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I’ve been thinking for a while about investing in a cargo bike so I can do the shopping, take boxes to the recycling centre, drop my two kids off at school, etc. The first thing that puts you off is the price of these bikes — you’re looking at €6,000 for a cargo bike that can carry all of that crew up the hill I live on.
Yes, €6,000 — you read that right. The price of a second-hand car. At that price you also have to deal with bike insurance as expensive as a car’s, 1% monthly depreciation, and a much higher theft risk than a car…
Add to that the lack of cycling infrastructure for riding safely on the roads around Agen, and you quickly realise that riding a cargo bike these days is a luxury reserved for suicidal people 💀.
My needs: hauling the whole family
I’ve already got a Thule trailer that can carry two young children and attaches to any bike. It’s genuinely useful, but not very scalable — a cargo bike can carry more than 80 kg, whereas this type of trailer tops out at 22 kg 🏋️♀️.
Anyway, you get the picture — the cargo bike 🚲 will have to wait until the prices drop (I’ll take the easy way out on rainy days with the Dacia Spring in the meantime — article coming). For now, I went for an e-bike that can tow the trailer and on which I can put a child on the rear rack using a child seat.
The e-Summit has the advantage of a rear rack rated for 40 kg, which means a bigger child can ride on it. The little one, as long as they’re under 22 kg, goes in the trailer.
Why I ❤️ it
The strengths of this Nakamura bike (which is Intersport’s bike brand) are an unbeatable price-to-equipment ratio. For the quality, I’ll reserve judgement — I haven’t had it long enough — but I won’t forget to write more posts to keep you updated.
The bike has an electric motor ⚡️ delivering no less than 80 Nm, which is among the most powerful motors on the market. Let me tell you: a 20% gradient over 2.5 km is swallowed effortlessly with a trailer and two kids on the bike. The battery does drop about 20% on a climb like that, so you need to plan ahead to avoid getting stranded at the bottom of the hill.
In terms of gearing it’s really excellent for this use case — very hilly terrain ⛰. It spins and the motor lets you clear every obstacle. That said, I wouldn’t recommend it in the city on flat ground for solo riders, since you’ll struggle to exceed 30 km/h and end up spinning your legs a lot.
Everything else is pure joy. I was worried 🙀 about losing efficiency with such chunky tyres, but on the contrary they add comfort — no need to worry about climbing small kerbs.
On lighting: the switch is on the console, and you even get dual rear lighting. The mudguards are solid and inspire confidence. The look is love it or hate it, but I find it rather sexy 🥰.
The weak points
On the downside 😬, I noticed that the console can’t be removed, so anyone can turn it on when the bike is parked in the street. You can prevent this via the app, but locking your bike is already slow enough without also having to open an app to disable the electric assist — not very practical.
When you plug it in, the console lights up 💡 immediately — which serves no purpose; it could stay off. The last setting used isn’t saved on power off, so if you want to see the current trip distance and then turn the bike off, the console will default to showing total kilometres…
The battery is integrated but only 460 Wh — a 500 Wh version would have been great, or at least the choice.
Aside from the welds, which haven’t received a great deal of attention, the rest feels seriously built. I had a Winora with a Yamaha motor a while back, and I can tell you that in actual use the nearly €500 price difference simply isn’t justifiable.
Prices and alternatives
The model is still in stock 💶 at Intersport (not everywhere) and I recommend it — especially since with the supply issues, the new E-Crossover models don’t all come with Shimano brakes. And inflation has kicked in: the SUV is at €1,700 versus €2,000 for the new E-Crossover X (which gets 20 Nm more torque 💪 — and that’s it).
The question of buying a bike at Intersport versus your local bike shop is another debate entirely — you’ll pay for a real service, real follow-up, real advice, and that naturally comes at a price.
Switching to a bike 🚴♀️ in our town centres is becoming necessary — so do it, whether for your own health or for the planet ❤️.
