I want a cargo bike for obvious reasons but also so I don't have to buy a second car for the snowtime. I'm fine with suffering through the cold and muck but even with spikes the freeze-thaw mooncraters are simply not doable on 2 wheels.

Unless you buy something really expensive, i.e. "could buy and keep a beater car running for quite a while" money, so many of them are limited to 100kg on the seat. I get they're all unisize and there's quite the leverage on the seatpost going on due to this, but fucking 100kg MAX? That's well within "normal" BMI weight for tall people and not exactly terrible far off if you pack on a few pounds. or like want to use a backpack.

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[–] Beaver@hexbear.net 2 points 6 days ago

I think that these are generally overbuilt, and the 100kg (220lbs) limit is an overly conservative rating for liability reasons. Generally speaking, there's an absolute dearth of options for front-wheeled cargo trikes. Maybe look at some of the aliexpress options? They're a lot cheaper, but I have no idea if they're good or not.

I tried a tadpole trike in the winter years ago, and ended up selling it during the springtime. There was a lot of extra rolling resistance through the snow (since you're cutting three paths instead of one), and it felt weird whenever I lost traction. It gave me a lot more appreciation for how much control over your own stability you have on a standard bike (more than you'd think).

I wonder if a delta trike (cargo and the two wheels at the rear) would be a good compromise? Same stationary stability, although not as good in turns.