The other day, someone emailed me to ask about the Madsen cargo bike and how it rode. This seems to be a common question since it’s hard to find a place to test-ride these bikes. So I thought I’d put together a little post about my experiences.

We have 2 cargo bikes in the household now, a Madsen (original version) with added electric assist motor, and a Surly Big Dummy with Xtracycle attachments, no longer electrified. I use them both to carry a couple of smallish children (age 4) as well as pick up groceries and do other local errands.

When we set up the bikes, we lived about 7 miles from town over terrain that was quite hilly. In that situation, having the electric assist was near critical in order to make riding with all that extra weight practical and (more importantly) enjoyable! But since then, we have moved to a place that is mostly flat for everyday riding, and we removed the electric assist from the Big Dummy to make it lighter and more nimble. Now, I find that I don’t “need” the assist to get around, however, I do still use it sometimes for speed (especially for getting through the timed stop-light series in downtown).

I’ve been using both bikes pretty regularly, and have found that they definitely have different advantages.

First the Big Dummy.

This is a solid-frame longtail bike with a long platform on the back and side-bags for your cargo.

The Big Dummy (This is not me, but you get the idea)

1. I love the way this bike rides. It’s fast, nimble, and feels very much like a bike of typical size. I can accelerate it from a stop quickly. It’s easy to pedal and keep moving at speed. Riding it is fun and easy, even with a load on the back. For my typical loads of ~100 lbs there’s no flexing in the frame, and while getting started is slower than an unloaded bike, once underway, we sail along smoothly.

The Madsen feels like a big bike. When I ride it without using the e-assist, it’s heavy to get started and feels a bit on the clunky side. The bike is not made for speed, and I find the top comfortable speed I can pedal with the provided gearing is about 18mph. This is OK, because faster than that, I start feeling a little uneasy with this design. It’s a good excuse to ride a little slower and smell the roses.

2. I also prefer the cargo/kid arrangement of this bike to the Madsen when picking up groceries or doing errands. The kids ride on the top. The cargo goes in the sides and they drape their legs over it. I can fit 3 canvas grocery bags on each side easily, and I tie the tops over the bags so nothing hangs out. By contrast, in the Madsen, everything goes in the bucket. This means the kids feet are on top of your groceries (eggs and all) and little hands have free access to everything you’ve just purchased.

On my first big shopping trip with the twins (then only 2) and the Madsen, I put the kids on one seat, and piled all the groceries in the bucket and up on the other seat. As we rode home, I saw little bits of lettuce being ripped off and thrown out of the bike. And when we finished our 20 minute ride home, we had 3 smashed bananas with little teeth marks in the sides (2-yr olds don’t know how to peel), and a couple of ripped up cracker boxes which they had attempted to open. Overall, this was not too bad. Just a couple of curious kids with access to a whole lot of snacks….

3. There’s a bit more flexibility in build with the Big Dummy, with different frame sizes and many different gearing options available. This works ok for us because my partner and I are only about 4 inches difference in height. So we can both comfortably ride the same frame size. It might not work as well for people of much different height.

Next the Madsen.

This is the bike with the bucket on the back that you can carry up to 4 children on bench seats (lovingly known among the children as “the bucket bike”.

The Madsen

1. This bike excels for the kid social and cooperative aspects. When we take this bike, the kids can face each other. They have hands free so they can eat snacks and no one has to hold onto someone else. They play games and chat away, point out things along our route, and sometimes even look at small books we get at the library. Occasionally, there are disagreements which require us to pull over (and sometimes remove a toy), but generally they get along pretty well.

By contrast, on the Big Dummy, there is usually an argument over who gets to sit in the front right off the bat. The person in front can hold onto the handlebars behind the seat. The person in back has to hold onto the person in front. Sometimes they don’t like holding onto each other, and this has caused numerous controversies of “she’s holding me too tight”, etc. This could probably be fixed with a more complicated seating arrangement system such as many have developed, but we like the flexibility of keeping it open.

2. The Madsen also offers some additional flexibility if you need to pick up an extra kid somewhere. We use it to transport friends who want to come over to play, when my older daughter wants to ride instead of take her own bike (or if it’s too far or too dangerous for her).

