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I’m now a few days into using an electric cargo bike (a Tern GSD) as my primary form of transportation. It’s…awesome.
I'll be dumping notes on the whole experience into this thread: joys, obstacles, tricks, rationales, questions, mistakes, details, discoveries…everything. Just a big old ongoing data dump. My hope is the notes here end up being useful to others.
Many posts to follow over time. If this is •not• useful to you, no worries! Mute the hashtag: #BikeDiary
Lots more to follow. 
#BikeDiary A bit on the rationale:
Many reasons, but the big one is the climate. I have a venerable ~20yo stick shift Honda Civic. It won't last forever. When it stops running, what replaces it?
The Civic gets 25-35mpg. I drive it ~4000 mi/yr. Casual research & quick estimation suggests suggests that the sunk carbon cost of just •manufacturing• a car is approx the same as driving the old Civid for another •decade•. Replacing the Civic with •any• car — even an EV! — has a massive climate cost.
#BikeDiary It seems like the best thing I can do for the climate here is to keep driving my gas-powered Civic while working to make it so that when it finally dies, I'm barely using it and don't feel like I need to replace it.
In short: the goal of this cargo bike adventure is to move from a two-car family to a one-car family.
#BikeDiary One week in: I •love• it. It’s just…so cool. I'm hard pressed to think of the last time something introduced this much joy and life into my daily routine.
I got the model with the cushy seat in the back, and it transports my daughter quite comfortably. Her first several times riding on the back, she couldn't stop squealing with glee — and still does at least once per ride.
People do go on about their cargo bikes and their e-bikes. I totally get it now.
#BikeDiary My traditional bike is an aluminum frame cyclocross (a Redline, lovely bike), and it's nimble, quick, light, spritely. Riding feels like going for a run or skiing; if it’s a car, it’s some sporty little thing.
The Tern is none of that. People sometime say “minivan,” but that’s not quite right. It’s a station wagon. A really elegant station wagon.
#BikeDiary An unexpected effect of this bike being my primary transportation is the psychological experience. It’s mellow, sociable, relaxed. It kind of gets my brain on “cargo bike pace,” pleasantly energized and relaxed.
It rides like a bike, but with the electric assist, the energy expenditure is more like walking: I'll break a light sweat if it’s warm, but only a light one. After the ride, I feel pleasantly like I moved my body, but not like I did a workout.
#BikeDiary Why the mellowness vs my regular bike? Part of it is the electric motor. Part is the low speed: I settle in very comfortably at 16-18mph, but getting it over 20mph is damned hard without a hill.
A third surprising ingredient: the riding posture. It’s built to ride upright. I find myself instinctively sitting up tall instead of slouching (unusual for me!) or hunching over. Really different feel.
(Again, please mute the hashtag #BikeDiary if you don’t want to read all this!)
#BikeDiary The upright posture means I'm still •really• unsure about the handling: I corner overcautiously, go on and off sidewalks clumsily, etc. I just don’t have any instincts yet about where the limits are. At first I could barely start without wild wobbling. Carrying over experiences from my old bike, I keep feeling like I’m about to fall over, even though the small wheels and low center of gravity mean I’m nowhere •near• about to fall over. Lots of relearning happening.
#BikeDiary This is a good question from @charliepark. I got the S00.
Once I'd settled on the GSD, choosing this particular model was easy: (1) I live in MN, and want to ride as close to 12 months a year as I can manage. (2) My budget is “this is instead of a car.”
Put those two together, and it says “belt drive.” (The belt drive holds up much better in rain and snow, apparently.)
#BikeDiary That narrowed it down to the S00 and the R14, and as one person at the bike shop (Perennial Cycles 
) put it about the R14’s extra fancy features, “If you’re not asking for it, you don’t need it!”
The Terns are super duper modular, which means that there are a •lot• of decisions to make (and also means that you will spend a •lot• more than the bare base price, be warned). I like the choices, but…be prepared.
May publish full build if there’s interest.
@charliepark
#BikeDiary Probably the bigger question for many is how I came to the Tern GSD in the first place. The answer is the obvious one: I asked around, got opinions from trusted people, thought hard about my needs, did a •lot• of homework, and then — this was crucial — I test rode half a dozen bikes.
I cannot recommend the test ride enough. No amount of photos, videos, specs, and explanation can substitute for experience.
After the test ride, the real contenders were the GSD and the Urban Arrow.
#BikeDiary There are so many good choices now! There’s a lot to be said for the simplicity of the Urban Arrow: it’s basically a giant bucket, a simple design concept that’s super versatile. I could really see enjoying a Yuba Spicy Curry if I were looking for something a little less heavy duty (and less pricey). Folks love their Xtracycles (though somehow it didn't click for me in the test ride).
What did I love about the Tern? Absurdly configurable and modular, compact, over-engineered.
#BikeDiary The Tern’s design is just chock full of Good Choices. Over and over I’d notice a potential problem and then notice, “Oh, they thought of that!” Examples: the way the lockstand works, the way the cargo bags latch and fold, how the shape of the seat fits the riding posture, the way it remembers that I want to always ride with the lights on, the brake light. It has a brake light! Frigging brilliant.
The beautiful nerds who designed this bike are my kind of people.
#BikeDiary By far the most difficult and frustrating part of it has been storing the bike. I keep my bikes on our porch, which is up a short staircase. I'm used to just hopping up the stairs with my light little Redline. Getting •this• bike up the stairs is an ordeal. I'm a mess at it. Searching for new strategies. Considering a ramp.
The bike’s vertical storage is ingenious, but maneuvering it in & out of a tight porch, I feel like I'm parallel parking a semi truck.
