The Ebike Accessories You Need to Help You Haul the Most Stuff

when my wife And I bought my first ebike—the RadWagon 4—by Seattle-based Rad Power Bikes four years ago, to replace one of our two family cars. For city trips of 5 miles or less, we thought we could (and should!) use a bicycle. At the time, our kids were very young, so we needed a bike that could carry them around safely and also handle whatever we were hauling on any given day.

The RadWagon answered those needs; The direct-to-consumer company allowed me to configure the bike to suit my exact needs during the ordering process. I selected a front basket for my son, a rear padded seat, and a Thule Yepp 2 maxi seat for the safety of my little girl. I also purchased some safety lights and a bell from my local bike shop (more on those accessories below).

Once the bike arrived and was assembled, my wife and I used it to transport our kids across town. We drove to and from school and daycare, play dates and doctor’s appointments; made quick grocery runs; And we had to go somewhere that was relatively close to home.

On any given day, the front basket serves as a cornucopia of whatever we might need for work or chores. On a recent trip to a nearby playground, my ebike basket contained the following things: a small soccer ball, my wife’s small shoulder bag, my bike’s lock and cable, two bottles of water (in addition to a third of the water bottles in the bike’s bottle cage), three baseball caps, two baseball gloves, a baseball, a small tin lunch box filled with snacks, and two binders filled with Pokémon trading cards. The basket has also successfully transported two large grocery bags or three smaller bags, and, on one occasion, a small guitar amp I found at our local thrift store.

The bike is still useful and functional, but my family’s needs have changed since purchasing it. My now 4-year-old daughter is too big to sit in her Yepp seat, and my now 8-year-old son is a little more conscious of looking behind his dad’s big bike. (Needless to say, he is now so strong that he can ride across the city on his bike.)

With my kids’ beloved family ebike having grown up, I’ve been thinking about its next iteration as a serious cargo hauler – a grocery getter, if you will – and how I can outfit it to haul as much stuff as possible. Ebikes have now become a large category, serving mountain bikers and commuters, folding and cruising to meet a variety of needs. There are strategic ways to maximize your ebike’s capabilities for each of these purposes, but here I’m going to outline the two I know best: taking care of a family (Family Wagon) and hauling a lot of stuff (Grocery Gator).

The Family Wagon

Photograph: Michael Venutolo-Mantovani

If you use your eBike to transport your children, you’ll want a comfortable, safe, and age-appropriate seating area for them.