When we first got on our Tribe Bike, we felt like we’d turned into local celebrities. You’ll soon get used to the pointing, whispers behind your back and smiles that land in your direction on your Tribe Bike. There’s something about these bikes that makes everyone happy.

From time to time you might get caught out and get stuck in a shower. Our bikes are showerproof and can handle light showers. The cargo box is made out of plywood, and whilst it has a waterproof coating, it is not designed to handle heavy, consistent rain.

The bike and many of its components are made of steel, and whilst light showers aren’t an issue, we don’t recommend it be kept in the weather for long periods of time. If you need to store your bike outside, we recommend an outdoor cover, available in our store.

We can help you with spare parts for the specialised components, eg, if you’ve broken your cargo box. We do not sell replacement frames. If you have broken or bent your frame we recommend getting in contact with a metal fabricator who should be able to repair the frame for you.

We carry spares for all of the components of a Tribe bike, however you should be able to purchase many of the spares from your local bike shop. For spares of specialised components (eg the cargo box or electronics), get in contact with us and we can help you out.

We’ve prepared some instructions on how to perform some basic maintenance yourself, however if you’d prefer the leave it to the experts, your local bike shop should be able to perform maintenance. If you can’t get to a bike shop, there are mobile bike mechanics in most cities who will come to you. We have a network of mobile bike mechanics we use, get in touch and we can point you in the right direction.

In many European cities, cargo bikes are the standard mode of transport for large and small families. We’ve been cargo biking for a while now and have felt perfectly safe. Of course we recommend exercising common sense judgement, including everyone wearing helmets, avoiding extremely busy roads and taking it a little easier than you might otherwise do if riding alone.

The Tribe bike at its widest point is about 87cm wide. Front doors can range from about 80cm to well over a metre in width, so we recommend measuring your door to see if it will fit.

Currently we can offer test rides in Newcastle, NSW. If you are based in Newcastle and would like a test ride, send us an email. We hope to expand test rides to other cities soon.

Fast enough! To comply with Australian standards the electric assist stops once you get to 25kmh. We can comfortably ride on flat paths at around 20kmh with or without electric assist. We’ve got the bikes up to 30kmh, but we don’t recommend the bike be ridden faster than this.

Our bikes are easier to pedal than they probably look. With 7 gears, you can get going easily and get up to cruising speed of around 20 kmh. The electric assist makes things even easier, automatically kicking in when required.

If you ride any 3 wheel bike fast enough around a corner they will tip over, as the bikes don’t tilt like a 2 wheel bike does. However, we’re yet to feel like we’ve gotten close to tipping our Tribe Bikes. Take corners easy and you’ll stay upright. Tribe Bikes are also fitted with a tilting mechanism to tilt the bike as you turn and help you better balance around corners.

The simplest answer is ‘differently to a 2 wheel bike’. With two wheels up front your Tribe bike is extremely stable particularly at low speeds, when a 2 wheel bike can be unstable. You must take sharp corners slower on a Tribe Bike than you would an ordinary bike as the bike does not tilt into corners like a 2 wheel bike does.

Most cargo bikes are European owned and are a niche product in Australia. As a result, there is a parent European company, a manufacturer, a local distributor and a local bike shop, who all require some profit margin. Add in sales reps, multiple shipping points, a high rent bricks and mortar store and the infamous ‘Australia Tax’ and it doesn’t take too long for the price to add up. We’ve worked directly with overseas manufacturers to cut out the middlemen and carefully balance quality and price to provide Tribe Bikes to as many Australian families as possible.

If you can ride a normal bike, you can absolutely ride a Tribe bike. We suggest taking your bike for a quick spin without any passengers, before loading up your Tribe and hitting the roads.

Yes, the benches can easily be removed. The rear bench can be unclipped and slid out in a few seconds. The front bench has 2 screws holding it in. Remove those screws and the bench comes straight out.

The cargo box is rated to carry up to 100kg. If carrying heavy loads we recommend placing the weight as close to the handlebars as possible, to make the bike easier to handle.

Yes. We are constantly surprised at how many dogs we see riding in cargo bikes. They love it almost as much as kids do. If you have large dogs you can remove the front bench to give them plenty of space. We sell a dog ring in our store, giving you somewhere inside the cargo box to secure your dog leash.

If the are under 100kg in weight, sure! Try a date night on your cargo bike, it’s great fun! We recommed adults sit on the bench closest to the handlebars to make the bike easier to handle.

Yes. Plenty of Tribe owners use their bikes to take their kids to school. As long as the total weight in the cart is less than 100kg your big kids can ride up front too.

We recommend children be at least 18 months old to ride on the bench seat included with your Tribe Bike. There are infant seats available for cargo bikes. These are not sold by us, but if you are interested in purchasing one, get in contact and we can point you in the direction of an Australian supplier. We’ve also seen some creative ways people have mounted infant child seats into their cargo bike.

YES! In Australia, the only approved safety device for a bike is a helmet that meets Australian Standards. Protect your and your kids’ noggin, you’ve only got one.

The seat belts in your Tribe Bike should not be considered a safety device like a seatbelt in a car would. According to Australian Standards, the only safety device for a bike is a well functioning helmet. The seat belts do a good job at keeping children from moving around the cart, but do not substitute for a helmet.

Yes. Our bikes come with 4 over shoulder seat belts. The seat belts are adjustable to each child. Chest clips are also provided for added security and to keep Houdinis safely buckled up.

