The e-bike accessories you need to help you transport most things

When my wife And I bought our first e-bike — a Seattle company’s Radwagon 4 Rad Power Bikes— Four years ago, we did this to replace one of our two family cars. For city trips of 5 miles or less, we thought we could (and should!) use a bike. At the time, our kids were very young, so we needed a bike that would be able to carry them safely and also handle whatever we hauled on a given day.

Radwagon responded to those needs. The direct-to-consumer company allowed me to configure the bike to fit my specific needs during the ordering process. You have selected A Front basketA Back cushion seat To my son and A Thule Yip 2 Maxi A seat to secure my then young daughter. I also purchased some safety lights and a bell from my local bike shop (more on those accessories below).

Once the bike arrived and was assembled, my wife and I used it to transport our kids around town. We rode to and from school, daycare, play dates, and doctor appointments; made quick grocery purchases; We went wherever else we needed to go that was relatively close to home.

On any given day, the front basket continues to serve as a cornucopia containing everything we might need for the task or task at hand. On my recent trip to a nearby stadium, my e-bike basket contained the following: a small soccer ball, a small shoulder bag for my wife, a lock and cable for my bike, two bottles of water (plus a third water bottle in the bike’s bottle cage), three baseball hats, two baseball gloves, one baseball, a small tin lunch box filled with snacks, and two folders full of Pokemon trading cards. The basket also worked well for transporting two large grocery bags or three smaller ones, and on one occasion, I found a small guitar amp at our local thrift store.

The bike is still useful and practical, but my family’s needs have changed since we bought it. My 4-year-old daughter is now too old to fit into her Yepp seat, and my 8-year-old son is now a bit too shy to be seen on the back of his dad’s big e-bike. (Not to mention that he’s now strong enough to ride his own bike around town.)

As my kids have grown up on the beloved family e-bike, I’ve been thinking about its next iteration as a serious cargo tool — a grocery holder, if you will — and how I can set it up to haul as much stuff as possible. E-bikes now constitute a huge categoryservice Mountain bikers Passenger, foldable and sailable to suit different needs. There are strategic ways to maximize your e-bike’s capabilities for each of these purposes, but here I’ll stick to the two methods I know best: hauling a family (Family Wagon) and hauling a lot of stuff (Grocery Getter).

Family wagon

Photography: Michael Venotolo-Mantovani

If you use your ebike To transport your childrenYou will need comfortable, safe and age-appropriate seating.