Family Cargobike Trial 2021 Review

After a lots of planning and organisation working alongside the Greater Wellington Regional Council, this year we completed our first Family Cargobike Trial.

The main goal was to expose a range of families to the cargobike lifestyle, and to our most popular bike in this market, the Yuba Spicy Curry. By doing this, we wanted to motivate further interest in this way of life to implement more sustainable and active forms of travel within the community.

Based off the response we got from families, the Family Cargobike Trial was a massive success. We comfortably filled up all the spots we had for the trial at every school, and even had to load the bikes out for even longer in some cases to allow more families the opportunity to have a go. 

The feedback we got was overwhelmingly positive, and the stories we received from families were everything from hilarious to heartwarming. It was incredible to see how quickly families implemented the Spicy Curry into their lives, and how quickly the kids got on board as well. 

Overwhelmingly, the stories we got from families communicated that the bike had changed their day-to-day life for the better and allowed them to experience and move through the city in a new and exciting way.

Here are some great quotes and images we got as a response to the trial; 

"Riding the Cargobike also increased our sense of connection to our local community. We were able to stop easily at the local bakery en route (Gramercy here we come!). We engaged with lots more people on our way, some who were just intrigued by the bike! Last but not least, I loved the extra exercise... and a happy Mama is good for the whole family!" 

- The Ridgway Riders

"Fred was initially very hesitant to even look at the cargobike, but within seconds of climbing aboard he was wooping, laughing, and asking for regular updates on how fast we were going. Our first trip was supposed to be to the library; but, at Fred’s suggestion, we took a detour to the beach. Then we went for a milkshake and fries, before heading to the library and returning home with a full basket-load of dinosaur books. I couldn’t believe it!"

- Barricade bikes and boards

"The Wheelington family lived a busy life, always on the go in their old, grumpy car. The day “Spicy Curry” came into their lives, commuting became a moment of shared joy and pure bliss. On the Cargo bike, they felt safe and cozy, yet wild and free!"

- The Wheelingtonians

We will be releasing the full responses we got from our top 10 entries of the competition component of the Family Cargobike Trial over the next few weeks, which you can find here.

We hope this is the first of many trials of this kind, but we can only offer these if interest is present. This is why we have a form for anyone who missed out on the previous trial to show their interest for future trials, which you can find here. So if you're keen, spread the word with local families in your area, get them to fill in the form linket above and if we get enough bites we'll do our best to put on another trial soon!

Please note - If you live in Wellington and are able to get to us and want to try one of these bikes now, we offer extended test rides for our most popular cargobikes upon booking. So if you want to give one of these bikes a go, get in touch and we'll try to make it happen!