A partial car substitute? Trek’s new cargo bike, reviewed

Bosch also provides a smartphone app, and its position as an industry leader really shines here. The app connected with the bike on the first try, alerted me of firmware updates, and generally showed me what I wanted to see with no hassles. When connected, it also responds to buttons on the controller, letting you change screens on the display without taking your hands off the handlebars.

Trek provides a phone holder in the center of the handlebars. It's designed to provide a secure grip that doesn't seem to stress the phone or accidentally press any of its side buttons. Better yet, it will provide wireless charging for any capable phone you place there, drawing power from the bike's battery.

That sort of careful design is also a feature of the 500-watt-hour battery. Trek builds its removable batteries with an integrated handle that makes carrying them a snap. I have an outlet where I store my bikes, so until now, this didn't seem like a major plus. But the Fetch+ 2 is so bulky that I couldn't figure out how to get it anywhere near that outlet. So I simply kept the charger in my home office and popped out the battery whenever it ran low, which gave me a new appreciation for the carrying handle.

The only thing that seemed amiss about the electronics on the bike is the fact that the light comes on whenever the bike is powered on. It's not a problem, and it could potentially help with visibility, but it seemed a bit strange on bright, sunny days.

Cargo vs. car

The downside of a high-quality bike from two industry leaders like Trek and Bosch is that you have to pay for what they bring to the table. For the Fetch+ 2, there's a hefty $6,000 cost of entry—and that's before adding essential items like the rear panniers (another $180). For a bit less than that, smaller companies offer alternatives that have a similar hauling capacity but are much better bicycles or dedicated cargo bikes with fewer features at a far lower price. In Trek's (and Bosch's) favor, the company's size means the Fetch+ 2 will probably have a very long serviceable lifetime. The company's retail stores have also become nearly ubiquitous features of the suburbs, so any issues that require service can be handled conveniently.

The Fetch+ 2 is a great cargo-hauling bike, but that also means that it's not an ideal bike for pretty much any other purpose. And it's possible to get a decent used car for its price, which can always do a bit more—haul more people, more cargo, and so on. The bike offers a lot of positives, like exercise, outdoor time, and a far lower ecological footprint, but it definitely leaves you at the mercy of the local weather conditions. And if you have a family to lug around and buy groceries for, there are likely to be regular situations where the bike will require more than one trip to do what a car could.

I'd say that the most important question is whether you can make a cargo bike work for you. If so, you can debate the Fetch+ 2's trade-offs among features, service life, and price.