Snazzy front rack. Now what to do with it?

[PedalUma]

I have tracking on ET for the milkcrate. I am wondering how the eclipse on Tuesday could skew the flight data. If it cuts-out during the altitude cap test?

 

[Jeremy McCreary]

I'm a big fan of cargo bikes. Give this a whirl when you have some free time.

Mid Tail, Long Tail or Front Loader (which cargo bike do I choose)?

I never planned on building three different classes of cargo bike, but I did. What are their strengths and weaknesses?

talesontwowheels.com

The frontloader has been such a success I am building another and retiring/selling the two longtails. Also look at the Big Bags 2.0 article. You can save a huge amount of money doing that, and using smaller canvas bags coupled to that dowel/loop attachment method.

Looks like I'll have to start a thread on how to talk your partner into letting you buy another bike. Any tips?

The frontloaders intrigue me. Have seen them in action in video only -- especially in NW Europe on channels like https://youtube.com/c/PropelbikesUSA . Love to see them taking over hauling jobs that don't really need trucks.

Would love to ride a frontloader just for the feel. Betting they feel more natural than they look. The low center of mass is pretty compelling -- at least on paper -- and the loaded moments of inertia in roll and yaw appear to be manageable in turns.

 

[Jeremy McCreary]

I have tracking on ET for the milkcrate. I am wondering how the eclipse on Tuesday could skew the flight data. If it cuts-out during the altitude cap test?

NORAD knows about this, right?

 

[AHicks]

Looks like I'll have to start a thread on how to talk your partner into letting you buy another bike. Any tips?

The frontloaders intrigue me. Have seen them in action in video only -- especially in NW Europe on channels like https://youtube.com/c/PropelbikesUSA . Love to see them taking over hauling jobs that don't really need trucks.

Would love to ride a frontloader just for the feel. Betting they feel more natural than they look. The low center of mass is pretty compelling -- at least on paper -- and the loaded moments of inertia in roll and yaw appear to be manageable in turns.

Just one. Buy her one.....

 

[Jeremy McCreary]

Cargo bikes in the Netherlands...

 

[teskow]

Lots and lots of them in the Netherlands to be sure. They seem to be a way of life there.

 

[PedalUma]

For years some older guys and their gals would do a group sunset flight of their small planes out of the municipal airport to see the sunset over the GG Bridge every Friday. Sep. 11 was a Tuesday. Jets were scrambled with warning flares that Friday. I just hope they had brown pants! Maybe I should take some precautions.

Here is a bike that I recently made electric. It has a powerful duel clutch motor. Lightly used cargo bikes have the biggest spread in value of any bikes between non-electric and electric versions. You could pick up a non-electric cheap and convert it into a high value utilitarian bike. The guy, Travis, was ridding this with two kids in SF before it was converted. Can you imagine, with those hills? Zoom to check the routing job for the wires.

 

[m@Robertson]

The front loaders take a while too get. I found the the key was to do a sort of surf motion of first throwing my weight the wrong way before entering a corner and swinging it. Doing practice figure eights helped me get it. The first mile was scary. By the third day I had it nailed. I am crazy for the BFD. One big factor on all cargo bikes is the wheel build. Some are super duty others look like a cargo bike but do not really make the cut.

The Bullitt is sort of the race car of front loaders. As I understand it, most bakfiets are really, really flexible. Scarily so sometimes. Italked to a guy who had one of the R&M Loads and he was very, very turned off by the platform based on his experience with its stability - and he was an owner not just someone who rode one once.

The Bullitt is a very stiff frame, but its so long there is still some flex thanks to the sheer length of the thing and how much flex is derived from something that size. But it really is a very close experience to a normal bicycle. You just have to make the mental leap necessary to understand the difference in handling that comes from having the front wheel 5 feet in front of you. Get past that in 30 minutes and you are golden.

Let me know if you have anyone who would be interested in my BFD or Envoy. Love the bikes - especially the BFD - but they are just too big to let sit around idle. You are one of the few I know close enough to me so transport makes any sense.

 

[m@Robertson]

Looks like I'll have to start a thread on how to talk your partner into letting you buy another bike. Any tips?

Divorce. Split with mine decades ago. Which explains why I was also able to have a track car and go run it on the various race tracks all over California every few weeks for a few years.

Would love to ride a frontloader just for the feel. Betting they feel more natural than they look. The low center of mass is pretty compelling -- at least on paper -- and the loaded moments of inertia in roll and yaw appear to be manageable in turns.

They feel completely natural, which is the big surprise. When I pulled away from my parking spot with my first full cartload of groceries on the bike, I thought something was wrong, it was so easy. I have had that big blue bike loaded with about 150 lbs of stuff (who knew 4 36-paks of soda weighed around 120 lbs?) and it was a real party keeping that thing balanced. Last week I used it to haul a load of bricks from Home Depot and it was fine until I was standing at a stoplight and - just for a split second - forgot myself and let the bike lean just a hair too much. Was barely able to keep it from tipping.

Turns... straightaways... it handles precisely like an unloaded bike when fully loaded. The only thing to remind you that the laws of physics still apply is when you hit the brakes and realize oh yeah inertia. Its such a good handler you have to rein yourself in because you can get up to a speed that makes it unsafe to stop before you realize you've done it. Easy to learn but you gotta keep your thinking cap on.