Interestingly, however, the Big Dummy actually is better for carrying small children’s bikes. So if the children want to ride on their own small bikes part way, or if they get tired, I can pick up the bike and the child on the Big Dummy. This is harder on the Madsen (although still possible) because you have to find a way to fit the bike into the bucket too. This works well with 12″ and 16″ wheel bikes. When you get to 20″ wheel, it’s harder to get the bike on the side in a stable position.

3. I LOVE the step through design of the Madsen. It’s far easier to get on and off this bike than the Big Dummy, where I have to get my leg up high over the frame bar. (this is improved some in the newer Big Dummy design – ours is from 2009).

4. The Kickstand on the Madsen rocks! It’s super wide, so when deployed it holds the whole bike up solidly. I can let go of the bike to lift kids in and out of the bucket, to load and unload, and never worry about it falling over. It’s also easy to deploy because there is no lifting of the front or back of the bike needed (unlike some double kickstands I’ve tried).

5. The “fun” possibilities with the bucket are many and varied. A bucket full of water and rubber duckies? Mobile ice and beer dispenser? Pirate ship? If you ride one of these around town, people will give you more ideas – it’s also a conversation starter. For quite some time, I was well known in our small town as the lady who rode that bike with the bucket on the back : )

Overall, which bike I take really seems to depend on what mood I’m in, what my errand is, and how many kids I have that day. We’re lucky to have both and have a choice. But if you think about how you will use the bike most often, I hope this will help you find which one fits your needs better.

Last weekend, I had the great opportunity to participate in the Tour de Fat! This event is basically a huge bicycle parade with people wearing funky costumes and decorated bikes, followed by a festival with music and food. The Tour is sponsored by the New Belgium brewing company – a beer company who just happen to also be fans of bikes and sustainable transportation!

Pirates in the Madsen

I had not participated in this before, so we weren’t too sure what to expect other than “decorate your bikes”. We decorated the Xtracycle and my daugther’s bike with colorful streamers and the kids dressed in costumes complete with tails sticking out behind. Then we headed down to Ann Morrison park where the parade was meeting.

What we found was a huge number of bikers assembling to roving music. We met 3 other people with Madsen bikes (an estimated 50% of the Madsen owners in Boise), one of whom actually bought her electric assist kit from Cycle 9!

After milling around for awhile, the parade started heading out and we joined the slow moving group. We were fortunate to be near one of the roving music trikes, and jammed out to tunes while riding with the crowd.

Bikes stretched all the way to the capital building in the distance

The tour route took over one of the main arteries through downtown – a 4 lane, one-way road that crosses the river and approaches the capital building. People were ringing their bells, cheering and waving to waiting cars and generally having a good time. As we neared the capital and turned the corner and there were bikes as far as I could see in both directions, including the apx 1 mile behind me down Capital blvd. It reminded me of pictures of the Boston marathon or something. I heard later that an estimated 3,000 people participated in the parade – a new record.

Of course, a main purpose to the tour is FUN. But the festival afterwards was also a fundraiser for local bike projects. Sales of beer, food and festival booths raised over $43,000 for Southwest Idaho Mountain Biking Association, Treasure Valley Cycling Alliance and Boise Bike Project to put to good use in the community.

Just goes to show what can happen when bikers get together!

I’m glad I got a chance to participate in this really fun event, and I encourage you to do so if you’re in one of the Tour cities. Go out and meet your biking community!

The other day, I found myself riding my bike through a beautiful morning with near perfect temperatures along tree-lined and low traffic streets and it was a bit of a wake-up call. I hadn’t been out on my bike much lately and I missed it. Why not? I talk about this in the following post, as well as one PERFECT use for a bicycle….

Turbulent times

The last 6 months have been pretty turbulent for us, as we decided to close our retail location of Cycle 9 and also relocated to a new city and moved houses, twice! We’ve moved from Chapel Hill, North Carolina to Boise, Idaho! Yes, Idaho – that weird looking state between Oregon and Montana, the one most well known for potatoes (from an apparent historic State Branding campaign), homophobic senators who turn out to be gay, and white supremesist militias hiding out in the woods. I can’t say the public campaigns have been very inviting for this beautiful state (Montana seems to have that down much more than Idaho), but think mountains, rivers, trails, and a lively and interesting cultural mix.

