Momentum reviews: Xtracycle RFA electric cargo bike

When I sent my editor at Momentum a picture of the completed Xtracycle RFA, he replied, “Wow, sweet. You have a small bus!”

Which is by design. The RFA is the quintessential electric cargo bike, built by a company that specializes in electric cargo bikes. The long frame is noticeable from a distance, especially with one of its many possible add-ons. You can easily carry a child in the back, or two small children, or even an adult, depending on the customizations you choose. You could make ambitious grocery runs on the RFA, or move small pieces of furniture. This machine is designed to handle loads of 213 kg. (470 lbs.) E-bikes don’t get more bus-like than that.

And yet – riding the Xtracycle feels unexpectedly normal. Sure, the frame is elongated, at a whopping 1.86 meters (73.4 inches), but the base model weighs an astonishing 27 kg (60 lbs), even with the 630-watt battery attached. That is shockingly light for any e-bike, let alone a model with such a large footprint. Unencumbered by preschoolers or milk jugs, the Xtracycle feels a little different from any other step-through bicycle. You quickly forget it’s a cargo bike at all.

Such quality does come at a price: The RFA starts at $5,000US, and Xtracycle boasts an impressive catalog of accouterments, so the price can easily go up from there. Xtracycle products are aimed at a very special demographic: People who are diehard about replacing cars for functional tasks and want a first-class product for the job.

Brag to Your Friends

Not surprisingly, Xtracycle was founded by a mechanical engineer educated at Stanford University. Ross Evans made a name for himself in the early 2000s by creating a “bolt-on” conversion kit, which could transform regular bicycles into cargo bikes. This was an innovative, civic-minded concept that helped give older models new life. Today, though, Xtracycle manufactures complete, road-ready e-bikes, and the designs are beautiful. Riding an RFA will absolutely earn double-takes from people on the street, especially when you’ve got a baby on board.

And children are a major motivator for investing in the RFA. Xtracycle has long touted its bicycles’ ability to carry unwieldy sports equipment like surfboards and skis, and creative packers could transport any number of items, from small dressers to stereo speakers. Yet almost any bicycle can carry stuff; only a fraction of them can carry people in such comfort. The padded “Magic Carpet” seat and broad foot rails provide plenty of room for a child to spread out. Xtracycle offers several different arrangements of passenger support, including a cushioned chair, a pair of “Snackbar” handles, or the “Hooptie” – a guardrail that completely encircles small riders.

Unlike a trailer or ride-along, the RFA feels “complete.” You’re not attaching anything extra to the Xtracycle, so your children move with the same grace and agility that you do. At the same time, they have room to lean back and enjoy the view; the passenger seats on smaller cargo bikes can often press right up against the rider’s back. The alternative to this arrangement is a frontloaded cargo bike, which has its merits; but placing kids on the front can feel unnatural. The RFA will be, for many parents, an ideal solution.

The $5,000 model tops out at 32 kmh (20 mph), which will more than suffice for many riders, especially if they’re nervous about weaving through traffic with tots. But a more expensive model also carries quite a bit more power: For $5,500, you can accelerate to 45 kmh (28 mph), the legal limit for e-bikes in most regions. The motor is powerful, managing both weight and velocity at the same time.

The biggest surprise about the Xtracycle is its simplicity: The digital interface isn’t much bigger than a large wristwatch, and it contains only the most important information: speed, charge, and level of assist. For luddites like me, this will come as a relief: You don’t require a special app to operate the bike, and it’s light on bells and whistles. There’s a bright headlamp and rear light, and the (impressively small) battery is easy to remove and plug into any wall socket. The RFA doesn’t even have a throttle.

Finally, there is the riding experience, which is where Xtracycle’s Stanford-trained engineering excels. The 10-speed cassette and three levels of pedal assist work fluidly together. The pedal resistance is comfortable, even at the highest level of assist. In every way, the RFA is a smooth and pleasant ride, no matter how much you’re carrying.

Xtracycle RFA long tail will travel

Wish List

If you’re wise, you may entrust the assembly to a professional. The moment your massive box arrives, take it to a mechanic, or even have the thing shipped directly to a trusted shop. Building the RFA isn’t rocket science, but there are many different steps, and frankly, this is a lot of bike – which means a lot can go wrong.

I learned all this the hard way. In my garage, the RFA came together nicely over a couple of weekends. The user’s manual is well illustrated, and if you have some level of experience putting bikes together, the RFA is fairly intuitive.

As fate would have it, I accidentally broke one of the components. I took the nearly-completed bike to my local mechanic, who reviewed my handiwork and gave me the bad news (for my ego, anyway): I had put the fork on backward, as well as the cargo basket in the rear. I had also unknowingly misplaced a small spacer on the hub, without which I risked damage to the (now forward-facing) fork. I might not have realized any of this without consulting a pro, and the costs would have been significant. Breaking that star-nut may have been, well, a lucky break.

The only major challenge for the RFA is its size, which is the tradeoff for any cargo bike – and a common paradox. Cargo bikes are most useful in urban environments, where distances are generally short and amenities are everywhere; yet they also demand a good amount of storage space, which many urbanites can’t afford. The ideal parking spot for the RFA is, of course, a full-sized garage, or at least a good-sized vestibule. My advice for apartment-dwellers: Measure twice, buy once.

This is usually where I caution riders about getting stranded with such a large machine. On the one hand, this is truer than ever for the RFA: Busting your inner tube and lacking a repair kit could mean big trouble, especially in threatening conditions. I recently dealt with a similar situation involving a (different) cargo bike, and let me tell you, there is nothing quite as unpleasant as pushing a 36-kg vehicle three kilometers through a rough neighborhood in the middle of the night, knowing that you might be warping the rim with every rotation. You would need a very understanding Uber driver to help lug the RFA home, or else lock your $5,000 darling to a tree and pray it’s still there when you return.

Xtracycle RFA

On the other hand, a dead battery is not the end of the world. Unlike so many e-bikes, the RFA is light enough to operate without pedal-assist. I wouldn’t recommend it, especially if you’re carrying a heavy load, but the bike will move at a steady clip.

Ideal User

The ideal Xtracycle user is becoming easier to spot, especially in progressive cities with bike lanes: a parent of small children who passionately commute and run errands without a car. You have likely spotted this character yourself: the confident-looking mom or dad, dressed in fleece, toting a kid or two in the back and zipping past a yellow bus and a line of clunky SUVs stuck in traffic on the way to school. The wide tires can handle a range of surfaces, but this bike is no toy; customers are looking for serious solutions to serious lifestyle choices. This archetype is still a small minority, but it’s growing all the time.

In an ideal world, of course, Xtracycle models would be everywhere.

The RFA can handle most of the tasks of a private automobile and for a distance of up to 96 km (60 miles) on a single charge. The RFA is the draft horse of e-bikes, designed for practical people who can’t stomach $40,000 on a motor vehicle but will absolutely save $5,000 for an emission-less utility bike with room for their brood. The market may be niche now, but that will change in the coming decade. And as far as this critic is concerned, the more Xtracycles on the road, the better.