A Radwagon 4 helped one family replace car trips and cart everything from water bottles to Pokémon binders. Now that the children have outgrown the original seats, the owner is rethinking the bike’s next role as a serious cargo hauler—setting up a “Grocery Get
Four years ago, a Radwagon 4 arrived in the driveway for one reason: to replace one of two family cars. The plan was simple for short trips—five miles or less—when school drop-offs, daycare runs, playdates, and quick grocery stops could be handled by bike instead of a car.
The ordering process mattered. Rad Power Bikes. based in Seattle. offered direct-to-consumer configuration. letting the owner choose what the bike would carry and who it would carry. He picked a front basket. For his son, he chose a rear pad seat. For his then-toddler daughter, he added a Thule Yepp 2 Maxi seat to keep her secure.
Safety came from the local bike shop, too: safety lights and a bell.
Once the bike was assembled. the routine became a kind of daily logistics—ride to and from school and daycare. head out to doctor’s appointments. swing by for groceries. and go wherever was close enough to be worth the pedaling. The front basket turned into the family’s overflow area, always ready for whatever the day demanded.
On a recent trip to a nearby playground. the basket held a small soccer ball. a small shoulder bag belonging to the wife. a bike lock and cable. two bottles of water—plus a third bottle already in the bike’s bottle cage—three baseball caps. two baseball gloves. a baseball. and a small tin lunch box full of snacks. There were also two binders filled with Pokémon trading cards.
The list didn’t stop at small items. The same basket has transported two large grocery bags, or three smaller ones. On one occasion, it carried a small guitar amp found at the owner’s local thrift store.
The bike is still useful and functional. But the household needs have changed.
The daughter is now 4 years old and too big to fit in the Yepp seat. The son is now 8 and no longer wants to be seen sitting on the back of his dad’s big ebike. He’s strong enough now to ride all over town on his own bike.
Those adjustments are driving the next decision: what the bike becomes when it’s no longer built around carrying kids.
The owner is now thinking about an “iteration” designed less for age-specific seating and more for hauling. The direction he’s leaning toward is a serious cargo setup—a Grocery Getter, the kind of ebike configuration that treats the bike like a utility vehicle for everyday errands and bulky stops.
E-bikes. he notes. now sit in a big landscape—mountain bikers. commuters. folding bikes. cruising bikes—so there are strategic ways to maximize capability depending on the purpose. But for his plan. he’s focusing on two tracks he understands best: carting a family (a “Family Wagon”) and hauling lots of stuff (a “Grocery Getter”).
He’s clear on what comes first for the family side: if you’re transporting kids on an ebike. you want comfortable. safe. and age-appropriate seating. For the new cargo-heavy version. the priority shifts—more room. better carrying options. and a setup that can handle whatever a day throws into the basket.
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