Recently, I got an e-bike. A cargo e-bike, if we’re being specific*. The idea was that it would pretty much replace driving** for anything within a few miles of home. So far, this plan seems to be working.
As a cargo bike, it is designed to carry about 200 lbs (90 kg) of stuff in addition to me. Getting all of this on the bike involves using a bunch of accessories—panniers, bike baskets, racks, clever little bags—all of which are sold separately.
The thing is, I have a great imagination. It comes up with millions of things that will never come to pass. This is useful if I’m writing a story, but it is a liability when trying to problem-solve.
So I got the bike mostly bare, adding a single accessory so I would have a place to store my heavy-duty chain on the bike. Based on past experience, if the lock isn’t physically on the bike, it will be on a shelf in the garage, regardless of where I or the bike are. This was a known issue.
For everything else, I decided to wait and see what problems could be solved with what’s on hand already, and what annoyances or limits arise as I go about my days.
In the first week of riding it, it’s already clear that if I had kitted it out with accessories when ordering the bike, I would have spent a whack of money solving problems I’m not actually facing. The chain-stashing box has proved useful every trip, but beyond that, the accessories I am now looking at have ZERO overlap with what I was considering before integrating it into daily life.
So I shall wait a few more weeks to see if use cases or annoyances shift, and once they settle, I will reach out to the shop to part with more money, confident that I will be solving real problems rather than imagined ones.
Where might you choose to wait and see?
*Do I know anything about e-bikes? Or cargo bikes? NOPE. As noted previously, I asked my bike-mechanic friend what to buy and did as I was told. As expected, his advice was excellent, and it has usurped my previous favorite bike (the four-season commuter he recommended).
**Fun fact: I HATE being in cars. I’ve got about 20 minutes of tolerance, and then I’m just DONE. Part of this is the grinding sensory mismatch of traveling at high speeds while basically inside an uncomfortable living room. And, I am sure, having been in four (4) smash-ups at the hands of others (including a dump truck! At highway speed! When we were stopped because traffic had come to a standstill!) has done nothing to endear cars to me.
Very cool. I also dislike being in cars or driving them. I don't own a car and can go long periods of time without being in cars, which I think is uncommon? Bikes are a great solution to short excursions!