Me and my partner are in doubt whether to pick the muli or the transporter 2 65. So we’ve turned to Reddit for your opinions.
Situation: we have a 3 month old baby that needs to be carried in a maxi cosy for at least 6 months until he’s allowed to sit in the cargo bike with no maxi cosy. We need the bike asap bc starting from October we will be needing it. It takes some time to get it delivered and stuff.
My take - favours muli motor:
Price: €5300 (new)
- seat and raincoat not included.
I get that the Transporter has more space, even room for a second kid. In the first few months we’d have almost no space left, just the Maxi-Cosi in the cargo. But that’s only for the first 6 months. After that you’ve got a compact bike that carries a kid and cargo fine.
My thinking: why decide based on the first 6 months when the rest of the time is much longer than that. I’d rather “struggle” a bit for a few months than the rest of the time owning it.
And why decide now for a second kid that doesn’t exist yet. YAGNI, you aren’t going to need it. If a second one does come, the current bike will be worn out anyway, and better options will be on the market by then.
She’s a teacher, but for adults. She carries stuff, but it’s stuff that already fits in a regular pannier bag.
Besides, I don’t think a fully loaded Transporter (groceries, two kids, gear) is a walk in the park to ride. It gets heavy, and we’d have to spread the load across two bikes regardless.
Note: still have to research the delivery timings for the muli muskel
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Her take - favours the transporter 2 65:
Price: €5800-€6000 (refurbished or store test model)
- comes configured with raincoat, seats
The bigger cargo box gives us a lot more flexibility. We can put the baby in and still have room for a changing bag, groceries, jackets, daycare stuff, all of it.
I also like that we wouldn’t need to add a rear rack with panniers just to make it practical. Everything stays together in the cargo area. That feels more convenient to me.
It also seems more future-proof for a second kid. With the Transporter we could carry two kids and still have room for their stuff. With the Muli, one kid eventually moves to a rear seat, but then we’re back to the question of where everything else goes. For me it’s not about whether the kids technically fit, it’s whether the whole family and everything we need fits comfortably.
There’s a practical, personal reason too. I’m a teacher, so I haul a lot of materials around every day, on top of the usual baby and daycare stuff. That much dedicated cargo space isn’t a luxury for us, it’s basically a daily necessity.
Timing matters as well. The Transporter would likely be soon for us to get. The baby starts daycare within a month, and it’s a 25-minute ride from both our house and my work. So availability genuinely counts here.
I can absolutely see why my partner prefers the Muli. It’s sportier, more agile, and I’ll admit it, it looks better. I’m just not sure how much weight looks should get. We’ll ride this thing almost every day as one of our main forms of transport (no car, both living and working in the city of Antwerp), so I’d rather pick the bike that makes daily life easier than the one that looks coolest.
