We recently had a prospective owner post in the Bunch Bikes club on Facebook with a very big question: "Tell me EVERYTHING there is to know about owning a bunch. All of the pros and cons, so that I can weigh whether or not it is a reasonable investment for my childcare."
The answers were so helpful that we decided to collect them for you here!
Indescribably more awesome
Pros: your already excellent childcare will be indescribably more awesome in so many ways.
Cons: I can't think of any.
The peace I feel
We've had our bunch for 14 months and it's changed our life for the better. I cannot say enough good things about this bike. My kids love to ride, I love to ride, we ride most days from 2-20 miles depending on the day. The peace I feel riding along a bike path hearing my kids chat is amazing. I rode it all year even through snow and ice. I'm in a fairly bike friendly town which means I don't have to always be on a road, although I still do it frequently.
Riding a bunch bike has become a way of life and has opened my eyes to how transportation could be. I've become an advocate in my town and was elected to my transportation board this year. That's all down to our decision to buy a bunch bike.
The company has amazing customer service, they truly care about their product and riders.
The only downsides are turning can be a pain because your turning circle is large and it doesn't have great shocks so you can feel the bumps.
Highly recommend finding your local squad member and giving it a try.
It changed our life
Everything [previous commentor] said!!!! We got ours in 2018 and it changed our life. My family is totally car free because of our Bunch bike.
It sounds like hyperbole to say it changed our life, but it is true
It's a blast
No cons. It’s a blast and haven’t had a single issue. Amazing company and so fun to ride.
Shortest answer award goes to...
Go for it!!!
Puts us all in a great mood
It’s one of the most exciting and fun ways to get around. I want to ride more, I feel stronger physically, it puts us all in a great mood. We laugh, sing and tell stories.
People are so kind to us when riding, we feel very safe on the city streets. It is amazing.
Con- we Canadians don’t have the greatest dollar exchange but I still love it!
Bumpy ride
The only real con for me is that it’s a bumpy ride. A two wheel bakfiets is a smoother ride, but doesn’t have some of the other benefits that a three wheeler has.
Just get everyone in and go
Pros: everything. Before I had the Bunch, we could only get to two playgrounds, without going on the bus we couldn't get to spray parks, the library, etc. Getting to school (normally a 10-minute walk for a 3-year-old, 15 if they're distracted) would sometimes take 45 minutes to an hour if any one of the walkers just didn't want to that day.
Now we just get everyone in the Bunch and go. I don't need to wrestle them all into rain gear and shoes before we go, if we're running behind I can just chuck everything in and sort it out later. It takes 5 minutes tops to get out the door and to the school. We can go to at least 4 different spray parks, the library, at least 8 different playgrounds, several of which have bathrooms.
Cons: I'm short and it's hard to see over the rain cover (but I have a Preschool which has a taller cover). I make it work, though. It takes some getting used to, especially cornering. You have to slow down and shift your balance to avoid tipping. Changing the rear tire is challenging. The front tires are a breeze as long as you have a jack stand or something to hold the bike up.
More connected to my community
I'm pretty new to mine but from three days of taking the kids to school I love it. I especially love that I feel more connected to my community.
Only con is the bumpiness, though I am leaning towards getting the suspension seat post. I usually can get the two wheels on each side of a pot hole but then forget about myself and the rear wheel hits it.
Concerned about hills
Im also concidering getting a Bunch but Im concerned about hills.
Reply: if it’s fully charged, ours handles tons of hills for a decently long ride
Immersing in nature
We have a child with disabilities and this is the BEST decision we ever made to be able to immerse him in nature. He gets to ride in his Bunch Bike and the icing on the cake…his service dog gets to ride too. Absolutely the best!!!
It's a party bike
I haven’t found any cons yet, maybe my only con is that I don’t ride it enough. I got hit by a tractor riding ours when it was 3 days old, so I had to work up the courage to get back on and then got pregnant with twins and I’ve been in some pain while riding. But we still just adore it. It’s a party bike for sure. You will not find a company with better customer service. If they find an issue with the bike or something, they are quick to ship out new product. If you have any concerns they respond to your emails asap. It’s incredible!!!
I’m a chunky gal and can ride this thing for hours when I don’t have babies punching my groin. Such a fun purchase!! So my con is about me, not the bike. I’m the con 😂
Go slow on turns and potholes
Pros: you can keep your feet off the ground 100% of the time while riding. Wanna take a sip of your drink while stopped at a light? Go for it! Also the cargo space of the box is HUGE. Big plus.
Cons: gotta be careful when making quick turns, and super careful when on an incline. Also, if there are potholes and bumps to avoid, you gotta avoid them with all three tracks of your wheels. On two wheels you only have one track to avoid those.
Verdict: GET THE BUNCH!
Check out the series
I did a whole series about why we chose a bunch bike on my Instagram (I’ll link it below).
I went into detail on each reason, but in short we chose a bunch bike:
1. All kids needed to fit in/on the bike (I also have 4)
2. There needed to be a way to secure them (seatbelts)
3. Heavy load capabilities (they’re almost 200lbs all together)
4. 3-wheeled stability (again, they’re almost 200lbs all together )
5. Kids in front
https://instagram.com/beastiesandme
Best decision for my family and my health
Best decision I’ve made for my family and my health. I’ve lost more than 50 pounds since riding the bunch with my family every day. The kids love it. I haven’t received my rain cover yet, but we’ll even ride on rainy days when it gets here. I haven’t had any issues yet with the bike. I’ve needed to troubleshoot my accessories a couple times, but Lelac has always been there to help.
Good car replacement
Pros : it's just absolutely fun for everyone, kids and rider. It's a conversation starter. It's a fairly good car replacement especially if you don't have snow (amd even then, it handles snow well I'm told)
Yes, it's allot of money up front but how are you going to get the kids around otherwise? Cheaper then a vann and more effective then a stroller.
Pro: kids in front. High cargo capacity. Very versatile for being both passenger and cargo hauler . Need them to do both at the same time? Attach a Wike trailer.
Plan and prep for storage
The one con for me is prep time especially if no garage: covering, locking with the huge New York lock, getting the battery in, getting cargo strapped to haul or a trailer. There's a smaller optional very convenient wheel lock but I would use the larger Kryptonite New York lock & chain for overnight parking. If you have a garage, then these are much less of a concern.
The best company
Putting this in a separate comment so it doesn't get missed:
If you have questions or concerns, you can talk to them and they'll genuinely do their best to help you. If you have daycare-specific questions, you can ask here or message me.
Our community
Waking up to this thread made my whole day. This community... the best!!!!
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