Despite having a Vrtucar membership, I started to do more grocery shopping using my bike and child trailer to add a bit of exercise to my otherwise chair and desk work lifestyle during the week. Sometimes the Vrtucar near us wasn’t available at my preferred times or I just tired of walking to the car, shopping, dropping off the shopping at home, returning the car and then walking back home. Biking to our local grocery store was just less hassle and I didn’t have to worry about returning the bike on time.
And sometimes, I just wanted a little peace and quiet for myself. Three year olds are chatty. Very chatty.
The child trailer just wasn’t designed for grocery shopping. Only the seat provided enough firm support for grocery bags – which is fine for a small shop. But we tend to shop once a week, so my purchases were more than the little trailer could really tow.
I looked into cargo bikes (this is what started my cargo bike lusting), but then came across Wike trailers. They had a trailer called the “cargo shopper” that looked like the perfect fit for my needs.
(Wike is a Canadian company based in Guelph, Ontario. All of their trailers are made in Guelph and materials are sourced from North America where possible. The “made in Canada” stamp really means something with these trailers. )
I opted for the upgrade that includes a third “swivel nose” wheel, 20 inch alloy wheels and a pushbar – this way you can use it as a shopping cart when not attached to your bike. We do a large amount of our shopping at farmer’s markets in the summer – and it was usually more than our panniers and baskets could carry. The boy had some very cozy rides home in the trailer nestled beside tomatoes last summer. This cart can carry 100lbs of goodies.
The trailer arrived when I was out of town, so the husband and boy had “fun” assembling it together. Despite the five-year old who demonstrates the easy assembly in their how-to video, the boys struggled at times to put it together. The chirpy five-year old claiming the “ease of assembly” did not help his attitude. Upon my return, the cart was fully assembled. Easy!
The hitch was easily mounted to rear hub of my mountain bike. Sadly, the same hitch does not fit on my new bike (Raleigh City Detour Deluxe) due to the rear frame configuration. And there was no way to make it work. On closer inspection on the Wike website, there seems to be a drop-down hitch option, so maybe I just need to order a different style of hitch for my Raleigh.
The cart definitely gets some looks when I’m out and about. I love the raised eyebrow the cashiers give me when I say that “no, I do not need parking validated, I’ve got a bike trailer”. It’s stylish, carries a solid week’s worth of groceries, and best of all… folds for storage.
Yeah!