One of the things that e-bikes are really good at is carrying a bunch of stuff, especially if you opt for a cargo bike. Cargo bikes can be pretty unwieldy though, so ther new trend is towards compact cargo bikes that combine impressive load-hauling with a smaller footprint. And at Eurobike this year, bikes like that were certainly on the increase.
The daddy of the genre is really the Tern GSD, which we've tested and found to be fantastic. It squeezes enough space to carry a ton of stuff, or two passengers, in the footprint of a standard city bike. Clever stuff!
The GSD was at the show; it's largely unchanged, although Tern is doing a deal with Deliveroo in the UK to use the bike for fast food delivery. With the Bosch double battery system giving the GSD a claimed range of up to 200km, you could knock out a lot of pizzas in an evening.
Tern is also offering the bike with the Enviolo continuously variable hub, which is a lovely (if expensive) bit of kit.
Urban arrow's cargo bike is modular, and you can bolt on any number of front ends all the way up to a huge plaftorm with two car wheels, like this:
Anyway that's not compact. The new Shorty is, though, with its clever two-layer load compartment.
The whole box is made from an expanded polymer not unlike what you build bike helmets out of. That makes it very light.
There's a false floor so you can fill up the bottom first. The box should keep your ice cream nice and cool on the ride home, too.
Here's a fun bike. Johnny Loco had this on the stand as a prototype to gauge reaction, and reaction was overwhelmingly positive. Hopefully it'll go into production.
The Porter uses automotive steel plate for its main frame members. That means that you can make it basically as long as you like. How long is your shed? You can cut it to fit. A slot along the top of the rear section allows you to fit whatever you fancy: flatbeds, child seats, seat cushions... maybe even a bike rack. who knows.
Anyway, we like it. Here's hoping it makes it into production.
I:Sy's Cargo is a short-format long john style cargo bike that uses 20" wheels to keep the overall length of the bike down.
It doesn't have a huge capacity, but the front platform (here with a nice aluminium flight case) and the rear rack should get you and your shopping home.
A Bosch Performance Line motor and Gates CDX belt drive should be powerful and hassle-free.
Benelli's 20"-wheeled cargo bike bears more than a passing resemblance to the Tern GSD. The more affordable spec – hub motor, cable disc brakes – might appeal to anyone that doesn't have the four grand to drop on a Tern. We didn't get pricing for this bike, but we'd expect it to be not much more than half that, even with the second battery.
The bike was sporting a small basket at the front that didn't look quite big enough for the obligatory crate of beer. The large basket at the back would hold plenty though.
Benno's Boost is another similar format bike, though not quite so long at the back and with larger 24" wheels. Carrying a crate of beer: tick!
The sturdy rear rack will take plenty of weight, and you can attach child seats and the like to the Boost without any fuss.
The Riese und Müller Multicharger Vario is bigger still; it's basically a lengthened version of their Charger bike with a bit of extra space for carrying duties. It's not massively long or cumbersome though, so it'll still fit in the average shed.
Like many of the bikes here the carrying racks are modular, so you can fit the bits you need.
