Riese & Müller Multicharger3

Take the children to school and daycare on the bike, and leave the car at home. The Riese & Müller Multicharger3 is a longtail cargo e-bike: it handles like an ordinary e-bike and has a long carrier on the back for children, shopping and bags.

The children's kits for the rear each have a published rating, the Bosch drive helps you pull away with the load on, and you can ride one up a hill before you choose. Book a test ride at our Ivanhoe showroom.

Riese & Müller Multicharger3 for the school run

Victoria Walks found that 73.6 percent of Victoria's primary school children are driven to school. The Multicharger3 is made for that trip: the children on the back, the bags in front, and the car left in the driveway.

What it is for, in the jobs it takes over:

• The school and daycare run, with one or two children on a rated kit
• The weekly shop, in the Cargo kit's two 33-litre bags
• The commute, with a daycare drop-off on the way
• The short, repeated local trips now made by car
• A weekend trip to the lake with camping gear on the rear
• Family rides with a tagalong trailer bike behind for a child who wants to pedal
• Bulky loads in a 60 x 40 cm crate on the rear

It rides like a bike, not a vehicle. Riese & Müller build it on a sporty diamond frame with 26-inch wheels and call it "as agile as a normal e-bike but comes into its own with a host of safety features and an off-road look". You get the handling of an ordinary e-bike with room to carry, so you stay a cyclist with the family on the back. In their words, it "is up for almost any adventure, thanks to the interplay of its sporty diamond frame and plethora of equipment options."

Carrying children and loads

The bike and each carrier have a published load limit, so you know what goes on before you load it:

• 175 kg gross vehicle weight rating, for the whole loaded bike, rider included
• 65 kg on the long rear carrier, "thanks to its powerful drive" in Riese & Müller's words
• 8 kg on the cargo front carrier
• 5 kg on the front carrier with bag

On the touring, vario and rohloff builds you set the rear up for children or for luggage with one of four kits, the children's kits each with their own rating, and every kit with a bipod stand so the bike stands securely:

• Family kit: up to two children, approved to max. 50 kg. An outer bar and a second bar to hold, a backrest and seat cushion, and sideloaders that act as footrests or carry bulky objects. It takes a 60 x 40 cm crate instead when you need one.
• Family kit Plus: the same 50 kg rating, with a comfortable seat with Safety bar and a two-part weather cover. Tinted windows let the children see out, the side and rear walls roll up in warmer weather, and the lower part keeps legs out of the spray or carries 95 litres of goods.
• Passenger kit: up to two children, approved to max. 65 kg, on a foam seat with handles and footrests.
• Cargo kit: two 33-litre water-repellent bags with roll-top closures that attach by hook-and-loop strap, with no tools, and compress against the bike to leave room for passengers on the carrier.

What ages can ride on the back?

Riese & Müller publish the rules in their guide, Transporting children with Riese & Müller long-tail cargo bikes, and they decide who rides where:

• "Never exceed the weight rating of the carrier (max. 65 kg)."
• Up to two children between 1 and 7 years of age may ride, each in a separate child seat to DIN EN 14344, and the carrier takes a child seat.
• From 7, Riese & Müller recommend children ride without a child seat only in the Safety bar kit, and "the Passenger kit must be used from 7 years of age onwards".
• Every kit carries the same instruction: "Please note national regulations governing transporting children on bikes before using", with more at r-m.de/anleitungen.

The spoke guard comes as standard. Riese & Müller say it "prevents lashing straps or your passengers' feet from touching the spokes", and that the bike "introduces greater safety into your everyday life with a spoke guard and optional Bosch eBike ABS".

For longer family trips it takes a two-wheel trailer with a single attachment point or a tagalong trailer bike, but not a single-wheel trailer. Riese & Müller add: "Please check national legislation." Ask us which trailer hitch mount suits it.

