@Nightdiver, thanks for pointing that out. In my defense, I'm reasonably certain that info wasn't there the first few days the kickstarter was posted because I scoured their site and the xtracycle site (in the days leading up to the launch) and couldn't find it. Anyway, that seems like a good component set for the price. I was initially drawn to it because it has some good features that you only find in the higher-end Edgerunners--specifically the dynamo and the front rack capability--at a much lower price, at least for the Kickstarter.

The Haul-a-Day was actually available well before the Kickstarter effort. The prototype was "on tour" around the Pacific Northwest at a number of events, including the Seattle Bike Expo before they started taking orders in Spring 2014, so people were able to see, touch and ride it before ordering. The asserted purpose of the Kickstarter, and I believe it, was to provide Bike Friday the capital to start a production line of the bike.

By contrast, the Cargo Node Kickstarter seems to me more like a marketing gimmick--Xtracycle was going to produce and sell this bike whether or not the Kickstarter "pledge" was met, so why not let people test ride before they commit to a $1600 purchase (I realize that many people have no choice but to buy cargo bikes sight-unseen due to the dearth of dealers, but I happen to live in an area rich in both Xtracycle and Bike Friday dealers)? As far as I can tell, Interbike was the first and only place that anyone has actually seen/ridden the Cargo Node (as a side note, it seems strange that with so many people awaiting the Leap as the successor to the Free Radical, the Leap is being made available first as part of the Cargo Node).

With all that said, our friends who have a Cargo Joe have been very happy with it and this looks like a major improvement on that concept, so I don't think you can go too wrong with purchasing one.