TLDR- bought a new Cube Cargo bike; boy howdy do I love it.
Pickup the Bike
First time in a long time traveling without anyone else with me.; not even the dog. Like, it’s been over a year or more. Today, I’m Headed about an hour and a half away to cycle superstore Ireland – https://www.cyclesuperstore.ie/shop/pc/viewContent.asp to pick up a new bike. A large expensive new bike able to haul three kids; a cube cargo bike.
40-year-old Kev thought bikes are lame. 41-year-old Kev bought an Ebike for himself to commute with and another for Maddex for father-son adventures. A year or so later Mila got an Ebike as well. The last year I’ve been hauling kids in a bike trailer thinking how convenient it is to be able to haul more kids and stuff. Recently I’ve wanted more range with kids in the trailer. More range means an additional battery. Looking online the Bosch 500 watt-hour battery costs between 600-800euros depending on the source.
While searching for a battery I discovered Cube, the company who makes the bikes Maddex and I ride, is now making a reasonably priced cargo bike. Reasonable compared to Riese Muller cargo bikes that come in around 8-12k fully loaded. The Cube cargo bike comes with 2 x 500watt hour batteries and you get a bigger bike. The math might not make sense, but the kevlogic said the cargo bike is a great deal; a brilliant idea. Talking it over with Michelle she agreed, as long as I agreed to take the kids to school in the rain in the cargo bike – it has a nice rain cover. Bike Ordered!
At the bike shop
Here we are off to pick up the bike – Rode the LUAS to Dundrum. From Dundrum, I took the 175 bus to Tallaght. From the bus stop it was a short 10 minutes walk past an Amazon data center to the bike shop. Mick let me know they had about 45 minutes left In the shop setting up the bike. He said I could walk to a cafe down the road if I wanted. I chose to hang out and browsed the shop instead. There might be things I need.
Searching the shop they did not have the helmet for Mila we wanted. The Helmet was the main bit I was after. Mila needs an over-ear helmet we can install the rider to rider radio in for long summer rides. Being able to talk with Maddex when we ride greatly increases the enjoyment of hour-plus rides. Not to mention the safety factor of being able to instruct and give directions while we ride. After browsing I did all of the paperwork and paid the 5996€ for the bike. Out of that 6k, 1121€ is tax. Not seeing the tax in prices over here you forgot it’s there vs the states where it is added at checkout. Only know the number because it was called out on the receipt and I noticed. The remainder of the time I sat in a comfy chair and wrote or read on my phone.
Picking up the kids
45 minutes turned out to be a few hours, oh well life happens the shop was busy. Finally, the bike was done! Mick gave me the rundown on the bike’s features and I was out the door to ride home. The goal was to pick up the kids from school. Based on the time there was 50/50 chance of being on time to pick up the kids. Michelle, being amazing, went to the school in case I was unable to make it. The ride to get the kids felt funny. None of my bike algorithms work for the steering tire being so far in front of me, and the stock seat is so small and hard. WHY!!! raced as fast I could and made it to school about 1 minute late.
Kids screamed all excited and jumped into the bike as soon as they saw it. It’s a toss-up who is more excited for the bike, me or the kids. All three girls fit in the cargo bin. Ridding with them is not much of a challenge. The Bosch cargo bike motor has more than enough power to make the ride simple. – Loving this bike; cannot wait for the adventures it will allow us.
