[Closed] Show (or tell me about) me your cargo bike

*waits for Cynic-Al to show up with his home made version*

😀

Bump for the evening shift. Anyone?

Here's mine

[url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/25297744@N05/5987179394/in/photostream ]Cargo Bike[/url]

Made by a chap in Bristol. I was going to buy a kona Ute on cyclescheme but saw this on ebay for peanuts and thought I'd give it a go. It's well built and ferries the kids around brilliantly.

*WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOSH!*

Incomplete at this juncture, but I'm picking up a s/h van roof-rack to cut down and make a rack out of at the weekend.

[url= http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5301/5750703061_c5cc843f83_z.jp g" target="_blank">http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5301/5750703061_c5cc843f83_z.jp g"/> [/img][/url]
[url= [/url] by [url= http://www.flickr.com/people/7693620@N05/ ]alan cole[/url], on Flickr

[u]Spec (selected parts only)[/u]
Front frame: Jamis Eureka (£100 8 years ago, lying around)
Rear frame: Mongoose jump frame off of ebay (£30)
bb holding 2 together UN52 (with slight p;olay, lying around)
Fork: Project 2 (lying around, may upgrade to fat-fork to get the height up)
RR wheel: Original Nexus 700c coaster brake (lying around)
Fr brake: M475, £18 for the set off of ebay
Shifter: Suntour xcpro (lying around, 1987 w/custom mount)
Seatpost: xt (1990, still otherwise in use)

Oh and no jokes about the lock please 😡

Oh and no jokes about the lock please

Bit like the elephant man being worried about a bit of acne. 😀

That must ride like sh*t mate, seriously. Wtf is going on with those different wheels/tyres?

Mol - beat me to it - the different sized wheels are just wrong! Fairly impressive ingenuity though.

I have a Kona Ute its great. 525 delivered from www.singletrackbikes.co.uk.

That's a Mountain Cycle Battery Frame in the pannier..

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I've just fitted two yepp maxi seats to the deck, if I ever get away from my computer in daylight thenI'll take some pics with kids on board..

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Re: Al's bike - Of course it rides like crap. It's for mooching round town, not doing the black run at Glentress. And if you were going to knock something like that up, would you spend money on stuff if you had other 'suitable-in-a-it'll-do-sort-of-way' stuff lying about?

Mattbike - liking that. A friend is shortly going to have to walk his 2 to nursery, but that would solve his problem.

LOL like a utility bike is going to ride well! N0085!

(it rides fine actually, I may sort a 700c fron wheel for it in time)

This forum truly is the place that keeps on giving 😀

Mattbike - liking that. A friend is shortly going to have to walk his 2 to nursery, but that would solve his problem.

That's one of the reasons I got it, I can drop the little-un off at breakfast club then carry on the commute to work.

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It saves a bit of time and my little girl loves it.

Oh and for your noob FYI, diameter of 700c wheel + narrow tyre = (more or less) 26" + fat tyre

If I could get rid of our car I would be all over the Kona Ute awesome idea for a bike!

[url= http://www.singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/semiot-tell-me-about-cargo-bikes-vs-trailers-for-kid-grocery-duties ]Here's a link to a previous discussion on this subject[/url]

I have a short wheelbase Bakfiets, seen here after a trip to B and Q to buy shelving with my daughter:
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Comfortably handles 2 kids with bags/shopping under their feet and the bench seat flips up for maximum cargo capacity if there are no passengers. It has a full width kickstand which makes parking and loading very easy (stable enough to keep the bike upright even if the kids are climbing all over it). There is a folding hood which fully encloses the passengers for wet weather. It is not light, but the bottom gear is low enough to get up hills OK, and I have ridden up to 50 miles in a day comfortably with the kids. The handling is like a normal bike, just a bit more stately because of the longer wheelbase and weight.

The best thing about it is that it is a lot of fun to ride. The kids love it, and I like being able to chat to them and point stuff out as we are travelling.

Be careful if you are looking at Bakfiets, as there are some Chinese knock-offs selling for around half the price of the Dutch ones. The construction and components of these copies are very poor. The Dutch originals are Clyde-built and designed to survive outside storage.

Al, did you really need to lock it up??

Only asking like.

When I said 'rides like crap' I meant it looks as if it'll flex all over the place and generally be a dog even for is intended purpose. Of course I would not expect first class chuckability and climbing skills from it, not being an idiot, but you can pretend I do if it helps you find something to post 🙂

PS I did know about the 700c wheel size thing but it's still a) mismatched and b) horrifyingly ugly. Does really highlight the canal-bottom chic of it though. Perhaps drape some pond weed on it too just to finish it off 🙂

PPS:

And if you were going to knock something like that up, would you spend money on stuff if you had other 'suitable-in-a-it'll-do-sort-of-way' stuff lying about

Sounds like he had to buy some stuff for it. To be honest if I wanted to transport stuff on the cheap I'd bodge a trailer.

To be honest if I wanted to transport stuff on the cheap I'd bodge a trailer.

[url= http://endless-sphere.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=26675 ]Interesting thread[/url] I was reading yesterday about a chap who's used one of those saddle-less trials bike frames as a chassis for such a creation. He fitted an assist motor to the wheel too, so it can be used as a pusher trailer.

