Stuck in traffic just to grab groceries? Or, dropping kids off at school? Have you accepted that gridlock is a natural part of city life? Well, please… let’s change that! After all, living downtown solves many of the problems the suburbs created. You’re closer to friends and neighbours, to independent cafés and restaurants, and life happens in close proximity. The distances within this proximity is called the “last mile.” And, the last mile requires better solutions than what worked in the suburbs. So, let’s bring back the pleasures of living in the city with one of the coolest products ever designed: the Bullitt Alfine-8 cargo bike.
Smile in the Last Mile
What is the last mile? The last mile are high frequency of short distances you suddenly face when living downtown. But, the thing about the last mile is that most last mile trips are a weird, in-between distance. On one hand, these distances are too short to drive. On the other hand, they are also all too far to walk. In North America, we find this distance weird because we built our cities around the car. But now, as cities densify, we’re discovering that the car—once the icon of North American freedom—doesn’t move freely at all.
In places like the Denmark, where cities were built around last-mile distances, they’ve long known the bicycle glues life together. But, they also don’t use terms like the “last mile.” That’s because the “last mile” does not refer to one mile. It’s a complete misnomer. Instead, they generally define the “last mile” as a 7.5 km radius where the bike indisputably beats a car. The Danes aren’t idealogical. They recognize that the car wins out when distances get longer. But that’s fine, because when you live in the last mile, you don’t need a car. The majority of your annual trips are trips a bicycle can solve faster, cheaper, and with a smile on your face.
Taking on the Minivan
In short, the Danes challenge perceptions around what a bicycle can do. And nothing challenges these perceptions more than a cargo bike. Why? Because a cargo bike doesn’t just take the fight to the automobile—it takes the fight to the minivan. Yes, the minivan: a major life expense that feels as obligatory as buying toilet paper. If the North American dream demands car ownership at a young age as a rite of passage, it also demands you buy a minivan once you have kids. But if you live in the last mile, there is nothing terribly helpful about a minivan. Like a car, it gets stuck in traffic. So if a bike is going to solve this problem, it needs to have trunk space. And that’s exactly what a cargo bike offers.
Just imagine! You drop off your kids, breathe in fresh air, wave at your neighbours, and maybe even strike up a chat at the stoplight. You park anywhere without circling for a spot or paying a meter, and you move freely without the constant stop/start grind of gridlock. Instead of feeling stuck and stressed, you feel connected—to your community, to your family riding up front, and to the simple joy of pedaling. Unlike driving, a cargo bike is good for your blood pressure, your bank account, and even the planet, all while turning daily errands into little adventures. (They make adventures better too).
Kidding Around
But the problem with buying a cargo bike is that many buy one the same way they buy a minivan. They buy it because they have kids, and when the kids grow up, they sell it. Why? Because many cargo bikes tend to be heavy, bulky, and quite clunky in feel. The one exception is a little Danish brand called Bullitt, whose claim to fame is mass-producing the lightweight Danish two-wheeled cargo bike. (Though not without a degree of irreverence).
Unlike the Dutch cargo bikes, which appeared later and took quite a bit of market share, the Bullitt was always made for a life with or without kids. That means it was designed to be just as fast and fun as your regular city bike—except unlike your city bike, it could haul a week’s worth of groceries home. In short, a Bullitt is modular, and its modularity has everything to do with the fact that you can install boxes for kids, groceries, or trips to Home Depot. Read more about how to carry kids in a Bullitt here.
No Plug Required
We mentioned the Bullitt is lightweight, but this deserves more explanation. After all, the bike industry is full of companies trying to make the lightest bike, and many have succeeded by small margins—beating their competitors by 5%, maybe 10%, usually less. But a Bullitt enters the market at a mere 45 lb. That’s up to 75% lighter than some of its competition. This isn’t lightweight for a spec sheet, it’s lightness you will feel.
But, the fact that a Bullitt is so lightweight is why it’s the only cargo bike where one can seriously consider buying a non-electric cargo bike. Heavier cargo bikes require a motor to neutralize their own weight—and, that’s without the cargo that invariably gets added. If life is lived in the last mile, terrain is relatively flat, and loads are moderate (say, a six-year-old kid and 25 lb of groceries), there often isn’t any need for an electric cargo bike. The only time to seriously consider electric is when the hills get steep, the distances get long, and the Home Depot Garden Center runs are a daily reality.
Here’s the Deal
Now, the problem is that everyone these days has jumped on the electric bike bandwagon, which left Bullitt with some extra stock of our very favourite non-electric cargo bike, the Bullitt Alfine-8. And they gave us a great deal, which we are only happy to pass on to you! In a way, we like this, because Bullitt tends to be the choice of cargo bike owners who are a bit more circumspect about their use-case. This bike is the perfect option for those hacker types who want the best of the best—even a best-kept secret—all for a reasonable price.
At just 45 lb, the Bullitt Alfine-8 bike is your key to the city. It’s light, very light. But it’s also quite stiff. These days, most cargo bikes are assembled from two or three pieces. That makes them “bow” and flex in corners, creating a sloppy feel. These connection points are also where cargo bikes tend to break, as seen with the Babboe recall. But a Bullitt is one unified frame, and if you take it into corners, you feel a sharpness you won’t get with any other couch on wheels. Bullitt reminds parents that carrying kids is fun, and that’s in part because the bike is fun too.
Future-Proofed
Best of all – and this is quite important if you live in snowy, salty cities like Toronto – the Bullitt Alfine 8 uses an Alfine eight speed internal gear hub. That means all your gears are inside the rear hub, not exposed to the constant barrage of snow, muck, and salt. This lowers maintenance by a large percentage and, best of all, gives you all the gears you actually need. Instead of having the complexity of riding a bike with two shifters, you have one shifter with each of the eight gears lined up in a linear row. )Want to learn more about gear range? Check out this article here).
Of course, one great thing about this little bike on offer is that you can always electrify it later. That’s right, you can simply add a kit. That said, we need to be straight-up honest: there isn’t a single kit out there that compares to the motor you get when you buy an electric Bullitt. And no, you cannot install the motor that comes on the electric Bullitt onto the non-electric Bullitt—they use different frames. That said, if you’re looking for a promo on a Bullitt Electric, you might want to give this a little read too!
Next Steps
Of course, this deal only lasts as long as we still have bikes, and with parents still settling into their back-to-school routines, we’re starting to see more cargo bikes exit our door. Not in Toronto? We ship across Canada, so act now!
