2 Kids to School on a Electric Assist Madsent Bucket Bike

Review: 5 Family Cargo Bikes with Electric Assist by nonprofit VBike in Vermont: Haul-A-Day, Yuba Boda Boda and Mundo V5, Radwagon, and Madsen Cycles Bucket bike: https://youtu.be/ka8MjnDYZv8

Dave Cohen of the Nonprofit bicycle advocacy nonprofit VBike (vbikesolutions.org) gives a quick review of VBike's current fleet of electric assist family cargo bikes.

Jump Directly to Review Of: 

1. Bike Friday Haul-a-Day
2. Yuba Boda Boda
3. Rad Power Bikes Radwagon
4. Yuba Mundo V5 
5. Madsen Bucket Bike

Throttle up hill with two kids Madsen Bucket Bike BaFang 1000W Mid Drive

1st Ride With Two Kids Madsen Cycles Bucket Bike

4 Family Cargo E Assist Bikes at VBike in Vermont: Madsen Bucket, Haul a...

Unboxing Bafang BBSHD 1000w Mid Drive Kit for Madsen Bucket Bike from ...

Unboxing Madsen Family Cargo Bucket Bike Red

Install: Bafang BBSD HD 1000w Mid-drive electric assist motor on a Madsen Family Cargo Bucket Bike

Testing Madsen Bucket Bike without mid-drive motor. Went great on relatively flat streets even with two kids but we live in a  hilly town in Vermont. 

I'll be documenting the installation of a mid-drive electric assist motor on my wife's new Madsen Bucket bike here.

The Mid-Drive Kit

From Lunacycle.com: 

1. Bafang BBSHD 1000 watt Mid Drive motor. Bottom Bracket Size: 68-73mm (Standard).
2. Battery: Side Shark 48v GA 10ah. 
3. Chain Ring: Stock 46T Steel. 
4. Luna Bafang Display DPC-10. 
5. Bafang BBSxx Universal Thumb Throttle. 
6. Bafang Handles with Built-in Ebrake cut off. 
7. Luna Wrench. 
8. Custom battery bracket by Karl Kemnizter, of VBike in Brattleboro VT.

The Bike

The Box! Assembly is very easy, basically putting on the front wheel and a fender.

Installing the mid-drive

 Here's the manual, a list of different builds with motors like this. 

Working on the rest now.

We Decided! Madsen Bucket Bike with 1000w Mid-Drive. Family Electric Assist Cargo Bike Spec. here.

We've finally decided on a family cargo bike with electric assist

Here's the test ride that convinced my wife this was the bike for her. 

Lot's of research and actual test rides of a Radwagon, Yuba Mundo, and Bike Friday Haul-a-Day later, we pick Madsen Cycle's Bucket Bike! Here's our developing spec sheet with help from Dave at vbikesolutions.org

Testing VT Bike Solutions test Madsen with Befang 1000w mid-drive. We'll get Red I think. 

The bucket, with my son and his "fancy dress" clothes from the thrift store. Not sure where he came from!  

The bucket next to a Radwagon Monkey Bar Caboose. The bucket is actually lower, but looks even. See below photo.

Right: See how much lower the bucket is than the Radwagons Caboose? Mid-drive motor and battery on custom bracket in center.

Mid-Drive Electric Assist Specs on this Bike. 

1. Bafang 1000 watt BBSHD kit.
2. 14 amp hour battery 
3. Battery bracket: Karl Kemnizter custom makes it locally in Brattleboro. 
4. Gear sensor, a gear sensor extension wire, and a speed sensor extension wire.
5. Lekkie Bling ring. It's smaller and stronger, stock chainring worked ok on the test bike.
6. Night lights. 
7. Front rack/basket from Madsen Cycles

VT Bike Solutions test Madsen with Befang 1000w mid-drive

Madsen Bucket Bike with a BaFang BBSHD 1000w Mid-Drive motor next to a Radwagon.

