Turning normal frame to a cargo bike (xtracycle?)

MY working from home seems to be ongoing and my employer is in no rush to have people back in office, so thoughts are turning to going down to one car as my daughter has started high school recently and it is only a 2 mile bus journey for her.

The only time i use car these days is for doing elderly neighbours shopping and when i go away.

I have looked at lots of cargo bikes, but i have a couple of frames knocking about, an old SS Inbred frame and a geared Solaris frame, i am sure that Xtracycle (?) used to do a rear cargo section that would fit existing frames? i have all the components, wheels etc?

But going on their website, doesn’t seem to be a thing anymore, does anyone know of any similar conversion that fit existing frame? Cheers…

I have no knowledge of the product, but came across this interesting kit recently: https://argobikes.com/

TBH, though, I’d have thought a trailer is the simplest way to dip your toes in the cargo-bike water.

I used to have a cargo bike (a Kona Ute) and loved it apart from the storage in the shed, the length made it a PITA to get in and out: I keep looking at trailers now and again for these kind of uses.

Kona Ute kinda size would be ideal for me, doesn’t need a full on dutch style cargo bike.

Bikes such as the Kona Ute and Surly Big Dummy are all out of stock everywhere, lots of the e-bikes and “large box, small front wheel” style, but don’t need something that big.

Just get shopping delivered.

@wzzzz if i didn’t go to shops i’d never leave house these days! I do get my personal shopping delivered, but am part of a village group where i am responsible for getting shopping for 3 elderly people in my village, they of course have to have Waitrose or other posher shops, would be a lot easier if i could just add their shopping to my Tesco delivery!

Bikes such as the Kona Ute and Surly Big Dummy are all out of stock everywhere,

Nice heavy discounted tern node on wiggle ATM which solves the storage issue also.

I have an xtracycle free radical bought used off here about 5 years ago…..and it was no longer being made even then. The free radical became the leap which never seemed as popular and then they moved onto full builds only – edgerunner series .

My freeradicals on a Kona sutra frame with a bafang electric motor and a kiddies seat / hooptie out back. Been using it for nursary and trips to office(40k round trip) weighs approx 17 ton unladen.

Thanks Trail Rat, that is first half decent priced bike in stock i’ve seen..

Other option is a Crust Clydesdale cargo fork conversion but at about $350 for just the fork (you also need a wheel and probably a new brake hose) before import duty its rather eye watering to say the least.

^. What he said, damnnit I love those things.

OP, Ute and Big Dummy are pretty large. I tried an Xtracycle kit on my old 26er but it didn’t fit my dropouts so bought a Ute. Didn’t get on with it, daft for a cargo. High load (700c), silly long and noodly frame/rack. It shimmied/shook like mad too. ymmv

Changed for a Dutch Personal bike and was much happier. Lower CoG, shorter than the Ute but still longer than most 26ers. Also more stable, much stronger, better components/better equipped, more features, more comfortable, higher finish, less than half the price.

But I’d really like to convert my retro 26er hardtail into one of those front-loader forks @squirrelking linked. Best cargo-conversion invention ever. Seriously smart.

Think I put a pic of a converted old GT Tequesta (or something) in another thread. It looked incredible and as if the GT had been designed that way!

*edit: Karrykoram! (GT take note – You want a new marketing director then I’m your man, OK?)

It shimmied/shook like mad too.

Yeah the Ute was designed by Kona engineers who had seen a cargo bike but forgot to design it to take a load.

All the stiffness of a wet noodle. Not representative of cargo bikes on the whole

See also for op cargo trailers.

Nice to see cargo bikes are such a thing now, I’ve always fancied one!

Does what I need. It lives in a lean too in the garden I built specifically for it. The storage is a pain but we are blessed with the space to built such.

* Third time lucky on the pic maybe ?

This thread has me thinking if I couldn’t get a Clydesdale cargo fork/wheel and make a part-time 29/20 reverse-mulletcargo out of my current doitall bike (Mk1 Longitude)?

What would that be, a 10 minute dress-change?

1. Cargo/utility-bike (carrying shopping etc)

(after fork change):

2. 29er (gravel and light trails)

(After tyres-change & bars-change):

3. 29+ (MTB and bikepacking)

Three bikes in one is very tempting. I suppose could instead do it to the Love/Hate and have much the same result plus the addition of sus fork option. Times like this I find choices to be too difficult. I miss the old years of doing everything on one bike, but I can’t seem to return there.

