Anyone got one or tried one? Recommended, or keep saving for surly big dummy?
Bike Forum
Kona Ute?
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Posted 6 months ago #
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Yuba Mundo doesn't appeal?
Posted 6 months ago # -
Have you seen the new shorter Min-ute . . .
Neat
Posted 6 months ago # -
Anyone got one or tried one? Recommended, or keep saving for surly big dummy?
I haven't got one, but a good buddy has! He takes it out a lot, one child on the back, one child on the front, and loadssss of shopping attached elsewhere. He absolutely loves it and can't get enough.
It's a great family machine from what i have seen of it, or would you be riding solo?
Posted 6 months ago # -
Family machine
Kids, dogs you get the idea...That Yuba has caught my attention, I can possibly build a fat cargo bike out of that frame will all my spare fatty parts!
Posted 6 months ago # -
The Mundo would be the one for me due to the balance of cost and carrying capacity/versatility. When funds allow I'm having one.
Currently lusting over this as well, even if it does appear to be sized for some kind of giant.
Bilenky by Rasmus Bertelsen, on FlickrPosted 6 months ago # -
I have a ute and love it.
FYI when the stand breaks as its a piddly aluminium thing you can bolt on this lovely Hebie one for 20 quid from Rose Bikes
Posted 6 months ago # -
Not fancy a bakfiets?
Posted 6 months ago # -
I often wonder why we don't see more Pashley posty type bikes being used for load carying. Seem ideal for carrying heaps of stuff without having a huge long bike. Make a useful end-to-end camper bike.
I've got a Surly Instigator frame that would be ideal for one of those extending kits.
Posted 6 months ago # -
epicyclo, I think the issue is carrying weight on the front wheel makes the steering a bit funny..
Also the long bike means you can carry some really big stuff. I find the ute to be an awesome piece of kit, it's what I ride most days.Have had many good days out on it too.
Posted 6 months ago # -
Have one and its cool. Not used a huge amount, but its a damm fine ride when i do use it. Carried everything from a marquee to chicken feed. Handling gets a bit interesting when heavily loaded, i ve had 100kgs at one point and its a bit wobbly in the turns.
Posted 6 months ago # -
I haves used and sold both dummies and utes.
You get what you pay for.
The dummy is much more versatile, and cool. And can change your life.
The ute does the job but you will find its limitations if you want to haul more than shopping.Posted 6 months ago # -
charlie the bikemonger - Member
...The dummy is much more versatile, and cool. And can change your life...I keep think of getting a Dummy. It strikes me as an ideal bike for a leisurely end to end, camping a few days here and there. No hurry, no worry.
Posted 6 months ago # -
When a bike merchant makes a judgement on a bike I always wonder if their motivations are pure, whilst you garner a lot of respect on here Charlie, I do wonder if you make more profit on dummies? The reason I say this is that I do not think there is anything like a gulf between the functions of a Ute and a Dummy, other than price and niche factor. And I know a buyer for a big bike chain who told me this was so when I asked him why lots people don't sell Utes any more...
The ute is so cheap I cannot imagine anyone wants to sell them when they flog the niche dream of the dummy or yuba.
My ute has changed my life completely, I haven't carried fridges or water bowsers on mine (yet), but I have carried other bikes, mtb frames, bags of sand and building materials, all my tools, massive parcels. It will fit two kids, and all my camping gear for a couple of nights. Without the kids on it I reckon I could easily go away for a couple of weeks. I carry a hell of a lot more than I ever would on a normal bike and its got me using the bike every day and selling our 2nd car. Thats life changing without having to get a 2nd mortgage to buy a dummy.
It seems pretty versatile to me, I can carry three kids and still fill both my panniers.
It does easily carry all the sister jeans cool factor of a dummy. In my town I've only seen one other Ute and people stop and ask me about it all the time, you can hear the woosh of knickers hitting the ground when I cycle past a a group of students, (male and female, bonus. Since buying the ute all the parts of my body that need to grow have done so, and the bits that need to shrink have also.. All for 525 delivered..
Limitations compared to a dummy? There are only three I can think of:
1) Shorter wheelbase than dummy or yuba so I imagine that you can carry even bigger stuff on one of them. So you are limited as to how and where you place big loads, too far back and it will wobble like hell, to the point of unridableness, but then I'll bet I could find a big enough load/poor placement on a dummy that would make it unrideable.
2) No platforms under the panniers so you rely on the strength of the bag, although I have plans to solve this.
3) Crap centre stand, so loading big stuff takes a helper or a wall to lean against. Although the hebie one for 20 quid I showed above goes a long way to fixing this, and I have plans afoot to solve this too, related to my lower platform idea.Advantages:
1) I can fit it in my car without having to take any wheels off.