 

[AHicks]

Divorce. Split with mine decades ago. Which explains why I was also able to have a track car and go run it on the various race tracks all over California every few weeks for a few years.

Been that route too. Married way to early, took 29 years to figure that out. No kids. Afterward, loved the independence. No second vote required - for anything. I learned to fly and owned a couple of different planes.... built a vacation home from scratch - among other things!

Then, when it seemed like the kingdom was all built, decided one day to find somebody to enjoy it with. Ground rules were laid out early - and resulted in quite a few NEXT calls being made. Should have kept notes on the first dates. Would have been the makings for a good book. Finally though, I ran into somebody that clicked (after nearly 2 years of "first dates"). Somebody that I enjoyed talking with! She's been my riding partner for coming up on 20 years now.... and we STILL talk.....

 

[m@Robertson]

Ground rules were laid out early

Yeah these days I need a psychological profile worked up first. I was a bit surprised when my daughter was the one who pointed out I have a habit of dating crazy women.

 

[PedalUma]

I grew up with three big sisters. I started dating a girl one year older than me when I was 17. She was the eldest in her family. 31 years later we divorced. My world was destroyed. So I thought. Now I have lots of friends of all ages and genders and have no desire to ever be under the thumb of a big sister figure. My creativity was crushed in that relationship for decades. I used to maintain everything for her, all so well that she never appreciated it. Once she left the new fridge open overnight. When I repaired it the next day she was angry that I spent $15 on a new capacitor. When I moved out, the next day she had to call a plumber for the first time in her life. She thought that stuff was free and invisible. That everything magically worked.

Back to bikes, I did the Aero Enhancement to that cargo bike with the milkcrate. Because of the election with the Feds on high alert for things like flying objects, and because of the eclipse I should probably hold off.

 

[Jeremy McCreary]

Back to bikes, I did the Aero Enhancement to that cargo bike with the milkcrate. Because of the election with the Feds on high alert for things like flying objects, and because of the eclipse I should probably hold off.

Disappointing but wise. For all you know, a cargo bike could have the same radar signature as a foreign stealth bomber.

 

[Jeremy McCreary]

Don't take it off... Buy yourself a net that will strap itself all over your front rack and allow something bulky underneath it. Believe me... the net will come in handy. They have a way of doing that, and when you can put them to good use they often magnify your ability to carry stuff way beyond what you thought was possible.

You were spot-on about bungee nets. Looks like I guessed the right size, too. Clips fit the tubing perfectly.

This head tube-mounted rack also features built-in bottle cage bosses. They're only 54 mm apart (standard is 64 mm), and cabling blocks the left pair. But I found a way to adapt this nifty universal twist-to-tighten bottle cage -- ideal for rigid containers like Nalgenes and thermoses. Very secure.

All set now for a 5 minute ride down to the beach for an Aperol and soda at sunset.

Thanks to all for your help. For now, the rack stays on.

 

[dodgeman]

Nice picture. Where is that?

 

[PedalUma]

Nice picture. Where is that?

North Coastal San Diego County. Carlsbad. Not too bad.

 

[Jeremy McCreary]

North Coastal San Diego County. Carlsbad. Not too bad.
View attachment 140204

Correct. Denver's already had several snows this year. In order to keep the Denver friends we left behind back in September, I won't be sending them either your temperature chart or my earlier Carlsbad sunset photo.

But the urge to rub it in sure is hard to resist.

 

[Taylor57]

Wow, that's some serious cargo capacity! No doubt there are outfitting and loading learning curves, and I'll run into them again when tackling more promising rear cargo solutions.

View attachment 139502

Agree, bungee nets make great sense as rigging. However, once bought a large one to secure luggage to an SUV roof rack. Worked great once in place, but the wide mesh and many big open hooks made it excruciating to untangle and install. Three trips later, I was scarred for life.

Hmmm, a bungee net with finer mesh and carabiners instead of open hooks would be lot less scary.

Is your Topeak bag velcroed on or on the Topeak rack system?

 

[Jeremy McCreary]

Is your Topeak bag velcroed on or on the Topeak rack system?

Velcro. It's secure enough, but the 2 front straps don't play well with the flat bars forming the top of the rack. I'll have look up Topeak's rack system.

Also, the center compartment's pretty narrow -- presumably to accommodate the panmiers built into the side pockets.

 

[Taylor57]

Velcro. It's secure enough, but the 2 front straps don't play well with the flat bars forming the top of the rack. I'll have look up Topeak's rack system.

Also, the center compartment's pretty narrow -- presumably to accommodate the panmiers built into the side pockets.

I have the rack system on my 2 Sports and 1 of the Gravelsters. Makes it easy to switch racks. You may need to buy a Quickrack adapter. Pretty easy to install.

OMNI QUICKTRACK® ADAPTER

<p>Omni QuickTrack® Adapter attaches to a standard rear rack or Racktime® system platform allowing the use of popular Topeak TrunkBags and rear baskets. Adjustable mounting brackets fit rear rack widths from 90mm to 120mm with 10mm to 12mm rack tube dimensions. </p>

www.topeak.com