Butchers & Bicycles Mk1-E Automatic in Review

Carrot cake, pugs, children and an E-cargo bike: that’s all you need for a successful family picnic! But can the only trike in the test, the Butchers & Bicycles Mk1-E Automatic from Copenhagen, really outshine the competition?

Click here for an overview of the best cargo bike in review

**Butchers & Bicycles** Mk1-E Automatic | Bosch Performance Line CX/500 Wh
51.3 kg | € 6,699 | manfacturer’s website

It’s Saturday morning and you’re urgently in need of bread rolls. What used to mean grumpy children, looking for a parking space in front of the bakery and crumbs spread across the back seat is now more fun than ever with the new electric cargo bike. You get back home just as easily and quickly… Mum doesn’t have to know how many croissants you originally bought…

After breakfast, you pack up and head out. Where to? Doesn’t matter really. The battery is full and the day is still young, as long as it’s anywhere outdoors. The little ones are happy as long as they’ve got grass under their feet and flowers to pick. The lake that’s accessible by car is jam-packed and it’s always been too difficult to carry all your stuff from the parking lot to the picnic spot. Fortunately, those times are over! An E-cargo bike takes you from your front door directly into nature and back. Stress-free, without having to look for a parking space and, if need be, even to the most remote places! Where was this when we were kids?

The Butchers & Bicycles E-cargo bike is the most stylish in the test field with its understated Scandinavian design. Hat and moustache? Pretty hipster…

**As soft as jelly**
The standard spring used for the tilting mechanism of the cargo box is too soft and yields too easily. If you predominantly transport heavy cargo, you should consider upgrading to the stiffer spring.

**Can’t cope with heavy loads**
The Bosch Performance Line CX motor struggles with steep climbs and heavy loads. Its big brother, the Cargo Line provides much better support, especially at lower cadences. When combined with the low 380% gear range of the automatic Enviolo drivetrain, you’ll quickly reach the limit of what’s possible.

**Seat belts mandatory**
With the seat positioned directly above the front axle, the bike wants to tip forwards in response to hard braking manoeuvres. Besides that, the attachment of the bench isn’t the most solid and makes a poor-quality impression.

Butchers & Bicycles Mk1-E Automatic

€ 6,699

Specifications

Motor Bosch Performance Line CX 75 Nm
Battery Bosch PowerPack 500 Wh
Display Bosch Intuvia
Brakes Tektro HD-515 w / Tektro HD-285 w (f/r) 160/180 (f/r) mm
Drivetrain Enviolo Cargo Automatik 380 %
Tires Schwalbe Big Ben 20 x 2.15 / 26 x 2.15 (f/r)

Technical Data

Size One size
Weight 51.3 kg
Length 225 cm
Width 91 cm
Height 106 cm
Perm. total weight 250 kg
Max. payload (rider/equipment) 80 kg

Specific Features

parking brake
Isofix attachment points for child seat

**Cupholder? Check!**
Whether for the adults or the kids, the bottle is always within reach.

**No shifter needed**
The automatic Enviolo drivetrain doesn’t require a shifter. Since the drivetrain is connected to the motor, you can set your desired cadence via the Bosch system and it does everything for you.

**Black Beauty**
The Butchers & Bicycles E-cargo bike is the most stylish in the test field with its understated Scandinavian design. Hat and moustache? Pretty hipster…

The Butchers & Bicycles Mk1-E Automatic is the hipster among E-cargo bikes. The only trike on test comes with Ackermann steering, a sophisticated tilting mechanism and is available from € 6,699. The power of the Bosch Performance CX Gen2 motor is transferred via a belt drive and it is fed by a 500 Wh battery. Typically Scandinavian, the Butchers & Bicycles features an understated and minimalist design. Without question, it’s one of the coolest cargo bikes on the market! The huge cargo box offers a packing volume of 220 L, a whole 40 L more than the Urban Arrow, with space for two children on a leather bench – your kids couldn’t feel more like rockstars even in Grandpa’s Benz. However, as with the vintage Benz, the bench doesn’t feel the sturdiest. The Butchers & Bicycles is particularly family-friendly, being the only cargo bike on test that can transport up to four kids thanks to the option of a second bench. The Isofix mount even allows you to fit your child car seat.

