How do my fellow car-free people deal with moving heavy/bulky items without a car? What are the pros and cons of solutions you’ve tried?

I’m currently car-free in a city with decent public transportation (by American standards), but things are still very, very car-centric, and also a bit hilly. Living alone, I can manage weekly groceries with a backpack + 1 bag on each shoulder, but it’s definitely not my favorite activity. The decent grocery stores are 1 mile (1.6 km) away, so a bit of a hassle to just go to more frequently. For heavy, shelf stable items, I usually try to get those delivered, but it’s not always an option.

I also have 2 cats, plus I foster cats/kittens, so I very frequently need to transport animals to/from the vet. I have a backpack style pet carrier, but that doesn’t cut it when I have to transport multiple adult cats or a mom + kittens.

I would love to hear other people’s experiences, and the pros & cons of various options that you’ve tried. Some more detailed questions on my mind:

  • Do you prefer something you can push or something you can pull?
  • How annoying is it to transport when empty?
  • How does it hold up to less than ideal weather?
  • How does it handle stairs or curbs without a ramp?
  • How does it handle poorly maintained sidewalks or unpaved surfaces?
  • Is it well made/durable, or something that will probably break in a year?
  • If it has pockets or segregated compartments, have those been handy or just annoying?
  • Are there any uses that it’s not a good fit for?

Edit: any non-bike options? I don’t have the space to securely store a bike in my unit, and my building doesn’t offer any secure bike storage. Due to all of the hills, I would have to get an electric bike, and was hoping to find some options in the range of $50-$200, maaaaybe $500. For example, I’ve been looking at collapsible carts/wagons, and pet strollers.

  • @NoobnarskiEnglish
    1•3 months ago

    As long as you have proper gearing for it you can go up almost any incline in a bike, even with a lot of cargo without needing electric assistance. It will just be slow and take a while. I am not a fan of pushing the bike uphill, especially when it is heavily loaded because leaning your whole body against the weight is much more exhausting than just pushing the pedals.

    I have a rear rack on my bike and big pannier bags which allow me to carry a 1/2 to 3/4 full shopping cart. When it is fully loaded it makes the bike feel a little weird but it is maneagable and on the flat its not much slower than without them.

    I also have a trailer that was once used to haul me as a kid, I use that if I need to carry bulky items or just more stuff in general. I am a bit slower with it, especially because the connecting arm on my trailer is a little bit flexible, so when going uphill and the trailer is heavily loaded it will flex with each pedal stroke and take some energy away.

    I dont have an E-Bike because the stores are all closer than 5km around me and I do have some steep hills but also some flat areas, so I dont mind the extra workout.

    An old used mountainbike with a wide gear range and a used bike trailer would probably fit into your budget, a lot of the kid/pet trailers can also be pushed/pulled by hand with some quick conversions. And if it isnt that expensive looking you can probably keep it locked outside without anyone stealing it.

    If you have a lot of bad sidewalks I would look for wide tires and/or suspension in the trailer, then adjust the tire pressure accoring to the load.