2) Cheaper - and it comes complete, not like a BD, Yuba or Xtracycle where you pay an arm and a leg for the base model and then umpteen pounds more for any accessories.
3) It isn't really so different from the other cargo bikes that it's essentially good enough for what most people want it for. I'm happy to stick to using my car for the once a year need to move fridges.Posted 6 months ago # -
epicyclo how about one of these? Would be good for you leisurely camping trip. Hub gears and brakes as well
Posted 6 months ago # -
Have you seen the new shorter Min-ute . . .
This is just a bicycle with panniers....
Posted 6 months ago # -
Teej, that has my Hebie stand on it too..
and in fact from Charlies website
Charlie says... "this is how your parcels get to the post office, and how my dogs, kids, surfboards, and drunk friends get around... Effin marvelous, sell your second car now"
I can do all of this on my Ute, and I didnt have to use the proceeds from my selling second car to fund the buying of the Ute.
Posted 6 months ago # -
TandemJeremy - Member
epicyclo how about one of these?I'd sooner have a Pashley than that. Looks too "designer" with all its curved tubes doing nothing useful except adding weight.
Posted 6 months ago # -
FFS....
Well I was going for a yuba frameset but shipping to my location in Scotland is £110...grrrrh Box too long for normal shipping rates.Just greed....my fatbike came all the way from Alaska for not much more
Posted 6 months ago # -
Blimey 110? Thats crazy. Day out to go and collect?
Posted 6 months ago # -
has a new plan
Posted 6 months ago # -
Cynic-Al is the resident expert on this method.
Posted 6 months ago # -
Cynic-Al is the resident expert on this method.
Similar, but from what I recall he failed to include the achilles tendon lacerating wire basket device into his design, unfortunately.
Posted 6 months ago # -
Mine has yet to get a rack fitted, but I love it!
If anyone is considering it I have a few tips now.
IMAG0792.jpg by alan cole, on FlickrPosted 6 months ago # -
If anyone is considering it I have a few tips now.
such as;
1) don't
2) I really mean it, unless you want small children pointing and laughing don't
Posted 6 months ago # -
Ignore him, tip us up baby.
Posted 6 months ago # -
wwaswaswasaaswad...I'll have a bike that's as good as a ute for <£100 plus what I have lying around.
Flame away if you like and that's all you're capable of, but let's see your efforts first eh?
toys - the main tip is check the angle that the rear bike's chainstays go out at - obviously you want it to be horizontal or else the handling will suffer and your pedals might hit the ground a lot.
Also check nothing to get in the way of the chain.
See if there's a clever way of fixing your rack on (depends with your rack is going to be like - I'm using an old citroen van roof rack - the beefy rear frame means I should be OK to drill straight into it)
Posted 6 months ago # -
All for 525 delivered..
Where from?
Posted 6 months ago # -
Hmmm?
Wonders how many back ends you could bolt on before it got really silly.Posted 6 months ago # -
Wonders how many back ends you could bolt on before it got really silly.
One.
Posted 6 months ago # -
singletrackbikes.co.uk although I don't think they have stock any more this was a year or so ago. FYI single track bikes gave awesome service - the pedals mine came with were borked, so they sent me a set of dmr v8s free of charge.
Unfortunately I haven't seen a ute for less than 900 for a while now, they have got a bit more popular so I don't think many people discount them.
TBH if I was going to pay that I might be tempted to get a yuba mundo. I was utterly surprised just now to see practical cycles have complete bikes for 949, but then yo still have to get deck, panniers and a stand which is 100 each for panniers, 50 for the deck and 50 odd for the stand. Make a deck.. Still at 1300 with everything you need thats a dam sight less than a big dummy.
The only issue with the yuba is weight - the ute is the lightest of the lot.
The stand stability does look awesome though
www.youtube.com/watch?v=aMPekeFlAb4There is a good review of the Big Dummy versus the Yuba MUndo here .
TBH the difference is yuba mundo is stronger and can carry more but weighs more. And its half the price of the big dummy.http://cyclinggypsies.wordpress.com/2010/03/13/a-tale-of-two-longtails/
Posted 6 months ago # -
The Yuba frame is €575
Looks like a bargain to me.
Posted 6 months ago # -
I really like the Ute. There's one often parked at work and it just looks so...functional. I'd love one. Not sure when I'd ride it, but I'm sure I'd find a time.
Posted 6 months ago # -
yeah 499 from practical cycles, still needs a deck, bags, and centre stand.
Posted 6 months ago #
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