What Makes the ARGO Different?
It may seem as though our job is to sell you an ARGO. But the way we see it, our job is to help you pick the right cargo bike and the ARGO may be it. As you are considering how the ARGO stacks up, there are lots of factors. Considering these factors and being real with yourself will help you determine if the ARGO is right for your situation. The ARGO rides more like a regular bike, offers more options for riding and costs less than other front loading cargo bikes. This sounds great, but there are trade-offs.
RIDING
The ARGO Cargo Bike only takes a few seconds to get used to and ride. This was intentional; we made a choice to make the ARGO feels great with more common loads (less than 100lbs/45kg).
As we looked at use cases (pictures and videos of people and their cargo), we realized that greater than 95% of trips are simple errands and commuting. While it happens, it is a rare occurrence that you need to pick up a dishwasher on your cargo bike. Many cargo bikes are built for this EXTREME situation that we simply never found ourselves in.
(image from Vancourier.com)
The ARGO feel like your bike with or without cargo. If you do need to regularly carry enormous loads of cargo, we think that you should consider a Bullitt. If you are going to ride around town and have fun, the ARGO Cargo Bike should still be on your short list.
ADVENTURE
The truth: All Cargo Bikes spontaneously create an adventure.
The ARGO Cargo Kit is built expand these cargo bike adventures beyond your neighborhood or city. At first, you definitely should take your new cargo bike to explore your familiar places. After that, think bigger. Because the ARGO quickly and easily comes apart to fit in trucks, cars and trains, your adventures can be almost anywhere. Bring it on vacation, so you can explore new towns and camp grounds. Bring it to work, so you can impress the boss with your ingenuity in logistics (and you get to ride your bike!). Take it on the train and see new parts of the world.
Most other cargo bikes get home and are limited by how far you can self power the bike.
COST
Our goal at ARGO is to make cargo bikes more accessible to more people.
We are aware that the ARGO is less expensive than other front loading cargo bikes. But if the ARGO isn't going to work for you, it would be a waste of your money. We want you to be aware that there are trade-offs to choosing our product.
-A more expensive cargo bike will have a higher load limit (ARGO is 150lbs/68kg). Some can carry (comfortably) many hundreds of pounds.
-A more expensive cargo bike will not need a bicycle for it to work. If you don't have a bike, you will likely be spending $500US or more.
-A more expensive cargo bike box is likely more weather resistant. To keep our costs reasonable, we use triple coated birch plywood for our box. It is less expensive, more environmentally responsible (than foam and most plastics) and it is exceptionally strong. If you do not feel that you can keep the ARGO box relatively dry and take care of it, you may want to look at other options.
-A more expensive cargo bike *may* offer suspension. We like suspension for a number of reasons. We chose to use a wider tire instead of a suspension fork because suspension forks are expensive (if you want a good one) and they can require a great deal of maintenance. The bigger tire takes the majority of small bumps out of the ride before it gets to you or your cargo.
CONCLUSION
We love cargo bikes, almost all of them. So do not be afraid to reach out, even if you have questions about other cargo bikes you are considering. We'd love to help you out. (Contact Page)