It's been about four months since we received our Bike Friday HaulaDay and we love it! While there have been a few adjustments along the way, I will say that this my favorite cargo bike. The HaulaDay is easy to ride, can carry a ton, and is still lightweight and transportable--everything on our cargo bike checklist. The fact that each HaD is made to order gives people the opportunity to build it up exactly as they need to suit their lifestyle and terrain. Our bike is one of the beta models and the frame has already been updated from this. Bike Friday has taken all the feedback from the initial users and continues to modify their first cargo bike as needed. This post is in regards to our experience with Bike Friday and our HaulaDay fun.
Assembly
The HaulaDay was shipped in one box (the Hooptie took up a second box). The frame breaks down into three pieces. This isn't technically a folding bike, but if you're mechanically inclined, you could probably take it apart for more compact transport.
I, personally, am not so inclined. I tried to put it together myself and failed. Good thing I have an awesome local bike shop and Bike Friday dealer, John Boyer at Edible Pedal, who could help out.
The OSATA (One Size Adjusts To All) feature is awesome! The frame can be squeezed down to someone 4' tall and extended to fit those over 6'. This could be your child's first cargo bike!
I, personally, am not so inclined. I tried to put it together myself and failed. Good thing I have an awesome local bike shop and Bike Friday dealer, John Boyer at Edible Pedal, who could help out.
The OSATA (One Size Adjusts To All) feature is awesome! The frame can be squeezed down to someone 4' tall and extended to fit those over 6'. This could be your child's first cargo bike!
 |  There's a cargo bike in there! |
If you look closely, you can see I've just attached the frame pieces trapping the chain in between them.
John saved the day!
First look
Photo by my dad. Capitol for scale.
Compared to other cargo bikes
The midtail cargo bike market is small--Yuba's Boda Boda, Kinn's midtail, the HaulaDay, and Cycle Truck's Beavertail are the main ones I know of (Kona's MinUte has been discontinued **See Dorie's comment below**). The Boda Boda and Kinn midtails have a pretty short deck making it difficult (not impossible) to carry two passengers. Both the HaulaDay and Beavertail are built on 20" wheels, allowing for a short wheelbase but an almost-standard length deck. We chose the Xtracycle deck for our HaulaDay, giving us plenty of room for those squirmy boys.
Compared to the Yuba Mundo and other longtails, the HaulaDay is about half the weight. The 20" wheels are quick to get rolling and self-balancing, which is a big bonus in city traffic with lots of starts and stops. The deck on the HaulaDay is lower which brings down your center of gravity making a more stable load for a longtail design cargo bike (same reasoning behind Xtracycle's Edgerunner). The 20" wheels can make the bike a bit more squirrely to ride than the tank-like Mundo, however, with the addition of our front basket, I find the HaD to be more stable now. We did, in fact, sell the Mundo because the HaulaDay was able to work better for us.
Long John/bakfiets-style bikes like the Bullitt or Workscycle have a learning curve associated with the linkage steering. Some people are fine with it, some are not. When I loan out a cargo bike, it's always going to be the HaD, unless they already have bakfiets experience. Anyone can ride the HaD without much adjustment. Again, the HaD is much lighter and has a much shorter wheelbase, making it easier to maneuver and find parking.
HaDs are custom built so you can choose which components best suit your riding needs.
Compared to the Yuba Mundo and other longtails, the HaulaDay is about half the weight. The 20" wheels are quick to get rolling and self-balancing, which is a big bonus in city traffic with lots of starts and stops. The deck on the HaulaDay is lower which brings down your center of gravity making a more stable load for a longtail design cargo bike (same reasoning behind Xtracycle's Edgerunner). The 20" wheels can make the bike a bit more squirrely to ride than the tank-like Mundo, however, with the addition of our front basket, I find the HaD to be more stable now. We did, in fact, sell the Mundo because the HaulaDay was able to work better for us.
