Build Your Perfect E-Cargo Bike With the Xtracycle RFA Utility
The Takeaway: The Xtracycle RFA Utility is a highly customizable, well-built e-cargo bike, with a price to match.
Adjustable dropouts allow you to run short and long wheelbases
The chromoly steel frame feels rigid enough to haul heavy loads
Xtracycle’s numerous accessory options mean the RFA can adapt to new tasks
Base price: $4,497
Price as tested: $6,797
Weight: 64 lb. (claimed)
The Xtracycle RFA Utility is an e-cargo bike designed to evolve around your changing needs—and for the price of a decent used car, it should last you a while. Its chromoly steel frame feels sturdy and stiff, like it really could outlast a car, but the RFA’s biggest selling point is its adjustable dropouts. The design allows you to shorten or lengthen the wheelbase by 5.5 inches, so you can opt for a short rear deck and slightly sharper handling or a longer deck and more stability. The component spec is also highly customizable, with multiple options for motors, batteries, and every accessory you’d want.
The RFA is a working bike, and it does its job well. The fat, 24-inch tires lend maneuverability over larger wheel sizes while still providing a smooth enough ride over rough pavement. The bike shifts and brakes reliably, courtesy of a Shimano Deore groupset, and the Bosch Performance Line Speed motor takes you up to an e-assisted 28mph (we’d have the high-torque Performance CX motor for hilly areas, though). After a month of testing, we found only minor sticking points with the RFA—the kickstand legs are inconveniently long, fenders aren’t stock, and big-footed riders will clip the seatstays with their heels. Otherwise, it’s a solid platform for customization and years of hauling.
Sport-Utility Cargo
Xtracycle actually offers two slightly different RFAs, dubbed “Sport” and “Utility.” The difference is in the dropouts: The company’s DynamicDrops design gives you short (Sport) and long (Utility) wheelbase options, with the latter position adding 5.5 inches to the bike’s length. “We’ve learned in making longtails that the key driver is heel clearance. A wide load stuck out from the bike and the heel had to clear it,” says Xtracycle founder Ross Evans. The Utility setup allows for wider and bigger rear loads, while the Sport setup lends maneuverability and the length is compact enough to put the RFA on a bus’s bike rack. The rear deck on the Utility model is longer, but it’ll still work with the Sport-sized wheelbase—I’d pick the Utility model for this reason, since the longer deck extends only 6 inches past the rear wheel on the short wheelbase setup.
Changing the wheelbase takes a few steps, but can be accomplished in an hour. Our test bike came in the short wheelbase (Sport) format, despite having the long wheelbase (Utility) rear deck. To slide the dropouts back, we loosened the connecting bolts and took the rear wheel out of the dropout. You can’t just slide the drive-side dropout backward, because the Deore rear derailleur won’t clear the dropout; you have to remove it and slide it back into the dropout at the rearward-most position. After that, you’ll need to add lengths to the chain and add an adapter to reposition the speed sensor; the spare chain and adapter are included. Then you put the wheel back on, tighten everything down, and you’ve got a longtail.
Xtracycle RFA Details
Wheel size: 24 in.
Tire clearance: 24x2.5 in.
Motor: Bosch Performance Line Speed
Battery: Bosch Powerpack 500 (x2)
Drivetrain: 1x10
Crankset: Bosch 20t
Rear derailleur: Shimano Deore
Cassette: Shimano Deore 11-42
Brakes: Shimano Deore hydraulic disc, 180mm rotors (front and rear)
Rims: Alex Rims MD30
Tires: Maxxis Hook Worm, 2.5 in.
Customize Your RFA
Our test bike’s $2,300 premium over the base model is largely explained by the motor and battery selection. You can choose from the standard, 20mph Performance Line motor, the torquey Performance Line CX motor (for $200 more), or the 28mph Performance Line Speed motor, like the one on our test bike. Battery options include the 400 watt-hour Powerpack, the 500 watt-hour Powerpack, or two 500 watt-hour Powerpacks—the latter choice adds $1,450 to the base price.
With bright, integrated lights and a kickstand, the stock RFA is well-equipped as a commuter, but it won’t haul much of anything until you trick it out with optional extras. Our test model came with a $200 front rack, a $120 front bag, a $75 CargoBay bag to carry stuff on the sides of the cargo deck, and a $35 mini seat pad and $115 “SnackBar” handlebar to carry kids on the top of the deck. It didn’t come with fenders, which are $60. If you’d like fenders, which we would, then these cargo-focused add-ons will run you an additional $605.
Ride Impressions
I used the RFA for a month’s worth of errands, commutes to work, and bar crawling. A few Bicycling staffers also doubled up on it to fetch lunch. “With a grown-up on the back—which I assume is not the intended purpose—it was a little wobbly, but not bad once I got going,” said Test Editor Riley Missel. The RFA’s tail isn’t designed for a fully grown adult, but we couldn’t help but use it to carpool to the nearby Fresh Market, a task it handled with enough stability to not feel sketchy.
You sit upright on the RFA. Evans says he included a long steerer tube and a comfort handlebar to put riders in a defensive riding position, and to make the bike accessible to as many riders as possible. “There’s a little bit of inefficiency built in of non-optimal body positioning, but so much of that gets erased with the e-assist,” Evans says. The RFA comes in three sizes, but the bike’s length stays the same throughout the size range. The seatstays are wide, to accommodate the battery, and my heels ran into them while pedaling. Externally rotating my feet prevented further contact, but riders with large feet should note the minor rub.
Especially with a second battery, the RFA is a heavy bike—not so heavy that I couldn’t carry it a few steps up to my apartment, but I wouldn’t haul it up a flight of stairs. It feels solid. Compared to the $1,599 Rad Power Bikes RadWagon that I’ve also been riding, the RFA feels sturdy and rigid, whereas the RadWagon feels a bit too flexible with a load on the back. Evans says he hesitates to list a weight limit because the total load you can carry depends on your portaging skill. “A skilled rider could readily carry 500 pounds on the back of this bike,” Evans says. “However, an unskilled rider would be advised to practice first with 50 or 100 pounds.”
The bike’s Shimano Deore brakes and drivetrain are a worthy match for the RFA’s considerable heft and power. Shifts were crisp, and stopping—even barreling down a steep hill into an intersection—never felt questionable. That the Performance Line Speed model does 28 mph is mighty handy for rapid grocery-getting, but I noticed a drop-off in power as I downshifted going uphill. Evans says the issue has to do with the 24-inch wheels not matching Bosch’s software on developmental bikes—if a user experiences the power drop-off on a production bike, a dealer should be able to fix the bug, Evans says. Staying on top of the pedals, I’d get the power back after a couple seconds, and the two batteries allowed me to stay in Turbo mode for more than 40 miles between charges—something I’ve never done on a single-battery e-bike, let alone an e-cargo bike.
The RFA is a commitment: There’s little point in buying the base bike and not tricking it out with copious Xtracycle accessories that maximize its utility, but that functionality makes it pricier than competing midtail and longtail designs. At $4,000, the base Tern GSD S00 comes with fenders and bags. Cheaper still is the $1,599 RadWagon, which doesn’t come with bags and feels a bit flimsy compared to the RFA and Tern GSD, but costs a fraction of the price.
By comparison, you’d spend around $5,000 outfitting the base RFA to realize its schlepping potential. However, the solid build quality, two wheelbase options, and numerous compatible accessories make it adaptable to your needs for years to come. Buy it if you see yourself riding the same e-cargo bike in 2029.
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