1930's dutch cargo "Bakfiets" bike......... its a whopper!

If you go for an electric motor at some point. I think a mid motor (on or around your BB area) will start wrecking geared rearhubs pretty quickly considering the torque this bike will require. Better go for hub motors (front or rears).

On the power debate, is the UK government checking e-bikes to see what power their motor is delivering?

@Carabo it's easy to spot, only a handful of people making motors and of them only a couple are really popular.

Regular legal motor.

Regular illegal motor.

The weird thing is how the law is worded and how ebike motors work even the huge oversized ones can be run at 200-250w, they aren't efficient at that but would work. Ebike friends have told me it's just if they are speeding along drawing attention to it that they would get done. Also apparently that linked page is being moved into line with the eu standards. I guess they are clamping down on the people making 1kw+ ebikes and advertising them as motocross on a budget/for kids/for those without license/other, since you don't see them as often.

I think the main issue is if you did/do get stopped that thing will weigh more than it's supposed to. If you are going to then bosch mid-drive all the way, the planetary gears in the hub motors are often plastic in the 8fun bafang motors(most of them and clones), the mid-drive in combination with rear gears can gear down as you would and spin at higher rpm.

If you need numbers and stuff look up the pedelecs forum, very friendly guys+girls of the ebike industry seem to frequent that place.

We are using a modern Version of this Workfiets as a coffeebike.
http://instagram.com/p/yB23WUyX7D/?modal=true

We use a midmotor that delivers the power over a tandem-crankset into the drivetrain. It's one of the smaller motor making this thing still a regular bike here in Germany. But this small amount of power is, what makes the difference between a almost unmovable slug when loaded and a bike that can actually flow in normal biketraffic. The slightest uphill will kill you without a geared hub. Mind the geometry of the backend. Like on a dutch city bike you can't apply that much power onto the cranks due to the flat seattube angle.

One more shot from the other side
http://instagram.com/p/nKUyH4qKzv/?modal=true
You can see where the motor is sitting in front of the crankset.
This thing is ridden hard 4 times a week, loaded with 300-400kg, which is quit often for such a bike, and the Alfine hub still shows no sign of a approaching death situation.

Subscribed.

This bike motor chat is really informative.......food for thought.

i am getting swayed by the possibility of using a geared wheel.....maybe a motor.... one step at a time.

Robman, great looking bike. any more pictures? would love to see the construction of the box? is it all wood? part wood with a metal frame?

Looks amazing. Can't wait to see it built. I like the idea of it being built up in its current gearing/braking/meat motor format then seeing how usable it is. You can always add the other bits later but they'll all take away from its looks.

There are some more pictures at instagram, forgot to take some detail pics today. Will do it the next days. The Box is all wood as delivered by WorkCycles It then got a custom platform on it for the Coffeepurpose. U can find some more pictures from different WorkCycles customized on Flickr
Our bike is powered with a Cyclone Chain motor

thanks for the links robman. some very helpful links. the bike arrived today. it is huge. the size of a mini.

Where are you parking it?!

This is crazy awesome heavy stuff.

....and probably weighs more than a mini.

If you need a hand building up the box, I volunteer, I build deckings for a living and the timber merchants owe me one!

It's in my front room at the moment. With the box on the front i think it will be almost the with of the place......

Found this brooks B33 in a box of parts. I will be keeping my eyes peeled for a dutch replacement.

rad pad

thanks dude, just moved in. that's my other current project.

http://margateartsclub.tumblr.com/

Mod cons >>>>>>>>>>>>>
<<<<<<<<<<<<bikes

colin! i may take you up on that...... or at the very least pick your brains.

#WhoSpammedAllTheThreads?

Amazing. Very nice floorboards too.

Margate Arts Club looks interesting - living in what was a shop? What's the other cargo bike pictured in one of the images?

Even the floor outside is very beautiful. And with such a machine to go to the hardware store a place like that should be more fun than without.
All the best wishes with Cargobike and Arts Club from a stranger on the internet!

Rad as heck. I look forward to this thread.

Just to add to the voices that have suggest a hub gear. I have a [modern] 40kg cargo trike and it needs gears, even unladen. Once you're carrying something hills start appearing where there never were hills when you were on a normal bike.

Haven't read the entire thread, but the talk of motorassisted bikes reminded me of this one:

yup its an old Victorian shop. soon to be an arts club.

the cargo bike in the pictures was sold a while back. not sure who made it. served me well, but was a bit too small for my needs.

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the motorised long john looks rad.......

i am not ruling out a geared hub. i would like to build it up close to period to start......

but if anyone has a suitable 3 speed wheel from the 1930's please let me know.

Sachs 3 speed hub? You can get them everywhere and they are practically indestructible...