As an optional extra, you can get a cargo box with a door at the front to make it easier to get in and out of the box with its otherwise very high sides. This is a very convenient feature and definitely worth the extra € 250! The height of the box means it could otherwise become exhausting lifting your kids in and out of their seats all the time. The battery is tucked away in the lockable glove compartment which also incorporates a cup holder on top. Unfortunately, the charging port is hidden on the underside of the cargo bike, making it hard to reach. Optionally, you can also upgrade to the Bosch Dual Battery System, giving you a total 1,000 Wh capacity, though unfortunately not with the Enviolo Harmony H-Sync drivetrain featured on our test bike. Like the E-cargo bikes from Riese & Müller, Butchers & Bicycles offer a GPS tracker for theft protection. The PowUnity tracker is activated in the event of theft and sends a GPS signal to your smartphone.

The parking function of the Tektro disc brakes is very convenient when stationary. It prevents the bike from rolling off on its own and is useful for quick stops if you don’t want to fold out the stand. The trike will stand by itself but only on a perfectly level surface. The Mk1-E Automatic E-cargo bike is the only model on test with the automatic Enviolo Cargo drivetrain, which means you aren’t able to manually shift the gears yourself. The drivetrain is connected to the motor and adjusts its gear selection based on the desired cadence specified via the Bosch remote. This works very well in most situations, however if you want to pull away quickly or find yourself in dynamic riding situations with rapidly changing cadences then the drivetrain won’t be able to keep up, leaving you spinning the pedals like you’re stuck in the small ring. On the other hand, for leisurely riders, you’ll no longer run the risk of getting caught in the wrong gear or forgetting to shift. Another shortcoming of the drivetrain, as with the manually operated Enviolo drivetrain, is the low gear range of 380%, which in combination with the old Bosch Performance CX motor simply isn’t enough to get you up steep climbs. It’s obvious that the bike hails from Copenhagen, where there are no hills!

Tuning tips: Butchers & Bicycles offer stiffer springs for the steering if you want to haul heavy items, which should make the cargo box less likely to tip over through turns

With regards to comfort, the Butchers & Bicycles has room for improvement. It’s not a fan of cobblestones and rough roads, where the large plastic box also becomes uncomfortably loud. The E-cargo bike feels much more at home on asphalt roads, preferably not too slow but not too fast either! While in theory, cargo trikes promise simple, safe and intuitive handling in theory, the reality is different. In general, you have to ride the Butchers & Bicycles Mk1 for several hours to get used to it and figure out how the tilting mechanism works and behaves in the corners. The handling is quite nervous at slow speeds, difficult to control and even made some of the most experienced members of our test crew break a sweat. The bike is the least intuitive to ride of all the E-cargo bikes on test and requires you to rethink your approach in situations that you typically wouldn’t give a second thought. You basically have to relearn how to ride a bike. The Mk1 becomes significantly more stable at higher speeds but you’ll have to be careful in fast corners as it requires a comparatively large turning circle. Getting through those corners safely requires a combination of shifting your weight and steering with the bars. However, turn too tightly and the tilt mechanism of the Mk1-E Automatic flops the bike over, where it becomes almost impossible to get upright again. That makes this E-cargo bike an option we would not recommend for more demanding environments. The Butchers & Bicycles Mk1 feels most comfortable on smooth and relatively flat bike paths.

The Bosch Performance Line CX motor struggles with steep climbs and heavy loads. Its big brother, the Cargo Line, provides much better support, especially at lower cadences.

Loading up the Butchers & Bicycles cargo bike also takes some practice. Never put all of your cargo in the footwell as this places too much weight in front of the axle. If you do the bike will tip over forwards the moment you get off the bike or fold up the stand. Unfortunately, the child seat is positioned directly over the front axle and, with as little as 20 kg on the seat, the E-cargo bike wants to tip forwards when braking. This is a completely unnecessary safety risk for the children sitting up front! In general, the weight distribution is unfavourable on this E-cargo bike from Copenhagen, which, depending on your riding style, can be a danger to everyone involved. The only advantage of this design is that you can easily lift the rear of the Mk1 by hand and turn it around on the spot.

Conclusion

The Butchers & Bicycles Mk1-E Automatic leaves us with mixed feelings. On the one hand, we love its Scandinavian style and huge transport box. On the other, getting used to the handling takes quite a while and even then it requires a lot of physical input from the rider and occasionally poses a safety risk to you and your passengers. The handling of the Butchers & Bicycles definitely doesn’t lend itself to winding alleys, narrow streets and bumpy paths. Steep climbs also quickly bring this E-cargo bike to its limits.

Tops

stylish, Scandinavian design
huge transport box

Flops

nervous handling, especially at slow speeds
unfavourable weight distribution can become a safety risk
position of the child seat directly above the front axle making the bike tip forwards under hard braking
low gear range

You can find out more at butchersandbicycles.com

The test field