give up the car in favor of these funny machines that we were able to test.
“A bicycle cannot carry groceries and children.
"
" If, for both, it is now possible, assures Harald Marzolf, Europe Director of Yuba brand.
All of these objections can be dismissed.
We have bikes that can fit a household's second car.
»In the Yuba range, bikes can in fact support loads of up to 180 to 250 kg, depending on the model.
Various systems (baskets, carrier at the front, seats or benches at the rear, or even both combined), with safety devices or suitable bags, allow the transport of large volumes of goods or luggage, but also children, even adults in addition to the driver.
“In fact, it's a utility,” says Richard Mazy, of the Cyclable store chain in Paris, which launched its first 100% cargo bike shop a year ago in the 16th arrondissement.
“Initially, we take it for the children.
And then we realize that we can easily go to work with it.
Then we bring back shopping.
70% of the time, customers use it without children ”.
"In fact it's like a station wagon", summarizes Harald Marzolf.
Cargo bike from the Yuba brand.
"Supercargo" model (1 to 4 passengers, 2.60 m long, Bosch engine), sold from 4750 euros./(DR.)
"I won't know how to pilot this."
Electric assistance changed everything.
With 500 Wh motors and an aid activated from the first pedal stroke, big calves are no longer essential, even to carry 200 kg.
“To replace the use of the car, we designed cargo engines with torque and power from the start,” explains Guillaume Heinrich, Marketing Director of Bosch eBike Systems, which this year launched an electric motor range. especially for cargo bikes.
In addition to the assistance, the piloting of these bikes has become easier.
“The lower the center of gravity, the easier it will be to drive,” says Harald Marzolf.
The emergence of “long tails” is a sign of this simplification.
These bikes extended at the rear, easier to ride, take precedence over cargo ships with carrier at the front.
“Seven years ago, when we launched the cargo bike in our first store in Nation, they were quite heavy Dutch cargo ships, half non-electric.
Today, we mainly sell long tails, more suited to urban families, ”explains Richard Mazy.
Paris, September 22.
Cargo bike tests.
Here the supercargo of the brand Yuba./(LP./JGB)
"I'm going to waste time and I won't be able to park it."
It depends on your journeys, but, at least in inner Paris, with the proliferation of cycle paths, the bicycle has become the fastest means of transport.
But parking these machines, which can be up to 2.60 m long, can indeed be a problem.
Richard Mazy advises to keep your parking space, when you have one.
“More and more customers are doing this: they no longer have a car, sometimes renting one for the weekends, but keeping their parking space for their bikes”.
Otherwise, there are now "short tails", bikes that are lengthened but a little shorter (about 2 meters), which also have the particularity of straightening up to park vertically, like the Kiffy Capsule or GSD models from Tern. .
"It's practical in building courtyards or bicycle rooms", explains Mathieu, salesman at Cyclable.
Paris, September 22.
In front of the Cyclable store specializing in cargo bikes, Mathieu, the seller, presents this GSD brand bike capable of parking vertically, to save space./(LP/Jean-Gabriel Bontinck.)
"What if it rains?"
".
This is the question that annoys cyclists, and not just promoters of the cargo bike.
Harald Marzolf gets rid of the problem: “it only rains 5 days a year in Paris,” he says.
However, it is better to equip yourself to avoid ending up soaked after a heavy downpour.
The accessories are numerous.
It will be easier to protect your children or your goods in the body of a cargo ship with a porter in the front.
Protection tents are available for all models.
Some also, like at Yuba, can fit in the back seats of a long tail.
Otherwise, it's the good old rain cape that you need to bring, for yourself and the people you are transporting.
Paris, September 22.
A cargo bike in "long tail" mode (rear loading), from the Yuba brand, presented at the Velo in Paris show ./LP/Jean-Gabriel Bontinck.)
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"It must cost a fortune."
This is not given, indeed.
In the electric version, prices range from around 3,250 euros for the first prize (1.90m Boda Boda short-tail from Yuba) to nearly 10,000 euros for the hyper-connected cargo ship from Riese & Müller.
There are also additional costs depending on the equipment you want (protections, baskets, saddlebags, child seats, toe clips, protection bars, etc.).
A budget which ultimately approaches that of a used car, which cargo bikes aim to replace.
And here, no fuel expenditure.
Note that the Ile-de-France region offers 600 euros, without condition of resources, for any purchase of electric cargo bike.
The region will also offer a Véligo Cargo rental by the end of the year.
The business is in any case growing.
Once a niche market in the bicycle sector, cargo is booming.
At Cyclable (a dozen stores in Paris and in the suburbs), the share of cargo increased from 13% to 18% of total turnover between 2018 and 2019. The growth in cargo sales was 117% over this period .
And it continues in 2020: between January and August, sales increased by 88%.
Even if these figures still represent only 363 freighters sold by Cyclable in Paris over the period, the increase is exponential.
Paris, September 22.
Testing of cargo bikes and long-tails of different brands, with a Bosch electric motor.
LP / Jean-Gabriel Bontinck.