Close up of BaFang BBSHD 1000w Mid-Drive motor

Wife test rides Madsen Cycle's Bucket bike and Bike Friday Haul-a-Day Mid-Drive Electric Assist Family Cargo Bikes

Today, Dave, chief evangelist at Vermont Bike Solutions brought over a Bike Friday Haul-a-Day with a 750watt Bafang BBS02, 750W mid drive electric assist and the next day, a Madsen Bucket bike, with a Bafang BBSHD 1000 Mid Drive electric assist motors. I bought out my used Radwagon for size comparison. My wife is doggedly testing bikes out for taking our 2 kids to school. One kid is still too young for monkey bars so would need a strap in seat, which he don't like so far. She's tried the Yuba Mundo (great bike but a bit too heavy and big) and the Radwagon with a Yepp seat (too high seat, too heavy, fell over and fractured our daughters arm!)  I love my used Radwagon with monkey bars only though, no strap in baby seat.

And the winner is...Madsen Cycles Bucket Bike. 

More photos below.

Madsen is her pick after testing for months. She wants our 2 kids and no strap in high baby seat.

Runner up. Dave from Vermont Bike Solutions with my wife on a Bike Friday Haul-a-Day

Bike Friday Haul-a-Day Test Ride and Comparison with Radwagon

Great American made bike. Light, small, sturdy. Unlike the Madsen, this can be used more easily as a one person bike when needed. 

Bike Friday Haul-a-Day. Our son loves to dress up. 

Bike Friday Haul-a-Day is shorter lighter and lower then the Radwagon.

Madsen Cycles Bucket Bike

To my surprise she felt the Madsen rode the best with the most stability. It's a big bike and the bucket makes it really a hauler. The nice part is that it's like a pickup truck, always ready to simply use to carry things. And it keeps the kids inside something and low to the ground like all bucket type bikes 

With Radwagon in background, even on back 

It's a big long bike, like the Yuba and XtraCycles. The Radwagon is shot and stocky. 

 

Optical illusion here, the Madsen is a bit lower then the Radwagon due to a 20" rear wheel. 

It's a big bucket

"Oh my god, momma picked the Madsen as her favorite!"

 Our son loves to dress up "fancy" with his clip on tie...not sure where this boy came from!

Parent Fail! Our 2yr old fractures her arm during test of family cargo bike.

fracture x-ray

Our 2yr old daughter got a minor fracture when our longtail electric-assist family cargo bike tipped over while stopped. The fracture happened in a "good" place, the docs said, not near any growth plates. And kids at this age heal very fast, apparently. 3 weeks total forecast now, but 6 weeks when were first in. Ends up she didn't even need a cast, just wrapped her arm stiff fiberglass and ace bandages above the elbow, refreshed once a week.

Intuitive frown? She was happy while riding though. This is the setup during accidental tip over. 

This is a hard post for me to write, and for me to get right. I don't consider this anyone's fail but ours. The bike and seats performed as advertised. I think it's important to help others hear the story and be able to make their own judgements.

The bike wasn't moving when it fell over.

My wife was testing the bike on a quiet street with our 2-year old in a Yepp Maxi seat and our 5 year old holding a t-bar handle. It started to tip and my wife couldn't stop it. Ourdaugther's arm happened to get between the seat side and pavement.

She's fine. She has since jumped back on the bike, but we're taking her for a ride until she's three. We live in a bumpy hilly town with few bike paths.

Our Radwagon setup. 

Bike Setup

Here's the setup we were using. The bike is a used Radwagon. I love it - still. The seat is a Yepp. Great seat and setup. Very easy to use. Solid. But, you can sense from this photo that it's top heavy, and back heavy for a small rider like my wife.

Test Rides

My wife's first test was great.

With one kid on back, low, near our back. This felt very stable.

Still a good test here with seat and one kid

Moments before the fall, which happeneed at a stop sign in our quiet neighborhood.

In the hospital

Quickly back to fun and mud with a plastic bag over wrapped cast

Re-wrap at two weeks. 

Re-wrap at two weeks.

Wet fiberglass fabric stiffens as it dries.  

