Cargo Bikes

Nah actually, on the bike is fine, a bit of side wobble out of the saddle.
I'm 6ft 3, look at the saddle height, so a lot of my weight and size is above the weight of the box, generally helping out the control.

Off the bike its ok, but has a tendency to try and fall over lots :D

Is that a 26" rear wheel?

That will be super cool when finished

nah, 700c. angle makes the box look a little bigger I guess.

Douze Cycles

Planning an informal get together of some of the cargo bike community is se London. If you're interested please pop along - Sunday 5th July. Ladywell fields. 2pm

London-consignment.com

Website in infancy. Be kind.

@Benin Sounds cool. Have fun with the website.

This popped up on Seedrs...
https://www.seedrs.com/boxer-cycles

So wife wants a cargo bike for future kid hauling duty thinking of building a long long tail with a a box for simplicity. shes a little thing so thought was chop 2 24" or 26" wheels ladies city bikes (front off one back off the other join them in the middle with some large box tubing with a tandem style drive train and some structure for the box and end up with something in this neighborhood:

just feel something like this mus be easier for her to navigate the a bullit type deal.

thoughts?

Someone at my daughters dance class has a Madsen. It's pretty cool and can take up to 200kg.

Load seems like it has tail-wagging-the-dog potential, I like the Bullitt and Long John styles more because of that. Is there an opportunity for her to try out any of the options?

I would say that I much prefer having the kids in front of me. You can chat to them, see if they drop something and stop them squabbling easier.

yeah she has and does not really like them, thus the search for options. maybe a 3 wheeler

I recently got a Surly Bill trailer to add to my mtb / extra cycle conversion. I can now carry much more than I ought to. Too much weight on the towing hitch makes for amusing wheelies and non existent steering. Can still get the contents of a transit into town OK though.

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I would say that I much prefer having the kids in front of me. You can chat to them, see if they drop something and stop them squabbling easier.

So much this, it makes the ride so much more friendly being able to natter to them. Some of the best chats I have with the kids are on the bike.

I wanted the 2 wheel Bakfiets: http://bakfiets.nl/eng/modellen/cargobike/long/ because speed.

But Mrs Hefty liked the idea of a the stability of a 3 wheeler and eventually it was the ability to take 4 children that swung us to the Nihola 4.0: http://www.nihola.com/products/letvaegtsladcykeltilboernefamilier.html

We've put another kiddie seat on the back and regularly transport our 3 and 2 friends, or sometimes the three kids and the wife, which brightens the day of passers-by. I moved a fridge freezer on it a couple of weeks ago. Also because it's a trike you can do amaze skids when you park it up.

I'd rather it had a full chain guard, and the rear cantis wear out within a few hundred miles, but otherwise it's the best thing we own. I'd get rid of the family car before the Nihola.

that is an abnormal load of haulage

Just spotted this on my way back from North's drinks, and I am keen to try to build something similar... Was thinking 24" on the front with 700c on the back. I think this is 20"?
[sorry photo was too big will try posting through imgur!]

Hefty knows!
I've got a two wheeled Christiania. I tried loads of bikes (2 and 3 wheelers) whilst trying to make my mind up. Personally I prefer a two wheel cargo bike as I've cycled my whole life and like the cargo bike to still feel like a bike.
Depending on how much stuff or how many kids you may need the extra space of a three wheeler.
My next door neighbour has a three wheeled Christiania (and we're in the UK!) and the box is quite a bit bigger.
If you're in London I can recommend London Green Cycles. They're really helpful and friendly.

@M_A_X made something brighter but similar.

good shout - managed to find it after a bit:

and here it is without a load:

very nice!
For my potential project, I was thinking of trying to hack together the front rack from parts of an old shopping trolley that has been sitting around abandoned near my street.

It sounds like conventional wisdom is that the weight should not be on the forks as this will make steering difficult, is that right?

I think weight on the frame is good, although steeling and the load not moving is strange for about 2 minuets. You soon get used to it. I built something similar to this a few years ago. Will find a photo tomorrow.

Depends upon the degree of trail. If you build a bike with lower than normal trail then it will be a bit twitchy unladen but then will settle down under load.

Put the weight on the frame for sure.

As Mr strike says, it's all about the trail for the handling. Need to make sure it's nice and low, if I remember rightly, I made mine to be low 40s.

I've modified mine since that picture, I've put a new rack on it with supports going to the top of the head tube, it's way stronger! Took someone who weighed 14st on the front for 5 miles..

I would just order some steel as opposed to using a bit of trolley (as its galved and nasty to weld)

15mm Steel box section is cheap. I use Parkside steel.

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