I used to have one of these: ("mothers bike")

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Bought in Holland (I am dutch), and it was used for getting around with my 2 kids, one on the front and one on the back. It was great, on the flat! Mine also had panniers and the metal thing on the back allows you to clip in an umbrella buggy.

Handlebars are wide to leave plenty of space for the front childseat. It also had a sturdy stand and a spring to stop the bars from turning too far so the bike would stay up on the stand fully loaded!

Anyway, you see these a lot in Holland, great bikes.

A "bakfiets" (you can get really big ones) is sometimes even used to move house!(ok my friend only managed this as a student, but still....)

Simone

i'd love one of those kona ute bikes (would come in very handy for shopping/taking my washing to launderette 🙂

Got no photo's, but my Yuba mundo is great.
Will carry all 3 kids on it, and some shopping too.

It's a tank, and the frame build quality was a bit suspect, but it's alfined up, and zero maintenance. Sits outside the house, and has two easy to remove 'pollysport bibly' child seats on it.

My 3 year old howls with joy as i steam around town, and when my twins are a few months older, they will be joining him on it too!.

I have a Surly big dummy fork on it with 200mm rotors, and DH rims/hubs. Must weigh over 60pounds unladen.

Here's a link to a previous discussion on this subject

Ta, don't remember seeing that at the time.

the frame build quality was a bit suspect

What was the issue? I read a few remarks around the net about disc tabs being misaligned and small things like that. Anything major?

but it's alfined up

Is the alfine showing any signs of suffering from the weight you're putting through it?

That kona Ute is cool but I do like that xtracycle.

jackthedog - Member
the frame build quality was a bit suspect
What was the issue? I read a few remarks around the net about disc tabs being misaligned and small things like that. Anything major?

but it's alfined up
Is the alfine showing any signs of suffering from the weight you're putting through it?

Yep, disk tab out of alignment on fork, and all the holes for racks, mounts etc: either full of paint, or swarf, or not tapped in straight. Also, the lower 'footrest' bar had a lug welded out of line.

As far as weight on the Alfine goes, i mostly go very slowly, and try to avoid hills, obviously. So, no issues yet. It was a pain to fit tho', and the yuba has larger axle sized drop-outs. So, i needed some spacers which make it all the more fiddly.

If you really need to know some detail, mail me and i'll give you the low-down.

Heres my Dummy. I have two decks, the one shown which is actually just a skate board deck, and another with two co-pilot seats attached. I also pull a trailer from time to time like Stoner.

It's about to undergo a bit of a rebuild with an XTR rear mech and Dura-ace barcons on Paul mounts replacing the XO stuff. I also need to put my Hookworms back on for maximum cushioning.

Love this thing to pieces and the kids think its the best thing since sliced bread. Got to say you cannot fault the build quality on the Surly but you do have to pay for it.

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bikebouy - Member
Al, did you really need to lock it up??

cynic-al - Member
Oh and no jokes about the lock please 😡

🙄

molgrips - Member
it looks as if it'll flex all over the place and generally be a dog even for is intended purpose.

Well your telepathy is wrong, please comne for a test ride.

it's still a) mismatched and b) horrifyingly ugly. Does really highlight the canal-bottom chic of it though.

Sounds like you almost understand the not-very-subtle idea behind the project....do you think there was any point in/chance of getting it to look good?

That big dummy does look awesome. Like a bloody supertanker! Whats a big dummy frame go for these days??? Could I transfer all the bits off the ute? Stop stop..

Here is the ute with the double seats.
Annoyingy I've just tested it with 1.5 year old directly behind me, and 4 year old on the leco seat on the top tube and its just as good, if not better. Hmmm might be selling a brand new yepp maxi.

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Both kids love this.
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Lets me ride to work on school run days when I would normally have to drive.
Taking it on holiday next month. 🙂

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Here's my Xtracycle in normal [s]monkey[/s] child carrying mode.

It's really saved me getting in the car too much since starting the 8 mile school+nursery+work commute.
It's incredibly heavy (25kg+ on bathroom scales) but that's not much of an issue in Cambridgeshire, I'd like to change the gearing to a road double plus close ratio cassette as it never comes out of the 42t ring currently and maybe switch to a frame with a lower toptube.
Build cost me about 1k but quite a bit of that was the exorbitant cost of the peapod seat and the centre stand.

Never got any further unfortunetley.

[url= http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4023/4641090341_94c3987844_z.jp g" target="_blank">http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4023/4641090341_94c3987844_z.jp g"/> [/img][/url]
[url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/takisawa2/4641090341/ ]21032010287[/url] by [url= http://www.flickr.com/people/takisawa2/ ]pten2106[/url], on Flickr

Toys the Dummy frame is £850 rrp but probably could be found cheaper. I am not as keen on the latest versions as they have a straight top tube with a seattube brace. The curvy top tube on mine just seems to suit it.

Component wise everything off your UTE would fit no problem.

All that said I did nearly buy a UTE as a second cargo bike for Mrs Ferrit as I like them too.

my buddy back in edinburgh just started a bike delivery business ( http://www.prontopedalpower.co.uk/Bikes.html), he has some interesting cargo bikes.