Our bikes can comfortably fit 4 children in the cargo box, and a 5th child on the rear rack with a rear child seat (not sold by Tribe Bikes).

In our experience, the biggest disadvantage of a hub drive motor is the additional weight in the hub, making a regular bike feel unbalanced. This is where a crank drive motor benefits as the motor’s weight is over the centre of the bike. However, because a cargo bike has so much weight in the front of the bike, the hub drive motor actually does a good job of helping to balance the weight across the whole bike. Hub drive motors also don’t wear out your chain and gears as much as a crank drive motor and are lower cost. That’s a win for hub drive for us.

We keep all electric parts in stock, so can provide the electric motor later. However, there are a number of parts that will need to be replaced, such as the rear rack and rear wheel. You will also need to find an e-bike shop who is willing to install the electric motor and pay for their labour. If you’re tossing up between electric and non-electric we recommend purchasing the electric. You’ll forget about the extra spend on your first hill climb. The cost for all the electric parts including battery is $1,500. With free shipping to NSW, Victoria, Queensland and ACT and fixed price shipping to other states (contact us for a quote).

A full charge takes 6-8 hours. The battery is removable so we recommend taking it out and charging it overnight. To extend the life of the battery, we don’t recommend leaving it on charge permanently.

The only answer to that is ‘how long is a piece of string’. The battery life is impacted by a number of factors, like how much weight you are carrying, how many hills you ride and how high you have the electric assist set. On flat rides with the electric assist set to a low level, expect to get up to 50-60km on a charge. On rides with some hills and moderate electric assist, expect to get up to 40km on a charge. We find our Tribe is ready to go home well before the battery runs out!

A common misconception with electric bikes is that you can put the bike in its highest gear and let electric assist do all the work. This is a sure fire way to reduce the life of your motor and would be akin to leaving your car in 5th gear no matter how fast you are travelling. You should continue to use your gears and have the electric assist provide the additional ‘push’ to get you moving quicker and help you up hills.

Yes we do. If you’re planning adventures of over 50km, or just want the peace of mind of never being caught short (or getting in trouble for forgetting to charge your battery), we offer spare batteries for purchase in our store. The spare battery easily fits under the lockable bench in the cart.

The control panel on the handlebars allows you to control the electric assist in 6 levels. Level 1 provides a subtle assist, with level 6 providing the most assist. We find level 2-3 gives a nice balance of assist whilst also helping us get some exercise.

We offer a Dapu 250w hub drive motor, and Dapu control panel. Dapu are a Japanese owned company who have been developing electric bike components for 10 years.

Yes, a Tribe Bike is not a motorbike! By pedalling, the torque sensor in the crank determines how much electric assist to provide.

We’ve found the electric assist to get us up most hills, but there’s always a limit to what a 250w motor can do. If you live in a particularly hilly area we recommend you get in contact with us and we can help advise on whether the electric assist will get you up the hill. Check out one of our adventures where we gave the bike a serious hill test.

If like us you rode one of the early electric bikes, with dodgy torque sensors or electric throttles, you might feel a bit uneasy about an electric bike. The good news is the technology over the last few years has come a long way, and the electric assist on a Tribe Bike feels perfectly safe. It is also limited to 25kmh to meet Australian standards.

A torque sensor on the pedals like magic knows how hard you are pedalling and provides a message to the motor in the rear wheel hub to give a ‘push’ when needed.

The saddle and handlebars can both be adjusted to different heights. In our experience, riders from 157cm (5’2″) to 195cm (6’5″) can comfortably ride the bike.

Our bikes are made in China at a specialist cargo bike manufacturing facility. Bikes are assembled in Australia and full quality control measures are taken to ensure there are no issues with any bikes that leave our warehouse.

The maximum weight on the bike (including the rear rack, but excluding the cargo box) is 150kg. The cargo bike takes an additional 100kg of weight.

The full specification list is available here.

Electric: 67kg, Non electric, 59kg

L: 220cm, W: 87cm, H: 115cm

Damage of our bikes during transit is rare, but accidents happen from time to time. If your bike is damaged, take some photos and send us an email. We’ll ship out new parts as soon as possible and organise for mobile bike mechanic (where one is available in your area) to install the parts at a time that is convenient for you.

Our bikes come fully assembled, tested and ready to ride. You simply need to remove the bike from its packaging and you are ready to go. We loosen and move the control panel on the handlebars prior to shipping to avoid damage in transit. All you need is a phillips head screwdriver to tighten this.

Yes we do. Our warehouse is located just of the M1 freeway about an hour north of Sydney. Send us an email after you order and we can arrange a time for you to pick up your bike.

Each bike is assembled by our team after you have customised and placed your order. We recommend you allow 2-3 weeks to receive your bike. If you need the bike more urgently for a special occasion let us know and we’ll do our best to fast track your order.

There is no cost for Delivery for NSW, Victoria, Queensland and ACT. Other states have fixed rate Delivery. Find out more here.

We’ll be partnering with a buy now pay later company soon.

We accept major credit cards through our eWay payment gateway or through Paypal.

Our warranty is awesome because we stand by our product and take care of our customers. We guarantee our bikes and accessories against manufacturer defects for a full year. We are a small company and easy to work with – customer satisfaction is number one! Check out our Warranty here.

Due to the large size and associated freight costs, all sales are final and we are unable to offer a refund. Accessories can be returned if in their original state within 30 days.