#BikeDiary Answering @harpaa01’s question:
At first I •hated• the Enviolo CVT (continuous variable shifting). My instincts were all wrong. I rubbed a spot on my thumb raw trying to move it the ways it didn’t want to be moved.
TL;DR: You still have to stop pedaling to upshift in anything but •tiny• increments. You therefore still end up shifting in discrete steps, not continuously adjust as you accelerate (as I’d wrongly imagined). BUT…
@harpaa01 #BikeDiary …I don't know if it loosened up with usage or I just got better habits or what, but I like it just fine now. It works. It’s not futuristic and amazing, but it works well. And one •huge• advantage: you can shift back down to the lowest gear when at a complete stop, no problem. That means starting from a dead stop is perfectly fine, even if you didn't have a chance to prep for it while decelerating.
CVT remains one of the few things that's not aaaawwesome.
#BikeDiary Quick build notes for anyone specifically considering a Tern:
- Just get the lockstand extensions
- Just get the wide decks
- Just get the side lights
- Consider the belt drive if you’ll be riding in bad weather
- Consider a battery cover if you'll be riding in the cold
- Consider Tannus Armour inserts (fewer flats)
- All the bag, seat, rack, and passenger shelter choices are good choices, exactly what they seem to be on the web site; go based on expected usage & needs
#BikeDiary Figuring out my locking / security strategy has been a joooouuurrney. I’ll post details on where I ended up later, but one big thing that’s easy to write up now:
There is bicycle insurance that’s a lot like car insurance: theft, yes, but also damage, liability, medical. Who knew? I got this one: https://velosurance.com It was a quick online application, and it will run me ~$33/month. Reasonable enough for what it gives. Hell of a lot cheaper than car insurance!
#BikeDiary I just realized that I can take the big, bulky car key off my regular keychain. I don't need to have it in my pocket all the time anymore.
#BikeDiary I notice that I greet people a lot more commuting on the Tern. Just a nod, a smile, a friendly hello — but not a thing I did inside a car. The electric part helps: I'm not out of breath. And again, the upright riding position has a surprisingly large effect. I notice more of the community. I feel like a part of the place I’m riding through.
#BikeDiary I also notice nature. I mean, this seems obvious, we all know that’s part of cycling, but:
Earlier in the week, along the Mississippi, a bald eagle came gliding down fast and silent and plucked a squirrel right out of the middle of the road not 50 feet from me. Full, long view of it — not out a window, no roof, just full view — as it lifted off and sailed away.
Would this have happened if I'd been in a car? Unlikely. Would I have had that view? Definitely not!
(This is not quite as unusual as it sounds! Minneapolis and St. Paul straddle the one and only natural gorge on the Mississippi, and we have bald eagles nesting near the gorge on a regular basis. It’s right in the middle of the city, but 125+ years of conservation have kept the river gorge forested and semi-wild even as the city grew around it. It’s a pretty cool place to live.)
#BikeDiary One week in, I’ve put 111 miles on the bike. I needed a car exactly once. Still love it.
#BikeDiary My one really big fail with the bike: the seat has a handle underneath that looks for all the world like it’s for lifting the bike.
Do not lift a Tern by the seat handle!!
Despite all appearances, it’s not for lifting. It's for a rear passenger to steady themselves. If you lift the bike by the seat handle, the seat top will pop out of the rails — as I found out!
It's the the one really big design fail I've found on this otherwise excellent bike.
#BikeDiary Searching online after I did this, apparently the problem is incredibly common. If you're somebody who's not mechanically inclined, take it to your dealer. But if you have some tools and elbow grease and mechanical know-how…apparently also take it to your dealer, because you'll bend the seat rails trying to fix it.
I took it to the dealer. They apologized profusely for not warning me about it. No biggie, but I did have to ride on my other bike's seat for a couple of days!
#BikeDiary This from @ClimateJenny is so, so true: https://mastodon.social/@ClimateJenny/113254906789433356
I also find myself discovering side missions. Today my kid and I stopped by Minnehaha Falls just to look at the waterfall on our way back from an errand. ~17 years in this neighborhood, and I don't think we've ever •once• had a spontaneous quick visit to the falls by car.
Neighborhood businesses are definitely profiting from my spontaneous side missions too!
#BikeDiary I notice after a week with the cargo bike as primary transportation that I'm getting a •lot• more sun — which isn't great news for this pale-skinned redhead with a family history of skin cancer.
Anyone out there have opinions on bike helmet brims / visors / sun shades? It matters to have 360° of shade, not just the front. “Da Brim” looks promising. Anyone have experience with it? Other recommendations?
#BikeDiary An important reminder here for all of us bicycle advocates from the ever-thoughtful @grimalkina:
https://mastodon.social/@grimalkina/113261303557693460
All these different forms of climate action are about each one of us doing what is possible for •us•, taking advantage of the choices we’re individually privileged enough to have. At the societal level, we need to find ways to make more choices and better choices accessible to more people — not to squeeze people into choices they don’t have.
#BikeDiary I chatted with my parents yesterday about the new bike. As usual, they’re delighted that I’m delighted. We all wondered whether there’s a similar option for them: in their 80s, and very healthy considering, but…energy, back pain, and •extreme• danger from a fall are all showstoppers for them. My 111-mile week last week was very much a product of my middle-aged health and good fortune.
What would a world look like where they could do their errands on…an e-trike, maaybe? A golf cart?
@inthehands If they drove a golf cart, it would look like the Villages in Florida.
@grapeshot
And it’s not the worst model!