At just $7500, this is a spectacular deal. A life-changing purchase. On offer is a bike used by FedEx and by families globally. A bike proven for commercial use and consumer use. It’s a bike from a Danish company who aren’t out to produce another heavy couch on wheels. A bike that deconstructs the idea that somehow a heavier bike must be a safer bike. This is the cargo bike that started it all. A bike from a company who have hit the mainstream but who have maintained their punk rock credentials. No bike is lighter, no bike is stronger, and no bike offers more low maintenance. What is this bike? It’s the Bullitt E6100.
It’s the Lightest
At scale, cargo bikes are a relatively new phenomena – even in Europe. It was only in 2007 that two companies started mass-producing cargo bikes. The two-wheeled cargo bike originated in Denmark and Bullitt pays tribute to it’s lightweight, distance-crushing design. Babboe paid tribute to the Danish cargo bikes migration to Holland, where it became inexplicably heavy. Since then, every Babboe bike made has been recalled for breaking under their weight. And since then, no one has been able to correct the drift. Urban Arrow made the Dutch cargo bike a little lighter. Then, Germany’s Riese & Muller made the Urban Arrow a touch lighter. But still, nothing is lighter than a Bullitt.
This lighter and stronger product means that Bullitt remains miles ahead of the competition. The Bullitt E6100 is lighter, has more power-to-weight ratio, and far more modularity than a $15,000 Riese & Muller Load 75. This is a myth busting bike, and if the world made sense, there would be more sold per year than a Honda Odyssey. We’re here to help make that make sense. And with a price of just $7500, we’re here to give Honda a run for their money!
Low Anxiety
Even if owning a cargo bike reduces anxiety, buying a cargo bike can be filled with anxiety. Not the least because you’re deconstructing what your parents told you. On this continent we’ve been wired to believe that being an adult means owning a car, that liberty means owning a car, and that along the way, when you have kids, it will be a rite of passage to buy a minivan. But, unless you live deep in the suburbs, this is wrong. If you live, work and play close to home a bicycle out-competes a car for efficiency, cost, and certainly lower blood pressure. A cargo bike is therapy for gridlock (and great family time too).
Your Primary “Car”
Owning a cargo bike doesn’t mean you shouldn’t own a car. In Holland, people own a bike for the majority of their trips because a bike is faster. In fact, using a bike helps save the money for a car. So, a car might not do the majority of trips, but it might just do the majority of overall mileage. That’s because a car is better for longer mileage trips. But, unless you enjoy being stuck on Highway 401, quality of life should not mean long daily mileage. Heck no. Quality of life means more trips with shorter mileage. In other words, bikes are your “primary car” for short mileage and cars are primary for packing the trunk with camping gear. But, what if you need a bike with trunk space?
Range Anxiety
Enter the cargo bike. But, these days cargo bikes are sold with a lot of unnecessary anxiety. If you live, work and play downtown, chances are good you don’t need a cargo bike with the same mileage as an electric car. Studies show that the furthest most city cyclists will average in a single day is 15km. FedEx uses the Bullitt E6100 we have on offer and averages about 45km a day on the standard 418W battery. The range on this battery is about 60km. That means for most people you’ll charge the battery once or twice a week (the battery charges to 80% in just two hours). Range anxiety just makes bikes heavier and more expensive. That’s why the Bullitt E6100 is all you’ll ever need.
Power to Weight
The other strange anxiety about buying a cargo bike is torque. New buyers buying a cargo bike tend to get anxious about battery wattage (range anxiety) and power (torque). The two are related. A bike with more range is generally a bike that weighs more. Batteries aren’t exactly heavy, but they also aren’t exactly light. What is inarguable is that a bike that weighs more will require more power. The measurement for this is torque, and torque is measured in newton meters (nm).
