In upfront transparency to avoid sounding like I have a superiority complex based on just how much I love my cargo bike, our family does still have a car.
Okay that being said… our cargo bike has replaced 90% of our “last mile” driving here in the city. We take the kids to school on it, we do grocery runs, we take it to the park, out to dinner, just about anywhere we can. In the first two years we’ve put at least 2k miles on it.
When we first bought it, I thought “okay when my wife rides the ebike with kids, I’ll just ride behind on my road bike.”
It took all but a week for us to go buy a second ebike because of how failed my idea was. The guy at the bike shop, same that we bought the cargo bike from, laughed and said that happened all the time.
While we have always been big into bikes, we’re on another level now. I always feel sorry for the poor suckers at the park who ask me how we like the bike who have to listen to me rave about it for 20 minutes when a “we love it” probably would have been enough.
Larry vs Harry Bullit rider here. my wife and I even rode it from London to Berlin (cheated with the ferry and train a lot) when we moved in late December. We have 2.5 kids. No car. I use car sharing when I need a van or wanna drive to the airport. Life is good
I might be safer than you think. I used to refuse to ride in a city because it seemed dangerous and many people I knew who rode in traffic had been in accidents with cars. But when I ended up on a bike trying it out, I found I could almost always (~95% of the time) avoid traffic, even without bike lanes.
Side streets and alleys are great - too slow for cars, but you're probably cycling at 10-15 mph, which is fine. Parks can be great - a shortcut with no cars and beautiful scenery, while the cars have to go the long way. Campuses, plazas, etc. etc. Even sidewalks when empty or nearly-empty can work to bypass traffic or go the 'wrong' way.[0]
[0] Second to riding, cyclists love to lecture others on how to ride. And a favorite outlet for their obsession is sidewalks. They don't discuss or consider the reasons or merits, they just have found an easy outlet for self-righteousness and repeat the same phrases over and over. Just remember that sidewalks are for pedestrians first; you are a visitor. Give them the right of way always, let them know when you're behind them (e.g., 'on your left!'), and give them plenty of space (trying walking when a bike buzzes past in either direction - from behind, you can't even hear it coming). Defer to their safety, real and perceived. It's easy. No problems at all IME, except self-righteous people over-excited at an opportunity to lecture someone.
If you're particularly envious you may want to consider asking how those who can't drive make do in your location. Life's about making choices and seeking different perspectives might help change and/or inform your priors.
Having experienced widely varying amounts of power output with the local bikeshare bikes, their varied condition and assisted vs non-, I don't have any illusions here - it's just a different experience to be able to spin it once and feel the bike boost you up to max effort. Even the heavily built bikeshare frames can easily outclass a road bike, if there's no mechanical issue. Although there often is - the chains, gears and tires really take a beating.
The e-bikes here are generally quicker off the mark at lights but that lasts like ten seconds before a decent road bike or legs zips by them because they’re limited to 15kmph
I tried my friend's cargo e-bike for 20 minutes in Edinburgh - I didn't even notice that lag. As i turned up the dial for the motor, it just felt like I was turning down the physics! Everything just got magically easier.
Okay that being said… our cargo bike has replaced 90% of our “last mile” driving here in the city. We take the kids to school on it, we do grocery runs, we take it to the park, out to dinner, just about anywhere we can. In the first two years we’ve put at least 2k miles on it.
When we first bought it, I thought “okay when my wife rides the ebike with kids, I’ll just ride behind on my road bike.”
It took all but a week for us to go buy a second ebike because of how failed my idea was. The guy at the bike shop, same that we bought the cargo bike from, laughed and said that happened all the time.
While we have always been big into bikes, we’re on another level now. I always feel sorry for the poor suckers at the park who ask me how we like the bike who have to listen to me rave about it for 20 minutes when a “we love it” probably would have been enough.