Anybody ride a cargo bike?

I'm thinking about getting a long tail bicycle like the Big Dummy for kid-porting duties. I have a crummy trailer right now and it doesn't work well. I've looked at the options and it seems the Xtracycle system is the best represented. The accessories get expensive in a hurry though.

Anyone have experiences?

No experience with cargo bikes or kid hauling, but some with laden bikes.

So, why a long-tail over a front-and-low box bike? Seems like wiggly cargo would best be transported low.

I've never heard anyone that was unhappy with the Dummy/Xtracycle in performance and use, only in price.

Box bikes seem cool to me but nobody in the area sells them. That's a bike I'd need to take on an extended test ride before plunking down $$$

I've touched and seen a few around here. Never pedaled one very far.

I've always found them questionable as they are heavy and I suspect darn tiring and unpleasant to really ride. When it's all said and done, I suspect a set of side baskets and a handlebar basket on a normal bicycle would work better for most applications.

I know a guy with a Big Dummy and it is a big, heavy bike. It's not really set up for hauling kids either AFAIK, so you may have to fabricate or modify the child seats.

How old/ big are your kids?

I have one of these:

I use it to take my son for bike rides. It is very heavy and has a turning radius similar to the Titanic. I changed out the seat and the pedals and built some wheel covers to keep fingers out of the spokes/tires. It is sturdy and well made, but I wouldn't really want to ride all that far because heavy. Nobody sells anything like this around me either, so I did some internet research and ordered it online for delivery. Not cheap, but it's what I needed. We bought it last year for our anniversary present.

Wike Bike has other models to choose from. Take a look at their site and see if anything on there will work for you.

My sister has a Dutch Bakfiets. It's a riot to ride! That said, the only cargo I've transported with it has been people around the neighborhood as a lark.

Living in the city, I see xtracycles/big dummys fairly often. like, weekly at least. Usually there's a kid (or three!) on the back and it's around commuting time. Width and maneuverability seems much better than the "cargo-forward" designs, which I do see a few of as well. The width thing really matters here, but may not where you are.

It seems to me that small kids are better off in the box style, but if they're old enough to sit astride the rear rack on the Big Dummy and balance/lean you get better maneuverability out of it.

Weight's just weight. Sure you can feel it, but low enough gears and a little patience get you there. My road bike is 18lbs. My commuter/camping bike is 40lbs when in commuting configuration. I'd rather ride the commuter unless I'm doing over 20 miles.

Commuter spec, although I took the trunk rack bag off before the pic:

In reply to ultraclyde:

My box bike weighs about 110 lbs and then I put my 200ish pounds plus my nearly 100 pound son. so that is about 400 pounds. Add in that you can't stand up and pedal and it only has a 7 speed nexus rear hub. It is not something that would be useful at all with any sort of hills.

My kids are 4 and 1 year olds. There are no hills to speak of anywhere in my vicinity. Weight really matters very little to me in bikes - my touring bike has to weigh 40 lbs, and my road bike 20.

I think the Big Dummy/Xtracycle would be best for transporting to locations, which is a big plus, and I could possibly convert my existing touring bike to save a bunch of money.

The box bikes look cooler to me and I like the idea of the kids being in front - maybe less fighting. Price seems to be close once you load up the longtails with the accessories you need. Tough decision.

The low-in-front i was thinking of was more like the one Basto linked. With a 100lb bike and a 100lb kid, that trike really ought to have more gears to make me happy, that's a beast. Of course, if you're kid is reasonably capable, at 100 lbs they might be able to pedal their own bike with an escort.

Agreed on your points Basto. Not having access to try them out really is hard. I've often wondered how much that actually keeps people from moving to that type of transportation.

Could you do an extracycle conversion and then GRM some of the accessories to keep the cost down?

EDIT: you know, this is one area of cycling where I would whole-heartedly welcome the e-assist stuff.

Do you read BSNYC?

He did the Xtracycle/Big Dummy thing for a while, but recently switched to a WorkCycles Fr8. There are a bunch of blog posts on it, he seems to be pretty happy with the thing (it is still a bunch of money though).

I used to read Snob. I'll go check out those posts thanks.

I have a line on a decent deal on a Bakfiets (box bike)

Here's a recent one http://bikesnobnyc.blogspot.com/2016/04/yes-all-of-this-is-going-to-be-on-test.html

Bakfiets looks cool. I bet you could pick up an engine/trans for a project car with that....

I've never rode one but they look like a handful to ride.

I built this one for a friend about 6-years ago, and after pedaling it around working out the kinks I would never ever want to have to ride something like that on anything other than reasonably smooth streets with minimal crown.