Take for instance the Urban Arrow with the Bosch Cargo Line motor. This motor outputs 85nm of torque compared to the Bullitt E6100’s 65nm of torque. You’d think the Urban Arrow would be more powerful, but it’s not. Why? Because a Bullitt E6100 weighs in at a mere 55lb whereas the Urban Arrow is 110lb. Double the weight! The mathematics here is called “power to weight” and it’s a simple formula. The average cadence of a e-bike motor is about 80RPM. This is converted to radians per second (rad/s), which in the case of the Urban Arrow is 8.38. This is multiplied by the motors 85nm of torque whereby we arrive at the motors peak power of 711.9W. That would seem quite powerful until we divide this power by weight. The final number, in kilograms, is 13.64W per kilogram.
Now let’s compare that to a Bullitt E6100, which has a lower 65 Nm torque motor but weighs only 55 lbs. Its power-to-weight ratio is 21.83W per kg – a 53% increase over the Urban Arrow. Is that enough power? It’s enough power for FedEx, who deliver heavy packages across the globe using the E6100 Bullitt. But, if you need more power – because you’re carrying cinder blocks for your home contracting business – then you buy the Bullitt EP801. (With the same 85nm of torque as the Urban Arrow, it reaches 28.55W per kg). For the rest of us, there’s the Bullitt E6100. It even beats out the Riese and Muller Load 75, which, at 90lb has a power to weight ratio of 18.47W. Except, the Bullitt E6100 is half the price!
Suspending Belief
We’ve noted that as the cargo bike moved from Denmark to Holland it got heavier. As it moved to Germany it got lighter, and it also got a lot more heavy on dials and gadgets. If there’s a reason why Bullitt is still lighter than the German versions it could be a commitment to Danish minimalism, or it could just be that these dials and gadgets are wisely shrugged off for the sake of low maintenance. We’ve already seen how Dutch and German bikes are heavier due to their big batteries and their inexplicable anxiety around range. But, on German brands like Riese and Muller there is also quite a bit of anxiety around comfort.
Most Riese & Muller bikes feature suspension forks and suspension built into the frame. But, on most front-loading cargo bikes, the load sits in the box or platform that’s level with or behind the suspension fork, meaning that the vertical weight isn’t compressing the fork in the same way it would on a mountain bike. A better solution? Get some comfy cushions for the kids. As for rear suspension, not only does it make the frame flexier, but the pivots and suspension unit require constant maintenance. If you want a lighter bike that is just as comfortable – and significantly lower maintenance – you just buy yourself a suspension seat-post. Boom! Problem solved.
Get Modular!
One of the very best things about a Bullitt bike is that it refuses to be a minivan substitute. It is far more than that. You buy a minivan when you have kids, and then you sell it when they grow up. The same is true for many cargo bike brands. Why? Because the default design is around carrying children. And, this produces a sort of design laziness. In Holland and Germany, it is assumed that you will have some other bike beside your cargo bike. Not so in Denmark. Despite outcompeting the Netherlands for quality bicycle infrastructure, the Danes only own 1 bicycle per person, compared to the Dutch average of nearly two bicycles per person. This means a Bullitt E6100 is designed to be just as fun, fast and lightweight as your regular bike. And, it is!
So, if you use a Bullitt before you have kids, chances are good this is because the grocery store is nearby but too close to drive and too far to walk. This is why a Bullitt is already a better bike than most city bikes being sold on the market: it has trunk space. Once you have kids (see the seating options here), the Bullitt easily adapts with a series of seating options that pass the strict EN 17860 regulations for impact resistance (compare this, for instance, to the safety of longtail bikes). Once the kids grow up, the bike can resume its place as the ultimate grocery-getter, or you could use it for your small business. That makes a Bullitt a lifetime relationship. And, like any lifetime relationship, it really goes the distance! Why? because it’s a perfect fit!
Order Now!
The E6100 isn’t here to stay here forever. Once it’s gone, it’s gone. At the time of writing our container of Bullitt has just landed in the Port of Montreal, and we expect it to be delivered in early May. You can order a bike in advance using our Bullitt pre-order page, or, if you have any questions you can book an in-store or remote sales appointment. Or, just fill in the form below!
Questions about a Bullitt? We can help!
