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The idea behind hara is simple: there are cargo bikes with hub-center steering and ones with an open loading area (which we would call “messenger Cargos”), but none of them combine both! The advantage of hub-center steering is that it allows larger loads to be transported.

Proper cargo bikes have the loading area between the handlebars and the front wheel, period.
This principle is called “Long John”. Nowadays, cargo bikes with the front wheel under the loading area are becoming increasingly popular, especially among couriers. These bikes are great fun and can carry an amazing amount of cargo – but there inevitably comes a point when the load becomes too heavy and the whole thing tips over. From our point of view, the perfect cargo bike is simply a (pretty!) tool and neither a piece of sports equipment nor an art object.

hara is therefore not the reinvention of the cargo bike, but the logical next evolutionary step.

The hub-center steering concept originates from motorcycles and is becoming increasingly popular for cargo bikes, as the fork crown and the head set can get in the way of the load.

The reason why we designed our own hub is that the existing hubs limit the available steering angle, which results in a large turning radius. The hara hub has therefore been specially designed, tested and further developed over a period of three years.

Our hub uses high-end wheel bearings from Silverthin Bearings in California – because they have such special dimensions that they can’t be found anywhere else.

These bearings inherently have more friction than their smaller cousins due to their size and strong seals. The longer the bike is ridden, the smoother it should become – however, the energy loss is about one watt and should never be felt in a blind test.

hara is made from round steel tubes. There are several reasons for this: Aluminium is not an option because this material requires an extremely high level of rigidity. Profiles with complex cross-sections are used to achieve this at a low weight. The resulting design and development costs and the quantities required are currently unrealistic for us.
Steel tubes, on the other hand, have the advantage that they are easier to process, can be recycled indefinitely and – in the case of cargo bikes, the myth is real – dampen bumps in the road surface properly. And finally, steel tubes are still drawn in Europe, even if the raw material for them unfortunately still comes mainly from the Far East.

We originally didn’t intend to sell the bikes in a motorized version. If you live in a city without much elevation and are using it outside of a professional environment, using your own legs’ power is completely fine – and satisfactory!

But in the end we decided it should still be up to you. hara is a real cargo bike, capable of transporting big loads and who knows what you will do with it.

We can basically do whatever you want, but the motor we tested and like is the tongsheng TSDZ2B. It’s a mid drive with torque sensor, meaning the assistance provided is realtive to the power you put in. We recommend you consider well how much power you need, to spare the parts and get your work out! They come in 250W, 500W and 750W versions.

In Europe, there are many substantial subsidies for cargo bikes – most of them benefit the self-employed, entrepreneurs and associations and only if they buy e-cargos. However, it is worth checking all subsidies individually. You can find the best summary of all subsidies here:

https://ecf.com/resources/financial-incentives

and especially useful for Germany and Austria:

cargobike.jetzt/kaufpraemien-ueberblick/