Cargo Bikes

The crust can handle many kilos with relative ease.. I’ve had up to 50kilos on it. I’ve also ferried my gf around short distances with no trouble (not tried a hill yet though)

That's a solid endorsement!

Yeah it’s cool. In my limited experience it’s a good middle ground between regular biek and full on cargo. I am in the process of saving up for something a bit more capable / dedicated though.

Some of those Brighton hills would make me seriously consider getting an e cargo bike if I was carrying more than 20 / 30kg regularly :s

Does anyone have UK trade contacts that can get batteries for a reasonable cost?

My Douze runs a MPFDrive MPF6.0 motor and I'd like a spare battery.
http://www.mpfdrive.tw/public/index.php

I am told by the european importer (company is Dutch) that the only compatible battery is
MPF Juice 12 which is priced at €599,- incl. 20% VAT.

That's £600 at today's rate + shipping so it seems steep for a small rectangular plastic case filled with 100 AAA rechargeable batteries...

Agreed.
It wouldn't be regularly, as in daily. The run to the shops is actually straight down Lewes road into town so no hills. But the trip to and from the allotment has a decent amount of climbing and the garden centre is up by the race course. I'm happy to struggle with it but don't want to end up pushing the fecker.

Most cargo bikes should breeze taking the shopping, just choose one with gears and in your price range

I have a longtail cargo bike, I can fit a normal, shallow shopping trolley worth of stuff in the big panniers on my cargo bike, leaving the top free to carry more stuff or a child, or both. They ride like a normal bike and have normal gearing too.

There's a cheap Yuba Mundo on ebay right now... in hereford though. Also saw a dutch longtail on gumtree on SW London going cheap

Let’s ask @JesperXT

Edit: ahh he already chipped in

Have you looked at longtails like a kona ute or yuba Mondo? you can normally find them cheepish on eBay

Just put shitloads of mtb gearing on it. I have a 32 front ring and cassette that goes up to a 34T. Even really heavily loaded I can get it up hills. Sure it’s pretty slow but you just twiddle away!

I agree with this, as a longtail owner that has to fight inclines. Not many, not like the cols of Brighton, but do as @Jonny69 says and stick mtb on and you’ll be laughing. I recommend a 2x with the two smaller rings like 32/22 and a big range cassette. You’ll never get up to high speed ever again but your legs will thank you on the up.

Great shot! Good to see the Bullitt is still
Working out with x2 ever growing nippers, handy having the “sunroof!” We have a medium Douze and a 5 1/2 year old and we’re considering getting the long front end to give our boy a bit more leg room, but the limiting factor may be the headroom as your Bullitt has shown! Better do some careful measuring before we invest...

Long tail seems more appropriate for Brighton but I had hoped to have an open box style to just dump stuff in.

Twiddle is fine with me for a cargo. Probably preferable actually.

Seems I need to look again at what I would like and what is more appropriate.
The long tails still seem pretty expensive though against the amount of bike and storage you get from a Dutch style.

Dunno bro. There are a bunch on ebay at the moment for less than £300. A bakfiets is ‘always’ over £500 and heavy AF.

The longtails start cheap but always end up quite a bit more. Ute is somewhere between £600 and £1000 depending on spec. Mundo is similar price range. Big Dummy is usually £1k up

BUT, look carefully at the spec, it's worth getting one for more cash with more accessories as buying them individually adds up quick. You want things like rack top, panniers, u tubes or footboards, mudguards, lights etc. Something like panniers might cost £100-£200 (you need the big wide long tail ones, not two sets of normal rack sized panniers as they don't hold anywhere near as much)

I reckon I could attached three boxes to my longtail, one on top and one on each side, but I'd struggle to store it in my garage and my kids then couldn't sit on it

I don't think there's a clear perfect cargo bike, they all vary in style and therefore suit different uses. It's one of the reasons why I like them so much (and another reason why I could easily justify having more than 1 type!)

Agreed. Though, I made the bags for the side of my XC, and use them infrequently. They work fine but usually I just bungee a crate and stuff whatever I need to carry into there. It’s rare I load enough to need two large dump bags and a crate.

I was lucky my XC frame was both cheap and came with the sidecar worth almost as much as what I paid all in.

Suppose you’re right about the cost of accessories, but that isn’t something I factor into the initial outlay because all that guff for carrying kids is equally or more expensive for the fancy long johns. Look upthread at what some companies want for a kiddy box! At least the longtails have no height restriction.

I would totally own a long john as well, but there has been nothing that needed carrying that the XC didn’t cope with so far.

It's the weight and lack of gears that make them unsuitable for sure.
I'll watch the bay for a while as I won't be buying it for at last a month, after we've moved.

I'm coming round to the idea of a long tail. I've got time to look around.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Mike-Burrows-Black-10-Cargo-bike/223615219472

Mike Burrows Cargo Bike on eBay.

Needs "some" welding so priced too high unfortunately but everything is negotiable, right?

Paging @amey

Also, seeing the stuff the eBay seller sold in the past, they are most definitely on here
mynchiboy ? @mynchiboy

I saw that Mike Burrows one last night, strong pricing considering it needs work and its overall condition. I rode one at a show with my daughter in the back, worked great

@pdlouche - you're right, they're all quite expensive for any cargo bike. But if you're getting one second hand it's worth spending a couple of hundred more on a well specced bike than less on a bare one (a bit like being a car with a nice spec rather than basic one). The value of the accessories decreases with age and once they're in the package, but if you bought a longtail (or other cargo) bike with no accessories you could easily spend £500 on accessories if you wanted quality xtracycle stuff. The cost of the sidecar is a great example

I forgot the most important accessory above - you definitely need a good stand on the bike. That probably applies to any cargo bicycle (i.e. not tricycle) but many of the long john or box bikes come with one whereas longtails often do not

Yea I’ve been making-do out of financial necessity, but for sure if you set a good budget you can do alright. For example my stand is a single-legged one that isn’t too keen when the bike is loaded up, similarly I made my sit-platform and bags, and use a cheap canti mount front rack with salvaged container out front. The groupset is all parts bin Deore XT. I built the rear wheel myself being careful to find the widest bmx rim and a good level Shimano disc hub. Certainly the stand needs upgrading, but only once I make a mounting plate for a proper two legged one.

Depends how you go about it, whether you can DIY or have to buy new/proprietary.

Sounds like you have more skills than many though. A new cargo bike will set you back a few grand so you might as well get decent accessories. If you've picked up a cheap secondhand bike then that decision is slightly trickier

The kickstand on my bike is a now discountinued xtracycle kickback 1. It's a shame it's discontinued as it's such a good stand. The double leg thing means I can leave the kids sitting on the bike without fear of them falling off.

Yea I can’t afford one of those. I’m either modifying a moto stand or something to that effect. I don’t want to add 5kg, but up up to 1kg I’ll accept.

Anybody knows about wide- or sideloaders for the Surly Big Dummy? I know there are the old ones, which aren't available anymore from Xtracycles, and read that the new ones fit with the rail collars from Surly.

I am thinking of just putting two tubes into these holes from the frame, fix them, and voila: can load some extra long things. Or am I missing something? Or are there some other ideas? Especially what to use: steel, aluminium. Diameter I think was 22mm or something like that.