We thought Boise would be a reasonable town with great outdoors access, but have been really pleasantly surprised at the hip (but not hipster) culture, variety of good places to eat and hang out, friendly nature of the people, and ease of getting around without a car! For one thing, the city is built in a river valley, so the terrain in town is primarily flat (hurray! such a change from Chapel HILL). And secondly, much of the old city is built on a grid system of streets, so it’s really easy to find less-trafficed alternate routes among that part of town. THANK YOU old time city planners of the West who were not hindered by geography. And thirdly, the town has an active bike culture that has resulted in a reasonable network of bike lanes on busier streets, as well as lots of people out on their bikes (and the more people out = the safer it is!). There are also huge crowds of mountain bikers and road riders who hit the foothills trails and roads before or after work.  These were all surprises to us, and have made us like the town even more.

But wait! That car is getting used all the time

Despite these great bike advantages, however, I’ve found myself using the car a lot more than usual over the past few months. It’s been a bit depressing, actually, to fall back into this habit. It happened as a matter of course, and I didn’t think about it too much until recently when we’ve gotten out pretty often by bike. As it occurred to me, I contemplated the bike vs. drive question again, and here’s what I came up with for why more driving as of late….

1.  We’ve had to take a lot more “errand” trips than usual to help us get the new house(s) organized (hardware store, Target-type stores, etc), as well as shuffling boxes and belongings between a storage unit and the house, and do all those things like setting up bank accounts, looking for office space to rent for my partner’s business, and all that other not-so fun stuff about moving.

I think I could have done more of these errands by bike, but it also took awhile to figure out good bike routes and just routes in general of how to get from point A to B. It seems like any time you move, the map of the city in your head takes awhile to grow. And also those types of stores are usually located in the boon docks! Well, at least the boon-docks when considering a bike ride.

2.  I actually think the main reason why I haven’t biked as much is not the above, but rather the lack of a daily routine. When you have a (more or less) set routine, it’s much easier to bike to your usual places. You know the route, you have all your gear in one place (not the “now which box is the tire pump in?”), and you just get on the bike and go without a lot of thinking. By contrast, there’s a certain amount of energy drain that comes with the chaos of a broken routine and it’s just harder to get motivated to look up a new route and attempt a long bike errand trip.

Exploring by bike

However, there is one particular activity that I’ve found biking is perfectly suited for in a new town, and that is getting to know the town! When you’re in the car, you just go from one point to the next and rarely see much of what’s in between. However, the bike is a completely different way to explore, and one I’ve had a lot more fun with. I find that “map in my head” gets filled in much more quickly with little details and alternate routes when I explore on the bike. We take different streets to check out the houses, run across random little stores tucked away here and there, and take much more notice of what’s around us when we’re out biking.

We’ve found the best routes between the coffee shop and the book store, how to get to the pizza place and park out front without circling the one-way grid system for 10 minutes looking for parking, and explored downtown museums and the library along with bike rides along the river-side bike path. We’ve even met a few other people with Xtracycles and one person with a Madsen (even though no shop in town sells those bikes).

There’s something about riding a bike around that is just more accessible and friendly to the local environment. I think it’s probably a combination of the slower speed and the exposure to the elements that allows one to interact with the environment more than when in your little steel box. Whatever it is, I certainly FEEL much more connected to the city and it’s people when on my bike, and for that it’s an ideal vehicle for exploring.

What do you think? Why do you find yourself driving vs. biking more? and have you explored cities by bike via other means? Leave your comments below.

Dear Cycle 9 customers, friends, and fans,

It is with great regret that I report to you that Cycle 9 will be closing it’s retail store location in Carrboro, NC this month. Due to a number of personal and business factors, continuing the retail store just is not in the cards for us at this time. We will be continuing this website and continue to promote electric and cargo bike options for people interested in biking more! So, please stay tuned for updates on what is happening and more good information and tips.

I am grateful for all of the support we’ve received from many loyal customers over our years of business, and I’ve truly enjoyed interacting with you. Myself and the others in the store will miss seeing our local customers come in.

I hope you will all continue to spread the good word about cargo bikes, electric bikes, and the benefits of biking more and driving less.

Get Your Discount HERE

Now for the good news! Everything in our current store inventory is now discounted and will continue to be discounted until the end of July when we close our doors. This is remaining bikes, accessories, components, electric components and accessories, art batiks, and even supplies, tools and equipment.