Sticker. Total heal time about three weeks, not the six they said originally. Good expectation management though. 

Mistake and Successes

• Mistakes as we see it: Here's where the parent fail comes in: not following our little whisper inside voices (instincts). The setup was heavy, rear-heavy and top-heavy for my wife's stature and weight. I'll take most of the heat here. My first full-time summer job was as a bike mechanic. I felt uneasy about high strap-in seats on bikes with full-height back wheels. I was attracted to bucket-type family cargo bikes, and cargo bikes with small rear wheels from the start (See some here on EBR.com). My wife was, too, but I also had the lots of bike experience to back up my instincts. We had a sense the weight was a bit high-feeling and in the rear, and it was heavy for my wife. And we had "monkey bars" or a "caboose" coming in the mail (they act as rails around kids midsections and break side falls). But we didn't wait...they  might have kept our daughter's arm from fracturing because the seat edge might not have hit the road at all. No wonder bucket bikes are so popular. They are low, slow, and safer. And no wonder more cargo bikes are using smaller wheels that keep kids low to the ground if kids are in actual strap-in seats. Also, we should have waited for monkey bars on the back. The main take away: low center of gravity is needed and heavy bikes need strong riders.
• Success as we see it: We tested on quiet flat streets, starting with one person, a parent and child and only then two children. This means our fail happened while the bike wasn't moving and no cars were around.
• I love the Radwagon for myself. It's short and stocky. Big tires. Good breaks. Great price new and used. It isn't as slick as the twice as expensive Xtracycles or Yubas, but how could it be? It is shorter which I like. I love taking my son on the Radwagon. He thinks it's the funnest thing ever. I feel solid on the Radwagon with him on side streets, side walks, and our new monkey bars. 
• My wife and I are loving electric assist bikes family cargo bikes. We'll keep riding them alone and with our kids in certain situations.  We have two now. A used Radwagon, and a used Raleigh Detour. My wife and love going on rides together around town because the electric assist "flattens" our hilly bumpy town and makes the rides more relaxing and fun.
• I didn't research downsides when shopping for family cargo bikes. The electric-assist family cargo bike movement is so exciting, cool, sustainable, green, logical, and freeing that I found I didn't also look into the down sides. I didn't want to. The fantasy of the family cargo bike is real I think, but there's an element that I sense is similar to RV campers and boats. Only the zealous few really use them as much as they thought they would, for as many years as they thought they would. The reality of weather, terrain, traffic, growing kids, maintenance and laziness conspire to reduce the use a bit. 
• I see the evolution of family electric assist bikes seems to be to bring down the center  of gravity and stabilize the bikes more using 20" wheels where the kids site, buckets, tricycle setups, etc. I think we're really heading to more and more bike lanes and basically small electric cars, some of which could be peddle-able. 
• In a small way, I think electric bikes (and cars in a big way) are changing the world. More people will become active for longer in their lives. Sone distances are literally smaller. A hilly mile to a school on bike path now feels like 1/4 mile used to. I belive this will increase real estate values for houses close to schools and services that are also along good safe bike routes.
• With two kids, we're going to get a new bike set-up that has them low and in monkey bars or a bucket. We'll make sure to ride on side streets, slowly and on sidewalks when near busy streets. As always, we'll wear reflective gear and have flags, etc. 

Our Next Bike?

Brattleboro presents a challenge due to hills and bumpy side walks. So, sadly, the tricycle bucket bikes used in places that have bike lanes and flat terrain might not work so well here. 

But maybe a Babboe City Cargo Bike if we can get a loan. 

We've just heard that a Madsen bucket cargo bike has arrived in town. We're testing it out and seeing how we can get a mid-drive electric assist on it without breaking the bank. Here's some info in mid-drive electric assist for the Madsen. Forum post on Electric Bike.com. and Forum post on Endless Sphere.com

There's the Virtual Gondolier Plus (EBR review).

Race car free practice day at Monadnock Speedway, NH, USA

What a fun free family event!