The Seattle Bike Expo was earlier this month and I attended both days, leading a Kidical Mass ride on Saturday and a Critical Lass ride on Sunday. I didn’t get to see everything at the Expo, spending the bulk of my time at Cargo and Family Bikes booth, presented by Familybike Seattle, but I got to see quite a bit of the new Bike Friday Haul-a-Day cargo bike.

I’d previously seen photos of Shane MacRhodes’s Haul-a-Day (the first! the only!) on his Fully Loaded Tumblr site so I knew I’d love it and shouldn’t skip the chance to test ride at kid-friendly Peddler Brewing Company when Bike Friday came to town a few days early for Bike Expo. The Haul-a-Day can take an Xtraycle FlightDeck and Hooptie, like in Shane’s pictures, but the visiting one had the standard midtail deck and stoker bars. My two weren’t too eager to share the stoker bars, but I eventually got them to agree on hand placement and tied a cargo strap around them for my piece of mind.

We rode around a bit and I found the bike very zippy! I hadn’t been on a bike with 20-inch wheels before…well, unless you count my six-year old’s little bike, but let’s not count that. It was very nimble, easy to dodge around potholes. I didn’t get to climb any hills, so I can’t comment on its climbing abilities. The front basket is frame mounted so it can carry plenty of weight without affecting steering. We were all very taken by its weight–just 35 pounds!

Most Bike Fridays are folding bikes, but the Haul-a-Day doesn’t fold up…though I think future versions might. But what is very cool about the frame is that it can be adjusted longer or shorter to accommodate a wide range of riders. And since it’s a midtail, it fits on the bus! Here’s a picture I lifted from the latest Bike Friday newsletter with it on a Seattle Metro bus bike rack. I read that the frame should be compacted to the shortest size before putting on the rack, but not sure if that’s the case.

Photo courtesy Bike Friday

Next month you should be able to see/test/buy the Haul-a-Day at G&O Family Cyclery and one will join the Familybike Seattle fleet, too! If you’re in or near Portland see it at Velo Cult on April 5th: Bike Friday Cargo Bike Unveiling.

Walter and the Haul-a-Day came along on our Kidical Mass ride so I took a picture of our bikes side by side, though my poor angle and busy bike don’t give a good idea of difference in length. The deck seems longer than other midtails (Kona MinUte–which we learned at Bike Expo will come back into production next year!!!!, Kinn Cascade Flyer, Yuba Boda Boda), but it’s somewhat shorter than my deck.

And just to give my bike some love…

The Friday before Bike Expo I met up with Davey Oil at G&O Family Cyclery to help transport bikes over. I carried one kid, my Burley Piccolo trailer bike and G&O’s Kinn Cascade Flyer.

Davey rode a Bullitt with a Brompton inside and Donald of Bike Works hauled a Brompton and his own bike with an Xtracycle EdgeRunner. So I won, I’d say. Though in all fairness, Davey and Donald may not have known it was a competition.

On Sunday, just when I was moping over the fact that I’d be riding home with no kids and just the Burley Piccolo, my friend Maritess decided to rent the Bridgestone mamachari. I quickly offered to follow her home with her regular bike and kid seat.

I’ve since taken my first spins on the mamachari and it’s awesome! I’ll post about it soon. Here’s what it looks like in the rain:

Because it wouldn’t be Bike Expo without horrible horrible rain.