Long John/bakfiets-style bikes like the Bullitt or Workscycle have a learning curve associated with the linkage steering. Some people are fine with it, some are not. When I loan out a cargo bike, it's always going to be the HaD, unless they already have bakfiets experience. Anyone can ride the HaD without much adjustment. Again, the HaD is much lighter and has a much shorter wheelbase, making it easier to maneuver and find parking.
HaDs are custom built so you can choose which components best suit your riding needs.
Carrying passengers
...is super, duper fun.
 |  |
By car
I use a standard 3-bike rack from Sarus to carry the HaD. It takes some creative thinking and lots of tie-downs but it works. I usually take off anything that is removable except the seat and flip the bike upside-down because it doesn't have a standard top-tube. The bike's center of gravity is farther back than you might imagine, making it stick a little farther out on the handlebar side. I've gotten better at this with practice. I can actually load the bike up onto the rack on my own but it's nicer to have help.
 |  |
By public transportation
Most cargo bikes aren't allowed on Amtrak unless you can strip it down to 50 lbs or less and cram it into their bike box. Amtrak's roll-on service isn't much better because it still has to fit in a narrow space, hanging from its front wheel. The HaD can fit on both without much adjustment.
We haven't tried taking the bike by bus, yet, but it's doable. I really like that I can pick up this bike on my own, not an easy feat with the Mundo or the Bullitt. If you squish the OSATA option down to one of the first two buttons and turn the front wheel 180 degrees, you have a standard bike wheelbase. Great!
We haven't tried taking the bike by bus, yet, but it's doable. I really like that I can pick up this bike on my own, not an easy feat with the Mundo or the Bullitt. If you squish the OSATA option down to one of the first two buttons and turn the front wheel 180 degrees, you have a standard bike wheelbase. Great!
Naptime
Bikey parents know about naptime. Poor child usually has their giant head flopped over in some awkward angle and you keep wondering if they can still breathe. At this point in our lives, Little Brother is the only kid who falls asleep on the bike still (in fact it's the only way he naps anymore). Luckily, he's big enough to not need a child seat but I was worried the first few times we went out on longer rides. Turns out, he figured out his own convenient way to sleep on-the-go.
 |  A little help from Big Brother. |
Hauling bikes
Tuck the front wheel into the side bags and secure the front wheel letting the rest of the bike trail behind.
Hauling gear
We can fit plenty of gear for camping trips and still have room for passengers. The front basket is a wonderful addition to help balance the weight. So far, I haven't had an opportunity to run out of space on the HaulaDay. Rumor has it that someone loaded up the HaD with about 800lbs and still didn't manage to break it. There's a reason these bikes keep winning all the Disaster Relief Trials--they're lightweight but heavy haulers, a perfect combination!
Photo by Bike Friday's Jeff Strehl-Roberts
Accessories
Here are some of the accessories we chose:
Standard Xtracycle deck with Xtracycle Hooptie. Notice the deck bowing. Happened because I didn't realize there were other adjustments before I secured the Hooptie and then the plastic deck had conformed by the time I tried to fix it. This has actually made taking the bags on/off really easy.
The BF's Whoopie-Deux and diamond plate deck. We don't have these, yet, but will be soon. The WD bars will make climbing on and off easier for the kids. The Piccolo mount on the back isn't in production as of now.
Big Foot Running Boards help stabilize the loads in our bags and give a nice solid foundation for the boys' feetsies. One downside for us is that one side rattles and we need to shim it up. The running boards pop out easily for transport or to lighten the load. We also chose fenders because we're dirty.
Frame mounted basket. It's amazing and, for us, essential. It helps stabilize and balance out heavy loads, gives quick access to storage, and makes the bike easier to handle. Basket comes off and the diamond plate deck becomes a platform for any other type of storage you want--yellow kitty litter tub, maybe?
Kickstands. We had some trouble with this part. The first kickstand (above) didn't work at all--makes a cargo bike nearly useless to the family biking crowd. The bike tipped over all the time, broke part of the shifter and scratched up the frame a bit. It also made the kids terrified to get on the bike because it was so unstable getting on and off. Our friend John Lucas of Cycle Trucks helped stabilize it with the cable and then we were back in business! We found out later that the split collar got in the way of our highest gear which wasn't an issue as I'd rather be able to get the kids on the bike than use my top gear. Eventually, the split collar broke. Luckily, it broke the same day the newer, more stable kickstand arrived. You can see below that I couldn't figure out how it worked but then I got it. Now, it's pretty darn good.
