I realised not so long ago that my Yuba Boda Boda – my pack horse with a little charge has been with me for over five years now. It’s definitely a thing that both brings me joy and saves me money. It also does its’ bit for helping ease traffic congestion and reducing our collective boot print on this planet however small that effect may be and however much it may be smothered by activities doing the very opposite. It’s important to try, I think. If not for measurable net effect then for a slightly clearer mind – a little psychological boost knowing that you’ve at least tried something.
Most of my riding is still on acoustic bikes these days so the electric cargo is not a high mileage animal but it does pretty much all my groceries, errands and carries me like a magic carpet when I’m low on leg power or just wanna get somewhere smelling fresh on a hot day. That’s often enough that the Yuba is a very good friend.
And what can a good friend offer if not reliability? Well, the Boda Boda has given reliability in spades. In five plus years, it’s never left me high and dry or lost in the dark. It charges quickly and is frugal on the discharge. Even after all this time I can still get around 100km out of a charge if used conservatively and there have been zero mishaps with the Shimano electrics. The only thing that’s gone wrong (and this is on me more than the bike) is that somehow I’ve managed to damage the cabling for the built-in electric lights so they kinda work when they feel like it but I’ve always carried a separate set of lights so it’s not really a problem.
Load and overload. As far as carrying loads goes, I’ve never felt like I shouldn’t buy a few extra bottles of juice or milk at the supermarket. I just buy, load and go. If I buy a bit more the Yuba might wobble a bit but that doesn’t seem to bother it and it only takes a little practice to learn control of the extra weight. It’s carried everything from groceries to computer monitors, potting mix to gas bottles and fishing gear.
Would I buy Yuba Boda Boda again? The short answer is yes. The slightly longer answer is yes if was still available. The Boda Boda model was replaced a while ago with the similarly speced and priced Kombi which just looks a bit boxier in the frame design. Then again, since I bought the Yuba, so many other really good electric cargo bikes have come out that we’re actually spoilt for choice now. Not only does Brisbane have several specialist e-bike shops now but the larger corporate shops like 99Bikes and Trek also sell them. It’s a great time to consider buying one.
Finally, for full disclosure, as I’ve mentioned previously, I do still own a car at the moment so I can’t claim car-free status but the car gets used very seldom (usually less than once a week). It does go to show, though, that you can still accomplish a very car-light routine with a cargo bike and save yourself a heap of money and help the planet.
Ride safe and see you out there sometime.