A cargo bike with a low price and pedals so low they scrape the ground

Enlarge / The CycWagon. (credit: John Timmer)

More so than most other forms of bicycle, cargo bikes are specifically designed to make ditching a car easier. Whether hauling groceries or kids, they can handle a lot more of the day-to-day errand running than most other forms of two-wheeled transport. The problem with some of the higher-end cargo bikes is that the upfront costs can be competitive with a decent used car (although operating costs will be dramatically lower) without offering quite the flexibility that a car might.

Fortunately, as Beth Mole discovered, you don't necessarily have to spend that much to get a decent riding experience, putting cars at a further disadvantage. That left me curious as to what the price floor for a decent cargo bike might be—how little can you pay and still get a satisfactory experience? I was also keen for a second try on my experiment of going a month without using a car, meant to happen during my earlier review but interrupted by wildfire smoke.

All of which explains why I took delivery of a $1,500.00 cargo bike called the CycWagon, from a company called Cycrown. It's currently well on its way toward getting me through a car-free month, but it has... well, a lot of issues.