 Wrong |  Right! |
Unofficial assessories
We added these beautiful Carsick Design Mondo Slings. Bike Friday makes a set of their own but I like the durable fabric and color of the Carsick ones. Both bags provide needed footsie protection from the wheel and tons of carrying capacity. The straps can be buckled across the deck for weirdly shaped loads. Less beautiful are our $5 Ikea chair cushions that I literally stole off of our dining room chairs, folded them in half, and strapped them down with a giant zip tie. Not waterproof at all, but they get the job done. We will probably have to find a better solution during winter or just wear rain pants.
Locking up
Locking up your HaD can be tricky. There's no downtube to make an easy locking point for most racks. I have a long chain lock that is flexible enough to get through the back tubes of the frame. If I'm going to be stopped somewhere for long, I'll bring a second lock or cable to get my front wheel. Make sure you always invest in a good lock and check that you're locking to something secure. The HaD is fairly short and light making it easier to get close to racks/poles for parking. This is the only cargo bike that I've been able to fit at Trader Joe's terrible bike rack.
Weather
Rain suits, plastic bags, and fenders work for us. There are some nifty sun/rain shades out there and the Hooptie is a great foundation for creating them. We'll see how this winter goes.
8legs2wheels.com has an awesome setup.
Issues
Besides the initial kickstand problems, the hardest thing about getting our HaulaDay was the wait. We waited a couple extra months to finally get our bike because of some delays--the fact that this was a beta model and because Alan broke his thumb. The earliest bikes were only being built by Alan, the CEO, and an engineer. The HaulaDay is a brand new design and took time to develop. Once there were more on the road, they could figure out other issues that needed to be solved (the kickstand, for example). Now, they have a larger team working on the bikes and are able to get them out quicker and more efficiently.
There are also a couple of accessories that I'd love to see in production sooner, especially the Piccolo mount. A few of the accessories have only just gotten to us recently. Custom bikes take time and Bike Friday is a little shop trying to do it all. It can be difficult to be patient. I still heartily recommend the HaulaDay and Bike Friday but be forewarned that you won't get instant gratification after you place your order. Still, it's worth the wait!
There are also a couple of accessories that I'd love to see in production sooner, especially the Piccolo mount. A few of the accessories have only just gotten to us recently. Custom bikes take time and Bike Friday is a little shop trying to do it all. It can be difficult to be patient. I still heartily recommend the HaulaDay and Bike Friday but be forewarned that you won't get instant gratification after you place your order. Still, it's worth the wait!
John of Edible Pedal has his own HaulaDay frame, the first of the newer style. Note the extra bracing tubes. He said a few of the holes didn't quite line up, which seems to be a common issue with the first-run frames and accessories.
Customer service
What these guys lack in speed, they make up for in incredible customer service! Any questions that I've had or feedback to be given, they've been there to listen and help. The stem for my Whoopie-Deux was lost in the mail a couple days ago and before it could get back to them, there was another already shipped out and being delivered tomorrow. I think I've been in touch with just about every Bike Friday team member at this point and they're all so nice and helpful. I love giving my money to people who make a very high quality product (in the USA!) and are passionate about what they do.
There is so much exciting news going on at Bike Friday in regards to the HaulaDay, it's hard to keep up with it all. I know they have great plans to get as many of these bikes out on the roads to help others out of their cars.
There is so much exciting news going on at Bike Friday in regards to the HaulaDay, it's hard to keep up with it all. I know they have great plans to get as many of these bikes out on the roads to help others out of their cars.
 |  |
If you've made it this far, congratulations! Now you know just how much we love our Bike Friday! Ask me anything about it and if you're nearby, come for a test ride. If you've got one, tell us about what you think.
RSS Feed
