We made the decision to go completely carless last year, and we can truly say that it would not have been so easy, maybe even impossible, without our Yuba Mundo. We have sold Mundos since the beginning of our business, and have sold a number of them over the years. There is a baker in Atlanta that sells cupcakes in parks from her Mundo. Another customer, facing the loss of his driver's license for an indefinite period bought a Mundo, converted it to an electric bicycle, and now rides happily around his Appalachian mountain town. Most of our Yuba customers simply want to use it in place of an automobile for errands.

Cargo bicycles are often described as "bicycle SUV's", but we would go a step further and call them "bicycle pickup trucks". In our situation, we have always used a pickup truck for the store business. So when we sold the truck and took the "carless" plunge, we needed a bicycle that could pick up the slack from our old truck. The Yuba has met that expectation, and more. We have hauled a truly incredible amount of "stuff", from weekly grocery runs, to trips to the nursery for half a dozen palm trees, to mounting a fork lock and using it as a "bicycle wrecker" for our customers.

The soul of a good cargo bicycle are the sideloaders and the extended back rack. The Mundo is great in that it comes with a "utility deck" for the back rack, and it's made from recycled milk cartons. The standard Mundo also comes with fenders, a nice touch, since a full time bicycle will definitely see rain duty. Two options that are extra, but needed, are a double legged kickstand and running boards for the side loaders. this will allow you to haul bags and smaller loads that need to be lashed to the side. There are plenty of pre-drilled bosses along the back racks and sideboards, and loops that allow you to easily lash cargo with cam straps and bungee cords.

We also use a front and rear basket, and for extra large loads, a steel cargo trailer. Since we started using our mundo full time, we have hauled dozens of plants, trees, 50 lb fertilizer bags, 300 lbs of patio stones, and dozens of bicycles. We fitted our shop Mundo with disc brakes, and would recommend this upgrade to anyone that is planning on doing serious hauling. The extra stopping power is critical with cargo loads over 100 lbs, especially when using a trailer. Our all time records so far is 400 lbs when using the trailer, and without the extra stopping power of the discs, we doubt that run would have been possible.

It's easily possible to carry passengers on the Mundo. Two specialy designed YUBA children's seats can be attached to the rear rack. There is a "stoker bar" available that can be used for an adult passenger, and a padded seat that will attach to the back. Another nice accessory is the Go-getter bag, which is the largest pannier we have ever seen. As with all cargo bikes or "long bikes" as these are sometimes described, the XTRACYCLE systems can be used, which permits the hauling of an incredible variety of items.

Here is a look at our initial Yuba Mundo review from 4 years ago.What's changed for us since then is we now rely on our shop Mundo, "Big Blue", for everything our old pickup truck did. Don't be surpised to see us tailgating at Tampa Bay Buccanneers games this year on twin Mundos. We already have our tickets and flags!