Power, range and gearing

The hill on the way home stops being the reason to take the car. Touring, vario and rohloff run the Bosch Cargo Line with up to 120 Nm of torque. That is Riese & Müller's figure: Bosch notes the values may be lower on delivery and can be raised in the eBike Flow app. "The higher the torque, the more powerfully the engine can start up and accelerate," Riese & Müller explain, and Bosch adds walk assist and hill start assist with Hill Hold for setting off on a slope. Bosch describe their drive systems as "Powerful, reliable and proven", and "thanks to effective pedal assistance, you reach every destination."

How far will it go?

That depends on the load, the hills, the assist mode and the gearing, so the useful answer is your own route. The 750 Wh battery on touring, vario and rohloff charges from empty to full in about six hours on a 4 A charger, so a night on the charger covers the next day. A road.cc review of the earlier generation found you can "use the Multicharger as your transport every day of the week and just charge it every weekend".

For longer days, choose the Bosch PowerMore 250 extender when you order, because Riese & Müller prepare the frame for it. It is "only as big as a drinking bottle and weighing just 1.6 kg", and it lets you "continue riding for another 50 km without the need to stop and charge". That 50 km is the extender's share, not the bike's whole range. Across the Multicharger3, Riese & Müller list 625 to 1000 Wh.

You choose how it shifts, by your terrain and how much upkeep you want, across four builds:

• touring: a derailleur on a chain, which Riese & Müller call "the most efficient of all gears; reliable and simple to operate". Shimano XT 11-S Linkglide shifting system, Shimano Cues SL-U6000 shifter, CS-LG700-11 11-50 cassette, KMC X11 chain, 42T chain ring, Novatec Boost, Disc, QR, 36H rear hub.
• vario: a stepless Enviolo hub on a Gates CDX belt. Change gear with the Twist Display Pure shifter, which is separate from the bike's Kiox 500 display, with "no skipping gears" and "intuitive gear switching even when stopped". 50T chain ring, 22T pinion.
• rohloff: a 14-speed Rohloff E-14 Speedhub 500/14 on a Gates CDX belt, shifted electronically with a two-button switch, which Riese & Müller call the "most efficient of all hub gears". Speedhub E14 36H hub, 60T chain ring, 20T pinion.
• FAMILY: a derailleur on a chain, with a Shimano Deore 10-S Linkglide shifter, CS-LG400-10 11-48T cassette, KMC X11 chain, 42T chain ring and a Novatec Boost, Disc, QR, 36H rear hub.

On the vario and rohloff, the belt means no chain to clean or oil. An Australian Multicharger owner who chose the Rohloff, new to hub gears and belts, wrote that he was "super surprised at the smoothness of ride and the speed of gear change" and "adapted quickly to Rohloff shifting and Bosch controls".

The FAMILY build is Riese & Müller's "fixed configuration for transporting children; short delivery times". You choose its colour and frame size, eight combinations in all, and the rest comes as specified: Performance Line PX motor, PowerTube 625 Wh battery, Purion 200 display and the Family kit, with no front carrier, equipment kit, ABS, Offroad kit or range extender to choose. Where it differs from the other builds:

• JD-SP66 alu rigid seatpost, 34.9 x 400 mm
• Humpert ergotec Ergo XXL 31.8 mm handlebar and Barracuda Evo 90 mm, 20° stem
• Herrmans Grips Line grips
• Schwalbe Motion Super Moto-X 55-559 Reflex tyres with Schwalbe AV13 tubes, and no Offroad kit
• Everything else matches: the fork, headset, wheels, crank, saddle, pedals, mudguards, rack, bell and lock, the geometry and the load ratings

Sizes, fit and options

Which frame size?

There are two, so the frame suits the rider who rides it most, rather than one size adjusted to fit:

• 47 cm for riders 1.60 to 1.80 m
• 51 cm for riders 1.75 to 2.00 m

If two of you will share it and you sit near the overlap, ride both sizes at the showroom.

Will it fit at home?

Measure before anything else. The Multicharger3 is 193 cm long overall on a 123 cm wheelbase. Hold those two numbers against your side gate, your path and your shed.

Choose your options when you order: the bike is specified the way you want it and takes about three months to arrive, and we sell every size, colour and option Riese & Müller offer.

