Cars

The first thing I should say in this bike review is that I am not a bike enthusiast.

My preferred form of exercise is running, where no mechanical components are necessary. But I’m acting as reviewer here because what I lack in longstanding opinions on brand-name bike gearing and motor hubs, I make up for by being the exact target audience for the bike under review: the Maven Cargo E-bike by Integral Electrics. This is a cargo bike designed not for hardcore cyclists but for smaller riders, women specifically, who would happily swap out their family’s second car for a simpler e-bike—as long as it can handle the needs of family life: toting children, running errands, and making short commutes.

This is exactly what Integral CEO and co-founder Laura Belmar and her family were looking for amid the pandemic, she told me in an interview. But while her husband picked out e-bikes that were comfortably designed for him, who is taller than her, she consistently found herself top-heavy and struggling as soon as her two kids were loaded onto the bikes. “They were scared to ride with me,” she said of her kids. “One time, we were literally going down in the park and a jogger came by and grabbed the rack and pulled us back up.”

Belmar said she knew other families in the same situation. So she set out to design a bike that would essentially be a family station wagon on two wheels, one that would be easy to maneuver and control by smaller riders but still adjustable for taller cyclists—the Maven claims a size range of 5 feet, 0 inches to 6-foot-7. And, aside from ease of use, she sought ideal family-car features: comfort, safety, and affordability.

As a 5-foot-4 person with a 5-year-old, a taller husband, a need to run occasional errands, and an interest in ditching a second car, I’m the best person on Ars’ staff to see if the Maven lives up to its lofty goals. With the help of the cycling enthusiasts and experts on Ars’ staff, I’ll make sure this review hits all of the technical details cycling nerds will be looking for. But this will be an accessible review for families interested in an alternative to a second car and who, like me, may be cargo e-bike newbies. I’ll start with my general impressions and then dive into specifics.

The Maven at a glance

General impressions

As mentioned above, this is a cargo e-bike designed to never feel unwieldy to smaller riders while they’re hauling precious cargo. On this count, the Maven hits the mark. Straight out of the box, before I even dove into the manual, I easily rode around without even turning on the motor. It’s certainly a hefty bike, weighing in at 85 pounds on its own. But I never felt top-heavy on it or struggled to maneuver it. Integral boasts that it accomplishes this with a low center of gravity and fat, stable tires. Its two batteries sit low on the bike, and its 20-inch wheels allow the rear rack to sit just 24 inches off the ground. The tires are also 3 inches wide, giving them extra stability.

The Maven isn’t the only cargo e-bike on the market with these features; 20-inch tires are on several other bikes, including Aventon’s Abound and some others previously reviewed by Ars, like the Trek Fetch+2 and the RadWagon. So, whether the Maven is the best bike for your situation may depend on its other features.

The bike provides a fun, effortless ride—with and without groceries or my kid on the back. My review bike came with a rear railing/handlebar (a $99 add-on) and a seat pad ($69) that allowed my kid to help me test out the bike. He was not afraid to ride with me. In fact, he loved it. And in our many miles together, I found myself periodically forgetting he was back there. Going up hills and accelerating was effortless when the 750-watt motor kicked in. The adjustable front suspension was generously cushiony as we took the bike over gravel, dirt, asphalt, and sidewalks in various states of repair.

On a few occasions, my kid reminded me of his presence by shaking the bike from side to side, pretending we were sliding on ice. (He was having fun imagining us re-creating one of his favorite scenes from the animated movie Polar Express, when the train derails on a frozen lake.) But even with his best efforts to destabilize the bike, I never felt at risk of losing control or going down.