I had one in an old rigid steel Rockhopper (the original version like trail rat’s). Worked well for carrying child and stuff. The xtracycle bag let you carry all sorts, did tip runs, parcels shop runs etc. It does add a lot of weight (about 8kg) but with low hears got up most hills no problem, also rode fine off road as the length gave it stability but nothing too gnarly as the risk of grounding increased. Yes it flexed but not too much to worry except when I tried to add a trailer bike and it was a flex too far for that.
I sold it on to someone on here when child 1 got bigger and got a kiddyback tandem instead.
There was a newer aluminium framed one called the leap which I think is the back half of that Tern. You could probably but the Tern, remove the xtracycle and sell on the remaining folding bike.

Was a good beast but does need a garage or large shed for storage. Humping up and down steps was a nightmare.

Copied from now 4 year old post on the subject which must have been the pitch that sold it:
of 2 year old in Avenir seat + growbags in the xtracycle bags

20160613_105758 by Ol, on Flickr

Photo of 2 year old in limo seat + 4 and 5 year old in the trailer for a very slow haul to the park.

20150627_162538 by Ol, on Flickr

Photo of a mainly failed experiment to add a tag bike to the xtracycle.

20150529_142839 by Ol, on Flickr

Poor photo of a post Christmas tip trip loaded with a childs mattress and rubbish through the woods to the tip

20151229_103958 by Ol, on Flickr

Edit: hopefully images copied across now!

Good spot @slowol

Didn’t notice that was. Leap kit in a folding bike.

Used to tow Jnr in a croozer on the back of mine. Good to know I can’t stick a trailer bike on.

I’m considering selling our Big Dummy (size large). Still no sign of return to office and I’m in intending never to go back in anyway even if we do. Kind of removes the point in having it. Shame as it’s really good at what it does.

I had a 6is inch long round vertical post welded onto an H shape of box section steel (old table legs) by the welder at work that I fixed to the aluminium frames with U bolts. The twisty flex of the xtracylce couple d with the none too brilliant tag bike coupling resulted in a flip flopping double that of a usual handmedown trailer bike. Probably not and experiment worth repeating although it could work better if you adapted a Burley or Isla trailer bike.
The tandem is much recommended until the passenger gets to about 3 1/2 and can lean out far enough to nearly tip it and then pummels her brother so incessantly that it’s not fun anymore! Solved that by getting him on his own bike and youngest stoked the tandem from about 4 1/2. Sadly I think she may soon want to ride her own bike next time me we do a bigger trip.

a geared Solaris frame,

Lols the frame that never dies and keep on giving 😉

I am going to get an Omnium Mini Wifi for puppy hauling when I can walk again, and then ride a bike again, whenever that might happen. I do still have a BoB trailer which works superbly for cargo and in the interim will use a cargo/kid trailer for the pup.

(Shophopper)

Anyone for a Binbred 29/20er?

^that Crust fork is great – I’ve got a Kona Smoke 29er frame kicking about that it would work well on, if they came down in price and were UK stock.

That Argo bike conversion thing looks awesome!

My old Merlin Malt 2 has gone through a lot of changes since I bought it, from hardtail MTB to rigid commuter with assorted other bits. I wonder if cargo bike could be the next evolution.

The Argo does look good but at $1149 (so probably £1000+ when it hits the UK) are you not better off just buying a cargo bike?
Yuba Combi starts at £910, Bicciapace from £1300 on London Green Cycles site for a long tail bike.
If you want a bikefiets then Baboe start from £1500ish and a tadpole trike from AM cargo is less than a grand.
Some of the cheaper options may be heavy and clunky but a conversion is also a bit heavy and clunky so maybe small gains.
If you want a project you can find a fair few people in internet land who have take the rear triangle of a full suspension bike (think Barracuda cheapy not Santa Cruz bling) and bolteded into the back of a frame with a brace to stop it rotating and hey presto basic longtail bike, or convert an old tandem.
I can see cargo bike again in my future but too much else going on and not enough funds for an extra at present so considering modifying the ancient Chariot kiddy trailer to be a cargo hauler.

That Argo bike conversion thing looks awesome!

I thought so too. I used a kiddyback tandem that was half the cost neat, but about the same when fully kitted out. Sold out it seems anyway. The best place for any cargo/dutch bike is always outside and ready to go. Who keeps their car in the garage for a trip to the shops?

Option I considered: https://radpowerbikes.eu/products/radwagon-electric-cargo-bike

Ended up with a second hand Ute which is OK for what I use if for, transporting two kids on the back. Can see how you’d want something with smaller wheels for heavier loads though, and it probably helps that I’m unusually tall from a balance point of view.

Thanks all, few options to consider, having spoken to local framebuilder it would be cheaper for them to do me something similar to the Crust fork, than import one from scratch… do like the look of that….

Please do report back if that works out. There is definitely niche demand for something like that and or xtracycle type conversions. Presumably xtracycle reckoned making full bikes was better business than conversions and I guess they probably induce warranty issues on some frames.
If a framebuilder can match the price of Crust’s offering then that’s a bonus.