• Bosch eBike ABS, on touring, vario and rohloff. "It can prevent the front wheel from locking and helps to avoid possible skidding or crashing over the handlebars - even if you suddenly brake hard on grippy tarmac or slippery gravel paths." Its rear wheel lift control "reduces the possibility of unwanted lifting of your rear wheel".
• Front carrier with bag, in place of the standard cargo front carrier: 5 kg on a carrier "mounted directly on the head tube and thus co-sprung", with an 18-litre water-repellent bag that closes with a zipper and roll-top, becomes a shoulder bag with the strap supplied, and has two outer pockets with waterproof zippers.
• The headlight sits on the handlebar as standard. "If required, it can be mounted on the front carrier."
• Offroad kit: Schwalbe Smart Sam Cargo tyres, "suitable for very heavy loads", with "the best possible puncture protection" and "a secure grip in puddles and around bends".

Four frame colours come on every build: desert/black matt, utility grey/black matt, utility grey/curry matt and petrol/black matt.

Full specification

The rest of the specification, as Riese & Müller publish it for every build unless named above:

• Top tube 52 cm; reach 40 cm; stack 63 cm
• Head tube angle 69°; seat tube angle 74.5°; trail 83 mm
• Bottom bracket height 29 cm; stand-over height 49 cm; chainstay 56 cm
• Head tube 165 mm; headset 1 1/2"; rear dropout 148 mm
• Fork SR Suntour Mobie34, tapered, 80 mm travel, Boost; headset Cane Creek 1.5 Viscoset Blocker
• By.Schulz G.2 ST suspension seatpost, which Riese & Müller say "ensures that you always ride in comfort"; seat clamp JD, 40.0 mm, QR
• Saddle Selle Royal Essenza Moderate; grips Ergon ergonomic, or Herrmans
• Handlebar Satori R&M Custom, 25.4 mm, alu; stem Satori R&M Custom with cable integration and an adjustable angle, for a sportier or more upright seating position
• Tyres Schwalbe Motion Super Moto-X 55-559 Reflex; tubes Schwalbe AV13
• Rims Mach1 Trucky30 26"; spokes Sapim Leader 2.0 mm, Inox, black; front hub Novatec Boost, Disc, 32H
• Crankset Samox, 165 mm; pedals VP R&M Custom
• Lights: a headlight with main beam and dipped beam, and a rear light with brake light, in Riese & Müller's description

Riese & Müller note that their table lists every component available for the model, not just the basic equipment, that some options carry a surcharge, and that starred items "may differ depending on the availability in your country, design or configuration of the model". They reserve the right to make technical changes within reasonable limits.

Who the Multicharger3 suits

Best for:

• the school and daycare run, with children on a kit rated for them
• households moving a second car's short local trips onto the bike
• riders who want a cargo bike that still handles like a normal e-bike
• hilly routes with a load on the back, on the Bosch Cargo Line builds

Not the right bike if you need a step-through: it is a diamond frame, so you swing a leg over before you load the back. It is also not sized for riders under 1.60 m.

Is it legal to ride here?

Ask us at the showroom, and check the current Victorian rules for power-assisted bicycles.

Riese & Müller is a German maker based in Mühltal, founded in 1993 by Markus Riese and Heiko Müller. Owners who carry their families describe what changes. An Italian owner of a Multicharger with Enviolo gearing summed up the years since buying it in two words: "addio auto", goodbye car.

A Sydney parent who carries two children to daycare and preschool by cargo e-bike says

"the bike is as fast as driving with half the stress and traffic."

We are Australia's first dedicated electric bike retailer, and our customers rate the shop 4.9 on Google from 59 reviews. One wrote that we are "more interested in getting you the right bike than hard selling".

Another:

"He took the time to explain everything clearly and made sure my bike was in top condition before I left."

Book a test ride at our showroom, 1075-1087 Heidelberg Road, Ivanhoe. Ride the build you are considering up a hill, start off with weight on the back and try both frame sizes, with no pressure to decide on the day. Whichever you choose, we service every bike we sell in our own workshop.