We will also host a bike swap and huge sale on Saturday, July 23rd at the Carrboro store. If you are in town, be sure to stop by and check out what is going on. Things are moving fast at these discounts, though, so don’t wait.

If you are a remote customer, check our webstore clearance pages for updates and call or email the shop

Thanks to everyone, and I hope you’ll continue to visit us online as we move forward.

Sincerly and warmly,

Elise Giddings

Owner and founder of Cycle 9

I wanted to help spread the word about two upcoming events in our area:  Joy Ride and the 2011  kick-off stop of the 2011 edition of  the Tour de Fat. Both events are being held in our neighboring city of Durham, NC.

The Joy Ride is a celebration of New Belgium Brewing Co’s 20th anniversary. New Belgium, for those uninitiated, is a bike-centered company and makers of fine adult beverages. The  Saturday June 4th event starts with a toast at Tyler’s in Durham @ 3pm. Then a ride leaving @ 3;30pm to Full Steam Brewery with a second toast @4pm and finally back to the tobacco district for more liquid refreshments. Costumes are encouraged and appreciated.

The first stop of the 2011 Tour de Fat sponsored by New Belgium gets underway at 10am Saturday June 25th @ Diamond View Park (in American Tobacco Park). Here a couple of links : http://www.newbelgium.com/events/tour-de-fat.aspx  and  http://www.facebook.com/TourDeFat . Be sure to get there early for registration. This ballyhoo of good times will be benefitting North Carolina Active Transportation Alliance. Music and theatrics to follow the ride.

Hope to see you there!

Steve

We’re already a week into the month but it’s never too late to celebrate bikes. May is “National Bike Month” and here’s a rundown of what’s happening in the shop and around town:

Come by the shop for Bike to Work Week(s!), May 1-20 To celebrate come by Cycle 9 for:

• 15% Off Commuter Accessories
• 20% Off Tune-Ups
• FREE Bicycle Inspections (We’ll check out your bike and recommend any necessary service)

Carrboro Bike Breakfast, Tues May 17, 7am – 10am Completely FREE and open to the public (IN THE PARKING LOT ACROSS FROM ARMADILLO GRILL IN CARRBORO)

• Bike Check-Ups and Maintenance
• Food!: Biscuits from Neal’s Deli, Coffee from Open Eye
• Raffle for Prizes and other fun Giveaways

Chapel Hill-Carrboro Bicycle Parade, Fri May 20 @ 5:30pm

• Meet at Wallace Plaza (on top of the Rosemary St. Parking Deck) for an 8-mile “Bike Parade” loop thru Chapel Hill and Carrboro with food and live music at the end.                                                             –Riders of all ages and abilities welcome–

Bike & Bus Workshop, Sat May 14 9am – Noon (Details can be found HERE)

BikeAbility Adapted Event, Sat May 21 10am – 2pm

• Safety Clinic and Adaptive Bike Demo for children and adults with special needs. Must register in advance. See Chapel Hill Parks and Rec for details and registration.

The Carrboro Bicycle Coalition is hosting their first-ever fundraiser this Friday at Johnny’s in Carrboro. Along with live music and great food, they will be raffling off some great prizes–including a couple from yours truly at Cycle 9!

From the Coalition’s website:

“The Carrboro Bicycle Coalition will be holding 
our first ever Fundraiser on Friday, April 15 at Johnny’s 
(901 W. Main St.) 5 pm–10 pm

Anyone excited about cycling and having a great time with friends is encouraged to attend! This energy-packed event will include live music from two local bands, catered food, locally-produced baked goods, bike-blended smoothies, and a raffle for various prizes and certificates from local retailers.

Proceeds from the event will go toward planning and holding cycling events throughout the Carrboro-Chapel Hill area that enhance the safety and appeal of cycling for all ages and abilities. We recently helped sponsor the Silver Level Bicycle Friendly City award ceremony and a Bike Safety Rodeo held at Carrboro Elementary. A $5 suggested donation earns you a bicycle pin and free raffle ticket! Additional raffle tickets may be purchased for $2 each. You could win a prize from one of several participating merchants, including Fleet Feet, Townsend-Bertram, Back Alley Bikes, the Clean Machine, Carrburitos, and more.

