Why I Liked This $10,000 Cargo E-Bike Better Than Its Big Brother

Electric cargo bikes are having a moment in America’s cities. The combination of cargo-hauling ability and assisted pedaling offers a compelling alternative to car use and public transit for around-town errands. On top of all that, most e-bikes are just plain fun to ride.

I borrowed Riese & Müller’s Load4 75 front-loader cargo e-bike earlier this year. While I loved riding it and filling it to the brim with bulk items from Costco or the garden store, it was tough to get in and out of my apartment. Its price tag—$14,000—also left me scratching my head.

Enter the Carrie: the high-end German brand’s compact e-cargo bike. With a much smaller footprint than the Load and a clever folding basket up front, the Carrie promises everyday utility in a far more convenient package. It’s also 40% less expensive than the Load. Could this be the ticket?

Riese & Müller Carrie E-Bike

Photo by: Maddox Kay/InsideEVs

(Full disclosure: The team at e-bike dealer Propel Bikes lent me the Carrie for a few days for this review.)

The Carrie is a compact, pedal-assist cargo e-bike. Its defining feature is an optional $509 folding “Flex Box” that measures just 18 inches (46 cm) wide when closed, but snaps open to 29.5 inches (75 cm).

The bike is 82 inches (209 cm) long, meaning it just about fits inside the Load4’s wheelbase. Despite that, it offers a generous 4.7 cubic feet of cargo room with the “Flex Box” open. That’s dwarfed by the Load’s 13.5, but it’s still enough to carry a small child or a load of groceries comfortably. While it’s rated to haul up to 176 pounds (80 kg), you can forget about fitting another adult in there. Surprisingly, it’s just five pounds lighter than the Load at 78.7 instead of 84.

Photo by: Maddox Kay/InsideEVs

Photo by: Maddox Kay/InsideEVs

The Carrie also comes with a smaller price tag, though I still wouldn’t call it cheap: $9,489 with a 545 watt-hour battery, with a 725 Wh upgrade available for $255. Those batteries provide an estimated range of 57 and 77 miles in normal riding mode, respectively—but your mileage may vary.

All the advantages of R&M’s larger front-loader e-bikes also apply to the Carrie: It has a low center of gravity and a powerful Bosch motor, both of which make it a joy to ride. Overall, it was comfortable, maneuverable and quick off the line, though I missed the Load’s full-suspension design over rougher roads. (The Carrie has a suspension fork up front and an optional suspension seatpost, which was equipped on my tester.)

As a Class 3 pedal-assist e-bike, the Carrie has no throttle but gives your pedal strokes an electric boost up to 28 miles per hour. (There is a “walk” mode that gives a small assist when rolling the bike, though.) In practice, it wants to cruise around 20-22 mph, which is more than fast enough to keep pace with stop-and-go traffic and shoot the gaps around hapless tourists on New York’s protected bike paths.

Photo by: Maddox Kay/InsideEVs

Photo by: Maddox Kay/InsideEVs

Photo by: Maddox Kay/InsideEVs

The Carrie uses an Enviolo continuous hub in its rear wheel, so there aren’t distinct gears to choose from. If you’ve ever ridden a CitiBike or other bikeshare bike, you’ve probably experienced a transmission like this. You simply grip and twist a dial on the handlebars, and rather than feeling the bike change gears, pedaling just gets harder or easier. It takes some getting used to if you’re coming from a bike with traditional gears, but it’s probably more intuitive for most folks: Just get on the bike, twist until pedaling is comfortable, and ride. 

The variable ratio, combined with the Bosch e-motor’s five pedal-assist settings, meant the Carrie was plenty capable of powering up hills and bridge inclines. Like the Load, it forgoes chain cleanings with a carbon belt drive.

Being able to actually get the thing through doorways and into my apartment without solving a geometric proof first was a game-changer. I found myself taking the Carrie on more trips, even riding it to the InsideEVs office, where it fit easily in our small elevator. So, the Carrie is a much more practical proposition for apartment-dwellers and folks without garages, who I’d wager make up a sizable portion of the target audience for these types of bikes.

As mentioned above, the Carrie’s size lent itself to city living. The space and off-bike maneuverability issues I had with the Load were gone, while most of the day-to-day utility was preserved. The bike’s shorter length and width made it easier to park curbside and in traditional bike racks. Using the folding cargo box was a cinch—two levers release the side panels, and the click firmly into a deployed or collapsed state.

That cargo box, while not huge, was able to fit my backpack, three large bags of groceries, and some sodas without issue. It’s not the monster Costco hauler the Load is, but honestly, how often do you need 30 rolls of paper towels?

Photo by: Maddox Kay/InsideEVs

While I didn’t go 50 miles in a day, I found the Carrie’s range estimates to be fairly accurate. A 16-mile round-trip commute used 20 miles of range, and I didn’t see huge range drops when carrying cargo with the box open.

While the Carrie’s smaller profile is a boon for city riding, it comes with some trade-offs. Riese & Müller’s recommended child-carrying capacity is limited to two kids under the age of seven. That means families might spend five figures on the Carrie, only to outgrow it after a few years.

As you can see above, with my weekly grocery shopping and backpack, the Carrie’s front box was nearly full. A kid would’ve been seriously squished, making it more of a kids-or-cargo proposition. I could’ve fit more with the child seats removed, but if your routine involves dropping kids off at daycare or school before continuing on to work, that’s likely not an option. 

While the Carrie’s cargo box is satisfyingly deep, it lacks the underfloor storage compartment of the Load, which means it’s harder to conceal items or prevent kids from stepping on them. I had to get a little creative with my packing, where the Load offered truly car-like cargo capacity.

Photo by: Maddox Kay/InsideEVs

Photo by: Maddox Kay/InsideEVs

Whether the Carrie is for you depends on how you value compactness and maneuverability vs. all-out capability. For my childless household of two living in an apartment, the Carrie was a perfect-sized runabout, but if I had kids and a garage to park in, I might be swayed by the Load’s versatility.

At roughly $11,500 fully equipped, the Carrie still represents the high-end, niche side of the e-bike market. It’s a thoughtfully designed, creative product that performs its intended functions well and brings joy. However, the value proposition still may not work out for most folks.

One thing I’ve learned in my e-bike adventures so far is just how fun these things make everyday errands and commuting. I’m curious to try some more affordable, mass-market e-bikes from Tern, Gazelle and more. What should I review next?

Contact the author: Maddox.Kay@motorsport.com