@scud I would be keen on pair of those forks if it isnt too much extra work to make a 2nd pair at the same time.

Lugger Dome

New bike day! Kona Lavadome w/ Crust Bikes Clydesdale Fork

This partly illustrates the problem I found with the Kona Ute (top), compared with the Xtracycle Edgerunner (bottom)

Kona in their (IMHO) unwisdom decided to go 700c (later models changed to 27.5, which to my mind is still conservative and confusing for purpose)

Yuba (Mundo) went with 26”. Smarter.

Xtracycle went with a 20” mullet. Smarter still. Cargo bikes deserve small wheels. Especially with kiddies on board. Smaller wheels = Lower loads. Lower CoG. Higher strength.

HSD even smarter (although kids still behind out of sight/out of effective communication range)

Obviously bakfiets beat all at this game (cargo in front, in sight, and low-low)

^ Edit (sorry that last pic was a Yuba Sweet Curry, 20-26 mullet). That seems like a fairly sensible configuration for a longtail option.

I’ve often though about converting/cutting up a few cheap BMXs and fashioning something – but have zero welding skills or kit 🤦🏼‍♂️

Just remembered this. Looks fun and ‘right’?

What about this ?.

I think this is a great idea.

The downside of the 20inch wheel is that by God you felt all the bumps and kerbs nearly stop you dead when you are trying to bump up off the road before stopping.

The weigh amplifies the hang up effect so potholes remove teeth.

Even on a 26 I’ve fitted a use shock post because it’s not much fun

I was ahead of the curve with the small rear wheel / low c of g back in 2005. Also found a solution to the bumpy rear wheel 🙂

It was very capable off road, only let down by crappy brakes.

My mate Jon of Tomo bikes lengthened the rear end out of a Ragley Blue Pig for a customer into a mid length cargo bike, could be an option if you’ve got all the parts already.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CRI3bikFjFR/

I was in a similar position, wanting to be able to carry more stuff (shopping basically) by bike. I’d already got a little homemade cycletruck which is great and rides like a normal bike, but that can only take a couple of carrier bags in the front box, and I wanted to be able to do a big shop by bike.

My shed isn’t long enough for a full size cargo bike or Xtracyle type thing so I borrowed a Bob Yak trailer from a friend. It’s brilliant! It tracks really nicely and you can’t really tell it’s there when riding empty and it’ll take up to ~20kg. Easily enough room for a week’s shop for two, plus cat food/litter. Those big blue Ikea bags are the perfect size for it, straight from the trolley into the trailer, no faffing with panniers. The best part is it only takes 10 seconds to hook or unhook the trailer so you can use the bike normally otherwise.

They’re expensive new but I think my friend picked it up from ebay for about £80 second hand.

Pic below was about the limit of what it could carry, 20kg of cat litter + 80 pouches of food and shopping for two made it a bit wobbly/snakey.

If you were carrying kids or dogs then a proper cargo bike would be best though.

Nice job of the front end of the truck frame! I much prefer the front load attached to the frame not the steering. And the steerer tube bending moment on the crust fork scares me a little (but is probably OK so not dissing the design which I otherwise like).

Did you manage to find a fork with a long enough steerer, or is there a join midway?

@mick_r smart move. Although…

https://iruntheinternet.com/lulzdump/images/worst-parent-kid-butt-crack-bike-seat-1430316448A.jpg?id=

@jakd95 That’s ace. Did you try using a steering damper yet?

@mick_r cheers! It gets a lot of use, one of my favourite bikes. There’s a join midway, the steerer was extended, handily a 25.4 tube fits nicely inside a 1.6mm wall 28.6 steerer, so it’s got a ~150mm sleeve brazed inside the join.

The majority of the frame is a Genesis IO 725. I chopped the headtube off, brazed on a longer one to account for the 20″ front wheel, then the square tubed brace. The rack then bolts to the square cross brace and the box is bolted to the rack. Then just a few extra braze-ons and a hanger too, as the donor bike just had track ends.

I’ve not tried a fork rack (beyond ones like Wald) but I went for the frame mount to have the load on the frame, and it works well. Rides normally empty and is stable with a load on the front.

@p7eavan I’ve not found it needed one. Initially the rack was a lot bigger, but that was too flexy, so I chopped it down and popped the box on. Nice and solid now. The only thing it struggles with is riding no handed, you quickly get a shimmy, so I suppose a steering damper would help with that. In practice that’s not an issue though.

P7eaven 🙂 the bumbag may be close, but with the lower seat he was thankfully below the trauma of crackheight….

Just over 5″ of travel so no bumpy ride from the 20″ wheel = happy kid. Kids grow fast so it had to be thrown together starting with an old (too small) Rockhopper frame and a rear triangle from a folding bike I’d made (folded around the bb shell so with a huge pair of ballraces that became the suspension pivot).