For additional information about the fundraiser, or to volunteer, please contact Seth LaJeunesse at 919-357-6079.”

Those prizes mentioned from us: a bicycle tune-up valued at $70 and a brand new $100 helmet. Come on out and show your support for the local bicycling community, enjoy great music and food, and have a chance to win a prize or two!

Hope to see you Friday!

It’s that time again -  the annual Spring Bike Swap presented by Cycle 9 – Sunday April 10 9am-3pm, or so.  As always, space is free for vendors and the public.  Shops are welcome to bring their wares.  Back Alley Bikes, Reidsville Bikeshop, and ReCyclery NC are on the list.  There is plenty of free parking and space to set up tables, tents, blankets, rocking chairs, etc.  The Looking Glass Cafe’ adjacent to us, has plenty of great food and beverages for purchase.  It’s a great time to sell (or get rid of) that stuff gathering dust in the parts box.  The previous Spring Swap’s have seen upwards of 200 people in attendance.  So, it’s kind of a big deal.  Come join and geek out with us on bike parts galore!

Contact Steve at 919-636-5909 or steve@cycle9.com

Ortileb and Tubus  - Incredible Touring Gear now available

After some heated debate (not really, but it sounds good) we are now an Ortileb and Tubus dealer. Our touring business took off last summer so we added some selection to the touring bikes we carry. We in turn added some expedition worthy front and rear racks. Now, we have some of the best racks, bags and panniers on hand. If you haven’t heard of Ortlieb, or Tubus for that matter, do a little searching  about touring. Their name and reputation is top notch.

What do that mean to you? Well, we are the only bike shop in the area, possibly this part of the state that stocks true touring equipment. We have the knowledge to assist you in your important gear decisions. Plus, we like talking about it. Good luck finding that anywhere else.

Feel free to call, email or come by with any questions about touring (or whatever else is on your mind).

My name is Steve and I am your local bike shop.

Wow. I just got back from the local car repair shop. (Yes, I do actually own a car!). My car is well into it’s middle age and it was time for one of those Regularly Scheduled tune-ups. You know the type – the type where the mechanic looks it over and gives you a laundry list of things that could be replaced in order of “your car will fail if you don’t do this” to “this is our recommendation”.

By the time I got through the basic maintenance needs and some replacements of belts and such, the total

The Offending Vehicle.... (photo from Honda Motor Co)

was still over $1,000 (and that was only 2/3 of the full list). Ouch. Between that and the new tires that were required earlier this year (another $700), the car is turning out to be sucking down resources lately.

The perception of cost

But the other thing about it was that that number seemed “reasonable” for a car repair. It wasn’t like I thought it was going to be $200 and ended up being $1000. My perception of cars and their associated costs puts that number in the range of something you might spend on a car.

By contrast, we get people in the shop who look at a bike that costs $1,000 and couldn’t dream of spending that much on it, nonetheless spending a couple grand on a true car-replacement bike. The perception of bikes is that they should cost around $300. You can find a used bike on Craigs List for $100 right?

However, for about what I just spent on a car repair, you could get a very nice bike like the Surly Long Haul Trucker (retails at ~$1150). It’s a bike with a steel frame that might last longer than you, good quality components that can be replaced or refurbished, and the capacity to carry what you need, even for adding an Xtracycle to carg0-bike it for those big trips.

In fact, for just a little more you could even go whole hog on the Cargo Bike, scoring a Yuba Mundo,

The money saver...

Xtracycle Radish bike or Madsen bucket bike (all available for less than $1300). Could you get by with one less car if you had such a bike? (The true cost of owning a car is $6,000 to $10,00 per year – check it out at edmonds.com).

And as far as bikes go, while $1000 is not a cheap bike, it’s not an expensive bike either. Pick up on a really nice road bike for riding around the countryside and you’ll be looking at $3,000 or more. (I once heard of someone who spent an incredible $20,000 on a custom road bike! Maybe it had gold trim or something…..)

Well, the whole car repair experience served as a good reminder of just how expensive cars can be, even if you don’t drive them all that often. And conversely, how relatively inexpensive my “expensive” electric cargo bike is. Yes, that’s the one that allows me to cut my car mileage to less than 20 miles most weeks with relative ease.

Ride More, Drive Less.